Oh Pellets

Well coal has been a great ride. Been burning in an 55k (input) efel hand fired stove since it got chilly. Being newly married the wife and I would like to go on trips and finding someone competent enough to take care of the stove (our only heat source. Bad oil furnace) is quite difficult. The straw that broke the camels back was I have no little to no control of the stove in warmer temps with No over fire air controls. Came home to a 300ppm co filled house late at night after a long day. With the price of coal at almost $400 a ton and pellets at 250 the free pellet stove my uncle wants to give me is looking quite enticing for the ability to leave, and ease of use in warmer temps without worry. Not to mention cheaper to run with the huge price gap. I love the way the coal heats but it’s hard to beat convenance unfortunately. Anyone looking for a beautiful efel giant ardon? Who knows maybe I’ll keep it in the basement if the pellet stove can’t keep up when we get those wonderful artic blasts.

Welcome to the pellet world. If prices stay this way my stoves won’t be far behind ya.

Wood pellets don't provide the same btu's as coal. keep that in mind.

With pellets being $250 you'd need to add another third to match coal. So you'd really be spending $325 on pellets per ton of coal equivalent.

But in your case with drafting issues, being away from home for short periods, not having someone to take care of your coal fire... ECT.. a pellet stove is looking to be a better option.

Yup, the fuel comparison calculator will let you know if pellets are cheaper per BTU than coal.

https://coalpail.com/fuel-comparison-calculator-home-heating

Paul

The key to success with pellets is cleaning the stove as recommended, and keeping the pellets dry.

Will the pellet stove be going in the basement or on the main floor?

Considering your coal.stove is severely undersized and you have the opportunity for a free stove I think it's the best choice. Maybe you can sell the old stove and.work into.a.larger one for next year.

Pellet stoves still have that "plink plink plink" sound ?

A free stove ? That's how they get ya...ink jet printer, $15 .. ink $500

kek

davidmcbeth3 wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 08, 2023 2:05 pm

Pellet stoves still have that "plink plink plink" sound ?

A free stove ? That's how they get ya...ink jet printer, $15 .. ink $500

kek

Do coal.stoves.come with stove?

I had bad experiences with pellets and would never have another pellet stove. Loud, dusty, expensive parts. But as mentioned clean as recommended and keep your pellets dry. Dont ever touch it if your finger or hand is going to cause a spark either. Their expensive circuit boards dont like that. Maybe you will have better luck, I hope so.

I have both in my home. I use the wood pellets in the fall and the spring. I can put the stove on for a few hours or overnight and it’ll keep the house warm. Once it gets cold and stays cold, I’ll light the coal stove. Hitzer 30/95 self feeder with blower. It will heat the house abundantly. Before I had the coal stove I would heat with wood and use the pellet stove for the day while I was at work. Wood got to be too much work. I did the wood pellets for 3 years exclusively. It was expensive and ultimately it was a fail. I burnt 5 tons on a weak winter. I ran out of pellets at the end of the season and would have to buy another ton or two. With the coal I burn 3 ton and between fall and spring I burn one ton of wood pellets. With coal I heat the house to 80 all coal heating season. Using only the pellet stove I could only keep the house low 70,s max and when it was really cold out my house was cold inside.
The only good thing I like about having the wood pellet stove in my house is that in the event I have to go away for the weekend. I can let the coal stove ‘burn out’ and the second day I’m gone, a friend can’t stop by and hit the power button on the pellet stove and it will run for the next to day and half with out anyone needing to tend to it.
Personally I wouldn’t suggest getting rid of the coal stove until you’ve proven to yourself that the wood pellet stove is the answer to your overall problem. I’d think you may want to upgrade your existing coal stove to something better. Something that’s easier to tend and operates almost by itself.

Yeh it’s definitely a good idea to have another heat source besides just a pellet stove. It can take a few days to get parts. Some places don’t keep enough pellets stocked at the end of the season and leave you high and dry. One year I had to burn pine bedding pellets because I couldn’t source any wood pellets. They burned good just expensive.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Sun. Jan. 08, 2023 11:26 am

The key to success with pellets is cleaning the stove as recommended, and keeping the pellets dry.

Will the pellet stove be going in the basement or on the main floor?

It will be in the basement. It’s a 48000 btu output stove. My parents have the same one and it heats there house on the lowest heat range. The first time (in 6 years) they ever turned it to the 2/5 heat range was a few weeks ago when it was -5 and it’s in their basement aswell.

Pellet stoves do have their pros. Right now they might be cheaper fuel wise in some places, they are easy to start, easy to maintain. I used to use one for shoulder months.

You get used to it, they say.