The future may hold pellets for me

Not sure if everyone knows my story, so here's the short, short version:

• Drafty bastard of a house in Southeastern PA.
• Really frinkin' old.
• Insulation solutions are challenging at best (no basement/crawl space, stone walls).
• L-shaped floor plan that is not an open layout.
• Currently burning three full sized stoves (VC cat Defiant, cat Encore, Englander 30NC)
• Heat loss is high. Not sure how much I will be able to cut down on that.

Now, the reason for this thread. I'm thinking of a pellet add-on boiler.

Reasons why I am looking into a pellet add-on boiler:

• Have it running in the background to even out the temps in the house.
• Cut down on wood usage (seriously, I blew through over 10 cord last year playing with this new setup)
• Take away some of the grief during the very cold/windy periods of winter.
• Make overnight burning a little more relaxing.
• I like the idea of having 48-60+ hours (depending upon the claims) of available heat. Running three stoves all winter becomes a bit of a chore come February.

I am looking at a large pellet add-on. Something that can handle far more than my square footage. Probably something along the lines of PB105 Pellet Boiler.

Questions I am hoping to get answered here:

• What can I expect when a pellet add-on boiler is run at a low setting?
• Will always running the add-on at a low setting cause any problems (incomplete burn of pellets, excessive ash build up, clogging, restarting(?), or anything else that might make me swear uncontrollably at 3am when problems always seem to crop up for me)?
• How accurate are the heating times per load on add-on boilers? (I am familiar with the inconsistencies of wood stove claims, not pellets)
• Is there any problem with over-sizing when it comes to a pellet add-on?
• Apart from the cost of the appliance, is there any additional costs involved? What is the average cost of installing an add-on pellet boiler?

 

Sorry I can't help on a pellet add on, but how much insulation is in your attic? That is where you are losing all your heat. I would add as much to your attic as possible. The payback is huge.

 

The insulation in the attic will be tackled in November. I will be blowing in as much as possible. But I know that is only a small percentage of my heat loss issues.

 

I have a friend who is very happy with his Kedel pellet boiler,not sure if there are any dealers down your way or not. Low burning was his biggest problem with the boiler that the Kedel replaced. Inconsistent pellets was also a large part of the problem. Apparently the Kedel deals with pellet variances very well. Some people around here are putting in large pellet hoppers with automatic feed systems and having their pellets delivered by truck.

 

Yeah, I noticed Harman has a an option for a 1500 lbs hopper add-on thing.

 

BB I don't remember if you are a wood scrounger or not but a pellet chow hound like the 105 is going to be a pretty substantial cost additive to your winter budget. If you are buying wood now it may not be so bad.
10 cord is a massive amount of wood to consume in 1 heating season, you must not sleep much keeping those things fed....

 

I buy all my wood. 10 cord will run me $1,500.

I'm running three large stoves, so, 10 cord is in line with that. Most people running a 3+ cu ft stove will burn 3-4 cord. And people in the 2.5 cu ft stove ballpark will burn about three cord, roughly. Add that together and you are in the 9-11 cord area.

At a certain point weighing the decision based on cost alone is not always the best plan. I went to wood out of desperation originally. It was something I could cut a lot of corners with and reduce my costs initially (Bought 5 of the six stoves used, sold the ones that I didn't need anymore for what I bought them for, scrounged my own wood initially, until I found a few good suppliers that I could also haggle the price down.). Couldn't do that with pellet stoves nearly as much. Used stoves cost more and I could not wrap my head around the possible electronic issues that a used stove my have. There was also less wiggle room when it came to pellet purchasing.

The three stoves I am running right now (Cat Defiant, Cat Encore, 30NC) cost me $1,500 TOTAL.

So, here I am with plenty of fire power and heating that will run me $1,500 a year. I am way ahead of the game when compared to the $5,000-$7,000 it would cost me to run oil.

Now I want to move towards making my life easier even if it adds a little more cost. Yes, a large pellet add-on furnace could chew through a lot of pellets. But, I am going large to oversize my needs, which I hope mean I can burn at a low setting and stretch the burn length of a single load of pellets. I also do not plan on using it as a main source of heating. It will be used to even out the house temps, stretch out burn times on the stoves, make overnight burning easier, and it will cut down on my wood consumption. And, if I get the right setup, I could go away for the weekend without burning oil... I think.

