# Is it possible to heat with only a pellet stove?



## Kc350twin (Oct 14, 2012)

Hello all!

I am new to pellets and like them so far. I recently bought a house that has a pellet stove in the basement to heat a small work shop. I added some flex duct to aid the heating of the upstairs. Now I am looking to eliminate all Oil heat due to it's very high cost.  I am looking in to a new pellet stove for my living room.I thought I'd ask the forums before asking a salesman at a hearth store. 

I have a 1200 sqft home built in 1926. Oil furnace for heat and Central A/C. Newer windows and doors, 2 Bedrooms on the second level and the living room takes up most of the first level. Here is a quick lay out of the rooms on the first level.  In the two lower bottom corners is where I can place the stove. The Living area has two ceiling fans that could help circulate heat.







I have a ton of questions and I understand that there are tons a variables so I will give info as needed.


I live in Central Maryland near Annapolis.


Is it possible to heat the whole house with pellets?

Will second level be "Ice Cold" and first level "Hot as Heck"?  I like it cooler where I sleep but not freezing.

Can I run the Fan for the Central A/C or Oil furnace to help distribute the heat even out the rooms?

The Misses is pushing to replace the A/C unit with a Heat Pump and I am researching the Pellet Stove path or even a Pellet furnace.  I don't care for the Heat Pump cool feel and like the warm forced air better. 




Thanks for your time and help

Kc3











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## Don2222 (Oct 14, 2012)

Hello

If I can heat my whole house which is a 2,200 sq ft split with a 45k BTU wood pellet stove then your answer is YES of course!


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## Bioburner (Oct 14, 2012)

I heat 95percent with pellets. Gas freestanding stove as a backup in a fairly cold windy area of the country but I also have newer home, 30by 50 on a full ICF basement. I can see air infiltration as a problem for you. You could try find a good used unit and see if it may suit you and the boss without a major investment. We're pulling for you


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## jtakeman (Oct 14, 2012)

With the stove you'll have cool spots and warms spots unless you get the air circulated perfect(pretty hard to do-lots of trial and error). Pretty safe to say the upstairs bedrooms and the backroom will be cooler. Using the central or furnace fans to distribute the air has worked for some, But not others. Most just use floor or the ceiling fans to circulate the warm air. Best way to heat the whole house evenly IMHO is with a pellet furnace.


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## St_Earl (Oct 14, 2012)

where is/are the hall door(s) /openings to the stairs?
seems like with a ducted basement stove already contributing to the first floor heating, you could afford to maximize the proximity of the first floor stove to the stairs to the second floor.


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## DexterDay (Oct 14, 2012)

For whole house heating. A ranch home, with very open floor plan, with the stove smack dab in the middle of the house, is the "Ideal" situation. This makes it quite easy.

I have a 2,200 sq ft Ranch and heated with just my Quadrafire Classic Bay for several years. No LP at all. This November will be 3 yrs since my last tank fill (LP) and I still have roughly 30%-35%. I still use the Quad and only use/used it on Low. I only hit Med when temps dipped below 10* outside. Otherwise Low running 24/7 would keep the whole house 73*-76*. With the Fahrenheit, it will never see Med again. Until it finds another home (looking to replace )

I used through the wall fans and corner fans (noisey) to help equalize temps. On average a 2-3 degree difference was normal.  I still use these now when we use the Quad. Above 30* (outside) we still use it. But below that, is when the Fahrenheit gets switched on and called into battle

Whats the budget your looking at? A pellet furnace is the Cats the meow as far as whole house temps. My furnace is not the biggest in the industry, but I have a newer home with good insulation and windows.

Whole house heating is very possible. The house, insulation, windows, (i.e.- Heat loss) is the key factor. A 50,000 BTU unit may heat 3,500 sq ft (even if rated at 2,200) if its in the right home, in the right climate, with the right insulation and heat loss. So buttoning up the home, trying to put the heat where you need it, and sizing the system for the heat loss is all key.

(Sorry so long )


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## bbfarm (Oct 14, 2012)

I think a lot would depend where your doorways are as to how warm the kitchen and backroom are and the hallway going to the upstairs looks a little challenging. 

we heat our whole house with our pellet stove.  It is located centrally in our dinning room with doorways to the livingroom, kitchen, bathroom, den and upstairs so we don't even use fans to move the heat. 

we have a 2 story old farmhouse built in 1870.  We do have some newer windows and good insulation and that helps a lot.


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## tsmith (Oct 14, 2012)

I heat my whole home with just pellets. I started out with a Quad AE downstairs in my bi-level home. I had to keep the lower level at around 80 degrees to get the second floor rear bedrooms to 70. I now have a Harman Accentra on the upper level, so now I am keeping the lower level at 68-70 and same with the second floor. So yea, it can be done.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Oct 14, 2012)

What's this heat loss you folks yammering about is it anything like what happens when you chomp down on a chili pepper?

