Anyone heat with wood pellets?

[Coon]

Just thought I would ask around and see if anyone around here uses a wood pellet heater to heat their home or garage etc.  We have just purchased one about a month or so ago.  The heater brand is called Country Stoves and throws a very beautiful heat.  Although the heat it throws is very nice we do have a few concerns with how many pellets it burns.  I am running it on the manual setting as I do not have the special thermostat for it yet.  Controling the heat temperature is the largest drawback at this point in time but will be easily overcome with a little more money invested. 

I will take some pics and share them in the morning.  Getting late and I have to install my kodak program.

[thecfarm]

There is always a learning curve with something new.Probaly next year you will use less pellets.

[Coon]

I already know where my learning curve is going to be.  That would be with the thermostat.  The thermostat is only a couple hundred bucks and will be bought soon enough.  There is one more major hurdle that I realize will affect us too.  That is in the cost of the pellets.  Right now I am buying them by the pallet of 40 pound bags @ 50 bags/pallet.  The pellets are at a cost of $275/pallet.  Had I had a large hopperized bin to store pellets in I could buy the pellets in bulk a bit cheaper.  Thus there is the cost of pellets in bulk versus the cost to set up a bin etc.  We also live in town with limited space.  We may run into problems with the town if we set up a large bin......

[jrokusek]

Maybe you can make your own pellets:  http://www.pelletpros.com/

These guys even used grass clipping to make some pellets.  Wish I had room for a pellet stove....I think I'd probably use one to heat my house.

[Ron Wenrich]

Those guys have really put the price of their units up.  Their portable unit costs $4000. That is equivalent to 14½ pallets at $275/ton just for the payback.  But, if you have time and resource, it could be a good deal.

We had a discussion on pellet mills some time back.  I think it was when there was a huge shortage.  Anyways, a lot of guys said they weren't interested in something they had to depend on others for fuel.  With a normal wood stove, you can go out and cut your own fuel.

[Coon]

We got a demo unit.  Saved a bit of money but still had to buy the piping kit separate.  All said and done we paid just over $3000 for our unit. 

P.S.  Still having virus probs on the computer so.... once we get it solved I can reinstall my kodak program and show the heater we purchased.

[SwampDonkey]

I think pellets are a good idea, but still a bit pricey. A regular wood furnace is half the price. But, I'm thinking of the wood products that can be used to make the pellets and we have a lot of crap wood in our forests that could go into the pellet industry. If I knew something like this was being backed by woodlot owner coops and not corporate giants I would be more willing to go with it. Otherwise at $275/tonne I'm reminded that firewood is only $80 a tonne (bucked, split and delivered).

As far as depending on others for fuel, most of us are in that ball park already. 

[WH_Conley]

I thought about pellets for a while, til I saw the price of the pellet machines, ran like the dickens.

A small operation, bandmill, swingmill or stick mill, possibly with an edger, selling slabs for wood. A pellet machine would really fit good, if the price were right.

[Coon]

This heater will burn more than just pellets.  Corn, rye, barley, wheat, and oats can be burnt as well.  From what I understand with burning these grains the moisture count me be way down and the grain must be cleaned of all debris to burn efficiently.
 

[cantcutter]

My wife has family who uses pellets. I didn't like that by spring there are pellets all over the house to be stepped on (ouch).
Puts out good heat and when ever the pellets get too exspensive the switch to shell corn.....they burn the bagged stuff you get at the feed store.

[Tom]

I wonder....
could you Mash corn, cook it and still use the residue for fuel?

That would make for an interesting winter. 

[tsodak]

Sure can Tom,

A couple of the large ethanol plants up here are putting in gasification furnaces to burn the residues left over after fermentation. They arereplacing the natural gas for heat which is one of the most unattractive parts of ethanol production.  The way I hear they burn about 40% of there biproduct stream.

Also seeing where they are making the residue into pellets on that pelletpro video. Seems like it would make a good binding agent to me.

[Furby]

Well since corn is hard to digest..............
 

[Coon]

I can digest the liquid corn very well but...... as for the solids...... Maybe I can just burn em up in the heater.

[Furby]

Might as well curb your appetite first.

[Coon]

Yup even if I get a lil sidetracked along the way.

 

[Nate Surveyor]

can you burn sawdust / circle saw shavings in those things?


Is there any type of sawdust burner out there, that can feed sawdust, or wood chips, that will allow a private miller to burn his waste?

Thanks,

N

[Timburr]

N, there's a whole THREAD dedicated to your second query, if you have a spare hour or so!!   

[Furby]

Yeah, you've been gone too long Nate! 

[Nate Surveyor]

Thanks Furby,

I stay a busy as a 20 lb bass, on the day of the fishing tournament!

(so many lures, so little time...!)

N