Pellet Stove / fire place insert?

[ithinkimamedic]

So.. I've decided to put in a pellet insert into my existing fireplace. I'm having some repair work done to the chimney liner and caps, it is right now set up as an open fireplace. My current heating system is forced hot water with Fuel Oil (which I would like to get away from as a primary heat source). Expected heating area is aprox 1500sq ft. and it will be located in my living room.

Right now I'm open to suggestions to brand/model of insert. I've looked at the Osburn Hybrid 35MF insert and Harman for brands though I am open to suggestions. I've read that ash pan size should be a consideration am I wrong?
Any idea guys and girls? First hand experiences? Recommendations? I'm open.

Thanks for all in advance!

Cheers!
Josh

[Dredly]

Ash pan size should not be a consideration as far as I can tell. I have a Breckwell and its been great, I may fill my ash pan once a season, possibly twice? I normally just dump it when its about 1/2 full.

The HOPPER size is what matters, the bigger the hopper the less often you have to fill it. I suggest nothing less then 45 pounds, a bag of pellets is 40 pounds and that lets you put in a whole bag at a time, also I normally burn about a bag a day so with a 45 pound hopper I can fill er up once a day and be good to go.

Keep in mind you will have to clean the stove weekly or you will lose a lot in the way of heat.

Depending on the layout of your house you should have no issue heating it with a pellet stove, my house is shaped weird and I can still heat it well, my buddy has a 1 story ranch, standard layout and he heats the whole 1300+ sq feet upstairs with the same stove I have so it can be done and it will save a FORTUNE!

[sbmania]

I've got your typical two story colonial style house with a two story cathedrial ceiling in family room opening up to kids bedrooms on second floor. Heatilator fireplace in family room on first floor, which is all but worthless for heat. Thinking of installing a wood burning insert into Heatilator fireplace in order to reduce use of natural gas heating this winter. Anyone have experience with this? Can I get enough heat out of this kind of insert to heat a house of approximately 3000 sq ft total? I occasionally lose electric during snowstorms or thunderstorms for a day or more at a time, so the insert's blower may not always work.
I also have a small sun room type room about 10 x 10 off to the side of the kitchen/family room. Another thought is to put a small free standing wood stove in there. Better choice? Thanks for any ideas from those with experience in this area!

[Karl/PA]

That cathedral ceiling is the killer. That's a lot of unused cubic footage that sucks up the heat. First thing I would consider are a couple of ceiling fans to get that heat back down where it belongs.

As far as the insert, go for it, BUT I would seriously consider a pellet insert rather than wood. Its a heck of a lot cleaner and easier to clean and maintain, and so far, cheaper than buying wood.


I have a 1200 sq. ft. rancher that I heat exclusively with the smallest pellet stove that Quadra Fire makes. We haven't used 30 gal. of oil in three years total. My total heat bill last winter was just a hair over $600.

[SteveXD]

I don't know about the insert, but if you plan on using one this winter buy the pellets now! They are very difficult to find and usually backordered by now.

[Dredly]

Pellet stoves will only work when their is power. Get a generator for backup power if needed, you'll save enough in one year by NOT using gas/oil to make up for the cost of the generator. the blower and the feed are electric as well as thermostat if you have one

Wood Pellet supply is pretty reliable now, although there was a big fire at one of the major suppliers, dunno if they are back online yet. 3 - 4 years ago supply was hard to find, last year retailers were selling off their excess at the end of the year.

SB I dunno how well the average pellet stove would work for you do the size of the house, you may have to supplement with electric heat in the bedrooms or turn the stove up, either way it would be cheaper then the big 2

[ithinkimamedic]

Dreadly and Karl. Thanks for the info. Still looking for anyone else input.

[ithinkimamedic]

I guess there aren't that many people who use pellet stoves here? Plenty so say about picture threads or caturday I guess....

One last call...

I'm open for any input.

[bigborehnd]

I own a pellet stove-Whitfield model. My house is a 2000 sq. ft. cape with cath. ceiling in the living room. I have the stove in the basement and can heat the whole house with it. I can keep the house at 72 with no problems. I do have a large ceiling fan in the living room to circulate the air. I have a generator for backup power in case of an outage. Pellet stoves use very little electricity to operate, so you won't need a large generator to run it, but you want to get as big of a generator as you can afford for powering other things in the event of a power failure. Pellets are a lot better to store than wood, they are clean, no bugs, and a ton of pellets produces very little ash. I empty my ash pan once or twice a season depending on how much I burn. My primary source of heat is a heat pump, so I only use the pellet stove when it gets below 30 outside. The heat pump is more efficient than the pellet stove over 30 degrees. I have had mine since 1999, pellets were around 120/ton then, I saw them as high as 260/ton last winter. More people using pellet stoves now.

[ithinkimamedic]

Thanks bigborehnd! I appreciate the good info!

Cheers,
Josh