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Pellet stoves

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Stewfish

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We want a pellet stove and I was wondering if there are some pellet gurus out there.

The gravity feeds seem to need a lot of maintenance as in scrape the drop hole daily, add a bag of pellets daily, and gum up with creosote, (probably due to low temps/design)

I've read 100w up to 500w for ignition, but then read somewhere else the fans suck down power beyond that, not sure. I have 18kwh battery and can power a pellet stove, but at say 400w continuous in the winter on snowy or cloudy weeks it would be hard.

A 20" box fan at home depot uses 70w max so is a blower necessary to burn the pellets? I assume the blower keeps the hot temps.

Any particular stoves or insite would be great. I can even swap for an effecient fan.

We have 9'6" ceilings and plan to go straight up for more heat off the pipe.
 
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My pellet stove, Castle Serenity, uses 402 watts ignition (takes about 5 minutes time) and 77w operating.

Maintenance is fairly minimal. I add pellets daily. Knock ash into below burn pot ash container and shake/scrape out the burn pot. Once a week (depending on use) I will brush the insides, empty the ash container, wash the viewing glass and vacuum up stuff. Every month or two I might brush the exhaust pipe. There is little to no creosote buildup if you have the fans and pellet feeding set right. Just very fine ash. After burning season I do a thorough clean out of entire stove and piping.
 
SpongeboB Sinewave said:
I have used a pellet stove for my main heating for 20 years.

My advice is to NOT use pellets with creosote !

boB
Click to expand...
How would I know if they have creosote. I read soft wood pellets are better than hard, as hard pellets can gum things up with creosote. How much power does it use?

These guys sell pallets of pellets down the street from me and I have pallet forks for my tractor. here is their brand, they also have bear mountain and golden fire.

Coastal Premium Pellet Fuel, 40-lb Bag - Heaters, Fuel & Accessories | Coastal | Coastal Country

Coastal Premium Pellet Fuel gives you more heat, more efficiency and less mess than most leading brands. Coastal Premium Pellets are produced at the state-of-the-art pellet plant in Shelton WA, assuring consistency high quality pellets all season long.
www.coastalcountry.com www.coastalcountry.com
 
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Mattb4 said:
My pellet stove, Castle Serenity, uses 402 watts ignition (takes about 5 minutes time) and 77w operating.

Maintenance is fairly minimal. I add pellets daily. Knock ash into below burn pot ash container and shake/scrape out the burn pot. Once a week (depending on use) I will brush the insides, empty the ash container, wash the viewing glass and vacuum up stuff. Every month or two I might brush the exhaust pipe. There is little to no creosote buildup if you have the fans and pellet feeding set right. Just very fine ash. After burning season I do a thorough clean out of entire stove and piping.
Click to expand...
What made you choose that stove?
 
Brand comparison

The Alliance for Green Heat - Stove Ratings

The rating system below is on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best and 1 the worst. Even though a stove got the highest or lowest score, it does not mean that there arent many other stoves that could perform better or worse.
www.forgreenheat.org
 
Stewfish said:
What made you choose that stove?
Click to expand...
5 years back when I bought it it was the number one rated stove for its class and BTU rating. I reasearched as many stoves as I could and read a ton of reviews. It has worked out for me though there are certainly drawbacks on the design that could be better.
 
Mattb4 said:
5 years back when I bought it it was the number one rated stove for its class and BTU rating. I reasearched as many stoves as I could and read a ton of reviews. It has worked out for me though there are certainly drawbacks on the design that could be better.
Click to expand...
Would you buy it again. Reviews look mixed online, but its more than half the cost of Harman or quadrafire, and better reviews than other Home depot stoves. Sometimes I feel user error or just lack of knowledge lead to bad reviews though.

Couple thoughts:
It would be heating 900 sq ft 24/7 from Nov to April. I had a diesel heater running on low 24/7. I'm used to adjusting a basic/constant temp so I think analog controls would be okay, and less chance to break/ cheaper to replace. The price of diesel is going to double my cost this year ($2000+) and be way more than pellets We also want the ambiance, and its easier for the wife vs a wood stove.

