pellet stoves (Bangor, Bristol, Hope: power lines, home, landscaping)

[L-88]

Originally Posted by nascarchick62

I have quick question. I thought I read in a post that you can purchase a basket to go inside your woodstove so you can burn pellets? Can anyone give me some more info on this?

Do they go in wood stoves?
Does anything special need to be done to the stove?
what are the drawbacks?

Price? where to purchase?


Okay. My first question was quick.

Thanks for any and all help.

I doubt it. Wood pellet stoves have an electric auger that continuously supplies the pellets to the burn pot. Without that continuous supply you would have to stand there all the time and feed pellets into the burn pot. Unless someone has come up with something to convert a woodstove to pellets.

I burned pellets for several years, but when the lights went out I lost my heat source. Pellets aren't all that cheap, and if they get the least bit damp, they revert back to a pile of useless sawdust.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by L-88

I doubt it. Wood pellet stoves have an electric auger that continuously supplies the pellets to the burn pot. Without that continuous supply you would have to stand there all the time and feed pellets into the burn pot. Unless someone has come up with something to convert a woodstove to pellets.

I burned pellets for several years, but when the lights went out I lost my heat source. Pellets aren't all that cheap, and if they get the least bit damp, they revert back to a pile of useless sawdust.

There are basket devices that you can get in order to burn the pellets in a woodstove. I've seen them advertised, but I don't know anything more than the fact that they exist.

My pellet stove is on a battery back-up, still runs even if the main power goes out. Always good to have a back-up heat source as well.

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by cordoba11

I would like to hear peoples opinions[ good & bad] about their pellet stoves. cost of fuel, ease of opperation, heat ouput, length of burn and the such. thanks ahead of time

i have been doing some resurch on the web.
and this is what i got.
1 gal of #2 heating oil yealds 144,000 btu =39,600,000 for a 275 gal oil drum,thats $1028.00 pr fill up.
one pound of pellets yeald 8600 btu thats 17,200,000 pr ton=250.00 pr ton.
wood yealds 8600 btu pr pound, a cord can run from 3500 to4400 pounds pr cord,at $150.00 pr cord.
fire wood yealds the same as pellets depending on how dry the wood is.
propane has 92,000 btu pr gal.
we have an out door wood furnace .if i had to buy my wood i dont think id owne one becouse its a wood pig.
dont get me wrong i like it.i fill it once a day and it works well.but i burne twice the wood that i useto,
the largest pellet stove i could find only puts out 63,000 btu
most homes in maine have heating systems that put out 86,000 to 140,000 btu. i hope this helps you.

[cordoba11]

yes it does, thanks. I think after reading all these posts i will go with a regular wood stove i all ready own. If i ever get to [the county] i hope i will able to get some wood cheaper, by cutting it myself, or at least picking it up and splitting it myself.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by cordoba11

yes it does, thanks. I think after reading all these posts i will go with a regular wood stove i all ready own. If i ever get to [the county] i hope i will able to get some wood cheaper, by cutting it myself, or at least picking it up and splitting it myself.

We looked at a house the other day that had a woodstove, which would also burn a sort of compost brick that supposedly burns hotter and cleaner than wood, but is cheaper. I can't remember what the lady called it though.

[maureengld]

Use the metal bestos type pipe and try adding some pea coal (anthracite) to the wood ambers once you have a nice bed of them. The antracite is dust free and bagged nicely nowdays...we love it. Great warmth

[tcrackly]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Pellet stoves?

I do not know. We have looked at them.

I manage 150 acres of woodlot.

Assuming that I only cut down dead or sick trees, and I drag out the logs just to clean-up the ground. While my goats eat the brush [only in my dreams can I focus their eating like that]. I can not burn enough wood in a winter to make any real dent in how much wood I have available to me.

I think that burning wood all winter, my woodlot is still generating more dead trees and blow-downs that I can consume.

And we burn a lot of peat. It is easy to harvest, just pitch-fork it up and into gunny-sack, kayak it back to the house and let it dry. It burns for a seriously long time. Btu wise peat is right in the middle between coal and hard wood.

We do not have a pellet stove. Just too darn much wood in every direction to bother with buying fuel.

Hey, does anybody want to cut up some fire-wood? Free for the taking? I do have just a few downed trees available.

We have electric baseboard heaters for our 20' x40' cottage. We primarily heat with an airtight woodstove thru the winter. This year the cost and availability of firewood has just gone crazy we're planning to use biobrick in the future. But we also just ordered a basket for the woodstove so we can burn pellets too. There are few makers of the baskets, we went with the local guy, all of 'em stating that the full basket can yield 2-4 hours of burning depending on the stove. Our Vermont Castings puts out a lot of radiant heat once it's hot.
I've always been curious about burning peat. I figured so many Irishmen can't be all wrong or maybe it's just a Wuthering Hieghts romantic notion. At any rate Wells has lots of peat bogs peppered thru the area.

[tcrackly]

Oh, to Mark S. the bricks can go by the name of Eco-brick, bio-brick. There are also some "night logs" composed of the same sawdust material. The bricks seem to burn hot and fairly long. They definitely burn cleaner than firewood because there's no moisture. They make them from industrial wood waste from woodworking shops and such so it's a great recycling system. And as soon as there's more local manufacturers of the stuff here in ME the better!!

[tankratt]

I saw and add on craigslist for a pellet mill which allows you to make your own pellets at home. Something like 125 pounds an hour. Nice way to add a few bucks in your pocket useing the stuff you rake up on you property or sawdust

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by tcrackly

We have electric baseboard heaters for our 20' x40' cottage. We primarily heat with an airtight woodstove thru the winter. This year the cost and availability of firewood has just gone crazy

Our eldest son has been selling cord wood all summer.

He has an ad in the BDN and Uncle Henry's, selling a full cord for $200, your choice of 18 inch or 24 inch.

Only in the last 2 weeks has anyone been willing to spend $200 for a cord.

... we're planning to use biobrick in the future. But we also just ordered a basket for the woodstove so we can burn pellets too. There are few makers of the baskets, we went with the local guy, all of 'em stating that the full basket can yield 2-4 hours of burning depending on the stove. Our Vermont Castings puts out a lot of radiant heat once it's hot.
I've always been curious about burning peat. I figured so many Irishmen can't be all wrong or maybe it's just a Wuthering Hieghts romantic notion. At any rate Wells has lots of peat bogs peppered thru the area.

Northern European nations each use peat as their primary source of home heat and industrial electric power.

North America has 90% of the planet's peat.