Hi guys,
I’ve been looking into pellet stoves for my basement shop for some time now (in Maine). I am close to making a purchase but wanted to get input from others that have one in their shop. So…to those of you that have one, what do you like? what don’t you like? What brand/models do you own?
Thanks in advance,
Steve
Replies
I have a number of customers in my area using them , the only problem is getting a reliable supply of hardwood pellets
A alternate system some are using is a corn stove as they claim corn is cheaper and readily available in this area however i hear current delivery is 6 months
Seems the pellet is about the same size as a kernel of corn. What is the difference in the two stoves? -- or could they be used interchangeably?
Thanks guys, I appreciate your comments. It's always nice to hear from those with first hand experience.
I did some more looking and homework today and am very close to pulling the trigger on a Harman P38, seems like it would be a nice fit for the shop. All of the dealers are sold out and none will be available again until January. Dealers have mentioned that pellet stove sales are up 4000%!
Steve
Seems odd to have a pellet stove in a shop. I have a regular wood stove and burn a lot of scrap wood - provides heat and disposal. Will a pellet stove burn scraps?
No, unfortunately a pellet stove will not burn scraps.
In my case, my Buderus boiler is direct vent, so I elected to save money here when I built the house, thus I am chimney-less. As a side note the Buderus boilers are very nice units.
So....if I were to go with a wood burning stove I would also need to have a chimney built, which I am not too excited about.... then there's the sawing, splitting, stacking, unstacking, restacking, stoking, cleaning thing. I do like wood heat, just not the best fit for me in this case.
Steve
I sell boilers, (big industrial units), in my "day job", that Buderus is a great unit, but the cost...WOW. That German engineering isn't cheap.
Not sure this is for everyone but I finally installed a Kerr Scotsman http://www.kerrheating.com/Products/Scotsman_DB-101.htm in my shop...and I love it. It is an actual furnace so you can use it to heat the whole house or shop or both. It accepts big wood and heats up a shop very quickly. I was fortunate because when we bought our house it was already in the basement. We took it out to remodel and I moved it to the shop. Now I can putter away in our fridgid winters in a warm shop. We live in the bush so firewood is plentiful and doesn't cost a thing. Plus I can through all my scraps into it.
My two cents
Byron
"Seems the pellet is about the same size as a kernel of corn. What is the difference in the two stoves? -- or could they be used interchangeably?"
I am not sure what the difference is between a pellet stove & a corn stove. They are different. The articals I have seen about the 2 stoves stated that you could burn pellets in a corn stove but you could not burn corn in a pellet stove.
Steve:
While I do not have one in my shop, I did have a pellet stove in my finished basement is my previous home. I can tell you lots....
First, pellet stoves are great because they are inexpensive to operate. The pellets are fairly low cost. I recall spending about $300 to operate mine from Oct - April.
They put out a great deal of heat and kept the entire finished basement and even my first floor quite warm and toasty.
Pellet stoves do require some time to "heat up" before you feel the benefits though.
And Pellet stoves require electricity to operate the augur to drop the pellets into the fire bin of the stove. And electricity is needed to operate the blower.
I think it would be a good choice to heat a shop. But you will have flux in temps as the stove warms up and cools down.
IF you have otehr questions let me know.
Thanks
Thank you,
Cheatah
We have one in oue house, and I will put one in the shop I am building next year. The model is a Vistaflame VF 100 - it runs 8K to 40K BTU. Overall I really like it. We burn about 3 ton per year to heat our home (3600 sq ft)
I live in Oregon, where you can get pellets at every big box home store, farm store, etc. Most pellets I have checked into are manufactured right here in the Northwest. Bear Mountain are the best. I have tried various types, and these burn the hottest.
In our previous home, we had a wood stove, which was great for burning shop scraps, but I decided this was not a good reason to buy antother one - it just isnt that big of a deal. The pellet stove is a lot less work.
Good luck!
I have had one in my shop for going on 2 winters now. I think that they are great. Mine was given to me so I can't complain either. I just had to buy the pipe. I have been researching another for my new shop(I'm in the process of moving). I am looking at one called the "Cheap Charlie" and another made by "Breckwell" These are more of a furnace looking stove with a small glass door. They are also self lighting and around 3 bags or more of pellets. Last winter they were selling in the $1250-$1400 range, stove only. There are a few companies that do internet sales and shipping isn't too bad.
Steve, I've thought a little about the Felder dust collector that turns the collected dust into compressed bricks which are then burned in a regular stove with other scraps and pieces of wood. The cost of the unit has kept me dumping the dust on the ground. Bill
TTF: 2-3 tons per winter sure sounds pretty reasonable for 3600 sq ft in Oregon. What are you paying for a ton of good quality pellets?
migraine: Thanks for the info. I checked out the "Cheap Charlie" online, it look like a decent stove, I'll have to do some more homework on them. Any idea what they offer for a warranty?
Bill: That's an interesting concept. That would really slick to be able to turn my sawdust into usable pellet fuel. Of course, it would need to be feasible and I would presume that some of the glues in ply and other manufactured wood products would present a problem.
Thanks,Steve
Try this company/link...
http://www.breckwell.com/BigE_specs.htm
That is the one I would buy for my next shop. Right around the $1500 range
I pay $160 a ton for the best pellets. If you buy them by the 40# bag, you will pay closer to $4 a bag --> $200 a ton. I have found that almost all of them cost about the same amount around here.
Good luck.
I was curious about the pellet stove so did a little web searching, found out a lot but nothing about venting to the outside. Do these need venting, never saw one in person. Can't imagine it not being vented. Also don't know of anybody who uses one here in OH.
