Not so much here, but on another forum, there have been a few posters calling people "crazy, or "idiots" for burning pellets this year.. My position has always been, if you like them USE them! Who cares what others say? They are not paying your bills... If a person is rude to strangers on the internet... they probly are not friend material any way! That said, We have already had people come in and say "With oil so cheap, I said we were just going to turn the thermostat on..." We have only had a few 'cold' snaps here so far, and not "THAT" cold, it is still really early (for New Hampster), and already people are saying.. "we just want our pellet stove going... it's just not the same with the furnace". So while I doubt many of the hardcore naysayers will admit that, we have seen it happen... already! I can imagine when it is 22° during the day, and 10° at night.. Most people love their pellet stove, and will pay a few bucks to use it. Nothing wrong with that!! And no... you aren't "crazy" or "stupid"! And frankly, I wish people that insist on bragging about how they are ditching their pellets for oil, and how nutz we are, would start a group on burning oil! That should be fun.... "how many gallons did you buy last week"? "Did you have your oil guy clean your furnace yet"? Ooooooo... intriguing! Dan
Still not crazy for the ones that only have all electric. It would be like burning a ton of pellets a month easy! January 1995 was our last time using electric heat. Bill was over $500. At those rates compared to todays rate it would be in the $700 dollar range. Less the $200 we normally use. $500 clams is a bunch of really really good pellets.....
I'm burning pellets, but I have to be honest. We love burning pellets! and just as a side note, My baseboard heat isn't connected yet. .
My personal opinion - those folks don't have a clue how a pellet is made, the manufacturing process involved, or transportation costs required to convey product to a destination. (They wouldn't know what a milling / pelletizing operation looked like, if it smacked them on the head.) My guess is they think a magical pellet fairy waives a wand, Poof! pellets appear, then are transported by Stork, to their favorite store. Eesh. I really don't care what those folks burn, it certainly doesn't make them happy, though. I try to tune that nonsense out, but you are right: some of the posts are downright mean-spirited. Keeping in mind I'm a 'newbie', I am quickly realizing why folks have migrated to other, friendlier sites, like the one I'm writing this post in now. Your Avatar has Super Powers.
In my situation, wood stove and pellet stove are my only source of heat. No oil, natural gas, or propane furnace. I might have said that to whoever they are somewhere else......
Whats kind of funny about this is many that are bashing pellets were the ones that bashed the crap out of oil when the made the switch to pellets. Now the foot has new shoes. Who knows, Things could change as they usually do and tomorrow oil could be big $$ again. Someone might want to ask them how that crow tastes.
I like to keep my options open - I can burn firewood, burn furniture, wear lots of layers, go cold, visit a friend, etc. Most of the time I burn wood, because it generally works out best. Greg
I have a nice stash of pellets in my basement, but I also have a full LP tank. My LP was filled last week for $1.16 gal. I will be burning both this year due to price. I was thinking about just burning pellets during the cold snaps, But I just can't seem to turn the furnace on and the pellet stove off. I do prefer the stove. Last year I only used LP for hot water and the furnace stayed off all winter. Never know what prices will be down the road.
Wish I could put in a chimney to burn wood, so I had a 3rd option! I love my pellets for their warmth and ambience, especially since LP is still so expensive for me (plus, the FHW is only run for the main floor). Heck, I even love the sound of the blowers and pellets dropping - makes for good sleeping for me. But I would love to have a coal or wood stove just in case of an extended power outage. My last house had a wood stove so I am well versed in the exercise and heat control issues, but still loved it compared to the oil. Don't actually want to store wood but would love to have the option. And I don't care if people want to literally burn their money, oil, LP, coal, wood, pellets, corn, tires or whatever - I would never call them stupid for their choice. If it works for them and I'm not asked to pay for it, it doesn't affect me one bit
hey, its a choice, right? Someone is spending THEIR money for heat, let 'em! When folks start paying for my heat, I'll listen to their opinions as tohow I should heat my place.......kinda a bit like religion, isn't it?
I don't even want to think about how much oil I would have to use to keep the house as warm as we do with pellets.
First post.... I'll admit it, I like to run my fingers through the pellets every time I check the hopper and sometimes I play in there way too long. Let's see the oil burners do that.
