burning pellets in a wood stove, campfire or fireplace?

[raybonz]

Ran across this on Craigslist and wonder if anyone has tried this out?

http://www.reposenow.com/

Seems like it would work rather unusual..

Ray

 

[bboulier]

No idea of how well these "logs" would work, but looks interesting. As the ad popped up, my first impression was that Repose was planning to use wooden chairs for fuel.

Bryan

 

[raybonz]

No idea of how well these "logs" would work, but looks interesting. As the ad popped up, my first impression was that Repose was planning to use wooden chairs for fuel.

Bryan

They also have a cage of sorts to contain pellets inside a woodstove.. I would think the ash would suffocate the pellets.. Would like to see a video of these things in action..

Ray

 

[bboulier]

The firm says not for use in a wood stove or fireplace insert: http://www.reposenow.com/index.php?pr=Fire_Log_Products

Bryan

 

[raybonz]

The firm says not for use in a wood stove or fireplace insert: http://www.reposenow.com/index.php?pr=Fire_Log_Products

Bryan

?? http://www.reposenow.com/index.php?pr=Woodstove_Products

Ray

 

[treehackers]

Pellets burned in any other way than in a pellet stove just seem to smolder

 

[raybonz]

Pellets burned in any other way than in a pellet stove just seem to smolder

That is what I think too.. In a pellet stove they have a combustion blower which stokes them up and blows the ash out of the burn pot so I have my doubts about this idea however these gizmo's use a screen on all sides which allows them to burn from all sides.. I would think you'd need a good draft to get the ashes to fall out of the way.. Pellet stoves are much more complex than a woodstove and require several blowers plus an auger to feed them.. Aside from electrical dependency I feel they are very efficient for an alternate heating source..

Ray

 

[sandie]

Maine where these are made they keep things simple. I think it is a great idea and would love to see one in action. I wonder if he is going to any home shows or RV shows? I would be tempted to buy a basket for woodstove(they are different from the ones that go in outdoor fireplaces etc. for the end of season when I am running out of wood, and do not want another dump of wood so late. I am tempted. I have a note into the inventor of this gizmo and see what occurs. Then you need GOOD pellets of hard wood not the cheap stuff from HD right? I read here that there are two brands that most people feel are the best but because it did not affect me I did not write it down.

 

[raybonz]

Maine where these are made they keep things simple. I think it is a great idea and would love to see one in action. I wonder if he is going to any home shows or RV shows? I would be tempted to buy a basket for woodstove(they are different from the ones that go in outdoor fireplaces etc. for the end of season when I am running out of wood, and do not want another dump of wood so late. I am tempted. I have a note into the inventor of this gizmo and see what occurs. Then you need GOOD pellets of hard wood not the cheap stuff from HD right? I read here that there are two brands that most people feel are the best but because it did not affect me I did not write it down.

Sandie if you see or hear anything on this please post it here as I am curious too.. Sure would be nice to use in a pinch if it worked as advertised..

Ray

 

[sandie]

Will do. I wonder if these are sold in stores or just by this man over internet but man if it works would be GREAT.

 

[KeepItNatural]

A quick run through on the pellet portion of this forum will give you a frequent recurrence of problems surrounding pellet stoves. This is due to the nature of their fuel. In order for the fuel to be burned correctly there needs to be just about ideal circumstances for the pellet to burn. Not meaning that pellet stoves aren't any good, but just meaning that a certain level of care and maintenance needs to be followed in order for it to work properly. The problem with a wood stove using pellets as a fuel source is that essentially none of the components from a pellet stove are in place.

If you like the efficiency and ease of use of pellets I think you might as well take advantage of all the benefits and go for a pellet stove.

 

[raybonz]

A quick run through on the pellet portion of this forum will give you a frequent recurrence of problems surrounding pellet stoves. This is due to the nature of their fuel. In order for the fuel to be burned correctly there needs to be just about ideal circumstances for the pellet to burn. Not meaning that pellet stoves aren't any good, but just meaning that a certain level of care and maintenance needs to be followed in order for it to work properly. The problem with a wood stove using pellets as a fuel source is that essentially none of the components from a pellet stove are in place.

If you like the efficiency and ease of use of pellets I think you might as well take advantage of all the benefits and go for a pellet stove.

