# Largest Pellet Stove



## trettig (Mar 25, 2013)

I have a 2800sq foot house that is very cold in the winter.  The rear of the house (two stories with crawl space) is the coldest.  What would people recommend for a pellet stove.  I could either put the pellet stove in the basement and heat the first floor basement/crawl space or put the pellet stove into the rear section of the house that is the coldest.  I feel like I need the largest pellet stove made to offset the cold.  Any suggestions?  What would you all recommend?  Also I may have to go with a used stove to fit my budget.  
Tom


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## jtakeman (Mar 25, 2013)

There are a couple of stoves in the 70K BTU range. Still might not be enough in the really cold weather. IMHO look for a pellet furnace if you really want true warmth in the whole house. Harman's PF100(forced air) or PB100(bioler) are rated at over 100K and can be sistered into the present system be it a boiler or forced air unit. I have seen a couple used ones here and there on CL.

Keep us posted.


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## moey (Mar 25, 2013)

2 stoves. Its hard to get even heat distribution in a house that size.


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## kinsmanstoves (Mar 25, 2013)

remember to get 68,000 BTU from a pellet stove that is burning over 8 pounds of pellets PER HOUR.  The fuel makes the BTU.

Eric


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## Cincinnati Kid (Mar 25, 2013)

trettig said:


> I have a 2800sq foot house that is very cold in the winter. The rear of the house (two stories with crawl space) is the coldest. What would people recommend for a pellet stove. I could either put the pellet stove in the basement and heat the first floor basement/crawl space or put the pellet stove into the rear section of the house that is the coldest. I feel like I need the largest pellet stove made to offset the cold. Any suggestions? What would you all recommend? Also I may have to go with a used stove to fit my budget.
> Tom


 
I've got a house slighly smaller than yours (heating 2700 sq ft).  Although my layout is probably different than yours, I could not heat my entire house with one pellet stove.  I've got two stoves, one in the basement and one on the main floor.  Even with this arrangement, I still need two small electric heaters for my master bedroom and bathroom. 

My point is I think it would be difficult to heat an entire house (2800 sq ft) with one pellet stove.


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## smwilliamson (Mar 25, 2013)

Rika Intergra II, holds 120lbs and 50k BTU, pretty much silent and one of the most efficient stoves ever made...also the same as Austroflamm but with newer electronics...Austroflamm electronics have been tough to source this year.


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## smwilliamson (Mar 25, 2013)

Very good electric heaters from Dyson,also air cooling in summer


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## SmokeyTheBear (Mar 25, 2013)

trettig said:


> I have a 2800sq foot house that is very cold in the winter. The rear of the house (two stories with crawl space) is the coldest. What would people recommend for a pellet stove. I could either put the pellet stove in the basement and heat the first floor basement/crawl space or put the pellet stove into the rear section of the house that is the coldest. I feel like I need the largest pellet stove made to offset the cold. Any suggestions? What would you all recommend? Also I may have to go with a used stove to fit my budget.
> Tom


 
Insulation and air sealing first.

What is your current system and how much of what fuel do you burn in a season?


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## trettig (Mar 25, 2013)

Presently I heat with a Hearthstone Equinox wood stove. I use at lease 8 cords of wood. The house is still between 50-55 degrees average. Much to cold for my taste. I run the hearthstone in our living room on the first floor (The room we live in). I was thinking about putting the pellet stove either on the same floor (opposite end of the house) or in the basement? My wood is dry and not the problem. The house can't get any more insulated. I should also say I have a H.S. Tarm wood/coal boiler from the 70's in the basement.  The thing kicks #$% but also burns ALOT of wood.  I would probably burn about 14 cords of wood if only used the boiler.  This equals alot of work which I don't have time for.  Suggestions


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## briansol (Mar 25, 2013)

Hire an au pair to fill the stove and split wood?

seriously though, how can a house not be more insulated?  there's always something else to do, and if a big wood stove can't keep a house at 50, there's a big hole in it somewhere....


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## SmokeyTheBear (Mar 25, 2013)

You really need to find your heat loss and air infiltration issues and correct them (air sealing, etc..) if your house is fully insulated 8-14 cords of fully seasoned wood is one boatload of BTU's for most 2800 square foot houses.

