Just got one of these suckers, and it's working pretty damn well so far. I hope it pays off in the long run. 
http://farm4.static.flickr.com...94144_a983960c2a_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com...94144_a983960c2a_b.jpg
Wood Pellet Stove
- Thread starter Rufus12
- Start date
JulesMaximus
No Lifer
- Jul 3, 2003
- 74,586
- 986
- 126
Capt Caveman
Lifer
- Jan 30, 2005
- 34,543
- 651
- 126
Yea same here. Luckily for me I got it installed just before the temps start dipping into the teens, which it is now doing.
DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Jeff7
Lifer
- Jan 4, 2001
- 41,596
- 20
- 81
Buy the pellets in summer if you can, you can probably get a discount on them. The place my parents usually buy from gives around 10% off on early purchases like that.
Hopefully it holds up better than their first one did.
Englander, bought back before the auto-starter was in there.
1 year warranty on parts, such as the burn pot, motors, and electronics.
5 year warranty of stuff like the steel and welding in the main body.
Sure enough, shortly after 5 years, welds started showing considerable cracking, and one cross-beam was buckling due to compression forces caused by restrained thermal expansion.
The inside of the burn box was also a deep shade of red due to rapid oxidation. I was not impressed by this stove. Cleaning was also not especially easy. There's no ash tray; ash simply accumulates in the burn pot, hampering airflow to the pellets.
Englander sells a vacuum, made by a "leading manufacturer" for sucking out ash. Our solution: A Shopvac with a high-efficiency filter meant for stuff as fine as cement dust. It worked just dandy.
New one - KSH-120DX
I've not seen this one in person, but it looks like it is much easier to maintain, and hopefully will be of better quality. It's a simpler design, too - only one auger/motor for pellet feeding, versus two on the old stove. It's also got an ash tray, and the description says that its airflow keeps ash out of the burn pot.
It's also got 3x more hopper capacity than the Englander stove.
And try to get premium grade pellets. Text
As long as the manufacturer has the Pellet Fuels Institute logo on their product, "Premium" pellets have to adhere to certain guidelines regarding wood quality and ash content.
I'd also suggest getting some kind of small air filter for near the stove, especially when refueling. Opening the stove for cleaning will inevitably throw up some fine ash dust, and pouring in pellets will definitely produce some wood dust. Best to catch it near the stove before it can coat the room.
Hopefully it holds up better than their first one did.
Englander, bought back before the auto-starter was in there.
1 year warranty on parts, such as the burn pot, motors, and electronics.
5 year warranty of stuff like the steel and welding in the main body.
Sure enough, shortly after 5 years, welds started showing considerable cracking, and one cross-beam was buckling due to compression forces caused by restrained thermal expansion.
The inside of the burn box was also a deep shade of red due to rapid oxidation. I was not impressed by this stove. Cleaning was also not especially easy. There's no ash tray; ash simply accumulates in the burn pot, hampering airflow to the pellets.
Englander sells a vacuum, made by a "leading manufacturer" for sucking out ash. Our solution: A Shopvac with a high-efficiency filter meant for stuff as fine as cement dust. It worked just dandy.
New one - KSH-120DX
I've not seen this one in person, but it looks like it is much easier to maintain, and hopefully will be of better quality. It's a simpler design, too - only one auger/motor for pellet feeding, versus two on the old stove. It's also got an ash tray, and the description says that its airflow keeps ash out of the burn pot.
It's also got 3x more hopper capacity than the Englander stove.
And try to get premium grade pellets. Text
As long as the manufacturer has the Pellet Fuels Institute logo on their product, "Premium" pellets have to adhere to certain guidelines regarding wood quality and ash content.
I'd also suggest getting some kind of small air filter for near the stove, especially when refueling. Opening the stove for cleaning will inevitably throw up some fine ash dust, and pouring in pellets will definitely produce some wood dust. Best to catch it near the stove before it can coat the room.
Rock Hydra
Diamond Member
- Dec 13, 2004
- 6,466
- 1
- 0
They work well and are inexpensive in comparison to gas or electric in a lot of places. My parents have tried burning a corn/pellet mixture and it does burn hottuer, but it seems like it creates a lot more ash and residue. I'd say maintianing one of these things is a pain in the ass, though.
PingSpike
Lifer
- Feb 25, 2004
- 21,758
- 603
- 126
I don't know what pellets sell for around where you are...but they sold for $200+/ton around here, with home depot having some more retarded prices late in the summer. You couldn't even get a pellet stove from a lot of the shops this summer as the oil price panic set in.
Now that oil prices have plunged, my oil boiler is about on parity with pellets for $ to BTU. Still, the prices didn't go up as much on pellets as oil did and I doubt the days of cheap oil will last (if they ever really catch up in the heating oil price).
Now that oil prices have plunged, my oil boiler is about on parity with pellets for $ to BTU. Still, the prices didn't go up as much on pellets as oil did and I doubt the days of cheap oil will last (if they ever really catch up in the heating oil price).
DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
calculator will calculate the annual cost of heating. (Based on some particular sized house; but the prices are still relative & based on BTU's, as well as some assumed efficiencies which are shown.) I don't think oil's really back down to a parity level (or ever was) with wood pellets.
Re: pellet stoves from Home Depot - I've heard nothing but bad things about them. I suppose it bears repeating in this thread. Like Wal-Mart, the big box stores sort of dictate prices to their suppliers. Some brands cut corners, use cheaper parts, etc., in producing some of the larger items that are sold at box stores such as Home Depot. For example, I have two John Deere riding mowers, exact same model. One came from a JD dealer, the other came from HD. The HD model is a piece of crap. Transmission is half as robust; much thinner & weaker. Steering housing on the HD model was plastic; on the dealer model was metal. The HD's steering broke when I bumped a stump. Same model; one "made in china" with inferior components; one made to what I'd expect as JD standards. Anyway, while I'm not certain, I think it may apply to the pellet stoves as well.
Anyway, use the calculator, input your local prices. See what's cheapest. Anthracite (coal) is still cheapest for me by a long shot. Maintenance really isn't that problematic: clean the blower fans every couple weeks & once or twice per winter, I vacuum out underneath the firebox where the air is force through... while the stove is still on. LOTS of fun as fire sprays out backwards into the vacuum hose.
Re: pellet stoves from Home Depot - I've heard nothing but bad things about them. I suppose it bears repeating in this thread. Like Wal-Mart, the big box stores sort of dictate prices to their suppliers. Some brands cut corners, use cheaper parts, etc., in producing some of the larger items that are sold at box stores such as Home Depot. For example, I have two John Deere riding mowers, exact same model. One came from a JD dealer, the other came from HD. The HD model is a piece of crap. Transmission is half as robust; much thinner & weaker. Steering housing on the HD model was plastic; on the dealer model was metal. The HD's steering broke when I bumped a stump. Same model; one "made in china" with inferior components; one made to what I'd expect as JD standards. Anyway, while I'm not certain, I think it may apply to the pellet stoves as well.
Anyway, use the calculator, input your local prices. See what's cheapest. Anthracite (coal) is still cheapest for me by a long shot. Maintenance really isn't that problematic: clean the blower fans every couple weeks & once or twice per winter, I vacuum out underneath the firebox where the air is force through... while the stove is still on. LOTS of fun as fire sprays out backwards into the vacuum hose.
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