switching from pellets to wood? is that crazy ?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
There are a ton of mini splits being put into use around here, for applications like that.
And they are a whole lot quieter than a pellet stove.
 
More here now too. Cheap power + mild climate. Too bad the installers still gouge you. Also, too bad they don’t heat water yet!

Our pellets are cheap softwoods too so a lot of folks have used pellet stoves for decades.

No cheap pellets here. I dont use them but quite sure you can't get anything for less than $6/bag. That's for a hot sale, after tax. Typical or regular would be more like $8 after tax. I think the only thing they're cheaper than is resistance electric heat. My BIL just had 2 splits put in a couple months ago, his very nice Harman pellet stove hasn't burned since.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Highbeam
And they are a whole lot quieter than a pellet stove.

Yes. And the only maintenance or attention needed is vacuuming the filters every month or 2.
 
You might also want to ask this question in the pellet room! I've been thinking about a pellet burner in the shop instead of wood. Noise is not an issue but automation is. Pellet stoves can be turned on by a thermostat when it's cold, on a schedule, or even from anywhere in the world with a wifi enabled thermostat. They are clean burning and have some additional safety shutoff features.

Yes expensive to buy and fuel. Yes, very high maintenance with a pile of motors that need to be replaced, and yes they need electricity but so does my refrigerator.

One of each sounds nice.
If I'm buying fuel coal seems like the only logical option, but I guess there probably isn't much of a coal supply on the West Coast.
 
If I'm buying fuel coal seems like the only logical option, but I guess there probably isn't much of a coal supply on the West Coast.
I live near a coal mining town named “black diamond” and there are lots of coke ovens in the woods but I think this coal is not the same as east coast stuff. Nobody burns coal stoves. Maybe it’s soft bituminous stuff?
 
I live near a coal mining town named “black diamond” and there are lots of coke ovens in the woods but I think this coal is not the same as east coast stuff. Nobody burns coal stoves. Maybe it’s soft bituminous stuff?
Maybe it is bit' coal, which I could understand the lack of use. Personally I wouldn't use it either so I should have specified anthracite coal, or maybe even the briquettes which are also smokeless. My cookstove says in the manual it can burn coal, but I don't think my Class A chimney would hold up to much use without weekly sweepings. Maybe some day I'll try it out.

Back to my original point; most antique coal stoves are just as good if not better (in some cases) than modern/new coal stoves. The one exception would be in automation, but most coal stoves had more output range than a BK and even longer burn times, so not really an issue for residential use.
 
Maybe it is bit' coal, which I could understand the lack of use. Personally I wouldn't use it either so I should have specified anthracite coal, or maybe even the briquettes which are also smokeless. My cookstove says in the manual it can burn coal, but I don't think my Class A chimney would hold up to much use without weekly sweepings. Maybe some day I'll try it out.

Back to my original point; most antique coal stoves are just as good if not better (in some cases) than modern/new coal stoves. The one exception would be in automation, but most coal stoves had more output range than a BK and even longer burn times, so not really an issue for residential use.
Weekly sweepings wouldn't matter. Coal soot is not terribly corrosive untill it is exposed to moisture. So as long as you keep burning it isn't to bad. As soon as you shut down it will absorb moisture from the air and that sulfer turns to acid.

What alloy is your chimney inside and out
 
My neighbor has been burning a coal stove for years, boy that thing gets hot and throws some heat.
 
Weekly sweepings wouldn't matter. Coal soot is not terribly corrosive untill it is exposed to moisture. So as long as you keep burning it isn't to bad. As soon as you shut down it will absorb moisture from the air and that sulfer turns to acid.

What alloy is your chimney inside and out

Well I assumed it was 304 inside and out, but now that I'm reading the Superpro/supervent instructions they don't specify. The manual states all fuel, so maybe it is 316 inner.

We live in a very wet place on the coast and I probably would let the stove go out. Maybe not since coal can turn down so low, maybe one day I'll find out. Either way, coal is hard on steel so I would be cleaning it frequently if I ever use coal.

Edit: after some more digging it looks like it is 304 inner and outer. So I probably won't use much coal!
 
Last edited:
My Dad has a Quadrafire Castile pellet stove. I thought about going with one last year but went wood stove route. I still need a blower. After running both the only circumstance I would consider switching from pellets to wood would be, the pellet stove need more than 200$ in maintenance, I had a one years with of wood seasoned at 20% MC or below, and my alternative heat wasn’t too expensive (natural gas or heat pump), and my life could accommodate the extra time wood processing and running a wood stove would take. I can’t imagine 24/7 wood burning given my hectic life somewhere it actually got cold.

From a cost perspective you get a nice stove installed and break even in 5 years which seems pretty good.

Evan
 
I have both and prefer the warmth of wood.
 
I'm thinking about it. There is so much, that I'm already out of space and will lose some to rot. I just need to get with it and put a sign up to sell $10 bundles to locals. I just want to sell enough to pay for the tools and consumables used to process it, and maybe enough to buy the materials for a couple of woodsheds.
 
Thanks for all the replies !
 
