Ah yes, clean burning, high BTUs, and my basement is no longer an ice box.  A couple of weeks ago, I bought a wood pellet stove from a guy off Craigslist.  I’d been shopping for about a month, trying to find a good deal, and I finally found a good one.  I bought the stove for $750, which I feel is a good deal.  Most new stoves go for about $1700-$3000.  It’s definitely got some wear.  It’s about 15 years old.  I would have preferred a newer stove, but eh, I’ll take the $500 saved.

It took me a few weeks to get it installed because I needed to drill a hole in the basement, but I finally got it done.  Now, the only question is fuel.  Unfortunately, I bought the stove midseason, so it’s all of the wood pellets are in high demand right now.    I bought a few bags from Home Depot, but I want to find some wholesalers.  I’m still learning about the whole process.  I first checked out a place like this that makes wood dowels and dowel rods, but no such luck.  Apparently, it’s a whole different process where you basically glue together sawdust.  Not a bad business model and a good way to be efficient with the earth’s resources.

Now my basement is warm and cozy.  I can sit down with a nice warm drink on a winter’s day and be snug as a bug.  With energy costs going up and up and up, I feel good about this investment.