Propane ventless or pellet stove

[Svtkidd23]

I am almost done building my new house. I went with the 15 SEER American Standard unit over the 13, with only a electric heat pump due to use keeping the house at 65-69 in winter. We knew we would get either or.

Ventless kinda makes me nervous but the safety features work well and it adds moisture to the air which is nice. We already have gas for range.

Pellet stoves make serious heat and a ton of pallets would last me 2 years. But shop vac and cleaning it constantly is a pita, more parts to break.

 

[GT Premi]

Go with the propane vent-less. We have two vent-less fireplaces supplementing the heat pumps. They're fantastic. 99% efficient or something like that. We only use one of them every now and then. Only have to leave it on for about 20 minutes to get the whole house (3700+ sqft) nice and toasty. It definitely doesn't add moisture to the air. It dries it up, which is a good thing for me because I don't like that damp chill in the air.

 

[HudsonFalcon]

We have both in our home. We have the pellet stove upstairs and the propane ventless I added when I turned our basement into a media room.

The pellet stove is going to be vastly more than the ventless option both in initial cost, pellets and parts down the road. The previous owner installed the pellet stove to supplement the electric heat which we have never used due to the cost. It does throw a tremendous amount of heat and the cleaning isn't too bad but lugging 40lbs bags of pellets from the garage in the dead of winter gets old. Granted I live in Upstate New York and I'll use a lot more than you so the cost of pellets ($250 per ton +/-) plus the cleaning will be significantly more for myself compared to you.

The ventless propane stove is great. It warms my basement in a matter of minutes. Usually they're dual fuel as well so if you ever convert to natural gas you can still use it. Add the optional blower and it can warm and entire house as the above poster mentioned. You can also usually find them on craigslist for $100 or so. The only downside I noticed is a slight, and I mean slight, propane odor from the stove. My wife doesn't even notice it and it has never triggered myulti-gas meter so it's really just me being spoiled coming from natural gas at our previous hosue.

You really can't go wrong with either one but the ventless really is the set and forget option and it uses little propane to boot.

 

[Svtkidd23]

We have both in our home. We have the pellet stove upstairs and the propane ventless I added when I turned our basement into a media room.

The pellet stove is going to be vastly more than the ventless option both in initial cost, pellets and parts down the road. The previous owner installed the pellet stove to supplement the electric heat which we have never used due to the cost. It does throw a tremendous amount of heat and the cleaning isn't too bad but lugging 40lbs bags of pellets from the garage in the dead of winter gets old. Granted I live in Upstate New York and I'll use a lot more than you so the cost of pellets ($250 per ton +/-) plus the cleaning will be significantly more for myself compared to you.

The ventless propane stove is great. It warms my basement in a matter of minutes. Usually they're dual fuel as well so if you ever convert to natural gas you can still use it. Add the optional blower and it can warm and entire house as the above poster mentioned. You can also usually find them on craigslist for $100 or so. The only downside I noticed is a slight, and I mean slight, propane odor from the stove. My wife doesn't even notice it and it has never triggered myulti-gas meter so it's really just me being spoiled coming from natural gas at our previous hosue.

You really can't go wrong with either one but the ventless really is the set and forget option and it uses little propane to boot.

thats the pellet stove im looking at harmann XXV!!!!

 

[YJSONLY]

If going with ventless. Look at Empire stuff. American owned and made company and great products. ( I'm a real life Hank Hill) and make sure you get one with a thermostat remote makes life great!

 

[ford fanatic]

We have a free standing Quadra-Fire pellet stove in our unfinished basement, it works great but it doesn't heat the upstairs family room like I thought it would.

Upstairs we had a ventilated gas fireplace that would take a few hours to get our first floor warm...

I took the gas fireplace out this past mouth to make room for our new pellet stove insert that will get installed on December 1st. The reason behind this is that we just added a 600 square foot family room with 13' cathedral ceilings to the back of the house.

