I don't have one, but have stayed in several camps which do; and can attest to their noise. Not just the blower, but the auger can be rather loud. If you have it in the basement noise may not be such an issue though.
Firewood versus Pellets
- Thread starter HillStreet
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buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
I have burned wood for several years, and now pellets for several years. most of the pros & cons have been covered. Wood takes more space to store, more work to move, dirtier, more cleaning of the stove. Pellets take less space to store, cleaner, easier to run the stove, but needs electric. I buy enough pellets in the fall to cover the entire winter, so I don't run short. (still need 1 more ton this year). I have 2 pellet stoves, an old manual one that was fairly inexpensive, and a newer mostly automatic Harmon XXV with self ignitor, large ash tray, temp controlled, where all I have to do is put in a bag a day, and clean out once a month. Very little chance of a chimney fire with pellet stove, I had a chimney fire once with the wood stove. I burned the wood stove 24/7, lot of work to keep wood in, clean out the ashes while running it, moving wood from the pile to the house, and harder to regulate the heat. The plus is it makes a lot of heat. I still have my wood stove, but never installed it when I built my new house. I keep thinking I'll install it in my barn some day. My old pellet stove heats my garage.
buickanddeere
Super Member
Harman PC45 will burn wood pellets, any grains and unoffically stoker coal. One of these stoves will allow flexible fuel usage.
sld
Veteran Member
I have both and my experience is the pellet stove is GREAT as a supplemental heat source. Compared to using my fireplace for supplemental heat it is much easier to deal with. I have an inverter to use when the power goes out and I have 3 fully charged deep cycles in the boat in the garage. I've never had to hook it up though.
As a primary heat source my experience would not let me add much info. We have natural gas that is usually pretty cheap. That's about as easy as it gets!
As a primary heat source my experience would not let me add much info. We have natural gas that is usually pretty cheap. That's about as easy as it gets!
Ken45101
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Some years back, we bought a pellet stove. A big mistake for us. Of course, part of our mistake was the stove model and having an incompetent installation.
Our pellet stove is a major pain (literally) to clean. It does not do a good job of heating the house. The blower is noisy. I have sat five feet from it and been chilly.
They are best as room heaters, not whole house heaters.
Two years later, we bought a modern wood stove. VERY happy with it. It does a much better job of heating the house. Of course, since we have plenty of wooded land, the firewood is "free".
I would get rid of the pellet stove except for the 8" hole that we have in the stone exterior of the house.
Pellet quality has been very variable and mixed since we bought the pellet stove. "Back in the days", pellet raw material was a waste product and plentiful. Now it's in short supply and qualify varies no matter what brand you buy.
Our pellet stove is a major pain (literally) to clean. It does not do a good job of heating the house. The blower is noisy. I have sat five feet from it and been chilly.
They are best as room heaters, not whole house heaters.
Two years later, we bought a modern wood stove. VERY happy with it. It does a much better job of heating the house. Of course, since we have plenty of wooded land, the firewood is "free".
I would get rid of the pellet stove except for the 8" hole that we have in the stone exterior of the house.
Pellet quality has been very variable and mixed since we bought the pellet stove. "Back in the days", pellet raw material was a waste product and plentiful. Now it's in short supply and qualify varies no matter what brand you buy.
charlz
Elite Member
That is a big con with mine as well. Being an insert space is limited and it just a tiny ash pan for cleaning out the firepot. The rest of the ash, the 'fly ash' collects in the firebox around the firepot. An ash vacuum to the tune of about $200 is pretty much required if you want to do it fairly quickly and cleanly.
One pro I forgot was the ability to use a thermostat on a pellet stove. This is certainly a nice feature over a woodstove which, if you overload it, the best you can do is close all the dampeners and hope it doesn't run you out of the house.
dmccarty
Super Star Member
You might want to search TBN for pellet stoves since this is a somewhat frequent conversation. Some of those discussions are, well, quite heated, :laughing::laughing::laughing:, but informative. I THINK most of the pros and cons have been discussed but you might pick up some more information in the other threads.
Later,
Dan
dave1949
Super Star Member
There are nice things about pellet stoves, but ... it's sort of removed from traditional rural wood heat conceptually.
The need for wood pellets adds a layer of supply and cost that you don't have much control over. In that sense, it's just another fuel like propane, electric, etc. Since I own plenty of wood for fuel (as long as I pay the taxes :laughing
it seems counter-productive to invite in an uncontrollable unknown.
The need for wood pellets adds a layer of supply and cost that you don't have much control over. In that sense, it's just another fuel like propane, electric, etc. Since I own plenty of wood for fuel (as long as I pay the taxes :laughing
it seems counter-productive to invite in an uncontrollable unknown.
Ken45101
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IMO, the best resource is hearth.com. They have reviews of different stoves, wood vs. pellets, etc.
In my particular situation, the Harman Advantage is extremely difficult and messy to clean. I know one person who sold his because of this and bought a different Harman that's easier.
Harman's warranty is only as good as the particular dealer. The dealers have protected territory so you don't have a choice. If the dealer doesn't want to bother with warranty issues, you are totally out of luck. Harman will not do anything except refer you to the dealer, who will do nothing.
Other people may have excellent dealer support. We do not.
Also, our dealer installed the stove in conflict with Harman's directions (and probably in conflict with code.) I believe that is part of why we have poor performance.
In my particular situation, the Harman Advantage is extremely difficult and messy to clean. I know one person who sold his because of this and bought a different Harman that's easier.
Harman's warranty is only as good as the particular dealer. The dealers have protected territory so you don't have a choice. If the dealer doesn't want to bother with warranty issues, you are totally out of luck. Harman will not do anything except refer you to the dealer, who will do nothing.
Other people may have excellent dealer support. We do not.
Also, our dealer installed the stove in conflict with Harman's directions (and probably in conflict with code.) I believe that is part of why we have poor performance.
wotalota
Silver Member
I order 2 or 3 pallets in late Spring for delivery in the summer and no problem with supply. Some use an over sized pallet machine to take them off the truck and place the pallets where you want them without any damage to the yard. The higher quality pellets make less mess and for easier cleaning. This year I went with vermont pellets after looking at this Maine based web site: woodpelletreviews.com. Looks like with these the hopper will need emptying about once a month, still need to clean out the burn pot once a week.
