Pellet stove or wood stove?

[kwando]

House was remodeled by previous owners and the fireplace was removed. Chimney appears to still be present. Furnace is the the only source of heat, if power goes out we have a generator that can power well and furnace. But the plan this year is to add either a pellet or wood stove.

Please educate me on the pros and cons. Not just google searches but real world experiences. My inlaws have a wood stove in their cabin in grand lake, but i have no experience with pellet stoves.

TIA

[GeorgeandSugar]

We use a pellet stove. Cleaner. Easy maintenance you can do yourself. No chimney sweep in our case required.

Pellets are going to cost you $5.00-$6.00/bag.

Igniter(s) is something you will want to have on hand to replace. Depending on use, these will go out. Easy install. Sometimes sooner than later.

Other mechanicals (blowers) durable, but obvious will fail in time.

Easy start-up.

Pellets are 40lbs. We use between 50-60 bags per season. We live at 9900 ft. My wife likes on hot. If you like it n the cool side, your usage will be much less.

You obviously have to haul from store and unload. No wood cutting. You can get pallet delivery, but extra for delivery. A pallet will last almost entire season, depending on use. I recall 50 bags per pallet.

Pellet stoves cost approximately $4000 give or take the size and square feet required to heat plus duct work and professional installation or DIY.

We have a generator so no worries if power goes out.

Comes down to what you ultimately want. Wood stoves have advantages and disadvantages. My wife want a cleaner less hassle. Starting a fire is not her forte.

Update: I am revising my recommendation. The pellet stove has been challenging this season. Breakdown and the service to come out has altered my decision. When it breaks down and there is little in the troubleshooting from the manufacturer; I would opt for a wood stove or fireplace. Spent to much time and money troubleshooting. I fixed the problem, but the manufacturer was no help at all.

https://www.quadrafire.com/Products/MT-Vernon-AE-Pellet-Stove.aspx


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[Grant H.]

I have a wood stove in my house in town, and the cabin that I hunt from every year has a pellet stove.

I prefer the wood stove, because if the power is out, the pellet stove still requires electricity to feed the pellets. I don't know that this is true of all pellet stoves, but the two that I have been around both require 120VAC to run the pellet feeder.

My wood stove is a simple cast iron fireplace insert replacement (actual woodstove that replaces shitty inserts) and it can heat the entire upper floor of the house (bi-level).

[Little Dutch]

Pellet is a lot easier and cleaner. We have a wood stove though, because it works without power.

I had a nice potbelly in the living room for a long time, but took it out recently to reclaim the space. I replaced it with a good insert. The potbelly made more heat faster, but the insert works well enough.

[davsel]

Wood stove - no need for power or store bought pellets.
I can load up my wood stove and it will keep the house above 65 and still be burning in the morning.
Splitting and hauling logs keeps you in shape.

[Gman]

I like the idea of a wood stove, because it's lower tech means you can burn whatever you have to for warmth. Maintenance is higher, but there are few dependencies in a SHTF situation.

My folks had an amazing modern wood stove at their old place in Hansville, WA. It produced great heat, yet it had a glass front door. The combustion air was delivered where it kept the glass clean, so you could watch the fire like a fireplace (which I love to do). It was all they needed to heat the whole house.

[O2HeN2]

A place to start is the question: "If you're getting your wood for free, go with a wood stove. Otherwise pellet."

An oversimplification, but a good first question.

I used to have a pellet stove and I loved it. Now that I've moved I aint got nothing, unfortunately.

If I had to do it again, I'd get a pellet stove that runs on 12 Volts so you can use it during a power outage.

O2

[Bailey Guns]

If this is a backup source of heat in a power outage there really isn't a choice. A pellet stove won't work unless you have a generator hooked up. A wood stove will work regardless of whether you have power or not.

There are plenty of sources of free wood to burn. They produce a LOT more heat than a pellet stove. The work required to provide wood for a wood stove can be substantial...but I always found it rewarding, physically and mentally. But we had an endless supply on our property. Wood stoves are a bit harder to clean but not much.

Pellet stoves are far more convenient. They can be very finicky about pellets, though. Quality of pellets varies greatly so there's a learning to curve to know what will work with your stove.

I don't know how others feel but if you go the pellet stove route, STAY FAR FAR AWAY from Quadrafire stoves. We had one. Worst money I've ever spent in my life. In his post above George said have an ignitor on hand. If you have a Quadrafire, have several of the expensive fuckers on hand. And plenty of free time to change them.

We had a top-loading Harman wood stove...very convenient and would hold 22 or 24 inch logs...forget. We could load that thing up to the top and still have heat after 12 - 14 hours with plenty of coals to relight kindling or logs. It could also be fed from the front. Extremely efficient and long burning. It had a great that went over the top for cooking. Awesome stove.

