Pellet stove cost

[foodcritic]

Originally Posted by SamSpade

For those of you WITH wood stoves already -

Would you ever let it run when you are not home?

Mine runs all winter long. In the basement of a 3 story cape cod home. Heats the whole house. 2000sqft. Cooler upstairs then the basement obviously.

Wood costs vary. You can buy slab wood much cheaper than split wood. I have been able to take some of my own trees down over the years also bought slab and have friends bring logs over. I know a tree guy who will bring me logs when I need them.

This year I spent 50 on the tree guys logs. Probably got a cord or so after i split them. I prob will go thru 3-4 cords a year.

CONS:
1)SOOT Soot in the basement. I just started using a filter, see what happens.

2) Harder to control temp.

3) Stove burns out after 8-10 hrs. Practicing loading and air vents helps slow down the burn. On a long cold winter night I may go to heat pump at 3-4 in morn.

I have wondered if pellet stove would work better for me. Less dust more consistent heat. Less stacking and loading of wood.

[SamSpade]

Originally Posted by foodcritic

Mine runs all winter long. In the basement of a 3 story cape cod home. Heats the whole house. 2000sqft. Cooler upstairs then the basement obviously.

How do you distribute heat? Does it just waft up the stairs?

[foodcritic]

Originally Posted by SamSpade

How do you distribute heat? Does it just waft up the stairs?

just convection. I have tried to use the fan from the air handler in the house but I think that would just increase my heating costs more than I want.

The basement is HOT. Upstairs can be 75 or so and up-up stairs can be about 65. depends on how cold it is outside.

[SamSpade]

Originally Posted by foodcritic

just convection. I have tried to use the fan from the air handler in the house but I think that would just increase my heating costs more than I want.

The basement is HOT. Upstairs can be 75 or so and up-up stairs can be about 65. depends on how cold it is outside.

I think that's what I wanted to do - try to distribute the air by turnining on the fan in the furnace. It never worked much with our wood stove, but when it was being used, I was never, ever able to get it burning very hot. At best it was cozy downstairs, and no evidence upstairs that it was on at all.

I found I often had to open it and restoke the logs, because they'd burn unevenly and I'd have to push 'em around to keep them lit. Over time, the downstairs smelled like soot and the area around the stove was always, always dirty.

I'm guessing that with a pellet stove, you have some control over how hot it gets.

[foodcritic]

Originally Posted by SamSpade

I think that's what I wanted to do - try to distribute the air by turnining on the fan in the furnace. It never worked much with our wood stove, but when it was being used, I was never, ever able to get it burning very hot. At best it was cozy downstairs, and no evidence upstairs that it was on at all.

I found I often had to open it and restoke the logs, because they'd burn unevenly and I'd have to push 'em around to keep them lit. Over time, the downstairs smelled like soot and the area around the stove was always, always dirty.

I'm guessing that with a pellet stove, you have some control over how hot it gets.

My stove gets very HOT. You dont want to be in my basement. It can be 90 down there.

I wonder why yours does not get hot. You may want to have the chim cleaned. Make sure your burning hard wood. I cant think of any other reason.

[GWguy]

Originally Posted by SamSpade

I'm guessing that with a pellet stove, you have some control over how hot it gets.

It has a standard thermostat. You can even put a programmable on if you desire. Set it, forget it.