ian brodie Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I've decided to treat myself to one this summer. I know all the arguments against them, but I'm not getting any younger, and stacking and carrying 10-12 stere of wood each winter is proving onerous. So, can anyone with experience of these recommend (or condemn) any particular stove or manufacturer? My main concern is the noise, especially of the fan. This is a very quiet house, and if I have to pay more for a quieter model, so be it. As I said, it's a treat. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I've not got a wood pellet stove/heater nor any plans to get one, but you should be aware of the variable cost of the pellets. https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/If-you-heat-French-home-with-wood-pellets-now-may-be-good-time-to-buy https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2022/11/14/amid-europe-s-energy-crisis-france-s-wood-pellet-industry-is-feeling-the-heat_6004266_19.html Pellet stoves got popular, now the supply side for pellets is getting tighter. If you do get to using wood pellets be aware of the dangers of storing them - they can give off carbon monoxide and there have been fatalities involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 (edited) If you have a Richard Le Droff showroom/shop near…..go pay them a visit. Our one is excellent. They will recommend you the best one for your needs. The thing you have to consider is serving because you have to trained on that particular brand. So it will be better to buy one from someone that also services them. Now, we were thinking of a pellet burner for our rural house but decided against it. Instead we bought a gas bottle powered stove that lights up like a log fire. It costs 400 euros and heats the room. That allows us to run the open fire less…or when we just fancy a fire. Cheeper option. Edited February 15 by alittlebitfrench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssomon Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 (edited) We have an 8.7kW Canadian made pellet stove which I bought on UK Ebay in 2008, and moved from our previous house in 2012. It is installed in the main living room in the centre of the house, the other rooms being adequately heated by normal air circulation. I have maintained it fairly easily at reasonable cost, using parts sourced from both France and Canada. Our average consumption of pellets was 35 x 15kg bags per year. We used it as our main heating source once the outside temperature dropped below about 7C, when the air/air heat pumps became less efficient, until the winter of 2022, when the price of pellets soared from around 4€50 to almost 10€ per bag. We managed to get through the winter on 8 new bags plus 2 left from the previous winter by running the heat pumps longer and lowering the temperature in the house. A quick calculation showed that pellets are no longer economical, besides needing more cleaning and maintenance, so I bought and installed new, larger and more efficient air/air heat pumps. These have kept the house at 20C in the daytime, 18C at night, and we have only used about 1 1/2 bags of pellets when using the stove for a quick temperature boost on very cold evenings. Our electricity bill is manageable at about 1600€ for the last year, we save over 200€ a year for pellets, and no longer have the weekly cleaning and hassle of the stove, and shopping around to find acceptable prices. Edited February 15 by ssomon correct typos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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