Keep in mind that I've only used it for a couple weeks, that being said, so far so good ruclips.net/user/postUgkxAU9pOCSV9Y5JprooHvfxTpOrt4hx8uRM . Using it at 8 ft. by 8ft. deer blind that is insulated. I have to keep the door cracked for it to get enough air to burn, but that is very likely the wood I've used. Much better quality than I expected for the price. Now if I can just take it easy in the beginning it won't be 90 degrees in my blind. All in all it seems like a keeper.
This stove is a good deal all around. You use less wood (pellets) than a regular fire place. Pellets are a lot easier to handle, less mess, and easy to store. And I can honestly say, I am so happy, I never have to cut, split, and stack fire wood again.
On high heat my Enviro mini ,filled with 40 pounds of pellets gives me 12 hours of 70 degree heat in a 1200 square ft house, winter temperatures outside are often -25 C . my old wood stove could barely manage a 5 hour burn, I always woke to a cooling house. I used to burn 6 cords of wood each year now i burn 3 tons of pellets that store about the same as a cord of wood, so i save space save maintenance and can put up a whole year of wood pellets in an afternoon. wood gathering used to eat up weekend after weekend. about 900 bucks Canadian/ a year for pellets
i will add to this with my 3 years experience with a pellet stove. My home is an older home, about 2,000 sq ft in size, 2 story, not very energy efficient and has a lot of drafts due to older windows and doors which I haven't had the time or money to replace yet and also its not insulated very well which is another huge cost. It has a new heat pump I replaced the first winter I bought the house because the original one failed. The heat pump is about worthless once the temperatures get below 32 degrees. I live in an area that sees temps below 32 degrees more than 50% of the time over the winter. When I heated my home with heat pump (and no additional heat source like portable electric heaters), the heat pump could only keep my house at 65 degrees during a cloudy day, if I got lucky and it was sunny the sun would help heat it to about 70, and overnight the temp in the house would drop to 62 degrees with aux running non-stop. My electric bills averaged over 2 winters $400 a month (oct - march for 2 years). So two years of that, I installed a pellet stove. Pellets where I live cost between 3.58 and $5 a bag if you by them by the ton (50 bags). The last ton of pellets I bought a few weeks ago was $199.50 for 50 bags which is about $30 higher than last years cost. It takes 1 bag of pellets to keep my house at 67 degrees with the heat pump shut off. With the heat pump shut off, my electric bill still runs about $80 a month. So assuming my pellets cost $4 a bag, that would be $124 a month in pellets. Add the cost of the electric with the heat pump turned off ($80) brings it to $204 for combined pellets and electricity in the winter. That is a $196 a month in savings during winter while also keeping my house 2 degrees warmer and more comfortable. My pellet stove paid for itself with savings in 2 winters. Oh yea, this is probably going to be even more savings this year because the electric companies raised the rates this year.
Even if I set the stove on low it will use 2 bags a day costing @ $10. That isn't to much to stay warm. Seems like I have trouble keeping it operational.
@@Moose803 with this being a mild winter for Kentucky, right now I am averaging .8 (not even a full bag of pellets) to heat my house. I did do a lot of fixing drafts at the beginning of this winter heating season (plastic over many drafty windows, new storm door), closed off two rooms I don't really use much (my fitness room, a spare/guest bedroom). I use the pellet stove to exclusively heat my house so I am currently getting by on about $4 a day heating cost using a premium hardwood pellet by somerset. I haven't really had any operational issues with the stove I use which is the pleasant hearth PH50CABPS model.
@@sharpridgehomestead $4 a day to stay warm, hard to beat that. The problem I have had 2 or 3 days after installation the door glass blew out with my girlfriend standing in front of it, sensors quit working after a month or 2, now the auger not working replaced motor ($100) still nothing. Got any ideas?
@@Moose803 the door glass blowing out almost indicates some sort of air flow problem (either inlet or outlet). What happens as the igniters start to heat up, it creates combustible gases and lots of smoke until the flame finally ignites. Some of that air is vented out the exhaust pipe during startup which you can clearly see as smoke. If there is a restriction somewhere, that allows the combustible gases to build up inside the stove and not escape that causes a small explosion when it finally lights. I've seen it happen on my own stove once (not enough to blow the glass out) when I had not cleaned the stove for several days and the exhaust outlet was almost clogged by pellet ash. First thing I would do is inspect the fresh air inlet and also the outlet and stove pipes to make sure they are all clear. An exhaust fan not working properly would also cause it.
@@Moose803 i would also def be calling technical support for the stove manufacturer who often will help diagnose a problem even if its out of warranty.
The high wattage in the beginning is the ignition heater which is glowing red to start the first pellets on fire. It's like running a toaster till ignition is over.
@@Mymumsey1 We have a 1200AH bank and a 1500w inverter, the heater draws about 250w for 10 minutes in order to run the element that starts the pellets burning. After that the fan will keep the combustion going and mine only uses 40w during this time which is VERY efficient considering the fan also blows heat into the room. We found it to be absolutely brilliant as long as you keep them cleaned out. (once every 2 days if using for large amounts of time) We use it for nighttime only so a bag of pellets for 15AUD will last 3 days. Personally I would highly recommend.
That was excellent. Simple enough for me to understand from beginning to end. I have been asked many times how much electricity it takes to run a pellet stove and usually I just repeat what the salesman told me which was it is like have a 100 watt light bulb on. You just supported that and gives me confidence that a pellet stove is a smart decision for heating my home. Thanks and good job!
I have been using a pellet stove for 17 years. I use one ton of pellets during the winter in N. Oklahoma. The pellet cost is usually about $230. My electric bill is half of summertime cooling. It cost $880 to fill my propane tank when using that fuel. It takes 3 tanks to 4 tanks a winter. The pellets are a super saver. We run ours on lower all the time. Get to hot any higher.
one I run mine pretty much on idle which is pretty hot. I can't be in the same room. I use 1-1.5 bags a day and if you don't include the cold days in October and April you have 150 winter days. So that adds up to 3-3.75 tons a season. So using just one ton and running it all the time doesn't add up. That's 1/3 of a bag , 13lbs a day. I'll gladly trade p68 for his if all I'll need is 1 ton. If I turn it up some which is no where near high, I use 2 bags a day .
@guided one Auger must be clogged . If you have pellets that have a lot of dust or have gotten wet and are falling apart it will repeatily clog . Better off unloading and putting another bag of pellets in . For shits & giggles turn feed all the way up to see if that unclogs it first, if it doesn't then empty and put in new . Auger is slow moving especially when feed is turned down low .
@guided one pellets are probably not even dropping into the augers, it's clogging in the bottom of the hopper. Augers only runs a few rpms even on high feed rate. In the hopper take and poke down with a 1/2" wood pole to check if it's clogging where augers starts Use wood so you don't damage anything . Good luck. If stove is new you should be able to ask dealer for some advice. The more you know the closer you'll be to getting it going. The cord directly to a wall socket is fine just as long as you have power to it. You said it's moving slowly so obviously the lights are on inside door. If your pellets are falling apart ( turning to sawdust ) don't even bother using them, it will be a disaster. Should be hard and about 1/2" or longer.
Yes, they are!! I have had my Enviro Windsor sense 2002, I loved my Air Tight wood stove but I decided on the Pellet Stove for the new house, thinking ahead to my old age I decided I would always be able to fill a 5-gallon bucket with pellets and carry it into the house from the garage. On top of that, it's cleaner and I'm not bringing in unwanted guests!!! Now we are in our 70s and I'm even happier with my decision. It's doesn't heat quite as well as the old wood burner but it's close!!! So much cleaner too!!
I'm now in my 70's, too, and have been considering a pellet stove instead of a traditional wood stove for the very same reasons that you had. Thanks for opinion, as it makes me think I'll be doing the smart thing by getting a pellet stove.
Very informative. Thanks for crunching the numbers.Remember, buying pellets by the ton usually saves around $1.25 per bag.Consider buying by the ton and youll definitely save even more. Great work.
Tip: You should plug the unit into a battery back up surge protector in case you experience loss of power. Circuit/Motherboards do not like power fluctuations at all. Could save you $300 plus.
Nice video.....it is great to see how you thought through the process of figuring out costs because this will give folks a template for doing their own analysis on what ever stove or heating device they might have questions about. Thanks for the time and work on this.
Thank you for this video! You answered everything I've wondered. We recently rented a place that has a pellet stove and I only ever remembered people telling me dont waste my money using one, they aren't efficient. And when I researched last year the efficiency vs electricity the info online seems to indicate its not worth the time and effort it takes to deal with it. So last winter we just used the Forced Air Furnace and it was a super harsh winter and knew it was going to be bad for expense. We tried to stay at a minimum temp to just not be freezing our butts off and it ended up costing us $250/mo. Your math is that even at max heating its still less than that. We are definitely going to use the stove this winter!! And we will actually be able to be warm and afford it!
Dude, seriously amazing video. We just bought a pellet stove and that's exactly what I was wondering. Thanks for taking the time to make this I know it took several hours of your time. YOU are what's RIGHT about the Internet!!! Cheers!!
I teach a two year HVAC course to high school students, we use renewable heat source heating at the end of the course as there is so much interest and use up here in Northern NY state. The savings per btu is incredible to say the least. Most pellet stoves users see a payback within three years of use. Great video thank you
Thanks for the video. Couple things. 1. When you turn the thermostat up above room temp on a Quadrafire Castile the start-up cycle will initiate - In start-up cycle the combustion/exhaust fan will turn on and run close to line voltage through start-up. - Auger feed motor will start to operate for start-up sequence. - The loop igniter in the Castile will turn on - Igniter will get red hot, air rushing around it is what lights the fire. Igniter in the Castile is 300 Watt. Generally speaking the igniter will be on for just 2-5 minutes during startup. - Once the fire is lit the thermocouple over the firepot detects the temperature and allows the unit to go into normal operating mode based on the heat setting you have set on the unit. - The Convection or room air blower is in line with a low limit switch. Once the low limit switch detects proper temp it will lock in and allow the blower to come on and start blowing heat into the room. 2. In normal operating mode the fuel consumption and electric consumption will vary based on the heat setting you have the stove set to. The Low, Medium, High Switch on the Castile model will control the Exhaust Fan, Convection Fan and Auger Feed Motor output. There are many variances between pellet stoves and wood pellet fuel. Feel free to connect with us for questions, technical assistance or replacement needs. We have the largest NFI certified pellet stove tech team in the country with more than 30 years of experience with pellet stoves. Thanks again!
