Winter warming

[Supra725]

with winter coming soon.. the heating bill is going to go up..

I have been looking at replacing our wood fireplace to an pellet stove..

I was wondering what would be the pros of it going to an pellet over an wood fireplace. cause there is a local contractor that's during inserts for $1350 and I would like to add it to the living room.. cause most of the time, we are in the living instead of the bedrooms..

at my local hardware store, i can get a ton of pellet for around $220 dollars and that will last me easily over to the spring..

What's everyone plans for heat during the winter months?

thanks.

 

[1engineer]

I have an interesting story. I have live in my current home 25 years now and I am the new guy. All my neighbors were already here and still are. The guy who lives closest to me (prepper hoarder lol not really but almost) and I decided to get rid of our wood stoves about 15 years ago. We debated the pros and cons of pellet and propane, as we had no natural gas lines in our area back then. He ultimately decided on pellet and I decided propane. Here is what we have proven over the years:

1. Initial cost for stove for pellets is about 3X higher. Gas logs versus a pellet stove.
2. Cost for pellets versus cost for propane for a winter season is about the same. He uses about a ton of pellets a season.
3. The biggie: Emergency heat - His pellet stove works off of electricity to power the pellet feed mechanism. My gas logs have no electrical needs. I use non vented with no blower fans. They are 40K BTU logs and the radiant heat will keep my whole downstairs very comfortable when the power goes out (lots of power outages here in the winter) and he has nothing. He bought a propane heater several years ago to augment his pellet stove that augments the heat pump. My normal system is a heat pump with the gas logs augmenting them.

Bottom line they are nice but don't give you emergency heat. Gas logs are cheaper initially and give you an alternate heat source.

4. Lastly, material storage: I have a 250 gallon tank tucked away outside. The propane guy comes and fills it up 2X/year. I have no hauling, storage or loading of pellets. He does. My flames look real in the fireplace. He has a free standing stove.

Either way is good. Pick what best suits your needs.

 

[LandCruiser]

I have a propane furnace in my mountain cabin. I have a wood-burning stove as a backup, but the propane just works so much better.

 

[Supra725]

Where I live, the coldest will get around 10-20's and we haven't had any power outage during those few months..

On top of that, my neighbor just put a pellet stove in his over the weekend and he can give me a hand with putting it in.. so for $1100.. I'm most likely going with the pellet stove and have him put it in.. and still have money to spare for fuel and an 12 pack for him..

 

[BigNuge]

Pellet is by far the cheapest way to heat, by far. Cost per BTU is the only way to compare, not "Johnny used x tons of pellets, I used x gallons of LP. Closest second (and has been first occasionally) is NG (if you have it).

Pellet fuel is locally sourced, lots of US manufacturers.

Pellet is renewable.

Pellet is negligible carbon footprint.

Yes, you need electricity to operate it...you also need electricity to run your fridge/freezer.

I ran pellets here in the northeast for 7 years, it was a solid dependable fuel, and it saved me a lot of money over fuel oil.

Pellet, renewable = buy fuel from US/Canada

Wood, renewable = buy fuel from local guy/US

LP/#1/#2, fossil fuel = buy fuel from rag heads, give them more of your $$

NG, fossil fuel = buy fuel fuel from US/Canada

 

[Supra725]

JIm,

how many tons of pellets did you went through out winter?

 

[MyHigh]

I'm pretty sure propane is a local resource,
With that being said in my perfect world I'd have pellet stove and propane generator for emergency use.

 

[BigNuge]

JIm,

how many tons of pellets did you went through out winter?

JIm,

how many tons of pellets did you went through out winter?

On average I used 4 tons per year (averaged $225/ton). That's heating a whole 2800 square foot farm house (built in 1790, all old windows, no insulation). Before pellet I easily went through 3-4 tanks of oil (averaged $700 a tank). I did use wood for the first 3 years living in the house....lot of work, wife sucked at running wood and I worked a lot, so wood didn't really work out.

I have since completely gutted the house, insulated, rewired, re plumbed, new primary heating systems, converted to a 2 family. It now being a 2 family (rental property) I have chosen to take the pellet out due to insurance (having solid fuel for an alternative heat source within a tenant space effectively doubles your homeowners).

