pellet stove vs nat gas steam heat

ChrisJ

I have had a hard time finding an exact comparison on this but how do these two forms of heat actually compare in cost to operate?



My steam boiler is sized to my radiation which is quite a bit oversized for my house.  While pellet fuel seems to cost slightly more than natural gas for heating I'm going to take a guess and say I will save quite a bit of money by heating with the pellet stove on warmer days.



 The steam boiler is an EG-45 and can squeak out just under 83% efficiency when running continuously.  The pellet stove is an American Harvest and I don't remember the exact efficiency but I believe its up there.





Any opinions on the matter?

Jack

Your energy savings

If there are to be any will come from heating a smaller area with the "stove". You will likely turn the boilers stat down and heat your primary area with the pellet stove. When you need or want the whole place warm you will touch off the boiler.



Personally, if I'm burning wood I want something that will work without elec. If I have to kick my 200 yr old windsor apart to heat the house I don't want to then have to whittle it into pellets. Pellet "boilers" make sense to me as you are not having to handle the fuel all the time. My other issue with pellet stoves is they are pretty noisey. Many, many like them, but having been in that business, I'm not a fan. Personally, I'm looking at either a VC Encore or a Jotul F 400.

Tim McElwain

Chris I have been

heating my house for now going into the tenth year with pellets. I have a warm air gas system as my central heating system so the duct work is very conducive to moving the heated air created by the pellet stove.



I set my gas furnace thermostat on 68 degrees during the day in the winter and the pellet stove runs all day typically on low fire ( it has a low fire and medium and high fire range). It keeps the house around 70 all the time.



We have never used heat at night and we sleep with the bedroom window open most of the winter so my heat is set on 65 at night and we use the gas furnace for heat at night so the pellet stove does not run. I would run it 24/7 but it makes my wife nervous to have it running and unattended.



I also have my furnace set up to run on constant air circulation when the outside temp drops below 20 degrees. The b lower runs on very low speed as I have reduced the voltage to the blower to 93 volts with a voltage regulator. This is an old hand wound GE motor that allows that low voltage without any concern (the motor is the original with the heating system now over 60 years running without replacement).



My average cost for heating with pellets for these years has been between $290 to $400 depending on my ability to store by the ton and can I buy direct from the pellet manufacturer or do I go with Sam's Club or Home Depot. This obviously lowers my natural gas usage for the furnace. I do however have the following gas equipment: gas cooking stove, water heater, thru the wall heater for my wife's office, gas dryer, and my lab has a gas line running to it for experiments on gas equipment. Total cost with pellets and my gas less than $850 a year.



My wife loves the pellet stove as it keeps the family room at 75 degrees when it is on and that is her favorite room.

Robert_25

it depends on the cost of each "fuel"

Your potential savings will depend on the final cost per btu for each fuel, and how much of the home you wish to heat with the pellet stove. As Tim pointed out, if you spend most of your time in the living room and that is where you want to put the stove...you can save $$ by keeping the rest of the home at a cooler temperature.

ChrisJ

Wow

So it sounds like there won't be really much savings overall if any by using the pellet stove.  The stove was in the house when we bought it due to it being cheaper than oil heat.  Now that I am switching to gas I had a feeling it wouldn't make much of a difference.   I could simply walk around and shut off radiators easier.  The wife wants to keep the stove so you know what that means .



I am lucky to have the stove as right now its the ONLY heat we have while I install the new boiler and wait for my B-vent and gas line to be installed.



Tim,  I grew up in a house that had a 1957 Muller Climatrol forced hot air furnace.  Never saw another furnace as quiet.  When I moved in 2006 the furnace was still running beautifully.  It had a rotary switch for the blower which I think had 5 speed settings.