Pellet Stoves? Energy savings?

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Anyone recommend one for my new house (a cape cod at about 1300 square feet - the house is a square and there is a wood burning fireplace/chimney)?

Just so you know. . .I plan to do the "non-sexy" things first - better insulation in the attic and basement and around the hotwater baseboard pipes from the boiler in the basement.

How much time til you make your money back with a pellet stove?

[greenskeeper]

A few years back there was a shortage of wood pellets and I think it went to about $5/bag

With a pellet stove with most other forms of heating you are relying on a source for the fuel.

Do you have access to firewood? If so I would (and do) use a fireplace insert.

Even if you have to purchase wood there will always be a supply, whereas pellet stoves are a "byproduct" of the construction industry which is in a downturn = less pellets available.

My house is about the same as yours and I can heat the entire house to a comfortable 70deg with firewood.

Of course it helps that I have an unlimited source of free firewood through my place of work.

The technology of fireplace inserts/woodstoves have increased dramatically in that I empty the ash in my stove approximately twice a month and when the stove is hot there is little if any smoke/smell from the chimney.

Also any insert (pellet, woodburning, or coal) will dramatically increase the efficiency of the fireplace, because when used as a traditional fireplace most of your heat is going up the chimney.

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Greenskeeper:

Thanks for your reply. I have thought about a wood burning stove because I know the advantage is wood is free if you time to chop it and split it. I am frankly not sure that I do so I would be buying by the cord. I have read that when you buy wood by the cord, it's about 20% moisture whereas pellets are 5% or less (therefore burn hotter). I do live in the Pinelands in NJ so trees and wood does abound here.

Mainly though, and this is probably my main concern. . .is that wood stoves are dirty. The fireplace/chimney I have is in the main living area and I can see dropping dirt and chunks of wood all over the floor in the winter, not to mention when you open the door, smoke drifts out, even if a little.

Even if it costs a little more, just being able to go over to a bag and scoop a bunch of pellets seems more attractive to me.

But what you said makes sense about supply and demand.

Thanks.

[TBH]

A friend of mine just installed 2 pellet stoves in her house. She said she thinks it will take them a long time to recoup the costs because of the cost of pellets relative to the cost of natural gas (their other heat source).

I really want to get a fireplace insert in my house, although I think it might be expensive since there is no working fireplace now. (It's plastered over and there's a vent from the forced air heating system in it.

My first step, though, is to get an energy audit. The 3rd floor of the house never gets warmer than 60 degrees or so, even when we blast the heat. There's just too far for the hot air to travel from the basement up to the 3rd floor, and I think the roof needs to be better insulated.

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Yeah, the new home I just had inspected. . .the inspector kinda did an energy audit - recommended insulation here and there mostly. . .replacing basement windows and so forth. . .I am sure that non-sexy stuff is where the savings are.

Not sure if I need a full audit.

[greenskeeper]

fiberglass batting in your attic will make the most impact, fairly cheap and easy to install

[rj.phila]

id recommend NOT doing a pellet stove. go wood stove. the pellet stoves arent built to burn wood, only pellets, so you are still at the mercy of the delivery of a product. i own 2 wood stoves. youd be amazed how much free wood is out there, once you start looking.

[bjl584]

You will pay around $4.50 a bag for pellets. If you burn the stove constantly you will get about 24 hours out of a bag if you keep the auger on the medium setting.

My Dad has one of these stoves. It's puts out nice heat and it's clean to operate. One downside is the expense to operating it. Also, you must be sure to keep the bags of pellets completely dry. If they get wet at all, it will ruin the pellets. If you attempt to put pellets into the stove that got wet at some point they can bind up the auger. You will then have to take apart the stove to clean it out.