Pellet Stoves

[michickenwrangler]

Anyone out there have a pellet stove?

We have electric baseboard heat and last winter our electric bills were $350/month between Nov and March. We bought a pellet stove to help out. Our house is approx. 700 sq ft (20 x 35) and well insulated with a fairly open floor plan.

Pellets sell for $200/ton around here. I know we'll use electricity to run the blower but hopefully much less.

Any thoughts? Testimonials from people who have them?

Thanks

 

[lurky]

Our house has the same elec heat as yours, we dont EVER use it. We burn approx. 4 tons of pellets and our house is about 900 sq. ft. Our house is always toasty.......maybe even too toasty.

 

[1mommahen]

We love ours! Had it for 4 years and can't imagine winters without it! You will definitely save $ ~~~

Only trouble we have had is our igniter needs to be replaced every year or so to the tune of $150 with my dh doing the labor.

It's still worth it to be warmer than toast all winter!

 

[TipsyDog]

I have the Quadra-Fire and LOVE it. I don't burn quite a ton but I only use it to "take over" when my wood stove cools or I'm out all day. It's on a theromstat and comes on and off just like a furnace so it's very efficient. Now my house is always around 73 and no more cold mornings, etc.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

I also have a Quadra Fire, but a Castile insert. I love the thermostat feature, and the blower only uses the same electricity as a 25watt bulb. It gets down into the 30s and 40s here, and I finally got most of my insulation updated. Last winter I used less than a ton of pellets. Pellets cost a little more here. (Doesn't everything cost more in CA?) We pay nearly $300 for a ton. Still, it beats paying the utility co. You are much more cognizant of what it costs to heat when you have to pour those pellets into the hopper.

I am going to put in an efficient woodstove as a backup plan, though. Besides the obvious problem of no heat in a power outage (no blower), a couple of years ago, pellets were in short supply. They started rationing them, and we could only buy 5-10 bags at a time. It made me question what I thought had been a good decision. (I had no other heat source when I moved in, so had to choose a system.) I am still glad I use pellets, because they are so efficient, and utilize sawdust, which otherwise would be waste. But, that winter was a reality check for me. Always have a Plan B.