I am a Florida girl moving to Wisconsin and the house up there has a pellet stove upstairs. have never seen one and I am trying to do some research to figure out how to use one. I appreciate the video because I know we won't be freezing and can heat our home at a decent price! Thanks for making this video!
I've found that using the pellet stove during the day and when the Temp. outside is above 25 degrees works better for me. As the outer rooms will be cooler without the central on, at night I use the central heat for an overall 68-degree temp. inside and turn the pellet stove off. It is a big help especially in the late fall and spring where I use the pellet stove exclusively and shut down the furnace as I have an on-demand hot water system.
Buying a pellet stove was a game changer and one of the best investments I ever made for my home. I've saved thousands of dollars, the stove has more than paid for itself and I can keep my house at a warm 70-72 degrees in the winter. I had a wood stove which worked ok but you had to constantly feed it wood and it would eventually go out while I was away at work. Running a pellet stove is so easy and so efficient in all aspects, even cleaning out the ashes. I recommend buying a reliable brand like Harman which I've had for years and keep it running constantly all winter and have never had any problems with it. Also don't go cheap on the pellets, buy the premium quality/brand pellets, they burn hotter with less ash which you will appreciate in the long run.
Thank you for doing the math. My cabin is really small and I use a small propane furnace, which I estimate costs around $50 a month in the winter. A pellet stove would probably be about half that, but the trade-off is it's going to take up more space, which is very limited already.
Ryan Cress the best to buy is a Harmon. Mine has been in operation for 7 years. I burn 4 to 5 ton of pellets in my drafty old farm house. About 200 a ton. Propane is probably cheaper right now but my furnace rusted out.
Don't buy a "make-believe" stove from Lowes or Home Depot. They in no way resemble what a true pellet stove is. Get a Harmon, Whitfield (Country Stove, or Lennox) , or Quadrifire. A true stove these days costs north of $2500. But you can easily purchase a top notch quality stove used, and run it for may years.
So true! I bought a used Lennox 6 years ago in michigan, no breakdowns, no minor repairs, 90% of the time I run it on low and it just keeps on chugging thru the winter. Somewhere around 3 tons a year.
Your burner and combustion blower come on when you power up. Once the pellets ignite the burner shuts down. Once the stove gets to a certain temp your distribution blower starts. The only wattage draw after ignition will be 2 blower motors and the augur motor when it cycles. Been burning pellets since 1991.
@@j.c.v7628 my original one was a Lopi. I put it in about 1991. It was still running like a champ when we sold the house this past June. A second pellet stove we put in in 2005. That was a Harman and no problem with that one either. In our new house we have a Harman fireplace insert and a freestanding Harman. Expensive stoves but quality throughout. I recommend Harman wholeheartedly.
Bought a whitfield pellet stove in 1992 and replaced it with a harmon in 1998.Like the harmon as it is a feed directly to the burn box not a drop down,...I burn about 120 bags a year and this year bought pellets for $4.99/bag.Clean the stove every month and takes about 1/2 hour.
@@chrisbeekley1887 Can't beat a Harman. I would never buy another brand to heat my home. I have a cheapy Vogelzang in my camp...works OK but cheaply built and is nothing I would want to rely on!
I have an enviro m55 freestanding cast iron pellet stove. It does a great job. 70 downstairs and 65 upstairs at night on 2nd setting with temperatures in the high 30s. Setting is on 2 mostly and our gas heat kicks on maybe once a night. Amazing savings. We love the off the grid feeling. Need to find a way to get out from under the summer AC costs.
I live on a 83' yacht with a pellet stove. The stove has a homemade water coil to transfer heat to my boiler that is the main system. The boiler is diesel fired and serves a hydronic system. Using pellets in the coldest weather (around 0 F) I use about 2 bags a day. I found buying the best pellets really pays in hotter fire, lower feed setting and a lot less ash. I only clean ash once a month. Average winter is mid 40°s to mid 50°s and use a bag a day. Cost here is about $5/bag for premium pellets (clean Douglass Fir). Using diesel runs 5-7 gallons a day in the coldest weather and I only heat parts of the boat. I also have a wood stove (also with a coil), but is only cheap if I cut, split, haul and store. Electricity is 7¢ kwh. Pacific NW.
Love our pellet stove. $4.20 a bag of pellets, on lowest setting, lasts 2 days. It is turned off at night. House is 1,500 sq. Feet. If power goes out, our portable generator easily keeps it functioning. Cat loves it also. Steady heat. Quiet. Country stove brand. Bought on sale at state fair.
Good video. Just a tip. Move your thermostat further away from the stove. By the time it heats up your thermostat will shut it down and never heat the room. Also the heat setting doesn’t effect the power usage once start up is complete the power will all drop as you showed. Heat setting only effects the amount of pellets that are dumped into the pot.
We open windows to level off the temps in the winter months. Which sounds kinda silly but fresh air keys your house from drying out to much and we think it helps us to avoid sicknesses also. Great Vids
When I heated with wood needed 2 cords for the winter. In my area a cord is $225 to $260 depending. When I switched went through 1 ton per year of pellets. At a cost of $200. It is clean, no smell, no dirt on floor. Pellets win no contest.
The pot doesn't heat, it has an igniter which is powered by electrical resistance, which is why when it's igniting you have a larger power draw. Once the igniter turns off (when you have fire) the power draw drops.
We have a Pleasant Hearth pellet stove, cabinet model. Going on 5 winter, no issues. Heats our house comfortably. In NE PA, we got through 2 ton a winter. We use an old Alaskan Kodiak 2 coal stove in basement, keep it on low. We use 1 ton of coal and 2 ton of pellets a winter. Approximately $700 and we are comfy all winter long. Great video explaining
What stove did you go with? I'm always keeping my eye out for stove brands and innovative tech as my stove (a Harman right now) is my main source of heat in the cold northeast. I'm always at the ready to purchase a new stove should mine bug out on me!
Good job Thanks, I got a pellet stove which I had for about 30 years now and I agree relativity not that much at all. I think about thirty years ago I was buying the top brand pellets for about $2.40 a bag per ton. Now 2018 the same bag is about $6.00 a bag.
Where I live, you run your heating units about 1/2 the year (Nov - April). This is in the Northern CA mountains (Cascade Range). At $6.75 per day x 180 days = $1,215 per year. I can buy pine wood at $150 per cord. $1,215 divided by $150 per cord = 8 cords. I use about 6 cords per year. But of course, I cut, haul, split and stack my own wood so it costs about $600 per year (truck dmv fees, chainsaw gas and chains, truck insurance and truck wear and tear/gas, $60 for National forest permits ). The truck is used for other things too. When I get a little older (I am retired at 65), I may just buy wood. The power goes out a lot up here so I do have a small generator, but I like a wood stove best (I use the wood ash in my compost pile). And I cook on the wood stove during the winter (stews and soups in a big pot).
Keep in mind that the cost quoted was hypothetical for running the stove constantly for a 24 hour period. In my experience the stove is only running 30-60% of the time depending on the type of winter we’re experiencing. I live in mountains of northeastern Oregon. Winters here can run from November thru April. I use a Quadrafire Mt Vernon AE pellet stove for my primary heat with a natural gas water boiler as backup. In a typical winter I will burn 1 1/2 ton of pellets, approximately $375 @ $250 a ton for premium Douglas Fir pellets. In a hard winter you can add an additional 1/2 - 3/4 ton. I estimate my cost for pellets and electricity to be approximately $5/day for primary heat. The battery backup is an added bonus.
I don't have a pellet stove. Live in California where it's basically warm all year round. Still watched the whole dang video. Very interesting! Nice job
We live in Tennessee, so our stove is for coziness and emergency heat if the power goes out. The pellet stoves need for electricity makes it a no go for me. Oak and hickory is everywhere here.
We had one in our last house, and we loved it. Unfortunately, it went with the house. There was an option that included a 12 volt battery that would kick in for power outages, but they are so rare around here, we didn't bother with it, and never ended up needing it.
Put in a Napoleon NPS45 last winter...best thing ever! Super efficient. Did the spring clean in the summer and there was hardly any ash build up in the exhaust motor area. Have one ton of pellets ready to go for this winter
It generally cheaper to buy by the ton then by the bag. And different manufacturers of pellets have different quality of pellets which greatly affect how much you burn and how much heat you get from a bag. Buy a bag of each different manufacturer you can then load that bag into the stove after emptying the pellet storage bin. Then keep track of which product give you more heat with less ash. Then you will know which product to buy by the ton.
Initial amp draw is because the igniter element is heating up and drops sharply after the element is switched off. Love my Lopi leyden pellet stove. Very few problems after 10 years of use.
I have been using a pellet stove for about 13 years, I love it. I figured if it costs me the same or a little less than gas heat, it’s well worth it. I’m a little older and handle the bags myself, once they are stored. A little of a pain in the butt. I do feel it’s worth it. I enjoy the constant heat from the stove. I don’t mind cleaning the stove or moving the ashes out of the house. Glad you answered my question , if I was spending extra money for use of pellets verses natural gas. Thanks.
@@budnotu whats you point? Why did you feel you HAD to tell us you wouldnt put one in your house? Is it just some impulse thing to just blurt things out randomly ?
