Pellet heads!! What's up today?

Hi all.

Have not been here in a couple of years. Transferred title of the homestead to children and bee RV traveling the USA. Linda has developed some health issues on her 71 year old body so we decided to purchase a place in Northern NY close to where we spent most of our lives.

This is an old house heated with an equally old oil boiler, probably dates to early 80's. Spent the summer and fall insulating and putting in new windows. Am considering a pellet stove BUT.

The house is traditional country Americana originally built in 1850. As was often typical it was expanded to meet family needs as the ocassion arose. Meaning it is "cut up". No real place to put a pellet stove that will efficiently do its job of keeping us warm due to the layout of the small rooms.

In the basement is an old OAK that previous owners used to I assume keep pipes from freezing. We solved that issue by adding a heating zone from the boiler.

It appear the only place to add a pellet stove is the basement. Lots of strategic issues as far as storing pellets conveniently but that can be worked out. My question is:

How well does a cellar dweller actually work for the floor above. I can cut baseboard registers into floor but due to the stone foundation it will be difficult. Do not want to go through the effort if it is not going to work.

Any ideas.

 

Absolutely not. MANY reviews on Youtube, and they almost always come out on top in terms of power, and not always the most $$$. And as we all know, you get what you pay for.

And besides, you're asking to compare apples to oranges. The Thor is air operated, AFAIK.

 

As JT mentions above, more times than not, a basement install doesn't work the way you think they will. Main issue is that there is no way to circulate the cooler air from upstairs back to the basement, so the basement gets much warmer, and that's not typically where you really want the heat. It might work....it might not. Pretty much hit or miss......

 

This is the infamous it all depends answer. What worked for one cellar dweller might not be enough for another cellar dweller. This is a former cellar dweller typing.

 

That is a good price but you'll pay for shipping. Need to add some more stuff to get the total up.

 

Yepper. Actually a good suck job has never impacted mine at all. If you do disconnect the hose, clean out the fitting and make sure the hose isn't cracked or hard. You can buy replacement hose on most pellet part sites. Regular fuel hose ir clear vinyl hose won't take the heat and will fail quickly. Has to be silicone rubber hose.

 

Maybe I should have worded that differently ... a good suck job...I meant a good leaf blower pulling ash out instead.

 

I have not lit up the P68 yet. My house is very comfortable just with the mini split. Like you, I am monitoring the cost. I have 1000 sq ft to heat plus the sunporch which is mostly glass, insulated but only on post supports. (on ledge) I have the furnace set on 70 to pic up the slack. But the thermostat for the furnace is in the same room as the mini split.

 

I have a 1960's house (I know, a century younger), but the 950 sq/ft of the main floor is cut up into 6 rooms (including bath) and the living room is about twice the size of any other room. My basement is 650 sq/ft with the rest being an under-house garage (under the bedrooms and 1/3 of the bath).

When I purchased my P61a, I had originally gone to the pellet stove store to discuss buying two smaller stoves; one for each floor. They talked me into the P61a saying it would be more than enough to heat the place. This was after seeing a sketch that shows my stairway dumping into the very end of the house (by the doorway between the living room and kitchen. I had already removed the door, so there was no obstruction.

The P61a would keep the kitchen and living room about 68-70* with it okay, but the bedrooms were in the low 50's (and bath not much better) even with it in the high 80's in the basement. I cut registers, I installed register fans (trying up/down/combos), I ran tower and doorway fans and I could never find a combination that would get the bedrooms and bath in the 60's. I finally got a used Hastings for the main floor, I had to do a corner install with the airstream pointed to a dead corner in the living room (the only place I could locate it). Although it would do the job, I still had to use several fans to get the warmth to the back of the house.

When I found the P43 for very cheap money, I jumped at the chance since it's footprint was smaller than the Hastings (width wise) and I could locate it in the same spot as the Hastings, but point the airstream so it goes straight down the hallway. It keeps the other rooms warm effortlessly (no additional fans needed). The P61a keeps the basement warm - it is way overkill but the only heat in the basement.

I also installed a Therm Gard that I turn on during the coldest months and set to run 3-4x a day for 8 minutes to keep my FHW pipes in good shape. Those pipes run thru the garage (which can go below freezing) and with only 2x4 framing and the block foundation rising above the ground a couple of feet, the winds could cause the pipes along the sill to freeze without this additional action.

 

I've always had trouble with air movement in this house, which is why I'm not surprised by the outcome. With 2x4 framing and no house wrap, the winds really do a number on how heating/cooling appliances maintain temp.

Doesn't help that the bedrooms are on the north side of the house, so don't get any sun. And, they are above the garage, which is currently in the 40's, so the floors are cold.

 

I do LBT every couple of months. during the winter, and then again when I shut down the stoves. I know you have challenges so that might not really be an option for you.

 

I ordered a couple of other things so that wasn't an issue. Even if I had ordered it by itself, I wouldn't have paid shipping though. I've recently ordered stuff that was $5 and I still didn't pay shipping.