I'm pretty sure propane is a local resource,

With that being said in my perfect world I'd have pellet stove and propane generator for emergency use.

No, it is primarily produced as a byproduct of crude oil processing....and guess where we get the crude. There is a considerable amount being produced via natural gas wells, but it still primarily comes from crude oil processing.

 

[philsey]

with winter coming soon.. the heating bill is going to go up..

I have been looking at replacing our wood fireplace to an pellet stove..

I was wondering what would be the pros of it going to an pellet over an wood fireplace. cause there is a local contractor that's during inserts for $1350 and I would like to add it to the living room.. cause most of the time, we are in the living instead of the bedrooms..

at my local hardware store, i can get a ton of pellet for around $220 dollars and that will last me easily over to the spring..

What's everyone plans for heat during the winter months?

thanks.

What exactly is a "wood fireplace"? Is it open front, glass doors, or have some kind of insert? Also, what is the fresh air supply to the fireplace: internal from the house, or outside supplied?

Lastly, what's your source for firewood?

Most ordinary fireplaces are terribly inefficient - and anything you do will be a great improvement/savings. I operated 2 wood stoves for 15 years, cutting all my own wood, and believe me brother that's a lot of work.

 

[02SE]

What's everyone plans for heat during the winter months?

thanks.

Same as it's always been. A Natural Gas furnace. I did replace the original furnace with a very efficient Lennox unit, a couple years ago. For me, that's cheaper and more convenient than any other option.

 

[Supra725]

What exactly is a "wood fireplace"? Is it open front, glass doors, or have some kind of insert? Also, what is the fresh air supply to the fireplace: internal from the house, or outside supplied?

Lastly, what's your source for firewood?

Most ordinary fireplaces are terribly inefficient - and anything you do will be a great improvement/savings. I operated 2 wood stoves for 15 years, cutting all my own wood, and believe me brother that's a lot of work.

it is.. the current i have is the ones where you put the wood inside, no insert or anything... and is not that efficient. the air is coming from the house..

my firewood is coming from an friend's farm..

 

[Supra725]

On average I used 4 tons per year (averaged $225/ton). That's heating a whole 2800 square foot farm house (built in 1790, all old windows, no insulation). Before pellet I easily went through 3-4 tanks of oil (averaged $700 a tank). I did use wood for the first 3 years living in the house....lot of work, wife sucked at running wood and I worked a lot, so wood didn't really work out.

I have since completely gutted the house, insulated, rewired, re plumbed, new primary heating systems, converted to a 2 family. It now being a 2 family (rental property) I have chosen to take the pellet out due to insurance (having solid fuel for an alternative heat source within a tenant space effectively doubles your homeowners).


No, it is primarily produced as a byproduct of crude oil processing....and guess where we get the crude. There is a considerable amount being produced via natural gas wells, but it still primarily comes from crude oil processing.

Jim,

our house is slightly smaller than yours.. is around 2300 sq ft. i know how much work is to get wood.. on top of that, i don't have the room to stack all those woods.. I rather get bags of the pellets and store it in the garage..

 

[BigNuge]

Jim,



our house is slightly smaller than yours.. is around 2300 sq ft. i know how much work is to get wood.. on top of that, i don't have the room to stack all those woods.. I rather get bags of the pellets and store it in the garage..

The ease of use with the pellets is one of the best parts. I could stack 4 tons of pellets MYSELF in 1 1/2 hours. One ton of pellets contains the BTU's of 1 1/2 cord of wood (4 tons of pellets = 6 cord of wood). Try stacking 6 cord in 1 1/2 hours....NOT! Never mind finding a place for 6 cord of wood.

 

[Supra725]

1 cord is already hard enough, let alone 6 cords..

How did you ran your exhaust? was it straight back from the insert or did it go up?

 

[wnelax04sr5]

my family has always used wood heat in a vermont castings wood stove since i can remember. the wood is free, either from our property or people we know who want it cleared and removed, the labor is free to cut it, split it, and stack it, and the heat from it is great, especially with some of the wood we get. can load the stove up and have it going 12 hours with no attention sometimes. its a lot of work but to be honest i like it.