I would think if you're tired of pellets, and live where you can source your own wood for free then it's a no brainer. I do think if I was in a position where I had to buy my wood, then a pellet stove MIGHT be more appealing to me.
 
Kenny really sums up my opinion about wood burning. Is it a lot of work? Yes. If I were to figure in my labor, it is not even all that cheap. But for a lot of us, we like the work. It involves getting outside in the fresh air, it is good exercise too, and it requires that I buy toys....

Totally agree. You actually have every piece of wood in your hands several times. But for me, it's my kind of workout. As for toys, I only have my trusted 420 Dolmar. Well, that and the Fiskars axe, obviously.
 
I began heating with wood in about '68. I no longer do as the climate here is to mild and the last year I had the stove we only had 5 fires. I had a stove shop in the mid-70's and was in the Rep business beginning in '85. I have just never gotten pellet stoves. hauling and handling wood is one thing. Bags of pellets...nah. I know many have them and love them. Maybe in a hopper fed with bulk delivery. Taht is the way we got our coal when I was a kid. Pellet stoves are noisy and much of your comfort is based upon the audio side of things. They are dirty on the fill. What do you get at the bottom of a box of Cheerios? Oat dust. Pellets...saw dust, so you need a shop vac running as you get to the end of a bag. I called on dealer who has sold almost 8000 pellet stoves over the years and he is finding that people are timing out of 40# bags of pellets. To heavy. He has been selling the Rinnai Energysavers, which I represented, as replacements. Mini-splits are the fastest growing category in the HVAC industry. I represented Fujitsu and know that market and products well. I have three minis in my home. The comment on only cleaning the filters on them is incorrect. I am behind on cleaning mine. At least every two years you need to remove the covers and carefully vac the face of the coil and the back side. The small diameter fans load up and you air flow drops. The fans are a problem to clean and I have come up with a new method I'm going to try on Thurs. Every time I do the cleanings I make sure my wife isn't around. The will comment on "how much better they seem to be working" So pellets. Noisy, dirty, storage, and pricey bag by bag. I guess if i am going to burn wood I want to be able to kick the 200 yr old Windsor chair apart to heat if necessary. I have heated my homes, basement, garages and shop with the Rinnai's since '91. The mini-splits are great, but I would not be without the Rinnai's. For straight heat, you cannot beat them. H&C...mini-splits, but make sure you understand the specifications on the models you buy. Research!
 
  • Like
Reactions: moresnow
I'm thinking about it. There is so much, that I'm already out of space and will lose some to rot. I just need to get with it and put a sign up to sell $10 bundles to locals. I just want to sell enough to pay for the tools and consumables used to process it, and maybe enough to buy the materials for a couple of woodsheds.
Where in SEPA are you ??
I’m always looking..
 
Can you really burn in 60 degree weather? Much over I either over heat or the draft stalls and I get co alarms

I give my neighbor a hard time when I see smoke out his chimney in 65+ degree weather.
He says his excuse is he came from Georgia :confused:
 
You might also want to ask this question in the pellet room! I've been thinking about a pellet burner in the shop instead of wood. Noise is not an issue but automation is. Pellet stoves can be turned on by a thermostat when it's cold, on a schedule, or even from anywhere in the world with a wifi enabled thermostat. They are clean burning and have some additional safety shutoff features.

Yes expensive to buy and fuel. Yes, very high maintenance with a pile of motors that need to be replaced, and yes they need electricity but so does my refrigerator.

One of each sounds nice.
Make you a good deal on a pellet stove for your shop. Switching to wood in house.
 
Make you a good deal on a pellet stove for your shop. Switching to wood in house.

Would need to be a freestanding Harman. Looks like you’re trying to move a Lopi insert. Thanks anyway!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Twigster
I agree with Molly1414, get a couple of years worth seasoning and wait until it's ready before swapping.
 
I have a wood stove, pellet stove and coal stove. I used all three this year. Ran out of coal, used up my pellets now working on the red oak. This is the first time I’ve used the Fireview and it’s pretty nice. Quiet, much cleaner then coal. I don’t think it will heat this house in the winter but it’s working nice for this shoulder season.

I burned pellets for ten years before switching to coal. Pellets just got too expensive. I buy on sale only now. And I mean a deep discounted sale.

The coal is cheaper then anything. I don’t have access to free wood. If I did I would certainly be trying to figure out how to heat this tomb with wood.
 
I have a wood stove, pellet stove and coal stove. I used all three this year. Ran out of coal, used up my pellets now working on the red oak. This is the first time I’ve used the Fireview and it’s pretty nice. Quiet, much cleaner then coal. I don’t think it will heat this house in the winter but it’s working nice for this shoulder season.

I burned pellets for ten years before switching to coal. Pellets just got too expensive. I buy on sale only now. And I mean a deep discounted sale.

The coal is cheaper then anything. I don’t have access to free wood. If I did I would certainly be trying to figure out how to heat this tomb with wood.

Out of curiosity where are you located in the Midwest? I consider myself midwest in Iowa and don't feel like coal is easily sourced. At least in my local.