Who's all got their pellet/ wood stoves running?

[fudgie]

I'll raise my hand. Started the pellet stove last week.  Getting cold early.    Didn't start it last year till first week of Nov. Just placed 2000 lbs of pellets on the porch tonight. Looks like we might burn 3 tons this winter. Gonna haul wood to the basement as back-up heat if the power goes out this winter if it ever quits raining. Probally won't turn the furnace on till Turkey day. I'm a cheap a$$!    I use the furnace as secondary heat anyway. 

[sandy]

HUH!! Gonna be 95 in Phx tomorrow. What's a pellet stove?

[gregc]

Yep, it is burning here too.  Started it last night since the low was 38, but next week is going to be back in the high 60's

[Kendall]

Nope but im running the AC,,,  was 89 today, but gonna warm up some next few days..  Coolidge Az

[Michael K (Az.)]

Yeah! What are these guys talking about???

[fudgie]

Nope but im running the AC,,,  was 89 today, but gonna warm up some next few days..  Coolidge Az

 

[SteveL]

4 cord of hardwood here in North Central Mass. plus about 2 cord leftover from the drops of the ice storm of 2008 that caused a 2 week power outage for thousands in northern Ma and southern Nh last Xmas. So I'm all set.

I burn about 3 cord a year in 2 older wood stoves. Built the house in 79 in the middle of the 1st oil shortage, so been burning ever since. it's almost a hobby if it wasn't so much work.

I work from home so I'm home to feed it. I don't really start burning till it gets cold and stays cold, and we're not there with that usually till late November or early December.

In the mean time I have my Gerbings and ride till the snow flies.


23'F here in Mass this morning with a heavy frost. Canadian Geese are flying in large flocks going south daily. They wake me up every morning.

[RoadKill]

Just installed the wood burner in the garage tonight.....house been burnin all week.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

fudgie I've never seen one can you take a few shots with pellets ?  I was talking with Gary and Rosie at the CBR and they have a corn burner that's just amazing to me. But we don't have the endless corn fields like they do up that way and thank God we don't have the bitter weather they get either. Winter is my favorite time to ride here in the south.

[PAVALKER]

fudgie I've never seen one can you take a few shots with pellets ?  I was talking with Gary and Rosie at the CBR and they have a corn burner that's just amazing to me. But we don't have the endless corn fields like they do up that way and thank God we don't have the bitter weather they get either. Winter is my favorite time to ride here in the south.

A friend has a Corn/Pellet Stove (either or) and it works very well actually.  You have to be there to feed it when needed, but it has a loading hopper you can fill up for auto feed.  He grew a bunch of corn this year, but like wood it has to season (dry out).  It smells like popcorn when I go to his house.....

[Mo Lee]

Mines been running nights for a week now, after I replaced one of the fan motors. This has been a cool year in the Ozarks as well, I think every month since June it has been one of the coolest on record and for the last couple of weeks the temps have been running 15-20 below normal.

[bogator]

I'm still suffering in Alabama, 70 degrees, and rain. But I have enough wood to last 3 yrs.in this weather.                      LOL LOL

[asfltdncr]

Propane free-standing stove is as adventurous as I like to get.
I had a pellet stove in my garage and it just couldn't raise the temperature that much in that environment.I bought a homemade barrel stove this year.We'll see if it's enough to do some things on the bike this winter.
The other morning I woke up to 14 degrees and went for a ride when it warmed up (35).It was so cold out, my windshield couldn't find a bug.

[fudgie]

fudgie I've never seen one can you take a few shots with pellets ?  I was talking with Gary and Rosie at the CBR and they have a corn burner that's just amazing to me. But we don't have the endless corn fields like they do up that way and thank God we don't have the bitter weather they get either. Winter is my favorite time to ride here in the south.

Yea I remember talking to them about it, well barely 
Heres a pick of one similar to ours. I like it. We burn about 1-40 pound bag a day. I thought about corn or the multi fuel but this one was priced right. $1100. The corn seem to smell to me, at least the older ones i smelt. I rather have the cold if it snows.

