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Location: Hidin' out on the Mexican border;about to move to the Canadian border
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I guess all the talk we heard about pellet stoves was from people who think they're great. But what about regular heating systems for the house? We'll be looking for a house soon and even in a rental, I want a house that I can keep reasonably warm. What's the best way to go as far as efficiency versus cost? Most of my life, I've used propane furnaces for central heat.
I guess all the talk we heard about pellet stoves was from people who think they're great. But what about regular heating systems for the house? We'll be looking for a house soon and even in a rental, I want a house that I can keep reasonably warm. What's the best way to go as far as efficiency versus cost? Most of my life, I've used propane furnaces for central heat.
I guess all the talk we heard about pellet stoves was from people who think they're great. But what about regular heating systems for the house? We'll be looking for a house soon and even in a rental, I want a house that I can keep reasonably warm. What's the best way to go as far as efficiency versus cost? Most of my life, I've used propane furnaces for central heat.
Since this threrad was *about* pellet stoves, and the Quadra-Fire in particular, in order to avoid having the thread locked by the mods you should either find a thread that already pertains to your question, or start a new one.
I love a good wood fire but, frankly, if there is no one home to tend it regularly it doesn't work out all that well, especially when the temps get really low. A pellet stove doesn't have quite the "ambience" of a good wood fire but it does have its advantages- many are now self-starting, most can be controlled with a thermostat, and they need to be filled much less often, plus the fuel storage is cleaner and the ash is less. You can leave it running and go to work and the house will still be warm when you get back home.
Disadvantages- some are noisy (but some are very quiet), you need electricity to run the motors and control unit. A battery back-up unit will keep you running through a short power failure but you need to have an alternative if the power stays off for an extended length of time...although the same is true for a standard oil-fired furnace or a heat-pump setup. It also doesn't look quite as nice as a real wood fire, you can get ceramic log sets for some models and this helps the appearance, but...
There are trade-offs associated with whatever method of heating you choose to use- oil/gas can be expensive, wood can be messy and requires more attention, etc., etc.
I like to use a combination of a woodstove and a pellet stove, the best of both worlds in wood fueled heating.
For the person who said the pellet stove wasn't putting out enough heat, all I can say is that there may have been a problem with the operation of it, or it was too small for the size of the house. My cheap Englander stove kept an 1100 sq. ft. house too warm without a thermostat...and I like it *warm* (I'm cold if the temp is below 80*).
Since this threrad was *about* pellet stoves, and the Quadra-Fire in particular, in order to avoid having the thread locked by the mods you should either find a thread that already pertains to your question, or start a new one.
I love a good wood fire but, frankly, if there is no one home to tend it regularly it doesn't work out all that well, especially when the temps get really low. A pellet stove doesn't have quite the "ambience" of a good wood fire but it does have its advantages- many are now self-starting, most can be controlled with a thermostat, and they need to be filled much less often, plus the fuel storage is cleaner and the ash is less. You can leave it running and go to work and the house will still be warm when you get back home.
Disadvantages- some are noisy (but some are very quiet), you need electricity to run the motors and control unit. A battery back-up unit will keep you running through a short power failure but you need to have an alternative if the power stays off for an extended length of time...although the same is true for a standard oil-fired furnace or a heat-pump setup. It also doesn't look quite as nice as a real wood fire, you can get ceramic log sets for some models and this helps the appearance, but...
There are trade-offs associated with whatever method of heating you choose to use- oil/gas can be expensive, wood can be messy and requires more attention, etc., etc.
I like to use a combination of a woodstove and a pellet stove, the best of both worlds in wood fueled heating.
For the person who said the pellet stove wasn't putting out enough heat, all I can say is that there may have been a problem with the operation of it, or it was too small for the size of the house. My cheap Englander stove kept an 1100 sq. ft. house too warm without a thermostat...and I like it *warm* (I'm cold if the temp is below 80*).
Pellet stoves are for communists, real Mainers burn wood!
Pellet stoves are for communists, real Mainers burn wood!
For those of you with absolutely no sense of humor what so ever this obviously ridiculous statement was made in a tongue in cheek manner....Zymer got it! Now stop stomping your feet.
My cheap Englander stove kept an 1100 sq. ft. house too warm without a thermostat...and I like it *warm* (I'm cold if the temp is below 80*).
Wow that has to be spendy runnin' a fire year round,what the average temp in Maine is what? 70, maybe 72 in the summer. Or do you just wear a lot of sweaters, Z ?
Well yesterday's power outages ,which I understand have continued today in many places, have got people who purchased pellet stoves scratching their heads on the wisdom of such a purchase here in outage prone Maine.
A friend of my brother who heats with a pellet stove as primary heat source could not get his to run on a small generator. I don't know how much the stove draws though it must be significant to overload a 1500 watt generator.
He took his wife and kids to a motel last night. He's less than happy with the pellet stove.
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