Buying a Pellet Stove - any recommendations?

[digdeep0169]

good link on that Energy Selector - thanks.

LOTS of good factual information from everyone - MAN we got a debate going on UP in here.

cheers,

: )

 

[hearthtools]

GOOD STOVE
TRAVIS (avalon or Lopi) avalon astoria has a larger hopper but is the same stove.
Enviro fire. (meridian or Empress/windsor)
Harmon

STAY WAY FROM THE PROFILE made by lennox.

ONLY buy from a LOCAL dealer that INSTALLS AND SERVICE.
STAY AWAY FROM INTERNET DEALERS you will not get service like you would face to face.

 

[drizler]

Dahh, I only dump the ash pan on my corn stove every 2-3 days and just scrape the insides into the pan before doing so. Takes me 2 minutes. I really clean it well once a season or so otherwise. I have no rodents at all though I do have 5 very well fed cats lurking about. Storing pellets and corn are about the same really, I have done enough of both and there are no special precautions with either. I have read from folks on another group that the mice will go after the pellet bags every time rather than the corn. Get corn wet and just let it dry. Get pellets damp and you have a 40 lb bag of sawdust. I have one right now I toss in a cup full at a time to get rid of. It absorbed moisture from a damp concrete floor. Check your prices and availability for corn and pellets. I scream like hell paying $150 for the cleanest corn yet pellets are $230 if you can get them. Your mileage may vary but you are unlikely to find corn prices more than that and if you look around, scrounge around and throw $100 bills at farmers next Fall you can surely do better than that. FWIW my countryside burns either pellets or corn but for my money the corn wins hands down. Otherwise there isn't much difference between the two in installation and operation. Now if you want bells and whistles shutdowns and autostart corn isn't so accommodating and those features cost you big. Really, honestly, in the real world do you need complete shutdown except in the late spring or early fall? I never need it nor do I miss it. You are gonna need that small 10K btu to keep the house warm anyways. It's not much of a consideration other than a sales point like your VCR that would turn off and on to record multiple programs on multiple channels at different times. The features you never needed or used. I swear this sort of stuff takes on a life of its own in any market. My big point is KISS, like the army said, "keep it simple stupid" and MULTIFUEL. Then you can burn whatever you can get cheapest be it pellets, corn or pits.
Overall, you are going to have to clean and maintain either sort of stove. They both will have their problems and seem to share most of the same exact motors, circuits and switches which will fail in time. No free lunch there but a lot less hassle than hauling wood, stacking ect.