In the process of replacing our gas fireplace with a pellet stove insert and was wondering if anyone currently has one and could offer up some pros & cons. The gas fireplace thats there now is utterly worthless as far as heating goes, its basically just for looks as you can stand right next to it and feel very little warmth. We looked at the price of just replacing it with a better gas unit and the price isnt that far off from the pellet stove. So for the marginal price difference it comes down to the price of fuel, gas being much more expensive than pellets. Anyway I want to be prepared for any future winters that are similar to the past winter we faced. Opening a $500+ electric bill blows.
Pellet Stove Insert
- Thread starter MR47930
- Start date
Midnightrider
Well-Known Member
heating with pellets wasn't much better than heating with regualr wood for me. you had plenty of work, plenty of mess and had to store literally tons of pellets if you plan to use them all winter. I would seriously look inot the gas option OR go with a good quaity wood stove insert. you can atleast get free fuel for a wood burner.
As much as I would love to install a wood stove it isn't an option as we don't have a masonry fireplace. With the pellet stove we can use the existing bump out and install the zero clearance box required. We have an oversized 2 car garage so storing the pellets isn't a problem. I don't mind the work that goes along with it as long as it puts out good heat. We don’t plan on using it as a sole source of heating, just something to help ease the load on the electric furnace.
GWguy
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If you go with pellet, don't go cheap. Stay with a reputable brand like QuadraFire or Harmon. I've had a QuadraFire 1100i for almost 20 years. Replaced a couple of fans, a glow plug and a light bulb, but still going strong.
A big key to longevity is being able to clean and service it easily. Make sure if you get an insert, you can either gain access to the cleanouts or it can be pulled out easily.
A big key to longevity is being able to clean and service it easily. Make sure if you get an insert, you can either gain access to the cleanouts or it can be pulled out easily.
The model we plan to purchase is the Harman Accentra 52i.
Vince
......
Bought a Breckwell 6 or 7 years ago. Heats the house. I store a ton of pellets at a time, 50 bags. Go through about 2.5 tons a winter which costs me $250 a ton delivered. So for approx $625 a winter I heat a 4 bedroom Cape Cod. Not the mess of a wood stove which I used to have. Mine is a fireplace insert. Only other money is the cleaning of it. Only part I had to replace is the motor.
This is what I'm hoping for... I plan on stocking up on pellets though, maybe 3 tons to start. I heard last winter they were pretty hard to find when people ran out.
We have about 2200 sq ft between the main floor and the upstairs and an additional 1000 sq ft finished basement. The stove would be on the main floor which is fairly open concept so im thinking it should be able to provide warmth to the upstairs as well.
Christy
b*tch rocket
I love my pellet stove insert, with the exception of having to clean out the ash pan after about 3 bags of pellets. The ash pan is very small on inserts and you have to actually open it up and lift out the pan and clean out around the entire inside. This means letting it cool down (so no heat from the pellet stove). I'd LOVE to get a free standing pellet stove that doesn't require nearly that much work. The ash pans on free standing pellet stoves are much larger.
GWguy
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My insert has a drop-out bottom on the burn chamber, so any ash in the bowl just drops down into a catch pan for disposal later. It can be cleaned hot. I also got an AshVac which can vacuum hot ash. "downtime" is minimal.
The insert we are looking at can also be cleaned while running. It says to turn down to low and you can remove the ash pan and once replaced to turn back to the temp you are running it at. It seems as though people like their pellet inserts so that's encouraging.
OldHillcrestGuy
Well-Known Member
Bought my Breckwell 10 years ago, its free standing. Heats the whole house, I have a split foyer, 2200 sq ft. Went through just over 3 tons of pellets by 10 bags. My average oil delivery is about 75 gallons 2 times a year. When everyone was getting electric bills of over $400.00 my electric bill was about $130.00 a month. Knock on wood, I havent had to replace any parts so far. I have always had mine cleaned professionly every year. I keep up on the cleaning during the heating season and about every 2-3 weeks I give it a really good cleaning.
Erna C
New Member
you are taking a right step for choosing pellet stove the reason will be they are more fuel efficient and easy to operate as compared to wood stove if thought of buying one ,the pellet stove are much higher in prices but installation is cheap and effort of keeping the wood stove fully stocked constantly is too much and carrying wood will be hectic.I would prefer you to chose Comfortbilt HP22 if your home is big if you want to read more about it read this source https://topreviewedten.com/best-pellet-stoves/ and i use corn wood fueled one it will give you the convenience you need to keep your home warm.
You might look at multi-fuel biomass stoves. The Harmon-45 I believe can burn either wood or corn. If you experience a shortage of wood pellets you could get shelled corn or vice versa. If you are penny conscious you can follow the markets and save some money. Corn burns with a bit more ash but the maintenance is roughly the same. Don't burn corn in a wood only stove though. Corn uses a spiked auger to stir the corn to prevent ash clumps.
Chris0nllyn
Well-Known Member
I have one. I bought it on CL for cheap and have fixed it up along the way as I refuse to spend $3k on a new one.
Anywho, as someone who spent a childhood splitting wood for heat, I refuse to do that again. Although the heat and ambiance of a wood fire can't be beat, I don't want to split, store, and haul wood. I only have to store bags of it.
The cost of pellets themselves have gone up a bit in recent years and don't really show signs of slowing down.
Obviously, if you don't have electricity, you don't have a stove. That being said, they are such a low load that you could easily power it with a small generator. They have more moving parts (fan, auger, ignitor, safety circuits, etc.) so unless you;re good at troubleshooting electronics you may be paying for service calls but that's likely no different than a gas stove.
Starting a pellet stove is as easy as pressing a button and with thermostatic control, you won't overheat/underheat your home or waste pellets.
I found that mine doesn't put out as much heat as I'd like. My basement is large and it takes at least a full day to warm it.
You'll need to clean the stove once a week (ash) and clean the whole thing deeply once a year. While creosote build up is much less in pellet stoves, it still can be an issue and the flue needs to be cleaned.
Here's how I do mine (your neighborhood may vary).
That's interesting. As long as the neighbor's house/car isn't too close.