Limiting yourself on what you can burn and how much you pay for the fuel is the biggest drawback. Why not a woodstove and choose the fuel of the week if you like.

 

well I don't know. I just
ass-umed it would go into the fireplace. I'm not looking to do away my oil system.... but to save a few bucks (granted investment won't be realized overnight.)
ty dvr

ray

 

Mechanical,

Are there multi purpose stoves? My primary heat has been from a burning wood for about twenty-eight years and my radar hasn't picked up a stove that is multi use - although I remember one that with a modification to the fire box could burn wood or coal.

I always thought that wood and pellets were such a different burn that one stove could not burn both.

Educate me, please.

 

Mechanical,

Are there multi purpose stoves? My primary heat has been from a burning wood for about twenty-eight years and my radar hasn't picked up a stove that is multi use - although I remember one that with a modification to the fire box could burn wood or coal.

I always thought that wood and pellets were such a different burn that one stove could not burn both.

Educate me, please.

You would have to ask a guy in the business but I have seen stoves that will burn, wood, coal, and pellets (with an adapter). I would want the ability to burn the cheapest fuel as long as it is gonna creosote up the chimney too fast.

 

POOLMANinCT,

You want one that tucks into your FP, or one that will be vented into the flue?

A wood stove DOES save you money, but there are drawbacks - as to everything.

You got to store the wood (dry) - and keep it away from the house, many wood men deliver ants, BTDT, you gotta keep lugging wood into the house and ash out. Wood stoves are very MESSY - wood splinters, chips, spiders, sawdust, ash, etc. Stoves have to be installed according to local codes. This is one advantage a pellet stove has over wood, most do not require the clearance as a wood stove.

My experience with wood guys are they are the MOST unreliable people I have every dealt with. I have finally found a good one - but his prices are going up, up, up. I get green, cut, and unsplit for $150 a cord (4x4x8). I split (for exercise) and let season for a year.

My chimney is cleaned three times a year - I do it myself. Our stove (Vermont Castings, Encore) will not burn through the night - I get up after five hours and re-stoke.

After 17 years, I just bought a new one - the old one was COOKED. New one cost $2000.

It's become a life style that I would not give up. I enjoy it, but I am not normal. The area around the stove is always warm. Kettle on top adds moisture to air. Warmth of stove is great place to dry wet clothes. I like looking at the fire.

Will you save some $$$$. Yes. But with all the work involved, you could easily make up the difference by working at your job a couple more hours a month. I would not advise a wood stove for the great savings a working family will realize, but for the ambiance it imparts. If you were unemployed and living in a shack in the woods, then by all means, a wood stove is for you.

 

well I have no interest in lugging logs. initially attracted to pellets bc oil has become $$$$$ & my home is an not insulated built in 1954. no way in hell do I want to get up to stoke a fire. i ve heard about automatic pellet hoppers & thermostats on the pellet units.
I must admit I'm rather ignorant about these units & just fig it might work in a ranch style house.

as far as placing/venting the unit, I just assume they "pipe" them up the chimney.
any & all feedback much appreciated dvr!!!!!!!!

ray

 

I heat half my house with a high efficiency corn burner, it uses corncobs for fuel, it will go about 12 hours on two dozen corncobs.

 

Killer,

Nice sounding system. I've heard about corncobs. Was tempted to go that way. But I always figured living in the NE, they may not be as available as in other places. I'm sure Illinois has a few extra laying around.

Ray,

Have you investigated insulating ? :laughing:

Yes they do pipe them into the chimney, but it's not just simply sticking the pipe up into it. For a good draft, you need to seal the chimney around the stove pipe. And the chimney flue needs to be dedicated to only the stove - no furnace or gas water heater using it also (at least here in Mass). The flue size of the chimney also needs to match the stove pipe size for proper draft. Is your chimney lined? That's always a good thing for safety. It may even be required.

I know, there is a lot of stuff to know. Hey, even after 28 years of dedicated stove use, I'm still learning. If I were you, I would spend about a week researching on the net, and then go talk to a number of stove stores. And don't worry, they will try to blow smoke up your butt flue (pun intended), but they do know what they are talking about for the most part.

 

Killer,

Nice sounding system. I've heard about corncobs. Was tempted to go that way. But I always figured living in the NE, they may not be as available as in other places. I'm sure Illinois has a few extra laying around.

I love the thing, I bought it used from the farmer up the road from me that was using it to heat his chicken coop, he decided he needed something larger. He sells me cobs for twenty bucks a ton, delivered.

 

We have a wood/oil/coal burner for our house. It uses almost always wood, never coal though. If I get the right terminology, it has an injector inside? for the oil.

