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/...let-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.

[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.