Pellet woodstoves- big problem question (Franklin, Hope: homes, roofing, vs)

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

GreenGene - how often do you need to dump the ash, clean the burn pot on that Harmon stove?

I empty and clean mine about every 2 weeks.

[GreenGene]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

GreenGene - how often do you need to dump the ash, clean the burn pot on that Harmon stove?

Each day after using the pellet stove I clean out the burn pot and clean the glass window of the door. It doesn't take long to brush the ash into the ash pan below. Every 3 to 4 weeks I use an old paint brush to move any ash collected on the chamber sides, back, and top back into the ash pan. Technically I don't need to clean out the burn pot as often as I do - newly-produced ash will just push the old ash out of the burn pot and down to the ash pan automatically.

I just dumped the ash pan this morning - first time this season. And each time I dump the ash, and while the ash pan is removed from the stove, I vacuum the sides, back, top, and bottom of the belly of the stove.

I don't know how many times I do this each fall/winter/spring - I'm guessing four more times this season. I suspect we use ours a bit more than we really need to, but when I'm sitting there reading or watching TV, I like to be comfortable, you know? We have 2+ tons of pellets on hand - I'm anticipating a fairly comfortable winter.

[jdhpa]

For those of you who burn pellets in a wood stove, do you have a pellet basket for your stove? My understanding is pellets burn hotter than wood and can damage a wood stove without a basket.

Thanks!

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by jdhpa

For those of you who burn pellets in a wood stove, do you have a pellet basket for your stove? My understanding is pellets burn hotter than wood and can damage a wood stove without a basket.

Thanks!

There have been a few times when I have had a bag of pellets here. I think one time my Dw was told they would make good cat litter [pellets do not make good cat litter]. Another time someone gifted me a bag.

As a result a few times I have tried to shovel a small quantity of pellets onto a roaring fire inside my woodstove.

It did not work.

Pellets like coal need a fairly specific dynamic before they will burn.

You mentioned a basket, that could be the missing factor.

Fortunately, there are non-electric pellet stoves on the market, so I can see where pellets might be useful in Maine.

[nm9stheham]

2 things going on:

Like coal, they are much more concentrated in mass. They need to at least partially burn from the bottom with some sort of grid or holes underneath to let the ash drop down; if they burn only from the top down, the ash produced at the top smothers the remaining pellets below. That is one thing that the burn basket in a wood stove does.

The matter of more concentrated heat is what can damage a wood stove. That is the 2nd thing..... keeps the higher temperatures away from the wood stove's interior surfaces.

[CARas2020]

I don't have a pellet stove but I find this interesting. I had no idea about the exhaust fan turning off and filling the house with smoke.

My friend has one they use it to supplement their propane gas. They live in western PA so usually snowy and cold in the winter.

How much (on average) is a bag of pellets and how long does it last? I suppose it would depend on how cold it is .

Thanks

[Submariner]

I do not have a pellet stove.

My understanding of them is the convenience factor. On your way home from work, you can stop at a hardware store or a grocery store and pickup two bags, very convenient. When you get home, you pour one bag into the pellet stove hopper.

The hopper can hold one bag worth of pellets at a time. ideally that should be enough for 12 to 24 hours.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by Submariner

I do not have a pellet stove.

My understanding of them is the convenience factor. On your way home from work, you can stop at a hardware store or a grocery store and pickup two bags, very convenient. When you get home, you pour one bag into the pellet stove hopper.

The hopper can hold one bag worth of pellets at a time. ideally that should be enough for 12 to 24 hours.

The bad thing about pellet stoves is they (almost all) have electric controls and so need electricity. But the good thing about them is that they have electric controls and automatically adjust fuel feed rate and air intake level under thermostatic control to your desired set point. They also don't require the operator to split wood or kindling, and produce less ash and less creosote. Units with a big hopper can take two bags of pellets at a time. Definitely costs more to feed, but is less work than a wood stove.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

The bad thing about pellet stoves is they (almost all) have electric controls and so need electricity.

Only if you choose to buy an electric model.

... They also don't require the operator to split wood or kindling, and produce less ash and less creosote. Units with a big hopper can take two bags of pellets at a time. Definitely costs more to feed, but is less work than a wood stove.

[mainegrl2011]

If you are going to have insurance on your home, your heat source needs to meet the requirements of the insurance company. Some friends gave up their wood stove for a pellet stove because of insurance. I don't have all the details. Insurance companies seem to have more and more requirements.