New wood stove adventures, cost and who out there burn pallet wood?

Just recently installed a wood burner with the future father in law, where I store and work on bikes in his garage. The deal was if he helped me, I would buy everything and leave it once I get a place with a garage. So a free wood burner to him for a little work must have been a sweet deal. (Early pictures before securing exterior pipe, and moving things away from the stove)




The wood burner cost $135 from harbor freight with a 20% off coupon. And no it wasn't this coupon from the Andy Milonakis show

And about $100 in triple wall and single wall.
Layla's dad realized we needed a few more pieces and before I bought them he got covered those! Nice guy! He spent $90 on another 3 foot triple wall piece and $50 on a matching cap. He probably spent $160 on those two items and caulk/sealant and metal to strap the exterior chimney pipe. He is a project guy like myself and seemed giddy to buy something for it. He bought it first without me knowing then told me I needed it, I said i'd pick it up at the store and then he dropped it on me that it was already purchased! Sneaky bastard!

So total cost and a day's work.
$135 for the HF stove (which for the record I like... Especially for a garage)
$100 for pipe from me
$160 for pipes and materials from laylas dad

So a total of $395 for the whole project which I find to be pretty solid. (Note: will be more if stove is located closer to the peak peak due to the purchase of extra single wall. We also used a metal shelf for the single to triple wall pipe connection instead of purchasing a transition reducer in between the two. He also has spare flashing for the roof from an old job so that was free as well).

If I didn't have all that already, distance to roof was further.... Id say $500 is a realistic budget to expect with a wood burning stove in a single level garage.

So.... Heard alternatives to buying wood was to burn pallets. Obviously not the painted pallets or pallets marked MB (methyl bromide treatment). Since post 2005 pallet makers began to kiln dry the wood for pallets instead of using treated lumber, this wood does sound ideal to burn. Also, most are hardwoods.

Do you all burn pallets or know anyone that does?

I have that same one in my garage but it wasn't Harbor Freight . I also used single wall pipe . Works great . I burn pallet wood but what I co is throw a few pieces in with a log or 2 . Pallet wood burns hot but it also burns fast . Enjoy it

Thanks for the input. Good Idea to mix the two.

I just picked up some fire brick to line the bottom with as well so that should help with some heating issues. Picked up wood from a friend for free tonight so I'll play with it tomorrow.

I really want to get this going for a New Years whiskey fest in the garage. Hmmm.... Wood burner, cable TV, music, motorcycles...

I run a pellet stove and have for years. It's the primary heat for my house. Efficient and pretty easy to deal with.

It's a little late for me to switch over to a pellet stove now that this is in! I have heard a lot of people rave about pellets stoves.

It's a good system, the only downside is reliance on electricity. I buy a pallet of pellets (50x 40lb bags) for about 220$. That heats the house for about two months in the coldest part of our winter.

We have a large fire pit in our back yard. We have bon fires a time or two a week. Go through 20-30 pallets a night. They burn hot, and stupid fast. Fortunately, we have an unlimited supply, as long as my friends landscaping business doesn't close down.

There are one or two gravity feed or solar-powered, off-grid pellet stoves out there.

This is one that I briefly looked at online when looking for a new wood stove for our off grid cabin. I just ended up getting a 2nd hand Pacific Energy brand burner (which is awesome) but one of these would be interesting, and there are more out there now.

http://www.wisewaypelletstoves.com/

Tim said:

There are one or two gravity feed or solar-powered, off-grid pellet stoves out there.

This is one that I briefly looked at online when looking for a new wood stove for our off grid cabin. I just ended up getting a 2nd hand Pacific Energy brand burner (which is awesome) but one of these would be interesting, and there are more out there now.

http://www.wisewaypelletstoves.com/

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Tim that is pretty cool. I've never seen a gravity fed model before, pretty interesting. It would take just the right space for install. We did a new Quadra Fire 1200 a few years ago. It's a fireplace insert. I have a 1200watt Kawasaki generator as a backup but I've never needed it. Solar is something we are looking into. Efficiency is going up and prices are coming down.

J-Rod10 said:

We have a large fire pit in our back yard. We have bon fires a time or two a week. Go through 20-30 pallets a night. They burn hot, and stupid fast. Fortunately, we have an unlimited supply, as long as my friends landscaping business doesn't close down.

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Good to know. I just got linked up with a family member from my girlfriends side that chops down trees for a living. I think I found my guy. He said they make two trips a week to dump wood and most of what they cut down has been long dead so most won't take much, if any time to be seasoned.

And Tim that thing looks interesting to say the least!

canyoncarver said:

It's a good system, the only downside is reliance on electricity. I buy a pallet of pellets (50x 40lb bags) for about 220$. That heats the house for about two months in the coldest part of our winter.

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How much is it using in electricity? $110+/month for just heat is not necessarily cheap.

deviant said:

How much is it using in electricity? $110+/month for just heat is not necessarily cheap.

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A bag can last two days sometimes depending so the per month number varies. The juice needed for the pellet stove It doesn't make much difference in electricity really but I don't have actual numbers. My garage uses more juice than anything else. Overall for my house, the pellet stove is cheaper than running my boiler on propane, that's for sure. One of these days I'd like to make solar happen.

Drey6 said:

Good to know. I just got linked up with a family member from my girlfriends side that chops down trees for a living. I think I found my guy. He said they make two trips a week to dump wood and most of what they cut down has been long dead so most won't take much, if any time to be seasoned.

And Tim that thing looks interesting to say the least!

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I found a hook-up where I live recenter that delivers a dump truck load of 18" round firewood for $125. We've hit them up a couple times. Works out far better than $60 a rick.

J-Rod10 said:

I found a hook-up where I live recenter that delivers a dump truck load of 18" round firewood for $125. We've hit them up a couple times. Works out far better than $60 a rick.

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Heard that.

What's a 'rick'?

For seasoned split wood I pay $300 for a bush cord (4*4*8 feet). That will last a couple years up at the cabin where we just run a few fires in the spring and fall and maybe a few days over Christmas holidays if we get lucky enough to get up there.

Clearly if it was for regular use I'd be looking for cheaper wood or would run a pellet.

Installing solar in the spring. Just need to nail down the final specs.

Tim said:

What's a 'rick'?

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Some people call it a face cord. It's 4' x 8' by whatever the dimension of wood. Could be 12", 16", 20" whatever.

Usually 18" here. Half a cord essentially.

And, wow Tim. Cord here would run me $120.

We pay 235 a cord, but that is seasoned cut split and delivered. I can get a cord of logs for around 100-120 but then I got to cut, split, and season myself. Those grid free pellet stoves are worth a look. we have been having a lot of power failures here and most of the homes are electric heat. We have an airtight insert in our fireplace but it won't heat the whole house. I want a pellet stove to cut the power use but need one that also works without electricity if possible.

You guys do know that you get more heat, longer duration, burning green wood right?
You have to have seasoned wood to start the fire, but once you have a good bed of coals, switch to green.
Occasionally you will have to add a stick of seasoned to keep it burning, but it will last a lot longer.

Check with your insurance company before installing a wood stove in the garage...I just had to remove mine, (in Maine), after having it for four years. Would not have known if a friend told me that it was "illegal", called my agent, said no wood heaters in garages were allowed, asked about pellet stoves, and he said that they were looking at them, but as of now, you could not have one of those either. If there had been a fire, I would have not been insured....by the way, torches, welders, grinders, they all were ok.