My mother-in-law struggled physically with cord wood this past winter and wants something a bit easier to deal with for the next season. She contemplated getting a propane heater or even buying a new pellet stove. However, those solutions cost several thousand dollars, money she does not have. So with some research, I figured out that building a wire basket for her wood stove would allow her to burn pellets or cord wood. I built a prototype basket to temporarily see if it would work.
My prototype worked very well. I had some stainless steel wire mesh and built the basket with that. I had to put some tin underneath for support, but it did very well. Pellets needs the wire mesh as it needs the air to flow through the pellets. It does not burn like cord wood and should have full air, never being dampened. That got me thinking, dangerous pastime I know: pellets burn much like coal ... and I have a wood cook stove that burns wood or coal. Pellets would do really well in my wood cook stove!
Except the cast iron grates for the stove were a bit big for pellets. However, with a quick fix, I put the same wire mesh over top the cast iron grates and it holds pellets very well. I'm now rendering fat so that we can make some home made donuts, using a few hand fulls of pellets in my wood cook stove at this very moment.
So now we have an alternative for my mother-in-law for the next winter season and it did not require any significant change in infrastructure. I now have a third fuel that I can burn in my cook stove as well. We were told that some people only use a bag a day, and around here we can pick them up for about $6 a bag. While it is not free, it does save me a lot of work and helps her heat her home with a fuel she can handle easily with her decreased mobility and strength. The longer we can keep her independent the better. I think this is a win for her and me!
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