Most folks (some more than others) on here are trying in some manner to heat their whole house with their stove or stoves.

Whatever you do, do not remove your current heating system. It is very difficult for someone to get a mortgage without some form of conventionally fueled whole house heating system in the house.


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## Bioburner (Oct 14, 2012)

Trying to sell a home without a central heating system probably won't fly. I have the basement slab with a electric boiler but never used it last year. Started heating the home with a pellet stove as we were trying to close up the house October 05 and even had the furnace delivered but never installed as the pellet stove worked so well we just got a gas stove for upstairs  for shouldering and extended time away from home and never looked back.


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## bbfarm (Oct 14, 2012)

SmokeyTheBear said:


> house.


 
Plus you want to keep some type of backup just in case your stove is down for repairs.


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## bbfarm (Oct 14, 2012)

Well that quote worked well <sarcasm>


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## DexterDay (Oct 14, 2012)

I dont know where getting rid of existing system came from? But DON'T DO THAT!  

A freestander downstairs (Main level) in either corner shown will prob work. But go Big. Dont get a 30,000 BTU unit. 

Another thing, is if put in either corner, put them in like a corner install should be. You have them installed at a 90° to opposing corner. Put in caddy corner to blow towards hallway. If I had to pick, it wouod be the lower left side of living room.pic, if installed like a corner install, it will blow directly towards the hallway and will aid with convection.


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## johnny1720 (Oct 14, 2012)

I burned 8 tons the winter of 2007-08 and kept two stoves rolling 24x7 the entire winter.  I did not use any fuel oil it was over $4.00 per gallon that year.  It was a lot of work, I bought and stashed all the pellets in my basement and let those stove run.  I had to shut them down for cleaning every weekend.  After I replaced all of the windows and added a bunch of insulation I can heat it with my pellet insert and 4 or 5 tons.  Which ever stove you get make sure you get a thermostat with it.


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## jtakeman (Oct 14, 2012)

Like dex stated if you do decide to go stove go on the bigger side. Also look toward the multifuel units that handle cheaper fuels easier. Harman P61/68, Quad MT Vernon, Enviro M55/Maxx M to name a few. The pellet furnaces are mainly multifueler too! Once you get burning we try to get fuel as cheap as possible. Cheaper pellets sometimes have drawback, Higher ash content depending on brand.

Also there are some other items to worry about. If you have a boiler, The pellet stove will keep it from cycling and you could freeze the water in the pipes. Your basement could also get very cold and you could freeze the water pipes as well. There are a few things you can do to help. A pellet furnace will also warm the basement and eliminate the need to address these items. Pretty much the same as your current system does.

Keep us posted


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## LMPS (Oct 14, 2012)

I have a 1750sqft cape 10years old, stick built.  Been eating the house 95% on pellets for 5 years, once in a great while when temps are in the single digits for more than a couple of days I might kick on the oil as the wife starts...well you know.. Any ways, our stove is on one end of the house, the other end upstairs and down will be a little cooler than the middle of the house and the end the stove is on.  So, I think it really comes down to position of the stove.  I have attempted to use ceiling fans to move the air around but did not find it made the much of difference.


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## Kc350twin (Oct 14, 2012)

Wow Thanks for the quick responses. Keep them coming.

As for the steps location they could not be in a worse location I think. Here is the pic again with the red square indicating the location.

Also the two stoves in the pic are potential locations for one stove and they will be corner oriented. The online program I was using only would allow perpendicular orientation.


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## Harvey Schneider (Oct 14, 2012)

Even difficult to heat houses can benefit from the addition of a pellet stove.
Last year I installed my first pellet stove, a Mt Vernon AE. It is thermostatically controlled and rated at 60,000 BTU.
My home in Connecticut is a two story saltbox with an oil fired (100k BTU), circulating hot water system. This house is not an easy one to convert to pellet stove heat.
My approach is to use both systems in tandem.  I set the thermostat on the pellet stove a few degrees higher than the oil fired system so that the pellet stove does most of the work and the oil system only kicks in when the heating requirement exceeds the capability of the stove. That will typically happen when the outside temperatures get down around zero.
The second floor has it's own thermostat, but heat rising in the stairwell has significantly reduced the demand for heat from the oil system.
I cannot ever see being completely free of the oil system, but the reduction in my dependence on oil is worthwhile. I estimate that I will reach break even in five to six years and it is the ecologically right thing to do.


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## Indiana (Oct 14, 2012)

I heat a 2400 sq ft colonial with only a pellet stove. I have an open floor plan, and the temps on the first floor are an even to plus/minus 2 degree with ceiling fans on low. the 4 bedrooms upstairs tend to be 4-5 degrees cooler wich is fine with me.