[fudgie]

Propane free-standing stove is as adventurous as I like to get.
I had a pellet stove in my garage and it just couldn't raise the temperature that much in that environment.I bought a homemade barrel stove this year.We'll see if it's enough to do some things on the bike this winter.
The other morning I woke up to 14 degrees and went for a ride when it warmed up (35).It was so cold out, my windshield couldn't find a bug.

My furnace is propane. The house is a old uninsulated farm house. I have insulated alot but it still cost alot to heat. Dam near $400 a month 2 winters ago. Last winter with the pellet stove we cut it by 2/3's.

[Bob E.]

My brother installed a wood-burning furnace next to his gas furnace a couple years ago.  I'm not sure if his will burn pellets or not...he just cuts and splits wood...but there were a few months last year where the gas company owed him money because they had over-estimated his bill.   

My dad also heats with wood...he doesn't have a furnace in his house...just a wood burner fireplace.  Anyways, between him and my brother, they cut, split, and burn about 14 8-ft bed truck loads a year.  It's alot of work, but their heat is essentially free...and my dad is like Paul Bunyon with a chainsaw...he loves cutting wood.  But he's closing in on 60 years old and it is getting to be too much work for him.  So he is pricing propane furnaces right now.

[Redline +]

I'm waiting for the global warming.

[Normandog]

What are the pellets made of??

[Black Pearl's Captain]

What are the pellets made of??

Wood! Usually sawdust/pulp pressed into pellets.

Raymond

[asfltdncr]

Not to piss anyone off but I found that the pellet stove I just got rid of was so much less efficient than one I had in the 80's.  Sorry Fudgie, but the one I got rid of was an Englander Stove.  I think it's better to spend more and burn less.  I dumped it for $150.

[fudgie]

What are the pellets made of??

Wood! Usually sawdust/pulp pressed into pellets.

Raymond

Yep, hardwoods. Mostly oak.

[fudgie]

Not to piss anyone off but I found that the pellet stove I just got rid of was so much less efficient than one I had in the 80's.  Sorry Fudgie, but the one I got rid of was an Englander Stove.  I think it's better to spend more and burn less.  I dumped it for $150.

Not me. I cant see dumping a pay check every month for propane when I can buy a ton of pellets for less then half that. I also have about 30 truck loads of wood to burn if needed. Plus the t-stat is set at 62 all winter.

Heck i'da bought your stove! 

[QOTFU]

Nope, Duct Tape is still running around in his thong here in Houston.    You can thank me for that Kodak moment later!  (he's gonna kill me if he reads this!)

[hotglue #43]

Now i have to poke out my mind's eye.....Ackkkk

[asfltdncr]

Not to piss anyone off but I found that the pellet stove I just got rid of was so much less efficient than one I had in the 80's.  Sorry Fudgie, but the one I got rid of was an Englander Stove.  I think it's better to spend more and burn less.  I dumped it for $150.

Not me. I cant see dumping a pay check every month for propane when I can buy a ton of pellets for less then half that. I also have about 30 truck loads of wood to burn if needed. Plus the t-stat is set at 62 all winter.

Heck i'da bought your stove! 

I pay about $500/year for propane.Of course there are a lot of other variables.My point was that I believe the more expensive stoves burn less pounds of pellets per hour.There will be a payback but if I just purchased a lesser stove and it did what I wanted it to,I'm sure I'd use it till the blowers or control board bit the dust.

[Varmintmist]

I fired the outdoor woodburner for real about 4 weeks ago. It wasnt working hard until last week.

[fudgie]

I fired the outdoor woodburner for real about 4 weeks ago. It wasnt working hard until last week.

How do those work? Do they force air into the house or like a boiler system or what? alot of them are popping up around here. Some guy next county south was in the middle of switching his house from propane to all wood when he had a gas leak. Blew him and his house up.

