Pellet Stoves

[FDNYLiberty]

I've been searching for a house in WY, and I notice many of them I look at are equipped with Pellet Fireplaces. My question is this. Are they economical and/or cost effective compared to gas or wood? My main concern is that they need electricity to operate, and if there is a power outage - either short or long term - one may freeze to death in their own house.  Thanks for your assistance with this question.

P.S. - I also notice that the houses in WY situated in the middle of nowhere have no powerline poles leading to them. Do the utility companies run their electric supply cables underground out there?

FDNY Liberty

[manfromnevada]

As with anything, it depends on specific costs.
My experience is that if you have natural gas (not propane) feeding your home, that is the most cost effective of anything. Unless you have a FREE source of firewood that you're willing to cut, haul, split, stack, carry, and clean ash from.

I know several folks IN THIS AREA that have switched over from pellets and fuel oil to electricity. Yeah, in other parts of the country electricity is sky high, but not here (Crook County). Using space heaters around the house seems to be better.

Pellets have gone up a lot in the last couple of years. And remember, a stove heats one area of a larger typical house. Any stove, unless it uses an external air source, pulls air from the house and sends it up the stack. It has to. That air has to be replaced thru infiltration all throughout the house. You'll find the back rooms now actually COLDER than they otherwise would be due to the air being sucked in bit by bit.

Again, it can be deceptive as to the costs and benefits of any stove.



It's typical (like my house) to run the high voltage lines only so close to the house, then either have a transformer on the pole or one in a vault, then run underground to the house. But generally the last pole has to be within 200' of the house, maybe closer.

Mac

[SunDog]

I use a pellet stove, and it is  price competitive with electricity. On cold days (0 - 20F) I use a 40 pound bag a day to heat the house (it's a 60,000 BTU/hr stove). That runs a bit over $3.25 for a day of heat, if I shop for a pallet of pellets with delivery included. (A pallet is 60 bags, or 2400 pounds - too much for my little car!) In the same weather, I run around $200 per month for all my electricity, which includes a $25 per month billing fee (what a concept - pay a fee to get a bill). In the warmest months my electricity is $80 to $100 per month, so electric heat alone would be $120 to $100 per month. The electric heat is interruptible, so the cost is less. In two winters, it has never been interrupted.

[manfromnevada]

A couple of points. As with anything else, it's impossible to truly compare apples to apples.

1. Pellet stoves don't work without electricity.
2. Pellet stoves have to be manually fed.
3. Pellet stoves have to be manually cleaned out.
4. Pellet stoves remove warm air from the house thru the stack.
5. Pellet stoves don't (I think) have automatic thermostats that set back at night and warm the house before you get up.
6. If you leave for 3 days your house will be frozen if a pellet stove is your only source of heat.
7. Any point source of heat doesn't get into back rooms very well.

On the other hand,
8. Pellet stoves provide ambiance. I love watching the flames.
9. Pellet stoves provide a "point source" of heat that you can pull your chair up to. I can't do that with a heat pump!

According to some information I received from the local power company there are 36,000,000 Btu/ton in pellets.
Assuming an efficiency of 87% for a pellet stove that works out to 31,320,000 Btu / ton of usable heat.

Using Sundog's $3.25/40 lb bag, that works out to $162.50 per ton (delivered).
So that's 192,738 Btu / per dollar.
At 3,413 Btu / Kw-Hr that works out to 56.5 Kw-Hr / dollar or $0.018 per Kw-Hr, far BELOW the delivered price of electricity even in my area where it's $0.055 per Kw-Hr (quite cheap).

So that seems to be a pretty good deal for the pellets if one doesn't mind feeding the stove at certain intervals.

As an aside, my last electric bill totaled $129.33 for the period 1/9 - 2/8. Ave low temp: 8F, ave high temp: 33. This is total electricity for heating (heat pump) my 1,700 sq foot recently built modular home, the 1,700 sq ft of partially finished basement, hot water heating, electric clothes dryer, well pump, TV, and all incidental electric usage. We have the temp set at 67 from 8:30 am to 10 pm and 60F at night.

Every situation, every house, every climate, every lifestyle is different. What works for one might not work for another.

BTW, if anyone wants a copy of the Excel spreadsheet I have comparing 11 different energy sources, their costs and efficiencies, PM me with your email addr.

Mac

[MamaLiberty]

2009 was the last year I used my pellet stove. I bought a pallet of bags and they cost $5.50 each, delivered. I don't know where you find them for $3.25 at all. They were more than that at the Spearfish WalMart in '08. Here in Newcastle, one local hardware store has them for $7.00 a bag. They don't deliver.  I don't go into the other hardware store anymore, so I don't know their price or if they still deliver.

I gave the pellet stove away because the last year I used it cost me $400. for pellets (season total), unknown amount more for the electricity, and it didn't heat the whole house. My electric bill in 2010 was about $25. a month higher heating with electric space heaters, so I saved a bundle and didn't have to haul pellets or ash.

Now I have the wood stove, but have not relied on it much for heat. When I do, it does a very good job. It is an airtight, and brings in air from outside.

[SunDog]

Home Depot had the pellets for  $192 per pallet - but wanted $70 to deliver! I went to the local Ace hardware and they asked a bit more, about $220 per pallet, but only $10 delivery. So I went with them. That worked out to $3.83 per bag. Last year I went with Home Depot (same price) but delivery was free. I guess the $70 delivery charge was the new store manager's idea of progress.