Same here I have a Lopi that's over 20 years old, it heats my entire 2000sqft home the entire winter and I Live in Upstate NY Winters are Long and cold sometimes hitting -20F from end of Dec. to mid March. My electric bill actually goes down 15% mainly because our home is all electric baseboard heat and we turn that off once the Lopi is going for an hour or so. Boatbuddy if you purchased a quality pellet stove like harmon or Lopi you would change your mind in a heart beat. Keep in mind when I bought my Lopi it was $1200.00, the same stove today is over $3700.00 but you don't have to spend another 4 grand on chimney and there is basically no code for pellet stoves because of the safety features they come with and how they burn
Thanks for the useful video and documentation. If you don't mind I'll share my experiences. I have two quite old pellet stoves. One in the basement of my 1100 sq. ft. house and the second in my shop in another building. Both my pellet stoves use the method of moving pellets from the hopper to the fire pot from below. That is the pellets are pushed by the auger up into the fire pot rather than dropped from above. I greatly prefer this method over the pellets being dropped from above as shown in the video. Feeding pellets from below allows me to lay a large chunk of firewood such as the gnarly unsplittable chunks on top of the fire pot. With the pellet feed set as low as possible the pellet fire and fire pot blower acts as a large coal bed and burn these chunks at a fairly high BTU rate. In addition to this augmented fuel, I've installed a stack robber on the flue pipe of the stove to reclaim heat that would otherwise be lost Since the fire is operating under positive pressure from the burner fan I don't worry about the chimney draw causing a problem.
Thank you sir for doing the math and crunching the numbers. I also wondered how efficient my stove was and this helped confirm that I made the right choice. I just bought a King pellet stove last January and I love it. Before I bought the pellet stove I burned wood. After burning wood for ten years and being a slave to a chainsaw and wood splitter I thought there’s got to be a better way to get the wood heat without always being tied up on my days off cutting wood or cutting wood in the freezing cold and snow. I Did some research on pellet stoves and bought the King 👑. Less mess, no bugs, thermostat controlled, with the feel of wood heat. Absolutely love the pellet stove. Thanks for sharing.
I just bought 50 bags to be delivered next week. That normally gets us through the season. We have the exact same stove, we love it. If you get a pellet stove, keep in mind the stores seem to run out before you need to stop using it so stock up.
Just came across this video. My question is how does it compare to the cost of running your furnace for the same amount of time. Then figure out how long you would need to run the pellet stove to recover the cost of the stove itself.
Good Job! I was thinking about one of these as a supplemental heating source. You answered any thoughts I may have had on one. I also will be purchasing a stove of a well known brand. Thanks again! Best information about pellet stove I have seen yet. One more thing I forgot to mention. I like the vacuum you keep close and on hand for quick and easy cleanups.
I heat my house entirely with a pellet stove throughout the cold months (6 months a year in the Northeast US). I turned my oil furnace off 5 years ago and haven't run it since (I have a hybrid electric hot water tank). I use 3.5-4 tons of pellets per year. I would strongly suggest a Harman stove. I love my P38 (discontinued model). The way the burn pot is designed where pellets are pushed up and into the pot as opposed to dropping pellets via a gravity feed into a pot is MUCH better than any other system out there. Plus their use of the ESP probe (a temp sensor located in the exhaust pipe) helps to keep the temperature at a consistent level within 1 degree of where I set it (using room temp mode). Granted, it is a bit more work than a furnace but I love the cost savings and am willing to clean the stove periodically and one deep clean per year in exchange for those savings.
Thanks for the info. I had no idea pellet stoves had an electrical element to them. This is not for me. My whole reason for wanting a wood stove is as a secondary/backup source to a cottage that already has all-electric heating.
Andrea Speaks there are non electric gravity fed pellet stoves. You have to manually start them with a small torch and then they run on their own. Not sure how effective they are but they do exist.
Thanks for the info! I've got a quadrofire pellet stove insert have had it for 7 years. Before that had a infered heater(witch was much more expensive to operate)
I tried the same thing with my England pellet stove. It's using about 350 watts when the igniter is on but it only drops to about 150-180 watts during normal running. I think it might be because it as a fresh air intake blower in addition to the exhaust blower motor. After about 5hrs of running it had used about 0.88Kwh. This was at the highest temperature and blower settings of 9,9. If I turn it down to 5,5 it's using about 120-130 watts.
I have a pellet stove. They are fairly high maintenance. Plus the igniter burns out about every 5 years. Plus the sensor and sensor cover need replacing less often. I'm trouble-shooting my QuadraFire as it stopped igniting. I removed the igniter and will replace it. I also found the sensor cover in the fire pot, so don't know yet if this was the problem, although I suspect it's only the igniter since the sensor has nothing to do with igniting the pellets from what I've been able to discern. The igniter cost is between $60. and $70. to replace. Not cheap.
Thanks for this. Really helped. I'm putting a pellet stove in soon. There is no natural gas in my area, and it would be silly to use trucked in propane for heating ( too expensive).
I ran a pellet stove exclusively for heat with the oil furnace for back up. Just remember to fill the stove before going to bed. Loved it. We're in Wisconsin and only had to run the furnace when it got below zero. Otherwise we only ran the pellet stove. You'll like it, I'm sure.
I was thinking which one I chose for my house wood stove or palettes stove . With this information definitely i will chose palettes stove . thank you sir .
Couple things...first off...it you'll put a small handful of pellets in the burn box before you close the door after cleaning it will start up much quicker. Second....I lived in Colorado outside of any natural gas source so we used propane. Before we put in a small pellet stove (1600'sq house) it cost us nearly $400 a month in the cold months to heat. After the pellet stove it was just under $120 a month. HUGE savings and the heat was much nicer and no huge rushing air sound from a forced air heater. It takes a bit of maintenance and cleaning every other day....major clean every 3-4 weeks but well worth the effort. We loved it all around. Buy your pellets by the ton and early in the fall and you can get premium pellets for around $3 a 40# bag. We kept ours running full time on the lowest setting and it was plenty. Burns about 1 bag every day and a half. Also do yourself a favor....keep an extra exhaust and distribution fan and an igniter on hand. It's easy to change and you WILL need to change them from time to time. You can actually light it with a bbq grill lighter but once the fans get noisy you'll want to change them pretty quickly. You can't fix them...I tried....
The igniter combusts the pellets in the beginning (thus the high wattage) and once ignited shuts off. Roller cage fans are very efficient and take nothing to drive. The bigger question is BTU cost. I ran a QuadraFire 55000 BTU unit for ten years and after pellets went over $4.50 a bag natural gas became much better cost effective option.
Thank you, for doing the math, and the trial run with this pellet stove!! I was on the fence on getting one, but after watching this, I am getting one, a lot cheaper than running propane for the winter. Thanks!!
For the life of me I never even knew something like this existed. I grew up in Chicago where the heating system is different from this. And now I want to move to Portugal and am trying to figure out how the heating system will be in the area I want to move to considering they have cold winters. And the heating systems in Portugal are not the best. And that's how I bumped into this video. Someone mentioned something about pellets stoves. Thanks for educating me.
Thanks for this video! SUPER informative and we especially appreciated you working on a budget like us! Great job! Looks fantastic! Best wishes, Victoria Morales
ran through your video (great job) after watching a quick vid on an easy repair I did on my stove. If you like HOT HEAT, these are the bomb. I have had my stove 6 yrs - self installed with an inspection - and you can't beat the heat for the price. the 40lb bags are good exercise to move around =) and its not messy like a wood stove. We have a cut up 2200 sq ft ranch and this easily heats the middle 1/2 on some of the lowest heat settings. When it gets colder, we turn it up. If you are thinking about getting one, keep in mind that there is some maintenance to do but its not hard. Good luck - have fun - and stay warm!!
I've had a Quarafire for eight years .... (1`) igniter and (1) Thermal Couple. My fault because I let the thermal cover protector burn and melted the TC tip. Purchase a thermal cover tip and replace one a year. Igniter is a no brainer to replace and actually the newer ones pull less wattage. They require minimal cleaning about one a week and exhaust cleaning every couple years or so (accessible from the bottom). The fire pot is self-cleaning, otherwise, you have to scrape the ash quite often. Make sure you purchase a self cleaning model. They are not cheap, around 4-5k for a thermostatically controlled one. Burn 3.5 ton of pellets a year. Can't speak for the inexpensive models. Love it, best wishes.
Aside from having a choice in what you burn, that's one saving avenue. You can buy even seed for some if it's reasonable. I would like to see the difference of actual heat. Emergencies especially need something that might have a solar backup.
Appreciate your breakdown on power usage. I have a Quadrafire Mt. Vernon and have always wondered if the element shuts off when sufficient heat is established.
I'm really surprised to see how many people don't know you can get non-electric gravity fed pellet stoves, the first one I ever saw was owned by one of my friends parents back when I was in junior high (1990). Even today you can still get these units, people chose not to I guess because they want a thermostatically controlled unit. However if you're in an area where power loss is common in the winter snd you're tired of cutting, splitting, stacking, hauling wood inside, and dealing with all that ash you have options. Where I live wood is cheap and easy to come by but our local gov banned wood stoves and fire places do to thermal inversions, pellet stoves are fine as long ad they meet CA emission, no I don't live in CA, I'm in Montana. We also have a local pellet plant so pellets can be as little as $150 a ton.
I've had a pellet stove for over 10 years now. I bought it because the town regulations for installing a wood stove ment it would take up most of my living room. Pellet stoves have a low wall clearance specification. Having a small child at the time, all I had to do was place a fireplace screen gate infront of it for safety. Over the years, it has saved me much on household fuel oil costs. I find the cheapest way to buy pellet is by the pallet. For a two story house over the course of an average New England winter, it takes about 3 to 4 pallets. I don't have to deal with bugs and bark. The pellets come in a bag. I can fill the stove and a bag will either last all day (12 hours) or 24 hours depending on the cold weather. Yes, it is noisier than a wood stove but I can regulate the heat, which is nice.
@Susan S There is a non-electric pellet stove but it's not tiny. It's also not cheap. You can find it also on Amazon. It's called US "Stove Company US GW1949 Wiseway Non-Electric Pellet Stove". I do believe there are RUclips videos on this one as well as the Kimberly woodstove.
@Susan S Most people with pellet stoves have a battery pack backup they use for short power outages (couple of hours). The other choice would be to purchase a large generator for the house or a solar power back-up battery pack If you're looking for a small wood stove and have the resources, look into the Kimberly stove for small houses, RV or cabins. See the RUclips videos.
Thanks for the video! I have a couple PelPro's setup in a shop/apartment running on solar. Perfect video to help calculate their initial and operational draw.