 

[Svtkidd23]

We have a free standing Quadra-Fire pellet stove in our unfinished basement, it works great but it doesn't heat the upstairs family room like I thought it would.

Upstairs we had a ventilated gas fireplace that would take a few hours to get our first floor warm...

I took the gas fireplace out this past mouth to make room for our new pellet stove insert that will get installed on December 1st. The reason behind this is that we just added a 600 square foot family room with 13' cathedral ceilings to the back of the house.

Have your ever noticed a difference in pellet quality?

 

[ford fanatic]

Have your ever noticed a difference in pellet quality?

There is difference from brand to brand.

Key thing is to try different kinds an see what burns for you and your stove the best. Obviously it's the same as anything else, you get what you pay for. Cheap pellets will produce a lot of ash and you have a greater chance of your feed auger jamming.

What's the price difference in stoves you are looking at? I know our free standing pellet stove was kinda pricey, and the insert is about double lol.

 

[Svtkidd23]

There is difference from brand to brand.

Key thing is to try different kinds an see what burns for you and your stove the best. Obviously it's the same as anything else, you get what you pay for. Cheap pellets will produce a lot of ash and you have a greater chance of your feed auger jamming.

What's the price difference in stoves you are looking at? I know our free standing pellet stove was kinda pricey, and the insert is about double lol.

this is a Ashley they are built like a tank! I was looking at a Harmann but 5k for a pellet stove is nuts.

The ventless is 1400 as well

 

[GT Premi]

...make sure you get one with a thermostat remote makes life great!

You got that right! I love being able to just grab the remote and fire up our ventless. I wish they were both remote controlled. The one in the kitchen dining area has a knob at the bottom.

OP, a ventless has pretty much all positives versus a pellet stove; no clean up, no buying and storing pellets, no refilling pellets, throws more heat and is more efficient at heating. I don't see where you'd be making any trade-offs going with a ventless over a pellet stove.

 

[Svtkidd23]

You got that right! I love being able to just grab the remote and fire up our ventless. I wish they were both remote controlled. The one in the kitchen dining area has a knob at the bottom.

OP, a ventless has pretty much all positives versus a pellet stove; no clean up, no buying and storing pellets, no refilling pellets, throws more heat and is more efficient at heating. I don't see where you'd be making any trade-offs going with a ventless over a pellet stove.

most ventless are for only 1000sq ft

 

[SID297]

Propane, all day, every day.

 

[YJSONLY]

most ventless are for only 1000sq ft

This is true. It's a "space heater"
But here in Florida. I have customers who heat their house year round with them. And only turn on main furnace when it gets below 30. (Yes it does happen here in Fl!!!) lol

 

[Svtkidd23]

This is true. It's a "space heater"
But here in Florida. I have customers who heat their house year round with them. And only turn on main furnace when it gets below 30. (Yes it does happen here in Fl!!!) lol

I will be using it to supplement my heat pump so that might be perfect and for ambience

 

[ford fanatic]

most ventless are for only 1000sq ft

This. My pellet stove is rated up 2900sq ft.

 

[GT Premi]

most ventless are for only 1000sq ft

This is true. It's a "space heater"
But here in Florida. I have customers who heat their house year round with them. And only turn on main furnace when it gets below 30. (Yes it does happen here in Fl!!!) lol

I don't know what ventless you guys are looking at/thinking about. Our house is about 3800sqft and just the ventless in the great room has no problem getting the whole house nice and toasty even on a 20* day. :shrug:

 

[oldmodman]

Even here in Los Angeles the cost of propane is way down.

And all I use it for is a BBQ and a forklift. I don't even have a heater in my house.

 

[Svtkidd23]

Even here in Los Angeles the cost of propane is way down.

And all I use it for is a BBQ and a forklift. I don't even have a heater in my house.

Lol! Propane jumps in price faster than gasoline

It's insanity