Oh,
How long does it take you to clean it. People make Harman sound like it's easy to clean and others take hours to dismantle the interior walls. I'm okay with weekly 30 minute cleaning.
 
If I was going to replace it I would have to research if there was a better option available. The new option would have to fit my existing setup for exhaust and stove location. So likely if they still sell the Serenity I would buy it again simply because it is familiar.

The digital control feature of the Serenity I only use for fan adjustment when buying a different brand of pellets. They all have their burning quirks that respond to more or less air flow. I do not use the temperature program due to it only starts the stove below a set temperature. It does not shut it down it only goes to low burn.

Clean time is minimal on mine without much fuss. You will need an ash vacuum, not so much because of hot ashes, but because the ash is so fine it will go through a normal vacuums filter and out into the room.
 
Stewfish said:
How would I know if they have creosote. I read soft wood pellets are better than hard, as hard pellets can gum things up with creosote. How much power does it use?

These guys sell pallets of pellets down the street from me and I have pallet forks for my tractor. here is their brand, they also have bear mountain and golden fire.

Coastal Premium Pellet Fuel, 40-lb Bag - Heaters, Fuel & Accessories | Coastal | Coastal Country

Coastal Premium Pellet Fuel gives you more heat, more efficiency and less mess than most leading brands. Coastal Premium Pellets are produced at the state-of-the-art pellet plant in Shelton WA, assuring consistency high quality pellets all season long.
www.coastalcountry.com www.coastalcountry.com
Click to expand...

Just have to ask the distributer. I was told by the pellet stove installer which ones had the creosote, or too much creosote.
I am in the PNW and use Bear Mountain pellets usually. Have had to use Clean Burn lately but I thought they had creosote in them. At least no problems yet so not really sure. I need to ask.
 
Each brand of pellets have their own “character”. Some stoves/set ups enjoy one brand over another. It’s not like brand xxx will always cause issues, more like brand xx causes issues for this set up but may work great for another set up.

Also no pellet should cause creosote, if they do something is wrong. Maybe they meant Ash, which isn’t creosote.

I’d recommend trying a few bags of multiple brands before committing to multiple tons, granted if you’re just looking for the cheapest pellets you’ll just have to deal with a bit more maintenance.
 
So after a ton of research

Harman sounds like its gone down hill on newer stoves and people review having half to replace half a dozen parts in a year or two.

Quadrafire and Enviro are solid and seem about equal with Enviro having a few less complaints.
Enviro M55 is multifuel and dozen+ years before needing any parts

St Croix actually sounds impressive, no breakdowns, ash goes down into a lower ash pan and they have good reviews
Good reviews = Prescott
Multifuel units:
eclipse MF electronic ignition, 80lb hopper,
Greenfield
Auburn
Element



Home Depot or Lowes:
Cheapest good one = England stove works,
Small cheap = Castle

Used Harman, Enviro, Quadrafire, or St Croix are solid stoves and you can replace all the electronic parts for under $1000 if you had to.

Mulit-fuel models are the best overall from the top brands
 
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I had a Quadrafire for almost 20 years before its burn pot burnt through.

I now have an Enviro which work great after its air mix was properly adjusted.

The only thing I like better about the Quadrafire is that I could pull the lever to release the slag into the pan below.

I suppose that this Enviro is better in that the burning pot (whatever you call it now) can be easily replaced ! In fact, maybe I better order an extra one now in case they discontinue this one or something.

boB
 
I'm not a pellet stove guru, but I can tell you that I love my Solowilder portable pellet stove. It's efficient, clean, and easy to use. I highly recommend getting one if you're looking for.
You may also want to consider getting a pellet stove with a programmable thermostat. This will allow you to set the stove to turn on and off at certain times of the day, which can help you to save energy.
 
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I have a England stove and it uses about 150 watts on low the stove has ran flawless for 4 years but did replace burn pot
 
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