There are pellet boilers and furnaces and several stoves in the 70,000 BTU area but as Eric has pointed out they also go through more than a few pounds an hour.

Dorlet 65, Harman P68, Enviro Maxx, and I'm sure there are others.


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## webbie (Mar 25, 2013)

kinsmanstoves said:


> remember to get 68,000 BTU from a pellet stove that is burning over 8 pounds of pellets PER HOUR. The fuel makes the BTU.
> 
> Eric


 
Actually, that's the input - to get 68K BTU from a pellet stove at the more conservative estimate of 5-6K out per pound, you'd be burning about 12 pounds per hour! 

I'm with the other here- spend the money on insulation and get a smaller pellet stove! Or, get a pellet furnace or boilers with a large capacity hopper!


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## kinsmanstoves (Mar 25, 2013)

webbie said:


> Actually, that's the input - to get 68K BTU from a pellet stove at the more conservative estimate of 5-6K out per pound, you'd be burning about 12 pounds per hour!
> 
> I'm with the other here- spend the money on insulation and get a smaller pellet stove! Or, get a pellet furnace or boilers with a large capacity hopper!


 

Yes you are correct.  I just wanted him to get the idea that you do not need the biggest stove in most cases. Work smarter not harder.


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## trettig (Mar 25, 2013)

The house is a brick farm house from 1850.  14 - 6 foot x 3 foot windows. There is no place to put insulation in the walls.  I have insulated the ceiling.  The windows are historical and can't be changed.  I am up  a tree here.


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## kinsmanstoves (Mar 25, 2013)

two pellet stoves?


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## SmokeyTheBear (Mar 25, 2013)

Removable interior storms.

Check along all places where anything rests on the foundation.

What about the underside of the floors over the crawl space?

All passage ways between levels of the house especially chimney chases and electrical runs and floor penetrations.

Is there an attic?

How deep is your basement and how much of the basements walls are above ground level?

ETA: I have more.


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## MButkus (Mar 25, 2013)

Can you put up that plastic over the windows ?  Figure a way.. single pane windows will suck out heat.


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## glenc0322 (Mar 25, 2013)

you can get insulation in the walls if you grind out the mortar and remove the brick then drill the wall and fill with spray foam then replace the brick and mortar Its a LOT of work but can be done.  But I agree a pellet boiler is probably your best bet or 2 pellet stoves but that is still alot of work lugging all the pellets but beats the hell out of wood


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## Redbarn (Mar 25, 2013)

trettig said:


> The house is a brick farm house from 1850.  14 - 6 foot x 3 foot windows. There is no place to put insulation in the walls.  I have insulated the ceiling.  The windows are historical and can't be changed.  I am up  a tree here.



We have a 1815 Federal House. 4000 sq feet. National Historical Register so we can do nothing to the exterior.
Heat it with a pellet stove (3.5 tons of pellets per annum), a wood insert (2 well seasoned chords per annum) and 50 galls of oil (vacations).
Calculating the BTU's per sq ft per annum, we are relatively low.

Our window area is bigger than yours. We fitted Windowtherm interior storms inside the originals to stop the drafts and add thermal insulation.
I took IR camera shots and fixed all the easy heat losses. House is very comfortable.
An old house can be made quite thermally efficient. Just requires a lot of work.


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## smwilliamson (Mar 26, 2013)

webbie said:


> Actually, that's the input - to get 68K BTU from a pellet stove at the more conservative estimate of 5-6K out per pound, you'd be burning about 12 pounds per hour!
> 
> I'm with the other here- spend the money on insulation and get a smaller pellet stove! Or, get a pellet furnace or boilers with a large capacity hopper!


or an au pair to fill it


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## Lake Girl (Mar 26, 2013)

glenc0322 said:


> you can get insulation in the walls if you grind out the mortar and remove the brick then drill the wall and fill with spray foam then replace the brick and mortar Its a LOT of work but can be done. But I agree a pellet boiler is probably your best bet or 2 pellet stoves but that is still alot of work lugging all the pellets but beats the hell out of wood


 
Wouldn't it be easier to go through the plaster and lathe to insulate?  My old house was young in comparison 1903 (from the homework found in the wall - guess they got a zero).  Plaster and lathe was failing in parts so I broke out the walls, insulated, vapour barriered, and drywalled .  A lot of work, a lot of mess but warmer   If plaster is intact, holes to spray foam in from the inside would likely be an easier repair.  Retro-fit on the inside storms is a good idea or use 3M shrink plastic as temporary.  In the long run, has to be easier than bucking up all that wood...


