I just replaced the firepot on my pellet stove last week. $300.
I’ve heated my home with wood pellets for the last five years. I have a Quadrafire Santa Fe stove.
In a typical year, we’ll use about two tons of pellets in the heating season. When I got the stove, that’d cost about $300, which is a helluva good deal.
Last year, I spent just over $500 – which is still really inexpensive compared to any other form of heat.
For most of that five-year period, I’ve used Manke Clean Burn Pellets, which are produced here locally in Tacoma. They burn really hot, and produce almost no ash. The ash from two tons easily fit into the ash drawer on my stove.
I was cleaning the stove one morning last week and punched a hole in the side of the firepot – it had rusted through in the area by where the starter element was welded on to the pot (area circled in red on photo).
Also, I noted the white deposits on the air holes (arrows). I wet the tip of my finger and touched the white area, then tasted it – it tastes salty.
When I went to the dealer to get the new firepot, I described the damage to the parts guy – who used to work as a repairman. He asked how old the firepot was – I told him four years (it was replaced under warranty when the stove was one year old).
Then the guy asked, “You use Clean Burn, huh?”
Continue reading “Manke Clean Burn Wood Pellets = Shorter Pellet Stove Firepot Life”