Fredrick Paget on sun 10 jul 11
We bought a pellet stove about 4 years ago and we are about to sell
it and get a gas burning stove to replace it.
Pellet stoves require electric power to run. The one we have, for
example, has 3 separate blowers in it. One to blow the room air in
over the hot heat exchanger and out into the room, another to blow
incoming air that is taken from an unheated attic space up through
the pellet burner dish, and a third blower that blows the exhaust up
the stack.
We had a wood stove that was vented into a brick fireplace chimney
and were informed that that was against the law and the code and a
chimney sweep would not touch it. The pellet stove required that we
install a metal smoke pipe up the chimney to the top where it sticks
out in to the open air with a rain cap. The combustion air is drawn
down from the attic through another pipe led downward through the
chimny from the attic through a hole they knocked in the bricks.
We burn about a ton of pellets each winter here in the Marin
mediteranian climate which is mostly above freezing in the winter but
cold and raw about 40 or 50F at night.
Pellets are heavy - those 40 pound bags are getting harder to carry
every year as I approach 90, so we decided to get a gas stove that
needs no electric power. Also to provide heat if the electric power
goes off.
A ton of pellets is a pallet of pellets in 40 pound plastic bags -
50 bags, and you need space to store them. They have to be stored in
a dry location . They took up all the spare space in our garage and
I have to park outside. The pellets were off loaded outside and I had
to carry them all into the garage myself.
After every bag of pellets you have to clean out the inside of the
stove. The pellet burner dish gets clogged with clinker ash and the
ash needs to be brushed through a port into the ash tray . It needs
emptying about every 4 or 5 bags depending on how much ash is made by
the kind of pellets you get.
Every couple of tons you burn you have to take apart the stove and
brush out the blower and sweep the chimney and here we have to get a
certified guy to do it as the regular chimny sweeps will not touch it.
In August the local supplier had a sale by the pallet and later the
price per bag was a couple of dollars more. The amount you need will
depend on where you live and the price will vary but we paid around
$5.50 the first year and they went up some last year.
We only run it in the evenings and use a third of a bag a day. It is
not our primary source of heat as there is a gas furnace under the
house that heats the whole house, The pellet stove is just to keep
the living room comfey in the evenings as my wife who runs things
here keeps the house at about 61 F at night.
FredPaget
.
Lili Krakowski wrote:
>Best buddy, wonderful neighbor, super friend Debbie is thinking/planning =
=3D
>to replace present heating system with pellet stove.
>
>House is modern (NOT resurrected old one) insulated, and the duct work =3D
>is in for wood furnace as well as oil furnace.
>
>Info on pellet stoves hard to get....Manufacturers seem to be =3D
>closemouthed about essential info.
>
>As I know Clayarters are knowledgeable about everything from child =3D
>rearing to finger fungus [!] from oxyprobes to microbes-- please any of =
=3D
>you with experience....I would be most grateful.
>
>
>
>
>
>Be of good courage
--
Twin Dragon Studio
Mill Valley, CA, USA
Lili Krakowski on sun 10 jul 11
Best buddy, wonderful neighbor, super friend Debbie is thinking/planning =
=3D
to replace present heating system with pellet stove.
House is modern (NOT resurrected old one) insulated, and the duct work =3D
is in for wood furnace as well as oil furnace.
Info on pellet stoves hard to get....Manufacturers seem to be =3D
closemouthed about essential info.
As I know Clayarters are knowledgeable about everything from child =3D
rearing to finger fungus [!] from oxyprobes to microbes-- please any of =3D
you with experience....I would be most grateful.
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
William & Susan Schran User on sun 10 jul 11
On 7/10/11 2:04 PM, "Lili Krakowski" wrote:
> Best buddy, wonderful neighbor, super friend Debbie is thinking/planning =
to
> replace present heating system with pellet stove.
> House is modern (NOT resurrected old one) insulated, and the duct work is=
in
> for wood furnace as well as oil furnace.
> Info on pellet stoves hard to get....Manufacturers seem to be closemouthe=
d
> about essential info.
> As I know Clayarters are knowledgeable about everything from child rearin=
g to
> finger fungus [!] from oxyprobes to microbes-- please any of you with
> experience....I would be most grateful.
Lili,
I have been using a Harman pellet stove insert (in fireplace) for 6 years
now and I'm very satisfied with it. It's a heavy bugger - I know this
because I pull it out of it's inserted position to clean each spring.
After burning pellets for 3 years, I finally remembered to call the chimney
sweep - he inspected and said no cleaning needed.
We got the pellet stove because my wife is allergic to wood smoke and this
thing is totally sealed up.
I use more to chase away the chill and heat the house when we are home.
Though it is automatic with temperature sensors and will cut on & off, I
only use it as backup to my gas fired central heat. We live in a one level
small house, 1200 sq. ft., and it can heat the entire house.
My nephew has a cheaper brand and it doesn't burn as cleanly and he has to
clean out ash more often.
Here's the web site to Harmon products:
c4A
odcmxEZQ>
Bill
--
William "Bill" Schran
wschran@cox.net
wschran@nvcc.edu
http://www.creativecreekartisans.com
Lili Krakowski on mon 11 jul 11
Thank you. Not at all to my surprise--I expected this would happen, which
is why I asked--lots of good advice has come in from ClayArters...Thank you
each and every one...
Your info covered some stuff the others didn't.
We live in central NY State, on Tug Hill, off the Adirondacks, very harsh
long winters.
My friend grew up on a dairy farm here, so she not only knows winters, but
is used to wood stoves...cutting, splitting, storing wood, feeding
stoves,furnace etc...Her sister has a fireplace insert, but not central
furnace, which is what is wanted now.
All the best
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