pellet stove pointers?

[Groo]

Buying a new place. It has propane heat. Around here, I can get softwood pellets for $220 per ton and I believe Propane for about $2.35/gallon, so I am thinking supplementing with pellets make sense economically.

anything to look for when buying a pellet stove. Anything in particular to watch out for when considering a used pellet stove?

 

[Gunny]

How are you planning on venting it? Does the new place have a suitable, doable location that is somewhat centrally located? You can't use the propane furnace chimney, it needs it own. Is there an electrical outlet close by?

The larger the pellet hopper is, the better off you'll be.

I'd be leery of a used one, unless I could see it working, or know and trust the seller. If used, then what about the availability of parts, if needed? They flooded the market with a lot of models that aren't around anymore, parts are hard to find and very expensive to buy. (To make you feel better, my stove is over 8 years old and I haven't had any problems with it, just clean it on schedule and it's good)

There's a big difference in the quality of pellets, I've never used softwood pellets, always hardwood, low ash. Don't stock up on pellets until you're pretty darned sure you're buying good ones.

Some pellet stoves generate a lot more noise than others.

I'd assume you have a convenient place to store your pellets?

At those prices, the pellets are about 1/2 the cost of LP.

 

[Kentuckyfarmer]

Have heated with pellet stove for over ten years. I agree with the above on quality pellets is a must. The better the pellets the better the stove will operate and less problems you will have. I believe the first one I bought was a US Stove and it is still heating the house I bought it for. There weren't lots on the market when I bought it so picks were limited. The place I have now I shopped for several months and read every review I could before I bought a stove for it. Vent correctly, good pellets, and read, read read all you can.

 

[nybirdman]

An over looked point;do you have dry storage;the bags weigh 40lbs.;is your spouse able to handle if you are not around?
You may want to consider a coal stove.

 

[Groo]

I thought softwood was less ash than hardwood?

Coal is not a realistic option.

I would put this stove where a wood stove is currently, and move that the the garage.
The other option would be to just leave the wood stove where it is and supplemental heat with wood, but I was thinking pellets would be cleaner and denser to store. If I can't find a pellet stove cheap enough, that's what we will be doing.

 

[coolreinfarm]

Do not buy any pellet stoves from Tractor Supply, they are junk at a cheap price made in China. Also none from U.S Stove, pay for a good stove and you'll get many years of service, mine is going on 19 years at 3 tons of pellets a year.

 

[mbohuntr]

I recommend Englander stoves, the bottom feed means you can run for a week or more without emptying the ashes, and no more klinkers...

 

[coobie]

Buying a new place. It has propane heat. Around here, I can get softwood pellets for $220 per ton and I believe Propane for about $2.35/gallon, so I am thinking supplementing with pellets make sense economically.

anything to look for when buying a pellet stove. Anything in particular to watch out for when considering a used pellet stove?

Buy a new quality pellet stove from a dealer and not the Local TSC store.We have burned wood pellets for the last 13 years to heat our whole house.Purchased a Avalon pellet stove(made in USA)by travis Ind.company no issues after 8 years of 24-7 use.First pellet stove was a Quadra-fire which had a lot of issues.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Agree with the other, good quality stove, and good hardwood pellets. For $220 ton you can buy good hardwood pellets.

I have a Harman xxv, great stove. Can burn a half ton before I have to clean the ash dump. My old cheaper stove you cleaned daily.

 

[Gunny]

If you're using the chimney the wood stove was vented through, you'll need to put in a stainless liner. Pellet stoves use a 3" or 4" pipe, depending on length of the run. Not a real big expense and easy to do yourself.

 

[PILOON]

I don't know where you are located but one consideration in the pellet vs propane debate besides convenience is frequency of power outages as pellet stoves need electric power to drive the feeding mechanism while most or many propane units don't need it.
That is for a 'space' type heater unit. A full blown furnace however needs AC power.

With pellets like wood. storage and handling is a major issue.
In our colder Quebec area those that rely on pellet fuel usually have to order as much as 2 pallets per season.

If natural gas was in your area that would be my 1st choice.

 

[moriboy]

We installed a Harmon XXV last year and used it this past winter. We burned two tons of pellets. Absolutely fantastic. I wish we would've bought one sooner. The only negative is that it takes a few days to get used to the noise. It's not loud but you do hear the pellets dropping into the feed screw as well as the fan noise.

 

[TomSeller]

Do not buy any pellet stoves from Tractor Supply, they are junk at a cheap price made in China. .

Holy cow, we can't even make pellets in the US cheaper than they can be shipped across the ocean?

 

[BoylermanCT]

Holy cow, we can't even make pellets in the US cheaper than they can be shipped across the ocean?

I was at Home Depot, and their 1X lumber was all stamped as imported from Norway. Amazing they can ship it across the ocean and it is still cheaper than US wood!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Holy cow, we can't even make pellets in the US cheaper than they can be shipped across the ocean?

He said stoves from China. Tsc pellets have been good for me, but haven't bought from them in years, others are cheaper.

 

[TomSeller]

He said stoves from China. Tsc pellets have been good for me, but haven't bought from them in years, others are cheaper.

Oopps. You are correct. I need to clean my glasses.

 

[wjmst]

I have a Harman stove and now wish I had bought something different, like propane. While the stove works as designed it does not meet my needs. It is dirtier than I expected, noiser than expect and really only heats the room it is in. I will not buy another one not recommend one to most people.

 

[kenr74]

Man I miss my pellet stove. Best form of heat IMO.

My advice would be to NOT buy a US Stove brand. I had one and it was crap. Spent too much time fixing it.

All pellets are not created equal either. Buy a bag of each kind you can get your hands on before you buy a pallet full of them. Seems like each stove I had liked different brands of pellets.

 

[Oaktree]

I have a Harman stove and now wish I had bought something different, like propane. While the stove works as designed it does not meet my needs. It is dirtier than I expected, noiser than expect and really only heats the room it is in. I will not buy another one not recommend one to most people.

A propane heater would have the same issues heating more than one room as a pellet stove. If you want to heat a whole house with any sort of stove/space heater, you really need a fairly open-concept house. Agree that propane is cleaner, but depending where you live (and the OP doesn't mention his location) propane can be kind of pricey. It is here.
My woodstove is in the living room, and it heats the whole house, though some rooms are cooler than others. A fan helps.

I personally prefer a woodstove since I can source most of my fuel on my own property, and it's quiet but it certainly creates a lot of fine ash dust. I've heard pellet stoves are much cleaner.
One downside of pellet stoves that hasn't been mentioned is that, much like oil or gas, you're still dependent on an outside source for your fuel, and shortages can (and have) happened.

 

[coolreinfarm]

I burned wood for 38 years, and switched to pellets when we added onto the house, no cutting, splitting, stacking, making sure the wood is dry, cleaning the pipe and brushing out the chimney. Now I put 3 tons of pellets in the pole barn which is 150 bags, bring 6 bags to the back porch at a time which lasts about a week. Put in a bag in the stove set the stat sit back and watch it burn. Getting old does have some advantages you use your head more than your back.