[clodhopper]

If I was at the right website, it looks like Harman only offers pellet stoves now.

[TRnCO]

everyone pretty much covered it above, I would add that having a source of FREE firewood along with the time and ability to process it, makes wood burner an easy choice, in my mind. My wife loves our wood burner and I don't mind the work involved in getting the wood to the stove. The mess isn't that bad, and if my wife can build a fire, anyone can build a fire. With the help of a little squirt of charcoal lighter fluid, anyone can light a fire in no time.
We cooked on top of our wood stove during the power outage in the last storm. First time we ever did that. Worked pretty snazzy.

[Bailey Guns]

If I was at the right website, it looks like Harman only offers pellet stoves now.

Ah...I didn't know that. We bought ours years ago so very possible. Lots of other good choices out there though.

[Bailey Guns]

Another thing I just thought of. Some wood stoves have the capability of burning coal. It wouldn't be my first choice in fuel but there are some advantages. If you're going to need a fire for a long time coal is a good choice. A big chunk of coal with burn/smolder for hours. It's very dirty and messy to store but it comes in handy on occasion.

[BladesNBarrels]

Just substitute coal


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx5N-4JvVyk

[kwando]

Bumping this, I think we’ve settled on a wood stove. Less things to go wrong. No moving parts like the auger on the pellet stove.

Now who can install one? Is it fairly easy to install?

[crashdown]

Don’t see any pellet stoves here in Alaska.... just sayin.

[Irving]

One guy made a gravity fed one, but I think he got bought out by a big company and they didn't make any. I don't really know.

https://youtu.be/Kjyf4dBViic

I'm not trying to dissuade you from conventional wisdom, just something relevant that came across my feed recently.

[HunterCO]

I run both pellet and wood. I have a quadra fire pellet stove and two wood burners. I never use the smaller wood burner upstairs as the big one down stairs will run you out of the house. Wood stoves you have to baby sit so if your not home it is useless you cant keep feeding it wood. The pellet stove you can fill with pellets and it does its thing. The other thing with pellet stoves is getting premium grade pellets shit pellets create a lot of ash and you have to clean the stove often. I pay less for premium grade pellets than what home depot ect sell the shit pellets for i buy a ton at a time.

This is how I do it I run the wood burner when I am home and let the pellet stove do its thing when im at work it works out pretty well for me. My energy bill is never more than $80 a month. I normally burn about 2 tons of pellets a winter in Montana and about 2 cords of wood. Total cost is about $800 per winter it can very of course depending on how cold it gets. I guess it also depends on where you live and what wood and pellets cost. I can drive up the road and cut all the wood I could ever use for a $5 permit but I don't. I have a guy that drops about 1.5 cords cut split and delivered for $200 so thats what I do.

There is no wrong or right answer it depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

[TRnCO]

Now who can install one? Is it fairly easy to install? It's not really too difficult. I don't remember where I bought my stove pipe from, BUT they had diagrams showing several options and once a guy figured out the configuration that he was going to do, it was easy to see what parts were needed.
For instance, will you go up and elbow through the wall and then elbow straight up to the vent without going through an over hang on the roof, OR will you go straight up through a ceiling, through the attic, and then through the roof.

If I remember which website I used I'll let you know. But it showed all the options and then showed what pieces were needed and there's all kinds of instructions to be found on the web of doing installs.

I also found a guy local in Elizabeth that would do installs, but when he came to look at mine he wouldn't even give me an estimate. Not sure why, other than it wasn't a straight forward deal since I did a 45 degree run of pipe to get to an angled wall that I went through, instead of going up and doing a 90 through the wall directly behind the stove. So maybe the complex angles were what kept him from wanting to tackle my job. SO I had a good friend come help me do my install.

[MED]

I use two wood burning stoves as my primary source of heat, and burn 6-8 cords of wood per year. I have a 150,000btu stove in the basement that heats my whole 2,500sq ft house when the temps are above 10 degrees; below that, I need to fire up the second stove on the main floor. For any kind of DR or SHTF backup source of heat, definitely look at wood burning because you can easily get fuel. Good example; when covid started, people couldn't get pellets up here and were running out of fuel. Ace was kind enough to put their inventory outside their gate and let people take it on the honor system; they posted what they did on Nextdoor so people wouldn't be without heat. With a wood burner, you can get fuel just about anywhere in the state for free as well as store it anywhere on your lot under a tarp, which is optional. Yes, it requires work; but it's really not that bad. Goodrich Chimney did my basement install, and they've done my maintenance for years. They are out of Golden; not sure if they go out to your area or not, but I've been happy with their work. Depending on the height and configuration of your chimney, you can clean them yourself.

[eddiememphis]

Bumping this, I think we’ve settled on a wood stove. Less things to go wrong. No moving parts like the auger on the pellet stove.