I have a Harman Pellet Pro II since 1993 manual start, light it in November and run it until March. I get Three pallets of pellets form Home Depot, anything over $299 gets you no interest for twelve months. This way I stretch out the payments for a year and the electric company isn't getting all my money. Home Depot delivers and I rent a Pallet Jack from another hardware store, the guy puts a pallet in my garage and when he goes to get another I move it where I want it with the Pallet Jack.
@@baronvolkov6172 yes you're right I heat for five t six months , only stopping periodically for a good brushing and scraping. Sometimes I let the stove get a little cool and I go in while it's still pretty hot, I go thru a couple of 4in paint brushes a season. One thing I can say is this Harman is pretty old and can really throw the heat.
@@charleschapman2428 wow, good to know. My Quadrafire classic bay 1200 has been burning for a week straight and that got me worried thinking its not supposed to run continuously. Makes me think my house needs better insulating if the stove is only keeping up with the heat loss on low setting. Its below freezing here in the inland northwest.
@@baronvolkov6172 I run from 50 degrees and below, unless it's cloudy and temp going down later, above 50 it can get to 75 in my saltbox, only heating one side of house, I open the upstairs other side if it's 40 plus. Those 50 degree days are my cleaning days. I do have to start cranking it up when it gets really cold, I would say it is my primary heat source until it get really cold. I have used it as a primary heat source, but then I use 4 plus pallets 5ish. I have replaced a few parts, drive motor, exaust blower and the blower for hot air, No part failed, l replaced the drive and exaust due to starting to make noise, the hot air blower I felt was getting weak. The biggest Must Have is a fresh air source, I have one built into the exaust box that the pipe is in, it pre heats the incoming air so it doesn't cool down the stove, newer houses are too tight and need a air intake and older houses will pull a draft from wherever it can, that might be a draft near a water pipe in your cellar. Good luck. ,
The pellet stove we had didn't even have that start up spike in wattage you had, it didn't ignite on its own, we would open up the front and put in a tiny section of a fire starter, light it, and then turn the stove on. It was definitely the most efficient way to heat our small 4 bedroom home. (it had 4 bedrooms but it was maybe only 1000 Sq. Feet, not exactly a large house in my mind. It was so efficient, in fact, that it was nearly unbearable in my upstairs bedroom at some points, even though there was 3 feet of snow outside.
My pellet stove is old, it came with the house I bought in 2004, and was not new at that time. It works ok, in fact better than ok. I also have a wood stove for power outage times, which happens here on the Oregon coast with winter storms. My problem is it is starting to give me problems and I have a very limited income. I saw a smaller pellet stove for just under a thousand, but only holds 20 lbs of pellets. My present stove has a thermostat, but it doesn't appear the cheaper one does not have that function. Any advice on good reliable brands that are not out of my range. And take into account setting up. thanks.
I prefer my wood stove. We live on 5 acres with many dead trees so lots available wood. Pellet stoves require electricity so when the power goes out you won’t have heat. The only thing I still need is a generator to run my well pump.
altadutch why not just get a small inverter generator to use when the electricity goes out. Your already using another generator for your well. I don’t get it. Get a Yamaha 1000/1500 or so for 500 bucks
Heritage Wealth Planning i’m not sure what you don’t “get”. I’m old school and like the Physical aspect of Firewood prep. I don’t have a generator yet and will look at different options. Inverters require batteries to generate the needed wattage at 220vac
Thank you so much for this great video and crunching the numbers today’s date Saint Paddy‘s day 2022 in New York rates approximately 17/$.20 KW hope and pray for a country thanks again
if you use an inverter you have to use a pure sine wave inverter NOT a modified sine wave inverter. I have a quadrafire stove and it wouldn’t work properly with the modified sine wave. I use a 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter and it’s lots of power.
Hi Jettlash! Thanks for the video. I would like to know how much engergy the woodpellets contain. Then how much the stove uses and how much is transformed into heat production. Then you can say pelletstoves are very efficient, mamy of them reach an efficiency of over 90%. Plus you can burn wood made into pellets that as raw material nobody wants to burn the ofen with.
I have the same stove although electricity rates have climbed significantly since you made this video so has heating oil last delivery 5.29 per gallon. Great video
Very, very informative presentation. Thanks! I'll be purchasing a Quadrafire in the next couple of months. Thanks for making me remember that the internet has good people and info on it!
I am on my 13th Northern NH winter with a base model Harman P38, plenty of haters say these stoves suck, not true, I used to have a cold house and used 600 gal. of oil a winter, I now use about 3.5 tons of pellets & 100 gal of oil and my living room is 70 degrees. The electric bill is nominally more but the stove runs 24/7 for about 5 months, with sporadic use for another 6 weeks or so, huge saving and I buy locally produced pellets for about $250 a ton, in approximately 6.5 years of continuous use I have replaced: 1 auger motor, 1 blower, 1 exhaust temperature probe. Buy a high quality stove and start saving money!
One thing i noticed is that they are not very efficient on space as the flue always exits at the rear and never the top, but on the other hand they can easily exit straight out of the wall at that height. I prefer to exit in the roof just because i don't like the idea of any fumes getting closer to my windows and doors than necessary. Saying that they don't create much smoke. A little during startup and sometimes if the burn tray gets low when you run out of pellets.
I have 2 infrared Presto heaters. They each consume about 950 watts an hour on high. Local electricity rates are about .12 /kWh. Running both on high costs me about $.25 cents an hour. With the temps at 30F outside, they will run us out of here after a few hours (starting interior temperature of 65F- morning). Once the room temperature hits about 70-71F, I turn them down to about 50% power. They are either all on or all off so it cycles. Once I hit about 70F, the cost probably drops to about $.15 cents per hour for both. They are great because it is radiant heat so if you point one at where you are sitting, it feels like you are in front of a nice fireplace. Costco sells them for about $60 each. They are very portable and easy to use compared to having to haul and store pellets and then feed a pellet stove. Another thing, homes that have fireboxes (pellet/wood stoves or fireplaces) raises the cost of your homeowners insurance. I am only heating a great room (kitchen, dining and living room) with about 900 sf. I have an electric heat pump but when I turn it on, I have to heat about 3200sf and I have no need to heat the whole house in the winter. Also, heat pumps are not great when the temps are below about 40F. Below about 40F, they switch over to resistance heating which is very expensive. I live in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon. The average daily temperature in the coldest winter months is about 35-40F. I've owned this home for eleven years but only lived here in the summer time until two years ago. My first winter here, not knowing any better, I cranked up my heat pump and I was shocked to get a $400 monthly bill. Now in the worst months, my bill is around $230 a month AND being retired, we are here 24/7 most of the time. Our bedroom and bath is cold but we have an electric blanket on our bed. We turn it on an hour before going to bed and turn it off when we get into bed. We just have a small 1500 watt ceramic heater in the bath that is only on maybe 1 hour a week. My wife is also a glass artist and has four kilns that are running all the time. We live in the country so everything is electric. That works out to about $7-$8 a day. We think that is pretty good!
What else can you heat your home with( at a comfortable level) for an average of 10 dollars a day? Once the igniter goes off,and that only lights the pellets, it's very efficient. Especially if you consider other sources of heat and how much it cost to run them. Even if you own a wood lot,process the firewood yourself and burn it in a non powered wood stove, you will spend more in a heating season just to process the wood. Kinda a no brainer
I spend a little over 300 on fuel per year with mine. I live 100 miles south of the Canadian border. My gas furnace costs $130 per month in just natural gas alone. Yes. They are extremely efficient.
Central Alberta, we used a pellet stove to heat our house before we got the boiler going. Insulation and vapor barrier were complete. We had a long cold spell of around -30C/-22F for that time and the pellet stove was costing us $150/month for pellets. When we got the boiler (condensing natural gas) going with the in floor heat, it cost us $87/month for natural gas...we almost never use the pellet stove going on 8 years now. 1200sqft main floor with a 400sqft loft/vaulted ceiling.
Keep in mind that I've only used it for a couple weeks, that being said, so far so good ruclips.net/user/postUgkxAU9pOCSV9Y5JprooHvfxTpOrt4hx8uRM . Using it at 8 ft. by 8ft. deer blind that is insulated. I have to keep the door cracked for it to get enough air to burn, but that is very likely the wood I've used. Much better quality than I expected for the price. Now if I can just take it easy in the beginning it won't be 90 degrees in my blind. All in all it seems like a keeper.
This stove is a good deal all around. You use less wood (pellets) than a regular fire place. Pellets are a lot easier to handle, less mess, and easy to store. And I can honestly say, I am so happy, I never have to cut, split, and stack fire wood again.
On high heat my Enviro mini ,filled with 40 pounds of pellets gives me 12 hours of 70 degree heat in a 1200 square ft house, winter temperatures outside are often -25 C . my old wood stove could barely manage a 5 hour burn, I always woke to a cooling house. I used to burn 6 cords of wood each year now i burn 3 tons of pellets that store about the same as a cord of wood, so i save space save maintenance and can put up a whole year of wood pellets in an afternoon. wood gathering used to eat up weekend after weekend. about 900 bucks Canadian/ a year for pellets
ntt1 Hello. What did u pay for stove? Did u install it? Thanks
ntt1 where did you purchase your pellet stove and where do you get the pellets from?
ntt1 Try a small lump of coal in a wood stove 2 or 3 times a day, beautiful heat easy morning start.
i will add to this with my 3 years experience with a pellet stove. My home is an older home, about 2,000 sq ft in size, 2 story, not very energy efficient and has a lot of drafts due to older windows and doors which I haven't had the time or money to replace yet and also its not insulated very well which is another huge cost. It has a new heat pump I replaced the first winter I bought the house because the original one failed. The heat pump is about worthless once the temperatures get below 32 degrees. I live in an area that sees temps below 32 degrees more than 50% of the time over the winter. When I heated my home with heat pump (and no additional heat source like portable electric heaters), the heat pump could only keep my house at 65 degrees during a cloudy day, if I got lucky and it was sunny the sun would help heat it to about 70, and overnight the temp in the house would drop to 62 degrees with aux running non-stop. My electric bills averaged over 2 winters $400 a month (oct - march for 2 years). So two years of that, I installed a pellet stove. Pellets where I live cost between 3.58 and $5 a bag if you by them by the ton (50 bags). The last ton of pellets I bought a few weeks ago was $199.50 for 50 bags which is about $30 higher than last years cost. It takes 1 bag of pellets to keep my house at 67 degrees with the heat pump shut off. With the heat pump shut off, my electric bill still runs about $80 a month. So assuming my pellets cost $4 a bag, that would be $124 a month in pellets. Add the cost of the electric with the heat pump turned off ($80) brings it to $204 for combined pellets and electricity in the winter. That is a $196 a month in savings during winter while also keeping my house 2 degrees warmer and more comfortable. My pellet stove paid for itself with savings in 2 winters. Oh yea, this is probably going to be even more savings this year because the electric companies raised the rates this year.