So, lets say I burn through 5 tons of pellets (not sure if I am low balling that or not. If I recall, people go through 2-5 tons on a single stove. This will be a large boiler, but used at a low setting, if possible). Last I saw, a ton will run me about $200-$250 in my area (unless something has drastically changed). That is an average of $1,125 for 5 tons. What will that do to my wood consumption? Not sure, but it should put a decent dent in it.

If I burn 6 cord instead of 10, I will only increase my yearly heating costs by about $500.

 

Wow. I couldn't imagine burning through so much wood to heat my house. I have 2,400 sf to heat and 2-2.5 cords handle it. I load my stove up before leaving the house for work, and then let the heat pump run during the day until I return. We are all electric, and my Winter electric bills are $150-$175 per month. That's a lot of work you have going on there BrowningBAR to keep your family warm. Hope you can find a solution/combination to help.

 

I'm at 2,150 sqft.

 

I am at 2400 as well and am torching about 5cd and 2t pellets in a moderately insulated house.

 

BB. I think the pellet boiler would be a very nice addition for you. And you may find yourself using it on a higher setting in the future when you see how nice it is and might even cut your wood consumption further. It cost a little more to heat with pellets, but it saves a lot of work. I do not have experience with a pellet boiler. I just bought a pellet stove for the camp and have to get that hooked up. I found one on clearance and then got another 10% off on top of clearance price. For the stove and venting kit I was out the door for a little over 1450 dollars including taxes. I looked into pellet boilers when I was getting ready to install an alternative fuel boiler. I ended up choosing a Wood Gassification boiler because the wood is so much less expensive than pellets. Especially if I get my butt out in the woods and cut it myself. I usually buy about 3-4 cord now and cut about 6-7. But this fall/winter I am hoping to cut all 10 cord for next year. I heat a 4200 sq.ft. house, a 900 sq.ft. garage (to 45deg.), and all our Domestic Hot Water. (DHW) Would it be financially beneficial to heat your DWH with your pellet boiler as well?

 

I'd be more than happy with 5 cord and 5 ton. That would put me at about $1,800 a year while being super warm and easy to manage.

 

Not sure how it would play out, but at least I would have this option. This is one of the reasons I want to oversize the Pellet add-on so if I do move more to pellets I can do so easily.

I have a shiny, new electric water heater that I do not plan on touching at this point. I am trying to cut back on my electricity usage, but a new fridge would probably be the first item I tackle.

 

Ya. Electricity is the most efficient. But also the most expensive. But with a brand new electric water heater, I wouldn't touch it either. The new ones seam to be insulated a lot better. I bought a new one for the camp a few months back and we only use it when we are going to be there for a while. I noticed that it held it's water hot for a long period of time when I went down the next day and still had hot water and the day after and still had nice warm water. I was impressed.

Does anyone know if there is a down side to turning off the electric hot water heater? As far as the element or the tank? Any negative there? I know leaving a boiler off for extended periods of time is not very good for them. That is why I am wondering.

 

That's what I was thinking, but not 100% on it. Hope that is the way it is because I am not leaving that thing on all the time we are not there!

 

I've had the tank sweat and the relief valve leak on the one at my moms when it was shut off for a period of time.

 

Sorry we dont make boilers. It's a project we'll be tackling shortly. In the meantime, here's an option... maybe.

Have you considered a pellet hot air furnace? If you already have ductwork this could save you on the cost of installation. You could run it parallel to your existing furnace (if you have one) or run it as a stand alone furnace with an electric element built in as a back up.

The PSG Alterna (which we make) can also have an option water pre heater. Basically a water loop inside the heat exchange that pre-heats your hot water tank (need a buffer tank). Not a boiler but at least saves some money on utilities.

It might not work for your particular situation but its an option if you already have a warm air system.

 

I have no duct work. All baseboard heating and no central AC.

I'm not really interested in heating my water with the furnace since the electric water tank is rather new.