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## DV (Mar 26, 2013)

trettig said:


> The house is a brick farm house from 1850. 14 - 6 foot x 3 foot windows. There is no place to put insulation in the walls. I have insulated the ceiling. The windows are historical and can't be changed. I am up a tree here.


 I'm heating 3k square foot with a Drolet eco 65 from the basement. But my house was built in 2008 and is well insulated and tight. My stove does not work very hard to heat my house. Its ducted from basement to first floor. I have an open foyer that allows hot air up and cold air down. It also does not get bone chilling cold in southern MD.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Mar 26, 2013)

Lake Girl said:


> Wouldn't it be easier to go through the plaster and lathe to insulate? My old house was young in comparison 1903 (from the homework found in the wall - guess they got a zero). Plaster and lathe was failing in parts so I broke out the walls, insulated, vapour barriered, and drywalled . A lot of work, a lot of mess but warmer If plaster is intact, holes to spray foam in from the inside would likely be an easier repair. Retro-fit on the inside storms is a good idea or use 3M shrink plastic as temporary. In the long run, has to be easier than bucking up all that wood...


 
Easier, yes, but if a master plasterer is needed to put things back together it can get very expensive (some people are really into plaster as opposed to drywall).


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## glenc0322 (Mar 26, 2013)

Lake Girl said:


> Wouldn't it be easier to go through the plaster and lathe to insulate? My old house was young in comparison 1903 (from the homework found in the wall - guess they got a zero). Plaster and lathe was failing in parts so I broke out the walls, insulated, vapour barriered, and drywalled . A lot of work, a lot of mess but warmer If plaster is intact, holes to spray foam in from the inside would likely be an easier repair. Retro-fit on the inside storms is a good idea or use 3M shrink plastic as temporary. In the long run, has to be easier than bucking up all that wood...


 
yes but he said that there is no place for it so it was a suggestion and some old houses have plaster molding on the inside and takes a lot of experience to replace as for replacing a brick Super easy just time consuming


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## jvanase (Mar 27, 2013)

We have a 70k BTU stove and heated the entire house this year from the basement.  Looks like we'll go through 7-8 tons by the time we're done this year.  Oil furnace only came on twice all winter.  2200 sq ft, but high ceilings and 2 story foyer so it probably heats like something a bit larger.  I think it really depends on your layout a lot.  Yes, it's possible but more people have had failures than success trying to do so.  Given your condition with the lack of insulation and what not, I think you'll be hard pressed to heat it with one stove.


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## MasterMech (Mar 28, 2013)

trettig said:


> Presently I heat with a Hearthstone Equinox wood stove. I use at lease 8 cords of wood. The house is still between 50-55 degrees average. Much to cold for my taste. I run the hearthstone in our living room on the first floor (The room we live in). I was thinking about putting the pellet stove either on the same floor (opposite end of the house) or in the basement? My wood is dry and not the problem. The house can't get any more insulated. I should also say I have a H.S. Tarm wood/coal boiler from the 70's in the basement. The thing kicks #$% but also burns ALOT of wood. I would probably burn about 14 cords of wood if only used the boiler. This equals alot of work which I don't have time for. Suggestions


 
Buying wood is not an option? You have 2 woodburners already. Green wood goes pretty cheap here, $100-$150 a cord. Buy green wood, stack and store it, keeping a 2+ year supply on hand. You could supplement whatever you are cutting yourself or just buy all the wood you need.


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## Pallet Pete (Mar 28, 2013)

I understand the brick issue here in Michigan we have some friends with a brick home and its very cold. It's also very expensive to fill it with foam due to the labor involved . It sounds like your fix is not pellets at all but a two stove or big wood furnace setup. My friends run two NC 30 stoves for 2100 sq ft and that does the job nicely. They tried a pellet stove but it just wasn't enough eat and pellets cost more when your using 8-10 pounds an hour.

Pete


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