Even if I set the stove on low it will use 2 bags a day costing @ $10. That isn't to much to stay warm. Seems like I have trouble keeping it operational.
@@Moose803 with this being a mild winter for Kentucky, right now I am averaging .8 (not even a full bag of pellets) to heat my house. I did do a lot of fixing drafts at the beginning of this winter heating season (plastic over many drafty windows, new storm door), closed off two rooms I don't really use much (my fitness room, a spare/guest bedroom). I use the pellet stove to exclusively heat my house so I am currently getting by on about $4 a day heating cost using a premium hardwood pellet by somerset. I haven't really had any operational issues with the stove I use which is the pleasant hearth PH50CABPS model.
@@sharpridgehomestead $4 a day to stay warm, hard to beat that. The problem I have had 2 or 3 days after installation the door glass blew out with my girlfriend standing in front of it, sensors quit working after a month or 2, now the auger not working replaced motor ($100) still nothing. Got any ideas?
@@Moose803 the door glass blowing out almost indicates some sort of air flow problem (either inlet or outlet). What happens as the igniters start to heat up, it creates combustible gases and lots of smoke until the flame finally ignites. Some of that air is vented out the exhaust pipe during startup which you can clearly see as smoke. If there is a restriction somewhere, that allows the combustible gases to build up inside the stove and not escape that causes a small explosion when it finally lights. I've seen it happen on my own stove once (not enough to blow the glass out) when I had not cleaned the stove for several days and the exhaust outlet was almost clogged by pellet ash. First thing I would do is inspect the fresh air inlet and also the outlet and stove pipes to make sure they are all clear. An exhaust fan not working properly would also cause it.
@@Moose803 i would also def be calling technical support for the stove manufacturer who often will help diagnose a problem even if its out of warranty.
The high wattage in the beginning is the ignition heater which is glowing red to start the first pellets on fire. It's like running a toaster till ignition is over.
THANKYOU for using a watt meter, Im off grid and it helps so much when people do this.
Where do you draw your power from? Would you recommend a pellet stove over a wood one for living off the grid?
@@Mymumsey1 We have a 1200AH bank and a 1500w inverter, the heater draws about 250w for 10 minutes in order to run the element that starts the pellets burning. After that the fan will keep the combustion going and mine only uses 40w during this time which is VERY efficient considering the fan also blows heat into the room. We found it to be absolutely brilliant as long as you keep them cleaned out. (once every 2 days if using for large amounts of time) We use it for nighttime only so a bag of pellets for 15AUD will last 3 days.
Personally I would highly recommend.
That was excellent. Simple enough for me to understand from beginning to end. I have been asked many times how much electricity it takes to run a pellet stove and usually I just repeat what the salesman told me which was it is like have a 100 watt light bulb on. You just supported that and gives me confidence that a pellet stove is a smart decision for heating my home. Thanks and good job!
It’s been 5 years.. but, thank you for being this thorough on this. Definitely helped me. Hope all is still going well.
I have been using a pellet stove for 17 years. I use one ton of pellets during the winter in N. Oklahoma. The pellet cost is usually about $230. My electric bill is half of summertime cooling. It cost $880 to fill my propane tank when using that fuel. It takes 3 tanks to 4 tanks a winter. The pellets are a super saver. We run ours on lower all the time. Get to hot any higher.
@Pioneer BluePrint LOL, 1 ton for a winter, this guy must live in Florida .
one I run mine pretty much on idle which is pretty hot. I can't be in the same room. I use 1-1.5 bags a day and if you don't include the cold days in October and April you have 150 winter days. So that adds up to 3-3.75 tons a season. So using just one ton and running it all the time doesn't add up. That's 1/3 of a bag , 13lbs a day. I'll gladly trade p68 for his if all I'll need is 1 ton. If I turn it up some which is no where near high, I use 2 bags a day .
@guided one Auger must be clogged . If you have pellets that have a lot of dust or have gotten wet and are falling apart it will repeatily clog . Better off unloading and putting another bag of pellets in . For shits & giggles turn feed all the way up to see if that unclogs it first, if it doesn't then empty and put in new . Auger is slow moving especially when feed is turned down low .
@guided one pellets are probably not even dropping into the augers, it's clogging in the bottom of the hopper. Augers only runs a few rpms even on high feed rate. In the hopper take and poke down with a 1/2" wood pole to check if it's clogging where augers starts
Use wood so you don't damage anything . Good luck. If stove is new you should be able to ask dealer for some advice. The more you know the closer you'll be to getting it going. The cord directly to a wall socket is fine just as long as you have power to it. You said it's moving slowly so obviously the lights are on inside door. If your pellets are falling apart ( turning to sawdust ) don't even bother using them, it will be a disaster. Should be hard and about 1/2" or longer.
Yes, they are!! I have had my Enviro Windsor sense 2002, I loved my Air Tight wood stove but I decided on the Pellet Stove for the new house, thinking ahead to my old age I decided I would always be able to fill a 5-gallon bucket with pellets and carry it into the house from the garage. On top of that, it's cleaner and I'm not bringing in unwanted guests!!! Now we are in our 70s and I'm even happier with my decision. It's doesn't heat quite as well as the old wood burner but it's close!!! So much cleaner too!!
I'm now in my 70's, too, and have been considering a pellet stove instead of a traditional wood stove for the very same reasons that you had. Thanks for opinion, as it makes me think I'll be doing the smart thing by getting a pellet stove.
This was EXACTLY what I was seeking to learn. Very rare that a video does that. Thanks you.
Very informative. Thanks for crunching the numbers.Remember, buying pellets by the ton usually saves around $1.25 per bag.Consider buying by the ton and youll definitely save even more. Great work.
This was very information! You are part of what makes the internet such an awesome place! Keep sharing!
Thanks for the nice comment, I appreciate that!
Agreed!
Nice job, I've been crunching the numbers myself trying to compare the cost of my current wood stove/ wood by the cord...very helpful, thanks
I'm paying about same for Elric but my high energy hardwood bags made from flooring sawdust are 3.87 a bag or 189.00 a ton.
@Captn Jack lucky my neighbor is in the pellet business
Tip: You should plug the unit into a battery back up surge protector in case you experience loss of power. Circuit/Motherboards do not like power fluctuations at all. Could save you $300 plus.
Very scientific approach. Thorough. I think many have wondered the same when assessing a potential purchase as I am. Thanks for all the hard work.
Nice video.....it is great to see how you thought through the process of figuring out costs because this will give folks a template for doing their own analysis on what ever stove or heating device they might have questions about. Thanks for the time and work on this.
Thank you for this video! You answered everything I've wondered. We recently rented a place that has a pellet stove and I only ever remembered people telling me dont waste my money using one, they aren't efficient. And when I researched last year the efficiency vs electricity the info online seems to indicate its not worth the time and effort it takes to deal with it. So last winter we just used the Forced Air Furnace and it was a super harsh winter and knew it was going to be bad for expense. We tried to stay at a minimum temp to just not be freezing our butts off and it ended up costing us $250/mo. Your math is that even at max heating its still less than that. We are definitely going to use the stove this winter!! And we will actually be able to be warm and afford it!
Dude, seriously amazing video. We just bought a pellet stove and that's exactly what I was wondering. Thanks for taking the time to make this I know it took several hours of your time. YOU are what's RIGHT about the Internet!!! Cheers!!
I teach a two year HVAC course to high school students, we use renewable heat source heating at the end of the course as there is so much interest and use up here in Northern NY state. The savings per btu is incredible to say the least. Most pellet stoves users see a payback within three years of use. Great video thank you
Thanks for your comment!
Thanks for the video. Couple things.
1. When you turn the thermostat up above room temp on a Quadrafire Castile the start-up cycle will initiate
- In start-up cycle the combustion/exhaust fan will turn on and run close to line voltage through start-up.
- Auger feed motor will start to operate for start-up sequence.
- The loop igniter in the Castile will turn on - Igniter will get red hot, air rushing around it is what lights the fire. Igniter in the Castile is 300 Watt. Generally speaking the igniter will be on for just 2-5 minutes during startup.
- Once the fire is lit the thermocouple over the firepot detects the temperature and allows the unit to go into normal operating mode based on the heat setting you have set on the unit.
- The Convection or room air blower is in line with a low limit switch. Once the low limit switch detects proper temp it will lock in and allow the blower to come on and start blowing heat into the room.
2. In normal operating mode the fuel consumption and electric consumption will vary based on the heat setting you have the stove set to. The Low, Medium, High Switch on the Castile model will control the Exhaust Fan, Convection Fan and Auger Feed Motor output.
There are many variances between pellet stoves and wood pellet fuel. Feel free to connect with us for questions, technical assistance or replacement needs. We have the largest NFI certified pellet stove tech team in the country with more than 30 years of experience with pellet stoves.
Thanks again!
I am a Florida girl moving to Wisconsin and the house up there has a pellet stove upstairs.
have never seen one and I am trying to do some research to figure out how to use one. I appreciate the video because I know we won't be freezing and can heat our home at a decent price! Thanks for making this video!
Thanks, this was super useful as I'm researching battery backups for my pellet stove, as mine is also Quadrafire
That would be really nice to have!
PraiseDivineMercy you have
I've found that using the pellet stove during the day and when the Temp. outside is above 25 degrees works better for me. As the outer rooms will be cooler without the central on, at night I use the central heat for an overall 68-degree temp. inside and turn the pellet stove off. It is a big help especially in the late fall and spring where I use the pellet stove exclusively and shut down the furnace as I have an on-demand hot water system.