[¿spoom]

Only downside I'd mention on pellets over corn is that you don't have tons of rodents trying to get at the pellets. Heard some real horror stories on corn storage.

[nortman]

We've had ours running for a week now.  I have a Humble wood boiler with three zone hot water heat in the house. and a old wood and coal stove in the shed.  We go through 15-20 face cords a year.  I like a warm house, so we keep it at 72-76 all winter long.  We do have a propane boiler also, but I haven't ever lit the pilot light in 5 years on it.   In 66, when I was 11 years old I got my first motorcycle and first chainsaw.  We try to keep at least 3 years ahead on the wood supply.  Do to another neighbor wanting me to clean up his woods, we're closer to 6 years ahead right now.

[solo1]

We've got an air tight Fisher woodburning stove in the family room. It's a Mama Bear (yeah, that's what its called),  double doors and a mechanical draft vent. The thing weighs about 500 pounds with firebrick and !/4" thick steel body. I installed it right with 8 inch metalvent pipe and a heat shield behind it.  It worked great and was very efficient but I haven't used it in years. 

[Black Pearl's Captain]

The best thing I ever did was when we built this house 20 years ago was to make it energy efficient. I've got R25 walls (2x6 studs and 1" foil covered foam sheathing) triple pane Anderson windows and R50 attic insulation, my energy bills average about $125 a month.

Money spent on insulation and air leaks is well spent in my opinion.

Raymond

[fudgie]

The best thing I ever did was when we built this house 20 years ago was to make it energy efficient. I've got R25 walls (2x6 studs and 1" foil covered foam sheathing) triple pane Anderson windows and R50 attic insulation, my energy bills average about $125 a month.

Money spent on insulation and air leaks is well spent in my opinion.

Raymond

We're slowly getting this old farm house, (1920's) insulated. Kit and I put 2' in the attic in 06. Half the walls downstairs are done. The steel galvanized siding makes it difficult to blow it in. All new andersons downstairs but for 2 6'x7' picture windows. Old windows and storms upstairs with no wall insulation. There is only 2 heat registers up there anyway with 5 rooms. Its all used for storage but do have a spare bed up for those that stop by. At my rate it will be done in 20 yrs! I hope to move out west by 5 years anyway.

[Hotrodwing]

Up here in Pa been burning King Coal for over 20 years. I have a self feed stoker boiler and never run out of hot water and the wife keeps the place in the mid to upper 70's all winter long. I was thinking about a corn or pellet stove but if the place gets any warmer i will have to start opening some windows.  By the way this has also been the earliest that I had to start a fire in the boiler. So much for Global Warming arsehole al gore

[center12]

Been running our pellet stove for the last week and a half. Bought ours 3 years ago and love it. Have a cast Iron Harmon with a thermostatic control. Did a 50/50 corn/pellet mix a few years ago, not worth the trouble. Really like the Pennington pellets, low ash and seems like I get more burn time per bag.

[asfltdncr]

THE best wood stove I have had was called "The Federal" made by Federal Dutchwest and is now owned by Vermont Castings.
That stove was so stingy with wood.It had several dampers and a catalytic combustion element for secondary heat capture.
Three pieces of oak would burn all night in that stove and it flat put out some heat.

[SteveL]

THE best wood stove I have had was called "The Federal" made by Federal Dutchwest and is now owned by Vermont Castings.
That stove was so stingy with wood.It had several dampers and a catalytic combustion element for secondary heat capture.
Three pieces of oak would burn all night in that stove and it flat put out some heat.

I've got one of these in the downstairs family room, that I've had since about early 80s. It's smaller than the big old box I've got in the living room, but it puts out the same heat. I've got a big old Garrison, made in Claremont NH in the main house. It's a 1/4 inch cold rolled steel box lined with soapstone and has two big doors on the front. Open the doors and put in the screen and you've got a beautiful fireplace. (but I don't do that too often)

Burnign wood is a pain in the rear, but it's better than paying Arabs and greedy American business theives.