Edited 11/14/2005 5:32 pm ET by mrbird90
mrbird90: Yes, the pellet stoves do require venting to the outside. It can be done via existing chimney or direct vent (no chimney). They are very efficient, so you don't get the creosote buildup that you would with a wood stove.
They have manuals available at http://www.harmanstoves.com that will show you some of the venting options.
Steve
Thanks for the info. I was pretty sure they needed venting.
I have two whitfield stoves in my house and I have to agree with "Cheatah". They are cheap to operate and pump out loads of heat. I don't have one in my shop though. In the shop you may find the fan a problem because it will discharge about a foot and a half off the floor and blow dust everywhere.
I would love to know how you buy one of these pellet stoves. I tracked them down to http://www.whitfieldstoves.com/ and all but one dealer links leads to the same place, but they only sell gas grills (cooking). The one other link doesn't even have Whitfield. Oh well.
BTW, $1500 for a pellet stove? Ouch! You'd think they were made from exotics materials or something and blessed my the pope.
Hi Nuke,
Go to http://www.lennoxhearthproducts.com/ Lennox purchased the whitfield business a few years ago. You will find the whitfield brand is not cheap but I have had my stoves for 10 years now and have not had a single problem. We have a long winter here and they run almost every day for about 7-8 months a year. My house is 1850 sq ft two story and 1 of the advantage II's will heat it. I get about 1 and 1/2 days from 1 bag of pellets. I live in the west so the pellets I get are fir. If you live in the east you should be able to get pellets made from hard wood which give even better performance. The key is to buy a quality brand. With good pellets I only clean the stove every 2-3 weeks. I love the whitfield brand but in the past 10 years many new brands have come on the market so the choice is better now.
Wow, I went to the website and you have to register to find a dealer? Do stove makers usually take this inhibitive approach to conveying and promoting sales of their products through their dealers? BTW, define 'not cheap'. I have yet to see anything with 100-miles of me for under $1500. And I'm in Georgia. I'm hoping this is due to lack of expoure to dealers, and not that I've found what there is and everything starts at $1500. Maybe its just sticker-shock and I need to get over that shock. :)
The dealer button on the site is for actual dealers (I did the same thing and tried it). There was a find a dealer button which asked for city/zip etc. I'm in Calgary Canada and a whitfield here is about $2500 Canadian greenbacks.. NOT cheap but mine have worked so well and have been very reliable so I will be getting them again for my next house. Look at it like buying woodworking tools...get the good ones and they last and produce the best results..
A friend of mine was surprised when I told him that in Georgia a pellet or corn stove started at US$1500, and he was quite surprised. He was surprised because his dad bought one a couple of years ago for $800. I'm guessing the energy scare around me (NG going up 56.2% on top of tight supplies) is producing a pseudo-gouging effect and making dealers money and selling their inventories while at a premium. I guess I'd do the same, too.
Of course, I'd look at it as an investment, and one if bought in freestanding model (as opposed to an insert) could follow me when I sold and build my next home.
You can find them here in Canada for $1400 canadian (about 800 US) but these units are not anywhere near the quality of the better stoves like whitfield. Go to this web site. It is a store here in Calgary that sells several brands and they have some of the cheaper ones. http://www.westernfreshairfireplaces.com
I found dealer online in the Georgia area. They only have one make/model and two trim levels (differing only by electric backup). $3400 ($4000 w/backup). For that amount, I'll pass. I even stated on my initial contact that I'd take functionality and price over aesthetics (i.e. how it looks).
Ok, so this is 4X what others keep telling me (on this foum and a friend). Somehow I doubt the material price of steel in this unit is costing $2500.
Part of the price increase can be attributed to the big jump in steel prices. In the past few years they have gone through the roof, largely due to China consuming about 1/3 of world steel production.
But I'm sure demand is also "fueling" that rise (get it, har har). That said, I am smiling ear to ear every time I use my fireplace insert that we got last year. It hurt to spend several $k (stove, remortaring old chimney, cap, etc), but it is paying for itself even faster than anticipated since we otherwise use oil heat.
Finally, I don't know much about pellet stoves, but regarding cost, I would imagine a lot has to do with the engineering to meet EPA requirements. Our insert (Lopi Freedom) is about 70% efficient and has a secondary burn design which has replaced catalytic converters. When burning hot w/ well seasoned wood you can barely see any smoke at all. I assume the pellet stoves also have to utilize something like that.
Can anyone expound on the direct vent pellet stoves? I'd love to use wood heat in my garage (shop) but don't have a chimney and quality, double-wall stove pipe can cost more than the stove once it is installed.
When I lived in Tulsa I built a fireplace insert. I used 1-1/2" x 3" square tubing shaped like one half of a hexagon. I made it about 5 tubes high. It had a fan that pulled air in from outside and the air vented into the room above the fireplace opening. It had a heat switch so that the fan would come on when then unit got hot and shut off when it cooled down.
First time I tried it out, I put my wife's cooking thermometer in the outlet duct and it went off scale (above 550 degrees). As soon as the fan kicked on, you could feel air exiting around all the windows in the house.
One problem was that it really lowered the humidity in the house. I cured that by letting the clothes dryer vent into the house through a triple filter I made. With 4 small kids, the clothes dryer was going continuously.
It did drop the heating bill about 1/3rd.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
Just curious, but does anyone make a pellet stove with a boiler? It seems that the pellet stoves produce a lot less smoke and are much more efficient than the normal wood fired boiler stoves that set outside and circulate hot water into the house.
It seems like combining a pellet stove with a boiler for outside use would be a good compromise.
Being outside in a small shed, there could be more freedom to have a larger pellet hopper and augers for ash removal.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
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