Pellet stoves vs. wood stove?

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We've been planning on getting a wood stove; last winter's ice storm left us without heat for 2 weeks. The big problem is deciding where we would place it, all the best spots for heat circulation, etc. is in a terrible place for a chimney. A friend has a pellet stove, and strongly advocates it, citing the easy venting options, the efficiency, etc. He says that even though they require electricity (to feed the pellets?) you can get battery models, or wire them to solar batteries. He also says you can get a ton of pellets which are cleaner and much easier to store than wood.

I'm attracted to the pellet stove because I know all about the joys of finding spiders & friends in the wood pile, plus the fun of splitting wood in the middle of February. OTOH, pellets don't grow on trees....

What do you think?

-- Debbie (lavoierd@gisco.net), September 01, 1998

Answers

We have a pellet stove which we have used for the last 3 winters. I love it! The only draw back is if the electricity goes off. Fortunately, we haven't had that problem. I'm looking to buy a woodstove though as a backup source. We have tried different brands of pellets, and by far the best we have found are the "Golden Fire." They burn cleaner and have less ash residue. The secret to efficiency is to keep the stove clean. I clean out the ash twice a week. If you live in an area where the electricty goes off frequently, you can hook up a generator to run it. We live in California and went through about 100-125 bags of pellets. We figure it costs us about $75 a month to heat our house.

-- Bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 01, 1998.

Everyone has to answer questions like this based upon their own individual circumstances...as for me, when I found out that pellet stoves required electricity I immediately dismissed them. I will soon decide between wood and coal. Coal is black and messy, but it burns hot and long, is relatively easy to store, and a LOT fewer people would want to take it from me.

-- Ron Southwick (southwick@macconnect.com), September 01, 1998.

One thing you might consider is that in the past depending on

-- Dan Claxton (fireace@ix.netcom.com), September 02, 1998.

O ne thing you might consider is that in the past depending on

-- Dan Claxton (fireace@ix.netcom.com), September 02, 1998.

One thing you may want to consider is that in the past it's been difficult to find good quality pellets depending on where you live. Also, if the transportation industry is affected by Y2K like we expect then pellet distribution might all but stop. Trees are abundant and only rely on your effort to create a good supply of wood to fuel a wood stove.Also, if electricity becomes unreliable a pellet stove is useless. I am in the fireplace business in the midwest and my recommendation would be a wood stove. Some models burn hot enough to cook on which could be an added benefit. Many of my customers are considering wood cook stoves for their kitchens so they can cook,provide heat,and boil water all with the same unit.

-- Dan Claxton (fireace@ix.netcom.com), September 02, 1998.


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