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## Kc350twin (Oct 14, 2012)

Harvey Schneider said:


> Even difficult to heat houses can benefit from the addition of a pellet stove.
> Last year I installed my first pellet stove, a Mt Vernon AE. It is thermostatically controlled and rated at 60,000 BTU.
> My home in Connecticut is a two story saltbox with an oil fired (100k BTU), circulating hot water system. This house is not an easy one to convert to pellet stove heat.
> My approach is to use both systems in tandem. I set the thermostat on the pellet stove a few degrees higher than the oil fired system so that the pellet stove does most of the work and the oil system only kicks in when the heating requirement exceeds the capability of the stove. That will typically happen when the outside temperatures get down around zero.
> ...


 
That raises even more questions in my head.   My thermostat is located on the 1st floor and with a pellet maintaining that floor should I move the oil thermostat to the second floor? Hmmmmm.  or am I just over thinking it when approaching a large purchase?


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## jtakeman (Oct 14, 2012)

Kc350twin said:


> Hmmmmm. or am I just over thinking it when approaching a large purchase?


Better to hash em out now than be cold later!


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## DexterDay (Oct 14, 2012)

Whats the 350twin in your. Screen name mean? 

A bike? Quad (Banshee)? Etc.... Got me wondering? ?


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## imacman (Oct 14, 2012)

If you want to heat the whole house, go the pellet furnace route.


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## Kc350twin (Oct 14, 2012)

DexterDay said:


> Whats the 350twin in your. Screen name mean?
> 
> A bike? Quad (Banshee)? Etc.... Got me wondering? ?




Ha ha ha. Yes. Used to ride a Full MX banshee then went to a 250r and saw the light.  Lol. I got of the bike when the 4 strokes were starting to come out.


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## Kc350twin (Oct 14, 2012)

imacman said:


> If you want to heat the whole house, go the pellet furnace route.




Is there anyone running a pellet furnace on the threads. Can anyone recommend one or should I start a new thread?


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## DexterDay (Oct 14, 2012)

DexterDay said:


> For whole house heating. A ranch home, with very open floor plan, with the stove smack dab in the middle of the house, is the "Ideal" situation. This makes it quite easy.
> 
> I have a 2,200 sq ft Ranch and heated with just my Quadrafire Classic Bay for several years. No LP at all. This November will be 3 yrs since my last tank fill (LP) and I still have roughly 30%-35%. I still use the Quad and only use/used it on Low. I only hit Med when temps dipped below 10* outside. Otherwise Low running 24/7 would keep the whole house 73*-76*. With the Fahrenheit, it will never see Med again. Until it finds another home (looking to replace )
> 
> ...



Hate to quote my own post. But........ 

Fahrenheit  read above


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## imacman (Oct 14, 2012)

Kc350twin said:


> Is there anyone running a pellet furnace on the threads. Can anyone recommend one or should I start a new thread?


Do a search of "pellet furnace"....you should get quite a few hits.


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## DexterDay (Oct 14, 2012)

Other than the Fahrenheit Endurance, the others are.......

St. Croix 050-SCF or St. Croix Revolution
Harman PF-100 (forced hot air) or Harman PB-105 (boiler) 
Or US Stove makes a furnace also, but the 4 listed above I would look at 1st.


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## DexterDay (Oct 14, 2012)

The size of your home is the only reason I think you could get away with a freestanding unit. 1,200 for both floors isn't a large area. I did some measurements on the #'s you have listed, and taking the outer dimensions of the home and saying the upstairs is the same size (normally smaller in sq ft) its 1,400.... Even if you had to run the stove in the basement, another stove on the upper floor should be more than adequate. Thats if the insulation and windows are sufficient (as you said above). 

Are the upper and lower floors the same size (dimensions as your drawing)? ? Or are they a smaller footprint?


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## Kc350twin (Oct 14, 2012)

The upper floor print is smaller with angled ceilings. I'm sure I could use a little more insulation and I'm definitely working on it. I have a soon to be living room remodel and that is why I'm researching a pellet stove for the remodel.


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## Kc350twin (Oct 14, 2012)

DexterDay.  
I apologize you had to quote your own post. Lol. 

This thread is moving fast and I'm on my phone trying to take it all in.


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## JBiBBs5 (Oct 15, 2012)

A pellet furnace seems like a great idea but I think you could get away with a freestanding unit as well. Something with with at least 50k BTU should have no problem heating a home that size. 

Call your local dealers to come out and give you a professional opinion.


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## Kc350twin (Oct 15, 2012)

What brands or models would any of you recommend?


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## JBiBBs5 (Oct 15, 2012)

Kc350twin said:


> What brands or models would any of you recommend?



The Enviro M55 I have is rated for up to 2,500 sq ft. That is with optimal air flow but you're only looking to heat half of that.


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