Buying a pellet stove was a game changer and one of the best investments I ever made for my home.
I've saved thousands of dollars, the stove has more than paid for itself and I can keep my house at a warm 70-72 degrees in the winter. I had a wood stove which worked ok but you had to constantly feed it wood and it would eventually go out while I was away at work. Running a pellet stove is so easy and so efficient in all aspects, even cleaning out the ashes. I recommend buying a reliable brand like Harman which I've had for years and keep it running constantly all winter and have never had any problems with it. Also don't go cheap on the pellets, buy the premium quality/brand pellets, they burn hotter with less ash which you will appreciate in the long run.
Thank you for doing the math. My cabin is really small and I use a small propane furnace, which I estimate costs around $50 a month in the winter. A pellet stove would probably be about half that, but the trade-off is it's going to take up more space, which is very limited already.
I love the meat and potatoes break down, great video brother! Thank You!
looking at buying a pellet stove-you just sealed the deal. Thank you for your time and brain power!
You're welcome!
Ryan Cress the best to buy is a Harmon. Mine has been in operation for 7 years. I burn 4 to 5 ton of pellets in my drafty old farm house. About 200 a ton. Propane is probably cheaper right now but my furnace rusted out.
I agree with Charles. Harman is the way to go and with the variable flame it’s more efficient.
Don't buy a "make-believe" stove from Lowes or Home Depot. They in no way resemble what a true pellet stove is. Get a Harmon, Whitfield (Country Stove, or Lennox) , or Quadrifire. A true stove these days costs north of $2500. But you can easily purchase a top notch quality stove used, and run it for may years.
So true! I bought a used Lennox 6 years ago in michigan, no breakdowns, no minor repairs, 90% of the time I run it on low and it just keeps on chugging thru the winter. Somewhere around 3 tons a year.
Your burner and combustion blower come on when you power up. Once the pellets ignite the burner shuts down. Once the stove gets to a certain temp your distribution blower starts. The only wattage draw after ignition will be 2 blower motors and the augur motor when it cycles. Been burning pellets since 1991.
Since 91!! So your doing well with the pellet stove? What kind of stove is it?
@@j.c.v7628 my original one was a Lopi. I put it in about 1991. It was still running like a champ when we sold the house this past June. A second pellet stove we put in in 2005. That was a Harman and no problem with that one either. In our new house we have a Harman fireplace insert and a freestanding Harman. Expensive stoves but quality throughout. I recommend Harman wholeheartedly.
Bought a whitfield pellet stove in 1992 and replaced it with a harmon in 1998.Like the harmon as it is a feed directly to the burn box not a drop down,...I burn about 120 bags a year and this year bought pellets for $4.99/bag.Clean the stove every month and takes about 1/2 hour.
Bought my Harman p43 5 years ago and never had a problem. Well worth the money. Never use my furnace anymore.
@@chrisbeekley1887 Can't beat a Harman. I would never buy another brand to heat my home. I have a cheapy Vogelzang in my camp...works OK but cheaply built and is nothing I would want to rely on!
I have an enviro m55 freestanding cast iron pellet stove. It does a great job. 70 downstairs and 65 upstairs at night on 2nd setting with temperatures in the high 30s. Setting is on 2 mostly and our gas heat kicks on maybe once a night. Amazing savings. We love the off the grid feeling. Need to find a way to get out from under the summer AC costs.
I live on a 83' yacht with a pellet stove. The stove has a homemade water coil to transfer heat to my boiler that is the main system. The boiler is diesel fired and serves a hydronic system. Using pellets in the coldest weather (around 0 F) I use about 2 bags a day. I found buying the best pellets really pays in hotter fire, lower feed setting and a lot less ash. I only clean ash once a month. Average winter is mid 40°s to mid 50°s and use a bag a day. Cost here is about $5/bag for premium pellets (clean Douglass Fir). Using diesel runs 5-7 gallons a day in the coldest weather and I only heat parts of the boat. I also have a wood stove (also with a coil), but is only cheap if I cut, split, haul and store. Electricity is 7¢ kwh. Pacific NW.
Love our pellet stove. $4.20 a bag of pellets, on lowest setting, lasts 2 days. It is turned off at night. House is 1,500 sq. Feet. If power goes out, our portable generator easily keeps it functioning. Cat loves it also. Steady heat. Quiet. Country stove brand. Bought on sale at state fair.
Thanks I was wonder if a generator would work
Good video. Just a tip. Move your thermostat further away from the stove. By the time it heats up your thermostat will shut it down and never heat the room. Also the heat setting doesn’t effect the power usage once start up is complete the power will all drop as you showed. Heat setting only effects the amount of pellets that are dumped into the pot.
We open windows to level off the temps in the winter months. Which sounds kinda silly but fresh air keys your house from drying out to much and we think it helps us to avoid sicknesses also. Great Vids
When I heated with wood needed 2 cords for the winter. In my area a cord is $225 to $260 depending. When I switched went through 1 ton per year of pellets. At a cost of $200. It is clean, no smell, no dirt on floor. Pellets win no contest.
The pot doesn't heat, it has an igniter which is powered by electrical resistance, which is why when it's igniting you have a larger power draw. Once the igniter turns off (when you have fire) the power draw drops.
@Nico Costello exactly. 👍 It’s only the power to run the fans and auger after that which is next to nothing.
We have a Pleasant Hearth pellet stove, cabinet model. Going on 5 winter, no issues. Heats our house comfortably. In NE PA, we got through 2 ton a winter. We use an old Alaskan Kodiak 2 coal stove in basement, keep it on low. We use 1 ton of coal and 2 ton of pellets a winter. Approximately $700 and we are comfy all winter long. Great video explaining
I too purchased an enviro mini in 2014 and It has made this house a home!
Thank you for taking the time to make this it was great info
Thanks for the info. I'm trying a pellet stove this winter. Got rid of my wood stove. I think I made a great choice!
What stove did you go with? I'm always keeping my eye out for stove brands and innovative tech as my stove (a Harman right now) is my main source of heat in the cold northeast. I'm always at the ready to purchase a new stove should mine bug out on me!
It's a enviro meridian
Good job Thanks, I got a pellet stove which I had for about 30 years now and I agree relativity not that much at all. I think about thirty years ago I was buying the top brand pellets for about $2.40 a bag per ton. Now 2018 the same bag is about $6.00 a bag.
Where I live, you run your heating units about 1/2 the year (Nov - April). This is in the Northern CA mountains (Cascade Range). At $6.75 per day x 180 days = $1,215 per year. I can buy pine wood at $150 per cord. $1,215 divided by $150 per cord = 8 cords. I use about 6 cords per year. But of course, I cut, haul, split and stack my own wood so it costs about $600 per year (truck dmv fees, chainsaw gas and chains, truck insurance and truck wear and tear/gas, $60 for National forest permits ). The truck is used for other things too. When I get a little older (I am retired at 65), I may just buy wood. The power goes out a lot up here so I do have a small generator, but I like a wood stove best (I use the wood ash in my compost pile). And I cook on the wood stove during the winter (stews and soups in a big pot).
Look how much money you save on a Gym membership.
Keep in mind that the cost quoted was hypothetical for running the stove constantly for a 24 hour period. In my experience the stove is only running 30-60% of the time depending on the type of winter we’re experiencing. I live in mountains of northeastern Oregon. Winters here can run from November thru April. I use a Quadrafire Mt Vernon AE pellet stove for my primary heat with a natural gas water boiler as backup. In a typical winter I will burn 1 1/2 ton of pellets, approximately $375 @ $250 a ton for premium Douglas Fir pellets. In a hard winter you can add an additional 1/2 - 3/4 ton. I estimate my cost for pellets and electricity to be approximately $5/day for primary heat. The battery backup is an added bonus.
Thanks tons! Have a radiant heat system that's on the fritz on my first floor. This looks like a great way to work around fixing that bad boy. Cheers!
this is really helpful. i just got a used one almost done running the vent. can't wait to fire it up now im HYPED!!!
Hope you enjoy it!
I don't have a pellet stove. Live in California where it's basically warm all year round. Still watched the whole dang video. Very interesting! Nice job
Thank you sir! Trying to improve with every video.
this was exactly what I was searching for. Real world calculated values... Thank you so much. Steve in Toronto Canada ;)
Thanks for the comment, and you're welcome!
We live in Tennessee, so our stove is for coziness and emergency heat if the power goes out. The pellet stoves need for electricity makes it a no go for me. Oak and hickory is everywhere here.
We had one in our last house, and we loved it. Unfortunately, it went with the house. There was an option that included a 12 volt battery that would kick in for power outages, but they are so rare around here, we didn't bother with it, and never ended up needing it.
That's an interesting add-on, but I'd agree, we've never needed emergency backup (YET).
Put in a Napoleon NPS45 last winter...best thing ever! Super efficient. Did the spring clean in the summer and there was hardly any ash build up in the exhaust motor area. Have one ton of pellets ready to go for this winter
Great video, thanks so much. Our electric furnace was killing us on electricity. I bought a pp130 from pelpro. I love it so far.
It generally cheaper to buy by the ton then by the bag. And different manufacturers of pellets have different quality of pellets which greatly affect how much you burn and how much heat you get from a bag. Buy a bag of each different manufacturer you can then load that bag into the stove after emptying the pellet storage bin. Then keep track of which product give you more heat with less ash. Then you will know which product to buy by the ton.
Initial amp draw is because the igniter element is heating up and drops sharply after the element is switched off. Love my Lopi leyden pellet stove. Very few problems after 10 years of use.
I have been using a pellet stove for about 13 years, I love it. I figured if it costs me the same or a little less than gas heat, it’s well worth it. I’m a little older and handle the bags myself, once they are stored. A little of a pain in the butt. I do feel it’s worth it. I enjoy the constant heat from the stove. I don’t mind cleaning the stove or moving the ashes out of the house. Glad you answered my question , if I was spending extra money for use of pellets verses natural gas. Thanks.
Thanks for the comment and enjoy your stove!
I pay $250/ton for hardwood pellets. My pellet stove is so old it is manual start. It is very efficient.
I have a pellet stove at my shop put I would never put one in my house.