 

DeArch is right about the hassle of wood, I switched from a wood to pellet about two years ago and love it! It can burn all night without stoking. Most have a glass front that you can see the flame. The big difference is having a catalytic converter (less emissions), adjustable blower (greater control) and air intake (most have a seperate pipe that goes outside to draw in air). You can vent both pipes thru a side wall also. You can also get a battery backup so your stove still works if power goes out. I do miss going out in the hills to collect wood (a little). If you like collecting, splitting and the smell of wood burning, may not be right for you.

 

I had a pellet stove (Freestanding) when I lived in Ontario and swore by the thing, I used one bag of pellets over two days, back then a bag cost me $ 3.50 CDN (Cheap). This was my primary source for heat and it worked. I will say watch which pellets you buy, some burn faster and dirtier then others requiring a bit more cleaning of the stove.

If I needed another one again, it would be a pellet stove, one skid of pellets will last you most of the winter and as opposed to logs a lot less space needed for storage.

 

I bought a corn/pellet stove last year. It will burn cleaned corn (off the cob) or wood pellets or mixed. I will probably burn mostly pellets this year as the price of corn has jumped since the ethanol companies have been buying up all the corn. At least the farmers are making some $$. You should see how some of the diehards heat there homes with corn. check out I burn corn.com - Kirk

 

Well, for what its worth. I live in N.E Ohio. Baught a corn/pellet stove this year. Do I like it , yes. But there are drawbacks. First off , make sure you get a decent stove. I baught a StCroix furnace model that hooks right into the existing ductwork. Went threw pellets left and right last month. then it died on me. Called the folks that sold it to me and over the phone we figured out it was the blower. One nut wasnt on andvacum setting was messed up.He came over the next day (46 miles away) replaced the motr, did some fine tuning. Its burning like a champ. I think its worth the money to have a instaler hook it up, buy off a reputable place ( we could have baught cheeper off a box store). It is the cheapest heat we have had. Now, I am not addind time to get pellets or cor, loading time, or cleaning time. But if you have 5 minutes (no more , usualy a day) it may be worth looking into.

 

I like the wood.But it's almost gotta be free to make it worth all the hassle as deArch has said.
Got lucky this year,as some friends are clearing a huge lot and we go in and take the log lengths.
I could make more $ working than spending time with all the hauling and splitting,but I like the fact the oil companies aren't getting my money,and business slows this time of year.
My house is 2500sq/ft and it takes care of 60% of the heating needs.I still go through 2 tanks of oil(about 700gal.)but the current price of close to $3.00/gal makes it all worth it.

 

I bought a Harmon fireplace insert pellet stove last year. It looks great and heats the house very well. I had all 220v baseboard heat and my electric bills were outrageous and now go through a bag and a half per 24hrs and the house is always nice and toasty.
I also have a pellet/corn stove in my shop that is well insulated. I can fire up the stove and in less than an hour it'll go from 35 to 65 degrees. I can fill up the hopper once a week and never have to worry about inside the shop freezing.

 

well i went with the pellet stove, i dont expect to realize the savings soon. i fig im spending it no matter what, so at least ill have the "hardware to show" for the dough. my fiance has moved in & is "humanizing me" so i plan to keep house warm this. as before i was only warming up for guests etc.
the installer is coming in the morning. i went with a remote control tstat, & an enamel finish. soup to nuts & pallet of fuel ill be out about 4300. my brother paid 3.62 gal oil last week & pop payed 3.81 today.

ray

 

Did you get one that can burn stuff other than wood pellets? I am looking at one that can burn corn, cherry pits, soy beans, and wood pellets, so you can change fuel to whatever is selling the cheapest.

 

Within 2 heating seasons you should be ahead of the game

 

He was hardly using oil before so he would have used more this year than last, but even if he doubled his oil bill for last year; Even at $4.00 per gallon, he would have to save 1075 gallons before he Breaks Even on the unit, but then you have the pellets to add in on top of that.

I would say he will still be using some oil for Hot Water (since that is the typical set up for an oil burner) and most likly he will be supplmenting the heat, not replacing it entirly.

My calculations, and probable what you ment is that in a two year peroid he will be at Zero and start realizing savings the Third year and forward.


Poolman: Make sure you stock up on those pellets. There he smart guys will buy two pallets in the begining of the summer. Best Rates and most inventory. After the first year you will know exactly how much you use for a winter season, but as the stoves become more and more popular, so does the demand for the pellets and we all know the Supply and Demand rule!

 

I went with a wood stove this year. I picked up a 1 yr old Vermont Castings Encore. It was to small for them, but just the right size for me. I have my heat shut off. Only use the oil for heating hot water now. Its a Rasied Ranch and my basement is 84 degrees and the upper level is 68 degrees. Just perfect for me. I also have ceiling fans throughout the house.

I might cut in some floor vents for even more heat distribution up stairs. The stove is supposed to burn 10 hours, but thats if you have really good hard wood and a tight stove. I am getting about 7-8 hours out of it. Not too bad at night. I usually get up once during the night so I throw a couple of more logs on.

