Pellet furance questions

My parents have a 2500 sq foot house with a unfinished basement. Basically a 1 floor rancher. They are wanting to put in a pellet furance. Can you all give me some model #. And like how much pellets you use. Maybe some pro and cons. They live in southern Ohio.

 

I don't have one ,but there are several folks here who do and I know they will be jumping on here soon to help you out

 

I LOOOOOOVE my pellet furnace. I liked my pellet stove, but I like the furnace so much better. The heat output is much more even from room to room, and the noise and mess is downstairs.

I have a St. Croix SCF 050 multifuel furnace (45K BTU). I'm currently burning corn, which is about 1/2 the price of pellets. It takes special venting to burn the corn, but I've already saved the cost difference between the two types of venting by burning the corn. It's probably too small for your parents house. I'm heating 2400 sq ft upstairs and 1200 down stairs, and it starts to lose the battle around 10 degrees, sooner if it's windy. I still have my pellet stove upstairs, and that makes up the difference. St. Croix also makes a Revolution (60K BTU), which is a fully automatic multifuel furnace. It's supposed to heat up to 2500 sq ft, and I think it probably would, based on my SCF being rated at 1800 sq ft and doing ok in my house.

To the best of my knowledge, the Revolution and SCF are both discontinued, so you'd have to find a used model. I've been looking for a Revolution for awhile, but no luck. St. Croix isn't building them anymore and has no plans to start anytime soon.

Fahrenheit makes a furnace called the endurance (50K BTU) that gets good reviews. I'll let others chime in, as there several owners on the forum.

Harman makes a furnace called the PF 120 (120K BTU). No experience with that unit. It's the biggest out there, and would easily heat their house. It does have a reputation as a pellet pig from what I've heard.

PSG makes a furnace called the Caddy Alterna, and it can have electric back up and an AC coil added. BTU output is adjustable too. Really nice sounding unit, but don't know anyone with one.

Traeger makes a furnace called the GBU 070. Multifuel, but not automatic. 70K BTU IIRC.

In terms of pellet usage, I think most report burning more pellets with a furnace than with a free standing stove. I've burned between 4-5 tons of pellets in the past. First season with the furnace, and burning mostly corn, so it's hard to say.

Hope that helps.

 

Forgot to add...my biggest concern with a 2500 sq ft ranch would be the amount of ductwork. The SCF and the Fahrenheit Endurance only have 800 CFM blowers. My LP furnace has a 1500 CFM blower. Even with half the dampers closed in my 2 story colonial, there is still not much air coming out of the vents. I assume a 2500 sq ft ranch has a LOT of ductwork.

Installation can be expensive if paying someone to do it too.

 

Thanks for the info.
Ok here's a question. They are just trying to cut there electric bill. What if they put an used pellet stove in the basement. Let it run. Heat rises. Just a thought.

 

Heating from the basement can be done, but usually it is not very easy. I would probably put the stove in the area used most. And if needed supplement with the electric as needed.

 

Electric furnace. They have duct work throught the house.

 

I hauled 7 tons into my basement this year. It can be done.

 

At least three of these will carry over until next year.

 

This is good advice. The cheapest way to cut heating bills is to place a stove in the area they spend the most time in, and cut the electric thermostat back for the rest of the house. Much cheaper than a furnace, but it brings extra noise and dust into your living area.

 

A pellet furnace is a big initial investment even if its used. You still have material costs of doing it yourself or labor costs if hiring out. Then dont forget upfront pellet cost to run it.

I just installed a furnace and started running it in January. For me it's 100% worth it because it works well for my home and setup. I was confused and was looking into a stove for my living room. The more I read here and asked questions the more I realized a stove was NOT what I was looking for. I would have had higher expectations then what it would have delivered.

So definitely look into all options and look into the existing ductwork. Take pics and post if you can. Check for a location where the furnace would go and see if there is an exit for the vent.

Your expectations really determines what you should purchase. The help is here, there are very resourceful men and women on here. Ask and you shall recieve......

 

Welcome to FHC! I also made the move from stove to furnace, no regrets. I have 1500 sq ft upstairs and the same downstairs. The Fahrenheit 50F is doing wonders in my neck of woods. I've been mixing corn(still trying out different fuels as I'm still learning) during this cold spell and it has helped a lot. Take a count of air registers in the existing furnace and visualize which ones could be not put to use to help out with the shortfall of the 800cfm blower. Another option is to add a separate duct system for the pellet furnace which you have a unfinished basement at your disposal. The only problem with that, extra holes to live with. I would use smaller runs of duct(5" down to 4"or even down to 3"). The ideal is to get the corners of the house first then work your way in middle then in between for last if needed. Any questions, silly or not will be answered in a timely manner. That's what this forum is all about How old are the parents? lifting of bags? cleaning chores? Do they meet the physical demands of a pellet stove/furnace daily operations is the real hardcore ?

 

WVwood
It's a good thought, but in reality, it may not work the way you think. If the basement is un-finished and un-insulated, the walls & floors end up soaking-up most of the heat. Secondly, even though heat does rise, the warm air has to be replaced by something, and the cool air may not make it's way downstairs. It works for some people, some not.

 

Well, the Harman is actually a PF-120, 120k btu/hr now, and slated to be not produced anymore VERY soon......maybe even unavailable as of this time. Along with the HF-60, and the PB105