Wood Pellets for home heating

[JasperCountyNative]

Anyone have any experience with using wood pellets for home heating?

Propane is ridiculous down here so I am going to fire up the wood heater this winter.

They say the avg home will use 2 tons of pellets over a winter @ $225/ton; that doesn't sound too bad.

 

[fordmommy]

We have 2 pellets stoves. Absolutely LOVE them. Will never go back. We save so much it heating costs, it's completely rediculous.

We have a Castile insert and a Harman freestanding. I personally LOVE the Harman. 5 stars for sure!!! Deffently worth every penny. We got ours from a dealer near us and didn't spend the price that it says on these websites. I think those are just "suggeted retail prices".

http://www.quadrafire.com/Products/Castile-Pellet-Insert.aspx

http://www.harmanstoves.com/products/details.asp?cat=stoves&prd=pellet-stoves&f=ACCPSTV


OH! And we buy our pellets in bulk. Which saves us even more. A ton of pellets by bulk is about $160-$180. My DH gets those big barrels from work and 6 barrels equals one ton.

 

[JasperCountyNative]

I have a Craft insert wood heater. I have seen "pellet baskets" for sale, which they say will allow you to use pellets in a wood burning heater.

I wonder if the efficiency would be different from that of an actual pellet stove.

 

[Widget]

I have a Lopi pellet stove and really like it. Since my boiler died last March the stove will be my source of heat for the winter. Can't do much about the not having hot water issue but at least I will be warm. I have a small house that is well insulated. Just running the stove on low I can get the temperature up to 80-85 when the outside temperature is around freezing. Below freezing the house stays at about 65-70 depending on the outside temperature. The bedroom runs a bit cooler but that is fine with me.

 

[Boyd]

Quote:
my local tractor supply company sells pellets for 199/ton as well as our ace hardware

 

[Laurajean]

My cousin has one, and although I am NO expert on pellet stoves at all, I do know that in the room where the pellet stove was, we couldn't even sit because the heat would blow us out of the room. Literally, it was just too hot near it, but the other rooms would be okay. I have one other friend who has one in her basement, and that seems to work better. She has no basement door and has various floor vents, and the heat comes up to the main level nicely. That's all I know.

 

[1mommahen]

Love our pellet stove!

We've had ours six years now and go through just about 2 pallets a year. One bag of pellets lasts 28 hours at 73 degrees! Nice and toasty. Get ours from TSC for $199 a pallet!

 

[fordmommy]

I thought for sure more people would chime in.

 

[JasperCountyNative]

Quote:
Yes, but I do appreciate everyone who has so far.

I am still wondering if I can use a "pellet basket" with my wood burning insert.

I spoke to a woman today who said her pellet stove has some kind of auto feeder that drops
a few pellets at a time and a fan that circulates air inside the stove.

The baskets I saw online hold about 16# of pellets at a time.

I have only found 2 pellet sources in MS so far. One sells only overseas, except for a limited time in the fall when they will sell bulk to the public. That place is about 1 1/2 hours away. The other place sells by 40# bags, but they are closer to 4 hours away.

I guess I just need to find out if I can efficiently burn pellets before I worry about logistics.

 

[1mommahen]

Quote:
Yes, but I do appreciate everyone who has so far.

I am still wondering if I can use a "pellet basket" with my wood burning insert.

I spoke to a woman today who said her pellet stove has some kind of auto feeder that drops
a few pellets at a time and a fan that circulates air inside the stove.

The baskets I saw online hold about 16# of pellets at a time.

I have only found 2 pellet sources in MS so far. One sells only overseas, except for a limited time in the fall when they will sell bulk to the public. That place is about 1 1/2 hours away. The other place sells by 40# bags, but they are closer to 4 hours away.

I guess I just need to find out if I can efficiently burn pellets before I worry about logistics.

Jasper,

My stove is auto feed also, hooked up to a thermostat on the wall. We keep it at 73 during the day and 68 at night. With the blower it's a little noisy but it keeps the house warm! The hopper also holds a 40lb. bag!