Anybody use one as their primary heat source? Our furnace developed a fairly substantial crack in the heat exchanger last winter (hellooo carbon monoxide!). Since it was pretty much the end of heating season we decided to leave it over the summer and save up cash to pay for a new one this winter. Weve started to consider just buying a pellet insert and putting it where the fire place is in the living room and seeing if we can heat the whole house with it instead of a new furnace. Operational cost of a pellet stove vs. furnace seems to be pretty substantial. Anybody try this with any success? FWIW the house is a 2 story aprox 1400 sq. ft. and winters here can be kind of rough. Nights with wind chills at or below zero are not all that uncommon, and days with similar temps arent all that strange either. Also most pellet stoves and new furnaces qualify for some pretty substantial tax credits untill the end of the year, up to 1500 bucks IIRC.
And yes I recognize that at some point well have to replace the furnace any way, but if we can get away with a pellet stove we wont replace the furnace until we want to move.
And yes I recognize that at some point well have to replace the furnace any way, but if we can get away with a pellet stove we wont replace the furnace until we want to move.