@@budnotu whats you point? Why did you feel you HAD to tell us you wouldnt put one in your house? Is it just some impulse thing to just blurt things out randomly ?
@@budnotu how is it anymore dangerous than any other type of fireplace?
Same here I have a Lopi that's over 20 years old, it heats my entire 2000sqft home the entire winter and I Live in Upstate NY Winters are Long and cold sometimes hitting -20F from end of Dec. to mid March. My electric bill actually goes down 15% mainly because our home is all electric baseboard heat and we turn that off once the Lopi is going for an hour or so. Boatbuddy if you purchased a quality pellet stove like harmon or Lopi you would change your mind in a heart beat. Keep in mind when I bought my Lopi it was $1200.00, the same stove today is over $3700.00 but you don't have to spend another 4 grand on chimney and there is basically no code for pellet stoves because of the safety features they come with and how they burn
Thanks for the useful video and documentation. If you don't mind I'll share my experiences. I have two quite old pellet stoves. One in the basement of my 1100 sq. ft. house and the second in my shop in another building. Both my pellet stoves use the method of moving pellets from the hopper to the fire pot from below. That is the pellets are pushed by the auger up into the fire pot rather than dropped from above. I greatly prefer this method over the pellets being dropped from above as shown in the video. Feeding pellets from below allows me to lay a large chunk of firewood such as the gnarly unsplittable chunks on top of the fire pot. With the pellet feed set as low as possible the pellet fire and fire pot blower acts as a large coal bed and burn these chunks at a fairly high BTU rate. In addition to this augmented fuel, I've installed a stack robber on the flue pipe of the stove to reclaim heat that would otherwise be lost Since the fire is operating under positive pressure from the burner fan I don't worry about the chimney draw causing a problem.
Thanks for the comment. I've never seen a pellet stove feed pellets from below, interesting!
Thank you sir for doing the math and crunching the numbers. I also wondered how efficient my stove was and this helped confirm that I made the right choice. I just bought a King pellet stove last January and I love it. Before I bought the pellet stove I burned wood. After burning wood for ten years and being a slave to a chainsaw and wood splitter I thought there’s got to be a better way to get the wood heat without always being tied up on my days off cutting wood or cutting wood in the freezing cold and snow. I Did some research on pellet stoves and bought the King 👑. Less mess, no bugs, thermostat controlled, with the feel of wood heat. Absolutely love the pellet stove. Thanks for sharing.
Everyone’s house is different BUT, this was great! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
I just bought 50 bags to be delivered next week. That normally gets us through the season. We have the exact same stove, we love it. If you get a pellet stove, keep in mind the stores seem to run out before you need to stop using it so stock up.
Just came across this video. My question is how does it compare to the cost of running your furnace for the same amount of time. Then figure out how long you would need to run the pellet stove to recover the cost of the stove itself.
Good Job!
I was thinking about one of these as a supplemental heating source.
You answered any thoughts I may have had on one. I also will be purchasing a stove of a well known brand. Thanks again! Best information about pellet stove I have seen yet.
One more thing I forgot to mention.
I like the vacuum you keep close and on hand for quick and easy cleanups.
I heat my house entirely with a pellet stove throughout the cold months (6 months a year in the Northeast US). I turned my oil furnace off 5 years ago and haven't run it since (I have a hybrid electric hot water tank). I use 3.5-4 tons of pellets per year. I would strongly suggest a Harman stove. I love my P38 (discontinued model). The way the burn pot is designed where pellets are pushed up and into the pot as opposed to dropping pellets via a gravity feed into a pot is MUCH better than any other system out there. Plus their use of the ESP probe (a temp sensor located in the exhaust pipe) helps to keep the temperature at a consistent level within 1 degree of where I set it (using room temp mode). Granted, it is a bit more work than a furnace but I love the cost savings and am willing to clean the stove periodically and one deep clean per year in exchange for those savings.
Thanks for the info. I had no idea pellet stoves had an electrical element to them. This is not for me. My whole reason for wanting a wood stove is as a secondary/backup source to a cottage that already has all-electric heating.
Andrea Speaks there are non electric gravity fed pellet stoves. You have to manually start them with a small torch and then they run on their own. Not sure how effective they are but they do exist.
They used to be when pellets were $1.97 a bag
Thanks for the info! I've got a quadrofire pellet stove insert have had it for 7 years. Before that had a infered heater(witch was much more expensive to operate)
I tried the same thing with my England pellet stove. It's using about 350 watts when the igniter is on but it only drops to about 150-180 watts during normal running. I think it might be because it as a fresh air intake blower in addition to the exhaust blower motor. After about 5hrs of running it had used about 0.88Kwh. This was at the highest temperature and blower settings of 9,9. If I turn it down to 5,5 it's using about 120-130 watts.
I have a pellet stove. They are fairly high maintenance. Plus the igniter burns out about every 5 years. Plus the sensor and sensor cover need replacing less often. I'm trouble-shooting my QuadraFire as it stopped igniting. I removed the igniter and will replace it. I also found the sensor cover in the fire pot, so don't know yet if this was the problem, although I suspect it's only the igniter since the sensor has nothing to do with igniting the pellets from what I've been able to discern. The igniter cost is between $60. and $70. to replace. Not cheap.
Thanks for this. Really helped. I'm putting a pellet stove in soon. There is no natural gas in my area, and it would be silly to use trucked in propane for heating ( too expensive).
I ran a pellet stove exclusively for heat with the oil furnace for back up. Just remember to fill the stove before going to bed. Loved it. We're in Wisconsin and only had to run the furnace when it got below zero. Otherwise we only ran the pellet stove. You'll like it, I'm sure.
I was thinking which one I chose for my house wood stove or palettes stove . With this information definitely i will chose palettes stove .
thank you sir .
Couple things...first off...it you'll put a small handful of pellets in the burn box before you close the door after cleaning it will start up much quicker. Second....I lived in Colorado outside of any natural gas source so we used propane. Before we put in a small pellet stove (1600'sq house) it cost us nearly $400 a month in the cold months to heat. After the pellet stove it was just under $120 a month. HUGE savings and the heat was much nicer and no huge rushing air sound from a forced air heater. It takes a bit of maintenance and cleaning every other day....major clean every 3-4 weeks but well worth the effort. We loved it all around. Buy your pellets by the ton and early in the fall and you can get premium pellets for around $3 a 40# bag. We kept ours running full time on the lowest setting and it was plenty. Burns about 1 bag every day and a half. Also do yourself a favor....keep an extra exhaust and distribution fan and an igniter on hand. It's easy to change and you WILL need to change them from time to time. You can actually light it with a bbq grill lighter but once the fans get noisy you'll want to change them pretty quickly. You can't fix them...I tried....
The igniter combusts the pellets in the beginning (thus the high wattage) and once ignited shuts off. Roller cage fans are very efficient and take nothing to drive. The bigger question is BTU cost. I ran a QuadraFire 55000 BTU unit for ten years and after pellets went over $4.50 a bag natural gas became much better cost effective option.
Thank you, for doing the math, and the trial run with this pellet stove!! I was on the fence on getting one, but after watching this, I am getting one, a lot cheaper than running propane for the winter. Thanks!!
Best thing u will ever do!
For the life of me I never even knew something like this existed. I grew up in Chicago where the heating system is different from this. And now I want to move to Portugal and am trying to figure out how the heating system will be in the area I want to move to considering they have cold winters. And the heating systems in Portugal are not the best. And that's how I bumped into this video. Someone mentioned something about pellets stoves. Thanks for educating me.
Thanks for this video! SUPER informative and we especially appreciated you working on a budget like us! Great job! Looks fantastic! Best wishes,
Victoria Morales
Thanks for the video! Very informative. Just moved into a house with a broken and unrepairable propane heat stove and going to switch to pellet!
You're welcome! Thanks for the comment.
ran through your video (great job) after watching a quick vid on an easy repair I did on my stove. If you like HOT HEAT, these are the bomb. I have had my stove 6 yrs - self installed with an inspection - and you can't beat the heat for the price. the 40lb bags are good exercise to move around =) and its not messy like a wood stove. We have a cut up 2200 sq ft ranch and this easily heats the middle 1/2 on some of the lowest heat settings. When it gets colder, we turn it up. If you are thinking about getting one, keep in mind that there is some maintenance to do but its not hard. Good luck - have fun - and stay warm!!
Thanks!
I've had a Quarafire for eight years .... (1`) igniter and (1) Thermal Couple. My fault because I let the thermal cover protector burn and melted the TC tip. Purchase a thermal cover tip and replace one a year. Igniter is a no brainer to replace and actually the newer ones pull less wattage. They require minimal cleaning about one a week and exhaust cleaning every couple years or so (accessible from the bottom). The fire pot is self-cleaning, otherwise, you have to scrape the ash quite often. Make sure you purchase a self cleaning model. They are not cheap, around 4-5k for a thermostatically controlled one. Burn 3.5 ton of pellets a year. Can't speak for the inexpensive models. Love it, best wishes.
Aside from having a choice in what you burn, that's one saving avenue. You can buy even seed for some if it's reasonable. I would like to see the difference of actual heat. Emergencies especially need something that might have a solar backup.
Appreciate your breakdown on power usage. I have a Quadrafire Mt. Vernon and have always wondered if the element shuts off when sufficient heat is established.
I'm really surprised to see how many people don't know you can get non-electric gravity fed pellet stoves, the first one I ever saw was owned by one of my friends parents back when I was in junior high (1990). Even today you can still get these units, people chose not to I guess because they want a thermostatically controlled unit. However if you're in an area where power loss is common in the winter snd you're tired of cutting, splitting, stacking, hauling wood inside, and dealing with all that ash you have options. Where I live wood is cheap and easy to come by but our local gov banned wood stoves and fire places do to thermal inversions, pellet stoves are fine as long ad they meet CA emission, no I don't live in CA, I'm in Montana. We also have a local pellet plant so pellets can be as little as $150 a ton.
Thanks for putting this together.