Now who can install one? Is it fairly easy to install?

Western Fireplace Supply in the Springs. Huge store with many displays and the warehouse has everything needed to install. My cousin has worked there for twenty years. They can answer all your questions.

[buffalobo]

It's not really too difficult. I don't remember where I bought my stove pipe from, BUT they had diagrams showing several options and once a guy figured out the configuration that he was going to do, it was easy to see what parts were needed.
For instance, will you go up and elbow through the wall and then elbow straight up to the vent without going through an over hang on the roof, OR will you go straight up through a ceiling, through the attic, and then through the roof.

If I remember which website I used I'll let you know. But it showed all the options and then showed what pieces were needed and there's all kinds of instructions to be found on the web of doing installs.

I also found a guy local in Elizabeth that would do installs, but when he came to look at mine he wouldn't even give me an estimate. Not sure why, other than it wasn't a straight forward deal since I did a 45 degree run of pipe to get to an angled wall that I went through, instead of going up and doing a 90 through the wall directly behind the stove. So maybe the complex angles were what kept him from wanting to tackle my job. SO I had a good friend come help me do my install.This^^^

Local fireplace contractor was "too busy"(he didnt want to deal with custom install) so I did the research mostly on Simpsons Dura Vent web site and made sure eveything was well above code for materials and clearances.

I used Simpson Dura Vent double wall insulated for entire chimney and ceiling box. I did a 15? offset in attic to avoid going thru roof at the peak as the parts would have to be custom made. Hercules Industries was willing to make the part but price and lead time were too long/high.

Once I had my design and parts list I ordered Simpson Dura Vent pipe thru local supplier to builders.

Once parts arrived install only took half a day and most of that was spent making sure ceiling box was just right.

You can stand next to stove and reach up and touch chimney without burns. Down close to stove the double wall is pretty hot but not the instant blistered burn like touching the stove.

We burn 4-6 cords a season and wood stove is our primary heat source for 2200sf ranch style log home.

[3beansalad]

No advice, just wanted to share the stove that is in the home we moved into last month. Love it, even though it's not our primary source of heathttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210223/9643335ddc863d12f0f61b9f5bb2888a.jpg

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[buffalobo]

No advice, just wanted to share the stove that is in the home we moved into last month. Love it, even though it's not our primary source of heathttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210223/9643335ddc863d12f0f61b9f5bb2888a.jpg

Sent from my SM-G975U using TapatalkBeautiful classic. Any idea who did the restoration? Should have it appraised, good condition Round Oak can bring big bucks.

[3beansalad]

Beautiful classic. Any idea who did the restoration? Should have it appraised, good condition Round Oak can bring big bucks.My friends that sold me their home said an Air Force General restored them in his spare time. This is the fourth home they had it in before passing it along to me.

I probably should have it appraised, if nothing more than to cover my ass on home owners insurance. Any suggestions?

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[buffalobo]

There is a Round Oak collectors group and most antique appraisers should be familiar with Round Oak products.

Without seeing it in person and being a fan of Round Oak I would say it will appraise $3000+. Date of manufacture should be 1890-1910.

[buffalobo]

In the early 1900's the Round Oaks were considered the best wood stoves in the world.

[3beansalad]

There is a Round Oak collectors group and most antique appraisers should be familiar with Round Oak products.

Without seeing it in person and being a fan of Round Oak I would say it will appraise $3000+. Date of manufacture should be 1890-1910.Thanks for the ideas. Guess some searching is in my future

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[TRnCO]

wow, that thing is a beauty.

[Bailey Guns]

Beautiful classic. Any idea who did the restoration? Should have it appraised, good condition Round Oak can bring big bucks.

That's very true. We had a similar stove in our Bailey house when we moved in. It wasn't a Round Oak and it wasn't in nearly that condition. When we bought our Harmon we sold it on CL...had numerous responses to our asking price of $500 and sold it to some guy who promised to pay $750 if we'd hold it for him. He drove all the way from GJ the same day to pick it up and was happy as could be. I had no idea they were worth that kind of coin in the pretty poor condition ours was in. It sure put out some heat...but went thru firewood like crazy. Not efficient at all.

That Red Oak is a beautiful stove. I'd love to have something like that in my house.

[BladesNBarrels]

There was this guy with a store....
Idaho Springs on one of the back streets.
Restored old wood burning stoves.
Really beautiful when he got done, but the price reflected the effort expended.

[Ah Pook]

Bumping this, I think we’ve settled on a wood stove. Less things to go wrong. No moving parts like the auger on the pellet stove.

Now who can install one? Is it fairly easy to install?
Find someone that is certified and will pull the correct permits. Insurance will void any claims related to stove fires/damage, if all the proper procedures were not followed.

Expect the house to be a little more dusty. Clean the chimney once/twice a year. I miss having a wood stove.