I been looking at getting a pellet stove to replace the wood stove.Tired of hauling wood the mess inside and out.Plus it's hard to get seasoned wood.I got me a generator in case of power outage wat are your thoughts on pellet stoves? My friends got one and loves it.I was looking at the one at Home Depot the England like he has.

My neighbor heated with wood forever.
Went to a pellet stove last year and is kicking himself for how much he spends on pellets. Not sure the brand he got.
He says the only good thing is that his wife can now put pellets in.

I heat with a pellet stove, there are plus sides and down sides. Price of a pallet of pellets is a big down side, but you can set it for a certain heat and it will cycle on and off to maintain that temp. You can also run them on a programable thermostat. I looked into wood and a lot of times its cheaper when you only figure part of the cost in, by the time you factor in your time cutting it, fuel, maintenance on your vehicle, trailer to haul it, splitting it (or the cost of a powered splitter) and restacking it. How much do you really save on wood. Around me if I was to buy wood cut and pre split it would be close to what I pay for a pallet of pellets.

Yeah I didn't even mention how many times you have to handle it.

We have 2 Quadra-fire free standing pellet stoves in our house. One in the entry living room and one in the family room. Both on thermostats, each burns about 1/2 bag a day until it drops below about 10 degrees, then usages goes up a little.

Nice thing is wife can load and clean them, bump the thermostat and temp rise is almost instant. They do need full cleaning about 2-3 times a winter and it can get messy. Main draw back is the pellet stove roar that can be a little detracting from time to time.

Here in western Colorado we pay about $4.95 a bag and need about 180 bags per season. When I burnt wood we went through about 2 1/2 cord. If you have a dry place to store pellets it beats the wood stack mess for sure.

What did 2 1/2 cords of wood cost you monster tom

Spruce/aspen cost about $160 cord split and delivered.
Couldn't do it myself for what they charged.

But we also only burned in the evening as we leave early and may only be around intermittently during the day. So we had electric heat on to keep the house comfortable.

Now with pellets the house is comfortable all day and bump it up in the evening.

I have a pellet stove and wired it with a thermostat. I would recommend you install a combustion air pipe so you don’t use the indoor heated air to burn. Using outside air for combustion makes it more efficient. Also check with your state for efficiency rebates or tax breaks before you purchase one. I sift my pellets to remove the fines (sawdust) and anything else. One time had a large piece of plastic stuck in my auger had to pull out the auger. So now I sift the pellets. I saw a way to do it on YouTube using a bucket and a shop vacuum. I am going to make one.

My parents have one in their house. They preorder their’s in August I believe, last year it was $185 per ton. They went thru 4 tons. There both in there mid 70’s so the house temperature is kept near 80 degrees it feels like. Lol

I have run a pellet stove as a primary heat source for about 7 years now. My advice is to buy a stove that can handle multiple fuel sources (mine did pellets, corn, wheat, beans, cherry pits) and choose based on commodity pricing each winter.
Buy a good stove. Mine did not have automatic ignition and that was really my only complaint with it. If you can get a furnace model that will hook up to the HVAC ducts in your home you will have less issues with hot/cold areas in the house and thermostat placement issues.
Make sure the hopper takes at least a full bag of fuel, buy fuel by the pallet, during off season where possible.
The quality of wood pellets has increased dramatically in the last 2 years also which has been a blessing, requiring less cleaning and maintenance than previously.

Of course, I have now sold my house so I will no longer be using my stove but overall I was quite happy with it given the cost of propane heat (no nat. gas available where I was)

I will add, if you buy a pellet stove, have a spare igniter on hand, they tend to go out at in opportune times. (5 minute fix)

We run two pellet stoves, one upstairs & one down in the basement. Cost depending on pellets is about 600.00 per season. Main heat is oil & boilermaker for hot water, runs about 475.00 for oil for season for hot water. Both pellet stoves have thermostats set at 70. Best advice is to buy a quality stove, Most cheaper stoves have auger & have to be cleaned very often. Both of our stoves are going on twenty years old with very few parts replaced, Like said above, Have a spare igniter on hand & keep both blower motors oiled. Only downside we have is dust in the house from the stoves. Pellet quality is also a big thing, Try to stay with a hardwood / softwood mix.

Wat are some good stoves to buy brand names? I know of Harmon but they are like 3000.00:/

Harmon makes a great stove, I have one and have been using it for about seven years and it has had zero issues. If you intend to run a thermostat, you'll need a model with an ignitor on it. I light mine in September and just let it go out about ten days ago. It runs continuously for months on end.

Bought an Englander multi fuel. Worst spent $2500 ever. Their customer service as next to nothing. Once you have a problem they quit answering your calls. Repair parts were very expensive as well. Stirrer motor was inside the cabinet and got cooked within a year or so. The Auger motor went on the 2nd year from same thing.

My friend has one of those and has had good luck thank God.