I've had a pellet stove for over 10 years now. I bought it because the town regulations for installing a wood stove ment it would take up most of my living room. Pellet stoves have a low wall clearance specification. Having a small child at the time, all I had to do was place a fireplace screen gate infront of it for safety. Over the years, it has saved me much on household fuel oil costs. I find the cheapest way to buy pellet is by the pallet. For a two story house over the course of an average New England winter, it takes about 3 to 4 pallets. I don't have to deal with bugs and bark. The pellets come in a bag. I can fill the stove and a bag will either last all day (12 hours) or 24 hours depending on the cold weather. Yes, it is noisier than a wood stove but I can regulate the heat, which is nice.
@Susan S There is a non-electric pellet stove but it's not tiny. It's also not cheap. You can find it also on Amazon. It's called US "Stove Company US GW1949 Wiseway Non-Electric Pellet Stove". I do believe there are RUclips videos on this one as well as the Kimberly woodstove.
@Susan S Most people with pellet stoves have a battery pack backup they use for short power outages (couple of hours). The other choice would be to purchase a large generator for the house or a solar power back-up battery pack If you're looking for a small wood stove and have the resources, look into the Kimberly stove for small houses, RV or cabins. See the RUclips videos.
@Susan S I'm glad I could help.
Thanks for the video! I have a couple PelPro's setup in a shop/apartment running on solar. Perfect video to help calculate their initial and operational draw.
Awesome, I'm glad this helped!
I have a Harman Pellet Pro II since 1993 manual start, light it in November and run it until March. I get Three pallets of pellets form Home Depot, anything over $299 gets you no interest for twelve months. This way I stretch out the payments for a year and the electric company isn't getting all my money. Home Depot delivers and I rent a Pallet Jack from another hardware store, the guy puts a pallet in my garage and when he goes to get another I move it where I want it with the Pallet Jack.
You really run a pellet stove for months on end continuously? Or is that a figure of speech as in you heat six months of the year?
@@baronvolkov6172 yes you're right I heat for five t six months , only stopping periodically for a good brushing and scraping. Sometimes I let the stove get a little cool and I go in while it's still pretty hot, I go thru a couple of 4in paint brushes a season. One thing I can say is this Harman is pretty old and can really throw the heat.
@@charleschapman2428 wow, good to know. My Quadrafire classic bay 1200 has been burning for a week straight and that got me worried thinking its not supposed to run continuously. Makes me think my house needs better insulating if the stove is only keeping up with the heat loss on low setting. Its below freezing here in the inland northwest.
@@baronvolkov6172 I run from 50 degrees and below, unless it's cloudy and temp going down later, above 50 it can get to 75 in my saltbox, only heating one side of house, I open the upstairs other side if it's 40 plus. Those 50 degree days are my cleaning days. I do have to start cranking it up when it gets really cold, I would say it is my primary heat source until it get really cold. I have used it as a primary heat source, but then I use 4 plus pallets 5ish. I have replaced a few parts, drive motor, exaust blower and the blower for hot air, No part failed, l replaced the drive and exaust due to starting to make noise, the hot air blower I felt was getting weak. The biggest Must Have is a fresh air source, I have one built into the exaust box that the pipe is in, it pre heats the incoming air so it doesn't cool down the stove, newer houses are too tight and need a air intake and older houses will pull a draft from wherever it can, that might be a draft near a water pipe in your cellar. Good luck.
,
wow.... I often wondered if these were worth having... and you proved it to be a positive investment.... awesome.
The pellet stove we had didn't even have that start up spike in wattage you had, it didn't ignite on its own, we would open up the front and put in a tiny section of a fire starter, light it, and then turn the stove on. It was definitely the most efficient way to heat our small 4 bedroom home. (it had 4 bedrooms but it was maybe only 1000 Sq. Feet, not exactly a large house in my mind. It was so efficient, in fact, that it was nearly unbearable in my upstairs bedroom at some points, even though there was 3 feet of snow outside.
My pellet stove is old, it came with the house I bought in 2004, and was not new at that time. It works ok, in fact better than ok. I also have a wood stove for power outage times, which happens here on the Oregon coast with winter storms. My problem is it is starting to give me problems and I have a very limited income. I saw a smaller pellet stove for just under a thousand, but only holds 20 lbs of pellets. My present stove has a thermostat, but it doesn't appear the cheaper one does not have that function. Any advice on good reliable brands that are not out of my range. And take into account setting up. thanks.
Awesome & helpful video! Thanks for sharing all you work!
I prefer my wood stove.
We live on 5 acres with many dead trees so lots available wood.
Pellet stoves require electricity so when the power goes out you won’t have heat.
The only thing I still need is a generator to run my well pump.
Thank you
There are gravity fed pellet stoves which do not require electricity.
altadutch why not just get a small inverter generator to use when the electricity goes out. Your already using another generator for your well. I don’t get it.
Get a Yamaha 1000/1500 or so for 500 bucks
Heritage Wealth Planning i’m not sure what you don’t “get”.
I’m old school and like the Physical aspect of Firewood prep.
I don’t have a generator yet and will look at different options. Inverters require batteries to generate the needed wattage at 220vac
Thank you so much for this great video and crunching the numbers today’s date Saint Paddy‘s day 2022 in New York rates approximately 17/$.20 KW hope and pray for a country thanks again
If desperate ,l believe an inverter and car battery or 3 will power this set up. Thank you for sharing.
if you use an inverter you have to use a pure sine wave inverter NOT a modified sine wave inverter. I have a quadrafire stove and it wouldn’t work properly with the modified sine wave. I use a 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter and it’s lots of power.
Hi Jettlash! Thanks for the video. I would like to know how much engergy the woodpellets contain. Then how much the stove uses and how much is transformed into heat production. Then you can say pelletstoves are very efficient, mamy of them reach an efficiency of over 90%. Plus you can burn wood made into pellets that as raw material nobody wants to burn the ofen with.
I have the same stove although electricity rates have climbed significantly since you made this video so has heating oil last delivery 5.29 per gallon. Great video
Thank you :)
Very, very informative presentation. Thanks! I'll be purchasing a Quadrafire in the next couple of months. Thanks for making me remember that the internet has good people and info on it!
Thanks for the nice comment!
awesome. Thanks so much for the testing and all the number crunching. Very helpful
Glad it was helpful!
I am on my 13th Northern NH winter with a base model Harman P38, plenty of haters say these stoves suck, not true, I used to have a cold house and used 600 gal. of oil a winter, I now use about 3.5 tons of pellets & 100 gal of oil and my living room is 70 degrees. The electric bill is nominally more but the stove runs 24/7 for about 5 months, with sporadic use for another 6 weeks or so, huge saving and I buy locally produced pellets for about $250 a ton, in approximately 6.5 years of continuous use I have replaced: 1 auger motor, 1 blower, 1 exhaust temperature probe. Buy a high quality stove and start saving money!
I’d agree. Buying high quality will save in the end.
Thanks for the numbers, its good to get facts rather than opinion, I know how we are heating our house next winter.
One thing i noticed is that they are not very efficient on space as the flue always exits at the rear and never the top, but on the other hand they can easily exit straight out of the wall at that height. I prefer to exit in the roof just because i don't like the idea of any fumes getting closer to my windows and doors than necessary. Saying that they don't create much smoke. A little during startup and sometimes if the burn tray gets low when you run out of pellets.
I have 2 infrared Presto heaters. They each consume about 950 watts an hour on high. Local electricity rates are about .12 /kWh. Running both on high costs me about $.25 cents an hour. With the temps at 30F outside, they will run us out of here after a few hours (starting interior temperature of 65F- morning). Once the room temperature hits about 70-71F, I turn them down to about 50% power. They are either all on or all off so it cycles. Once I hit about 70F, the cost probably drops to about $.15 cents per hour for both. They are great because it is radiant heat so if you point one at where you are sitting, it feels like you are in front of a nice fireplace. Costco sells them for about $60 each. They are very portable and easy to use compared to having to haul and store pellets and then feed a pellet stove. Another thing, homes that have fireboxes (pellet/wood stoves or fireplaces) raises the cost of your homeowners insurance. I am only heating a great room (kitchen, dining and living room) with about 900 sf. I have an electric heat pump but when I turn it on, I have to heat about 3200sf and I have no need to heat the whole house in the winter. Also, heat pumps are not great when the temps are below about 40F. Below about 40F, they switch over to resistance heating which is very expensive. I live in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon. The average daily temperature in the coldest winter months is about 35-40F. I've owned this home for eleven years but only lived here in the summer time until two years ago. My first winter here, not knowing any better, I cranked up my heat pump and I was shocked to get a $400 monthly bill. Now in the worst months, my bill is around $230 a month AND being retired, we are here 24/7 most of the time. Our bedroom and bath is cold but we have an electric blanket on our bed. We turn it on an hour before going to bed and turn it off when we get into bed. We just have a small 1500 watt ceramic heater in the bath that is only on maybe 1 hour a week. My wife is also a glass artist and has four kilns that are running all the time. We live in the country so everything is electric. That works out to about $7-$8 a day. We think that is pretty good!
I've used a pellet stove (Vogelzang) to heat my pole barn, 30X40, for the last 6 years. 1 bag of pellets per day keeps it nice & toasty.
The High wattage draw when it first start is related to the igniter lighting the pellets.
no kidding
What else can you heat your home with( at a comfortable level) for an average of 10 dollars a day? Once the igniter goes off,and that only lights the pellets, it's very efficient. Especially if you consider other sources of heat and how much it cost to run them. Even if you own a wood lot,process the firewood yourself and burn it in a non powered wood stove, you will spend more in a heating season just to process the wood. Kinda a no brainer
Very informative and cool video. I'm researching stoves now.
One question, is your stove plugged into it's own power breaker?
I spend a little over 300 on fuel per year with mine. I live 100 miles south of the Canadian border.
My gas furnace costs $130 per month in just natural gas alone.
Yes. They are extremely efficient.
I spend $1500 from late fall to early spring on propane. Everything in my house is electric besides my furnace.
Central Alberta, we used a pellet stove to heat our house before we got the boiler going. Insulation and vapor barrier were complete. We had a long cold spell of around -30C/-22F for that time and the pellet stove was costing us $150/month for pellets. When we got the boiler (condensing natural gas) going with the in floor heat, it cost us $87/month for natural gas...we almost never use the pellet stove going on 8 years now. 1200sqft main floor with a 400sqft loft/vaulted ceiling.