As far as buying wood...WHY? If you want to put in the time, there is enough Fallen Timber along the road or back in the woods that I can gather and split 3 cords a year. You will usually spot us pulled over on a highway or roadside with a chainsaw in hand. I want to build a skid for the quad so I can drop some trees, debranch them and hook it to the quad to get pulled out and back to the house. Similar to how they haul around telephone poles. Strap wheels to one end and a hitch to the other.

I am now looking into BioDiesel for Home Heating Oil. That will take some more work, but it is possible to be self sufficiant.

Almost forgot about the pallets too. They are free just about all over. I have a place by me that has thousands to get rid of. Free for the taking. I plan on burning them while I am home and the logs when I am sleeping or out.

 

killer,it will do corn & pellet.

 

Also keep in mind that this type of heating will tend to heat differently that Baseboard of Forced Hot air.

I know you have a ranch, mine is in the basement and it takes two to three days to heat the bones of the house. Then everything is warm. The floor, furniture, air. I can actually keep it cooler than before, but I am warmer.

I had a friend who had a Cape on a Slab. Took two weeks t heat up the slab and then it was the same. Nice radiant heat.

So don;t be afraid to super heat the house for a few days and then cut it back to what you like.


Anyone want to discuss other Alternate Fuels: Click Here

 

well I just fire t last night,
I'm going to run it balls out for a few days. so far
it in the low 30s outside & oil has only fired for hot water. sweet!!!!! mine is not in basement, its in firplace, ih vae an "L" shaped ranch, fireplae is in the "L" jog, so I imagine it will take a while to "creep" around the corner. thanks for the tip LNG.

ray

 

I believe there is a "Break In Period" so please check out the owners manual. :whistling

Another tip. If you crack a window open (and just a crack) at the farthest end of the house, the heat will seak out the cold. Heat always goes to cold. So you can draw the Heat to the oppisite end of the house by doing this.

Enjoy being OFF OIL:clap:
I Do!

 

open a window? 1 inch???? where did you grab that tip? I'd like to red more.

ty again

ray

 

Not an INCH, a crack. It was told to me by someon who has been heating with wood for many years. Heat Rises and heat seaks out cold, that I was taught many a year ago. So it makes sense when applied to the heating of ones house with the main heat source located in one spot. Depending on the age of the house, you might not even need to do this. For me, I have old windows (gotta change them next year) and get pleanty of air in through them already, but in some of the new houses. They are so tight, the air simply dosn't move. If you have forced hot air, you could run the blower fan only and circulate it that way too.

 

Ray,

Pellet stoves draw air into the heat chamber, and expell out the exhaust to the outside. If you do not make sure that the installer draws the make up air from the outside directly into the unit, you will create a negative pressure within your home, which means that all those draughts you feel around windows, and outlets will be more noticable, especially if you crack your window an inch.

 

My pellet stove has 2 pipes in back, one for exhaust and one for fresh air inlet. I use a small fan on top of a tall bookcase to help "push" air to back of house. I do buy my pellets in the summer and do save. Watch the quality, some have a lot of "dust" in bag, they tend to leave more ash. I bought a metal trash can and put it on porch and use a small bucket to fill stove. I love not having to haul messy wood in! You may already have, I keep a old pot with water on stove to help with dry air. Stay warm!

 

hmmmm......

mine is an insert set up & I was doing paperwork during install... guess ill pul out the owners book to check "source air"

2. blower has 3 speeds for pushing hot ir in rooms. flame looks about the dame on all settings.. if I'm running on "low" am I burning as much as on "high?"..... no mention in lit.

ty

ray

 

I have seen some that have double walled pipe that bring air in/out. On mine, when I turn it up, the blower increases and the auger that feeds the pellets turns a little faster. Some of the newer/better ones have adjustable dampers also. Adjusting the draw can require some practice, I know I need to adjust when my glass gets dirty.

 

looks like lng, has a handle on "sticking it to the man"

I'm going to pick up a few sacks of cherry pits, this week & give them a burn.
supposedly they provide a longer burn life & throw out more heat s they are a "harwood". & 25cents cheaper per bag.
corn is available around here, but seems like the corn is humidity sensitive & the sugars can make a maintenance PITA, plus they recommend mixing the corn with crushed oyster shell. (btw if you want a regulation bocce court, oyster shells are the same grind)

lng, maybe when you get a chance we can build a "cheap heat" thread.

ray

 

I'm going to pick up a few sacks of cherry pits, this week & give them a burn.
supposedly they provide a longer burn life & throw out more heat s they are a "harwood". & 25cents cheaper per bag.


ray

Where do you buy Cherry Pits?, not concerned about the 25 cents but looking for a longer and cleaner burn

 

There are already so many out there, I am not sure it would be worth the effort to re invent the wheel.

I have a number of them here: Alternative Fuels

Just look at post #2 in that thread for the links.