Wood Stoves vs Pellet Stoves

[mickey]

Looking into buying either a Wood Stove or a Pellet Stove, can anyone out there guide me in the right direction on which is better? and for what reason
Thanks:

[coffeegal]

I don't have any experience with either, other than we had a wood burning stove growing up. My hunny switched last year from wood to pellet. He likes the clean burning of the pellet. One bag of pellets does him approximately one day. They run from $4.50 to $6.00 per bag. He bought $1500 worth of pellets the other day, he had Home Hardware "hold" them for him. According to the hardware stores, demand for them is up, but they are not getting the supplies to keep up with the demand. So I guess its being there to buy them at the right time.

[puppyluv]

Check out some of the threads in this section regarding pellets etc.
One thing I can say, the better of the pellet brands "Eastern Embers" made by Shaw are a bit hard to get this year...that being said, I do plan on buying a pellet stove in the summer...

[adorabull]

I guess you can buy pellets by the palatte in Calis for a pretty good price.

other than that I have no clue, im on electric :)

[blacksheep]

We have a wood stove ourselves Friends of ours just installed a pellet stove. The only thing is I don't think you need a chimney with a pellet stove. They are just put out through your wall and there is like a "down spout" thingie on the pipe that comes up and out from the pellet stove, whereas with a wood stove you need a whole chimney, and the silver ones will cost you about $2,000, if you don't already have a chimney. The pellets are cleaner as far as storing your fuel in the basement, wood is a real mess. It is going to cost you about $150-180 a month depending on what you are going to pay for your pellets. We paid $220 for a cord of hardwood, which lasts about 2 to 2 1/2 months. So I would say if you have the chimney wood stove would be the way to go, but if not then I would go pellet.

[gdh]

I guess you can buy pellets by the palatte in Calis for a pretty good price.

other than that I have no clue, im on electric :)

Do you know which stores in Calais sell them?

[nanny]

This is our second year with a wood stove. I would never go with wood again if i knew then what i know now. It's messy and a hell of a lot of work. We own a little bit of land so that's where we get our wood, to burn. You have to cut it pile it to dry then have somewhere to store it for the winter. I love the heat but hate the work and the mess. I have friends with a pellet stove it's cleaner and costs about the same as wood. Much less hassle with a pellet stove. Take my advice, spend the money and install a pellet stove.

[kaj27]

Well you can have wood delivered that is pre-cut, all you'd have to do is store it.

[nanny]

Even when it's delivered at $200.00 to $275.00, you have to pile it and when it's dry store it. When you need more wood for the stove, you have to go out it freezing weather, to bring some wood in. TOO much work for an older person. Think long and hard about all the positive and negatives of owning a wood stove versus a pellet stove. Just my experience and opinion, with wood. Nanny

[inuit]

Pellet stoves must be pretty good because you NEVER see a used one for sale.

[KimmieBoo]

Both my husband and I come from a background of wood burning homes when we were children.. we both like the heat.. and said that we would never go with a pellet stove unless it will provide the same amount of heat as wood does. To our surprise it does.. we were at a local supplier who had one on display and working.. and my sister bought one as well.. no further investigating.. we are buying a pellet stove!!!! we both work full time and are away from home alot, so we don't have the time to split or pile and then throw it in the house, plus we have two teenage daughters at home who we don't want to worry about putting wood in the stove while we are not around (I broke the glass on my families stove when I was younger and had to take a fire extinguisher to it). Pellet stove, less worry of fire, less mess, and easier to regulate the temp... we finished our basement this spring, and when we laid the uniclick flooring, we also had someone come out to lay the tile for the pellet stove.. now we are going to buy one (plus lots of pellets)in the spring (can't afford it right now.. we are taking the family to disney in Feb). You have wood dumped in your yard, then you have to move it and let it dry all summer long, then you move it again into the house, and then you sweep up the little pieces on the floor.. no thank you!!!!! Pellet stove is the best thing I think... and no chimney.. we had a supplier out and told us all he had to do was punch a hole through our 8 foot concrete basement wall.. it will look just like a dryer vent sticking out.. :)

[puppyluv]

KimmieBoo, they are great items, but as far as getting your pellets in the spring, that may be harder than you think.. there has been a shortage of the right kind of pellets this year *last year was tight as well*. Eastern Embers are the better ones, rolled better with less bark etc..you can read the bag and see why. You may want to be prepared just in case for next year. I too plan on getting a pellet stove, but will be trying to squirrel them away as much as possible..and dont get rid of the ones you have left over from the year before. Just keep them dry.

[mickey]

First: I would like to thank everyone who repiled to this ad.

Second: After doing research we have decided to go with a pellet stove. Right now there is a wood stove which is not CSA approved that is inserted into a fire place. We decided to utilize this space and replace the wood stove with a insert pellet stove.

Third: I just wanted to share some interesting information we stumbled across while in our search for a stove. One of the stores we went to we told them what we had a wood stove not CSA approved inserted into a fireplace, and we wanted to replace it with something. He then handed us a pamphlet with a phone number on it for us to call. He said that the government would give us back money for replacing the excisting stove with a energy efficent stove. The Federal government will give us 20% of what the stove cost us to insert, so lets say that the stove cost $5000.00, the government will give us back $1000.00 Also the Provincial Government will give us $300.00.

I called the number before Christmas, and they came yesterday to do a evaluation on our house. It cost us $50.00 to have the evaluation done, but well worth the $50.00. They will also give you money for different things, like windows, siding, insulation furnace, the list goes on and on. We have many draft areas in our house which we just bought a few months ago, so now it is on ward and up ward with renovations to fix all the draft areas which some we knew of but found many more yesterday.

Hope this is of help to someone, as I was quite happy that the guy at the store told us about this.

[puppyluv]

Yes that is the energy assessment that the government has going on. You have your home assessed (the fee ranges based on square footage of your home etc).

Good for you that you were able to get what you wanted!!

[jg]

Pm'd you Mickey.Thanks.