 

[BigNuge]

1 cord is already hard enough, let alone 6 cords..

How did you ran your exhaust? was it straight back from the insert or did it go up?

I went straight through the wall, the exit point was far enough off the ground.

Most installations will need to turn up due to being close to the ground (danger of hot sparks flying out of the end). Typically, once the vent comes through the wall it goes to a "Tee" fitting, the bottom of the tee is caped off as a ash catch, then on the top a straight section (24" or so) then to a goose neck, finished with a SS spark arrester.

 

[BigNuge]

my family has always used wood heat in a vermont castings wood stove since i can remember. the wood is free, either from our property or people we know who want it cleared and removed, the labor is free to cut it, split it, and stack it, and the heat from it is great, especially with some of the wood we get. can load the stove up and have it going 12 hours with no attention sometimes. its a lot of work but to be honest i like it.

Free wood, plenty of space to store copious amounts of wood, more than one person who knows how to start & maintain the stove...yes, wood would work.

In all honesty, I do like wood heat. But with seasoned wood running $275+ per cord, the aggravation, mess, stacking, constant ash cleanup & removal...and oh yeah, being the only one in the house that knows how to run the friggin thing...pellet it is!

 

[philsey]

with winter coming soon.. the heating bill is going to go up..

I have been looking at replacing our wood fireplace to an pellet stove..

I was wondering what would be the pros of it going to an pellet over an wood fireplace. cause there is a local contractor that's during inserts for $1350 and I would like to add it to the living room.. cause most of the time, we are in the living instead of the bedrooms..

at my local hardware store, i can get a ton of pellet for around $220 dollars and that will last me easily over to the spring..

What's everyone plans for heat during the winter months?

thanks.

it is.. the current i have is the ones where you put the wood inside, no insert or anything... and is not that efficient. the air is coming from the house..

my firewood is coming from an friend's farm..

An open fireplace is a terribly inefficient method. Not only does a vast majority of the heat go up the chimney, but you are burning warm air out of the house to do so. These are for looks, not heat.

So using some type of stove is a very significant improvement. Another improvement is to install a fresh air supply to the stove.

Next is fuel. My guess is that pellets vs wood may not be a huge difference in BTUs per ton. But the work and mess and storage and bugs of wood vs the convenience of pellets would make this a no brainer were I doing it again. Even free wood is far from free after saws, gas, chains, splitters, stacking, hauling, etc. Ugh.

 

[wnelax04sr5]

Free wood, plenty of space to store copious amounts of wood, more than one person who knows how to start & maintain the stove...yes, wood would work.

In all honesty, I do like wood heat. But with seasoned wood running $275+ per cord, the aggravation, mess, stacking, constant ash cleanup & removal...and oh yeah, being the only one in the house that knows how to run the friggin thing...pellet it is!

oh i feel you on that. if you don't have the ease of access i can see how quickly it becomes a pain more than a savior. Luckily my father works from home and he can watch the stove all day long, and my mom does alright if she really needs to keep an eye on it.

its been all i know since i wasnt even old enough to help stack, so i am slightly biased. i know a bunch of people that use pellets and love them, i think what turns wood stove faithful like myself away is the initial cost, but after that i absolutely agree with the benefits to it

 

[Supra725]

An open fireplace is a terribly inefficient method. Not only does a vast majority of the heat go up the chimney, but you are burning warm air out of the house to do so. These are for looks, not heat.

So using some type of stove is a very significant improvement. Another improvement is to install a fresh air supply to the stove.

Next is fuel. My guess is that pellets vs wood may not be a huge difference in BTUs per ton. But the work and mess and storage and bugs of wood vs the convenience of pellets would make this a no brainer were I doing it again. Even free wood is far from free after saws, gas, chains, splitters, stacking, hauling, etc. Ugh.

yeah.. our house is build in the late 90's and the fire place it came with is more for looks not for heat.

I rather reach into a bag of pellets than fighting the bugs from the wood.