wood v/s pellets

jp_2

i think you are best at answering this one. work involved? which are you going to prefer more? obviously pellets require a lot less work than collecting wood. only you know the availiablity of wood for yourself.

I like the idea of pellets myself, longer burn times, but for me wood is free, plus I like colllecting wood.

mike parnell

wood/ pellets

hi, I am trying to decide which way to go for a add on or new boiler wood fired or pellets ?wood i can get at a resonable cost sometimes free then spliting ,but pellets, best pricing may be bulk 10 or more tons and a silo.
any comments ideas ,oil is going to hurt everyone this winter. I will keep the oil burner online for times im not home, but heat with wood or pellets when im here.
thanks guys ,over the years Ive got lots of help from this site ,built own house with in floor radiant slabs it works great..........mike

Unknown

I have been

using pellets for 8 years now, my central heat is Gas forced warm air. I set the blower on the furnace on continous fan on low speed and leave the thermostat at 68. It rarely comes on. My heating bill this past winter for gas $400 + 50 bags of pellets 40 lbs each at $5.00 a bag $250 total $650 to heat a 65 foot long by 25 ranch with a full basement office. The pellet stove is on low most of the time otherwise it would run us out of the house. The coast of the pellet stove new was $2,500. It is side wall vented. I have to give it a real good cleaning once a year. the rest of the time small amount of ash and clean the window for a better view of the flame. About every two weeks about 1/2 hour to brush the inside and give it a quick cleanup with my soot vac.

I also cook, heat water and have a gas dryer which was not included in the total above.

I meter my furnace usage seperate from all my other gas. I read it when the heat goes on in the fall and at the end of the heating season and calculate the cost.

My house is heavily insulated both in the attic and in the walls with top of the line insulared windows from Pella. The calculated heat loss the last time it was done is 42,000.

Drew_2

Pellet

Tim
What part of the country and what kind of stove?

Unknown

I am located in

Riverside, RI in New England. The stove is made by Hearth Trends of Whitfield Hearth Products. It is their Traditions model. Purchased and installed in November 2000. It is also under another Model which is Profile 20/30. The Traditions version is the old fashioned design the Profile is modern.

hot_rod

pellet boilers

are much more controlable compared to solid wood fired. Buffer tanks and dump zones are not needed if you size properly.

Clean up is much easier as they burn efficiently with a good dry fuel source.

Pellets seem to vary a bit in price. They tend to move along with LP prices, in my area

Canada is one of the largest producers of pellets. Pellet fired boilers are very common in European countries. Dozens of brands were on display at ISH.

A large storage hopper and pre season purchase looks like the way to go.

hr