That isn't the point of this thread some here burn biobricks etc. in a pinch (wet wood, new wood burner with no wood, etc.).. I have burned wood over 20 years and many here longer than that this is just exploring an option in the event I run out of wood etc.. I am well aware of what it takes to burn pellets I do however enjoy looking into different ideas that others may have.. Recently I recall someone wanting to know if there is a woodstove that can also burn pellets this would possibly be an option for that person... If one stays open to new ideas they will always learn something new... Enough rambling for now lol.. :zip:

Ray

 

[epehubb]

I saw this product and wanted to see if anyone here has tried it in a regular masonary FP. I am saving up for an insert to go into my FP on the first floor to accompany my P23FS, which is on the second floor. But maybe this thing will work in the mean time?

http://burnwoodpellets.com/

 

[begreen]

For $125-150 I would keep my money in the bank and save for that insert. If you want to experiment, it looks like it would be hard to make a couple of those stainless pellet, log holders for under $10. Get a bit of 1/8" stainless mesh cloth and form it around a 4x4. Notch it to create end flaps, use some thin stainless wire to seal one end and hold down the other end's flap after it's filled with pellets.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Pardon the intrusion of a Pellet Pig here is a link to a picture of stove that burns both wood and pellets.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewreply/642883/

 

[Clarkbar2311]

I made a basket to burn pellets in my grandmas woodstove. It works ok once they get going. Wouldn't use it for serious heat.

 

[ANeat]

If youre going to buy pellets for a wood stove why not just buy the bio-bricks or whatever.

Heck if it was an emergency just about every convienient store/grocery store sells small bundles of firewood. I dont know how those would compare to buying pellets

 

[Clarkbar2311]

I had the basket because she is 85 and fairly frail. She likes being "independant" but firewood is getting tough for her to handle. I figured the basket would be nice because she could reload it a scoop at a time. It just isn't a great setup. She stopped using it.

 

[firefighterjake]

Random thoughts:

The company seems a little confused . . . one section says the inventor came up with the idea since his wood supply was low and he was able to use pellets in this contraption to keep warm . . . then another section specifically says not for use in woodstoves and inserts.

Call me old-fashioned and crazy . . . but in my woodstove I burn real, honest-to-gawd wood . . . not processed wood pellets . . . not that there is anything wrong with pellets . . . it's just I have a woodstove, not a pelletstove . . . and it seems to me that the folks who build woodstoves build them to burn wood, not pellets.

I'm not even sure these are a super great idea for camp fires . . . I mean I camp quite a bit and can always find dead branches . . . or if I had to I could break down and buy some wood from the folks who always have a pile of wood tied up in bailing twine . . . or even buy some of that wood in the hardware stores.

I find this ironic . . . the guy lives in Maine . . . one of the most heavily forested states in the nation . . . definitely in New England . . . and yet he has come up with this idea to keep warm. Sounds like his initial problem was poor planning. Incidentally, I disagree with Sandie . . . simple does not always equal good, better or more efficient.

 

[tiber]

Despite not having a modern, working woodstove at the moment - I said "Hey those aren't too hard to fabricate" and did a few up using turkey pans and steel mesh on their designs. The idea being that if it worked in a turkey pan it would work in a woodstove. Keep in mind this is stupidly nonscientific, I'm using an open fireplace, and I'm eyeballing the dimensions.

Here's what I figured out:
* Lighter fluid seems corrosive to the metal. The pans gave up in a few burns. I'm HOPING the aluminum went up the chimney or into the ash, rather than my lungs. The steel did a lot better but would burn out where-ever it was folded. Keep in mind I only bought a single bag of pellets to screw around with. Anyway, the more lighter fluid I used, the more likely it was the pan was damaged. Forget trying to light it by hand, you NEED fluid/gel.
* The more pellets, the better. I'm not sure why but there's a critical mass where you have to STUFF the thing with pellets. This also means when it burns down low you're left with unburnt pellets. I eventually figured out a V shaped funnel seemed to do well for it.
* Blowing air onto it turned out to be a bad idea. Lots upon lots of fly ash.
* Pellets do gas out, If you're packing the thing with pellets you can get phantom flames above the pellets if you go big enough. Running the pan outside for gits and shiggles produced a cool "fire tornado" when the wind caught it correctly.

So would this work in a wood stove? probably not. The air isn't there. A woodstove works to control the fire by choking the air back, a pellet stove works by pushing less air into it but at the end of the day a woodstove is starving the fire for air with negative pressure while a pellet stove seems to always need positive pressure. Maybe someone else can come up with the magic mix but until then I'm pretty much in the camp that biobrix, ecobrix, liberty brix, whatever are the only wood stubstitute worth looking at.

 

[vvvv]

Pellets burned in any other way than in a pellet stove just seem to smolder

That is what I think too.. In a pellet stove they have a combustion blower which stokes them up and blows the ash out of the burn pot so I have my doubts about this idea however these gizmo's use a screen on all sides which allows them to burn from all sides.. I would think you'd need a good draft to get the ashes to fall out of the way.. Pellet stoves are much more complex than a woodstove and require several blowers plus an auger to feed them.. Aside from electrical dependency I feel they are very efficient for an alternate heating source..

Ray

the wind will simulate the airflow of the combustion blower in a pstove= should work outdoors