Print

[Big Wood]

Looking for some input on the pellet boilers how does the bigger hopper work how many days when this is added to the boiler is any body running on 10 thousand sq feet or more with one if so how is the pellet consumption thanks

[MattyNH]

My sister and bro inlaw have the maxim 250..Heating a 3300sq foot house..From what bro inlaw says boiler is at its max rated to what it can heat..To heat 10k+ area is huge...The fire in the maxim is tiny nothing like the wood boilers..Not site sure what the but out put on these boilers..

[Big Wood]

Thanks for the info have they been pretty much trouble fee thanks again

[intensedrive]

How many tons of pellets is he burning?  Pellet prices are crazy this year

[Big Wood]

MattyNH can you ask your bro inlaw how many ton of pellets they use a year thanks

[racnruss]

just wondering, what is point of a pellet boiler?  You are at mercy of pellet prices and you have to handle pellets and equipment.  Why not just buy natural gas?  Is there a significant savings? Thanks. 

Not being a jerk, just really wondering.

[hondaracer2oo4]

Natural gas is only available to those who have it piped to their house. If you have it piped to your house it is a cheap way to heat but the rest of us, probably 90% plus don't have it so it is not an option. The nice thing about the pellet boiler is that you fill it once a week, never have to worry about coming home every 12 hours to load the boiler up. I love my boiler but I am handcuffed to it in the winter just like everyone else who owns a wood boiler. I would love to be able to go away for a weekend or what not and not worry about getting the boiler filled. I have personally thought about going to an Anthracite Coal Stoker boiler. My buddy has one and it is a good way to go I think, don't have to worry about the fluctuations in pellet prices and you get 30 million btus per ton out of it as opposed to 17 million with pellets. It costs about $240 per ton loose trucked up here to New England. 22 ton minimum though!

[Roger2561]

I have a co-worker who uses a pellet burner to heat their whole house.  To be honest I do not know their heat load nor the square footage of what they are trying to heat but she was complaining the other day that when the temps are lower than 10 degrees it cannot keep up with the house demand.  She said it runs full blast all the time and the house temps get no higher than 62.  She said the house will not get any higher than 58 with a wind chill factored in.  For some that's a comfortable temp but for her and her family with 2 small children it's too cold.  So, either these pellet systems are not what they are cracked up to be or the person who sized it had a rectal/cranial inversion problem and installed the incorrect unit.  She said they do not have any money to go after the installer.  I wish I could help her out but I know absolutely nothing about them.  They put a lot of money in this system hoping to save themselves from having to use fossil fuels only to be cold when the weather turns bad.  Roger     

[slimjim]

Perhaps she should come on board here Roger, it wouldn't be the first time somebody from this forum helped out a complete newbie!

[Roger2561]

Perhaps she should come on board here Roger, it wouldn't be the first time somebody from this forum helped out a complete newbie!

Slimjim, I've forwarded the link of this site to her.  I told her this is the best place to go if she needs assistance.  She said she trusts the person who installed unit.  I do not understand her logic but what can one do when she doesn't want to listen or accept FREE help?  I guess when she's had enough of freezing her butt off she'll seek assistance, until then...  Roger 

[slimjim]

You can lead a horse to water but it's darned hard to force him to drink!

[Roger2561]

I've got to clarify - the pellet burner they have is not a Maxim made by CB.  It's a totally different animal.  Roger

[Roger2561]

You can lead a horse to water but it's darned hard to force him to drink!

Isn't that the truth!  Roger

[intensedrive]

I used what was called a pellet Furnace, tied right into the plenum of the furnace.  If I remember right it was made by US Stove Company "American Harvest 6500".  Claimed could heat 3,000 square feet.  The thing was a pig on pellets,  to get the house up to near 65 on cold nights was feeding around 13 - 14lbs per hour.  I was burning over a ton of pellets every week.  Half of the time the house was low 60's, the unit just couldn't keep up with demand.  6500 was a lot more work constantly cleaning out the burn pot, blockage.  Each week had to shut it down for deep cleaning which took about 90 minutes, and another 2 hours to get back up to temp, so during these times the house would freeze.  This was around over 3 years ago was getting pellets for $150 a ton.  Looks like in my area this year $240 per ton.  You have to remember these aren't even the premium pellets, you will have a lot more ash.  Premium pellets you can expect to pay near $300 per ton.

I have a co-worker who uses a pellet burner to heat their whole house.  To be honest I do not know their heat load nor the square footage of what they are trying to heat but she was complaining the other day that when the temps are lower than 10 degrees it cannot keep up with the house demand.  She said it runs full blast all the time and the house temps get no higher than 62.  She said the house will not get any higher than 58 with a wind chill factored in.  For some that's a comfortable temp but for her and her family with 2 small children it's too cold.  So, either these pellet systems are not what they are cracked up to be or the person who sized it had a rectal/cranial inversion problem and installed the incorrect unit.  She said they do not have any money to go after the installer.  I wish I could help her out but I know absolutely nothing about them.  They put a lot of money in this system hoping to save themselves from having to use fossil fuels only to be cold when the weather turns bad.  Roger   

[Big Wood]

Thanks for your inputs