how long do you get on average out of a bag of pellets

[twoeeyy]

I just fired up my new pellet insert and am wondering on average how long most people get out of a 40 lb bag.

I have it set at a feed rate of 4 seconds ( that appears to be the slowest ) . I left it on all last night so all in all it was on for aprx 14 hrs and it went thru almost all the bag , if I had to guess I would say a max of maybe 2 hours worth of pellets are left.

I am heating a family room, open kitchen/ dining room and then down a hall and 3 bedrooms. It heated great, I am very happy I just am wondering if I have something set wrong on it.

I bought 3 tons of pellets thinking that would be enough but now I am not sure. I have oil heat also, as of now the oil is still turned off but when the dead of winter comes I plan on setting it about mid 40's to protect the plumbing in the lower level of the house ( we do not use this part of house in the winter)

 

[Illuminations_Rocks]

My parents use a bag a day, set on the lowest or second lowest setting. Usually only run from about 4 pm until 7-8 am.
Sorry, I've no idea how much they buy.
The electric baseboards in the house are set on 60ish. Their house is usually around 68 degrees.

 

[8 Ears]

We have our auger set at 3 1/2. I have turned it down to 3 and up as high as 4.

I have the room temp set at 75 as we are heating a double wide with it. Or trying to except for when Feb. gets here as we will need some oil heat to keep the water pipe from freezing.

I also put up 3 corner fans to help push the air around better. Boy that REALLY makes a difference in the bedrooms at the ohter end. (The were about $25.00 at Lowe's. They only have an on and off switch though. If you sit right under one it can feel cool but they do make a difference pushing the air down the halls.)

Back to answering your question, yes we were told and do go through about a bag a day. We were told we should not go through a full 4 pallets, but like you we are wondering as well.

Have you looked to see what your owners manual says. DH thought I was nuts for looking it over but ours anyways has other hints for keeping it running smoothly.

I also try to clean ours daily.

Good luck. Hopefully this thread will keep going. It would be nice to have a support group.

FYI, we have found the 100% harwood pellets burn much cleaner than even "premium" ones.

We have also put a pan of water on the stove to help with humidity in the house. I also went to a craft store and bought a couple of soap scents and add it to the water every few days. We have apple right now and just gives the house an added touch when shut up all winter.

Have a warm winter

 

[twoeeyy]

Have you looked to see what your owners manual says. DH thought I was nuts for looking it over but ours anyways has other hints for keeping it running smoothly.

I also try to clean ours daily.

Good luck. Hopefully this thread will keep going. It would be nice to have a support group.

FYI, we have found the 100% harwood pellets burn much cleaner than even "premium" ones.

We have also put a pan of water on the stove to help with humidity in the house. I also went to a craft store and bought a couple of soap scents and add it to the water every few days. We have apple right now and just gives the house an added touch when shut up all winter.

Have a warm winter

Yes I have read the owners manuel and it appears that I have it set on the slowest feed speed. We installed it ourselves so we did not have anyone to show us actually how it works. The people in the showroom were pretty helpful but it is not the same as having someone in you house. They will come out to our house but it will cost us.

I also clean it everyday.

I really like the idea of adding scents into water that you have ontop of the stove.

thanks for your info.

 

[VWLMember]

I live in the same area as you and burn 1-2 bags a day depending on temp outside. I am heating 2200 sqft on two floors and have no problems keeping it warm. Last night with the real cold temp we burned about a half a bag between 9PM and 6AM. We have a Harman Accentra insert and are very pleased with it so far.

I also have three tons of pellets and am sure it will be enough. The occasional warm day always helps reduce usage!

 

[nunzia]

I'm confused and have no idea what you all are talking about. Is this like a woodburning stove that burns little pellets instead of logs?

 

[8 Ears]

No, it is a stove that burns pellets.

It is very small pieces of wood glued together that look like rabbit food. They come in bags of normally 40 or 50 pound bags.

We have the largest Harman one and are enjoying more each day as it gets colder.

It has a "hopper" that you put the pellets in. It is also kinda like a wood stove on feet , you can see the flame when it is burning and has a nice blower.

I have already sat in front of it for hours reading, crafting, snoozing...

Sorry, all this coming from a female, maybe someone else can explain it better.

 

[VWLMember]

Exactly. It is a stove designed to burn compressed wood pellets made from scrap woods and other recycled wood products. They look like rabbit food. The stoves can either be a stand alone like a wood stove, or an insert that goes into an existing fire place.

The pellets burn clean which is good for the environment and puts the money in the pockets of US companies and not OPEC!

Here is a link to a good video that describes pellet stove vs wood stoves.

http://www.jamestownpelletstoves.ca/upload/audiovideo/sales-video-web-site.wmv

Although the video is for Jamestown stoves, I prefer and own a Harman Accentra. They are more expensive but worth the cost. The cast iron design makes it look great in addition to it's great heat generation.

 

[dpratt68]

I love this thread!! I too installed a pellet insert this season and have sooo many questions. Does anyone know if the Breckwell has a setting for feed rate? I did something that was reccomended but not sure I did it correctly. Also, I am trying to vac it daily and clean the burn pot but what other maintenance do you do on a regular basis?

 

[lck33]

Absolutely love my pellet stove here in the Catskills of New York. Also have the Harmon P-68 and sit in front of it for hours We go through a bag to two bags a night depending on how cold it gets. Last winter we went through about 4 ton. We keep our gas heat on 60 and I don't believe that it came on very much. I think we used like 35 gallons of propane a month and that includes our dryer. Our home is over 2500 sq feet 2 story, so we really saved alot in my opinion. I also try and clean it every few days and have it serviced every September. They clean the vent pipes, blower, igniter, and such. We stock piled 5 ton this summer because we got a really good deal per ton and we store them in our garage so we are set for the winter which makes me feel at ease considering the economy right now.

Counting my blessings!

Elsie

 

[8 Ears]

I really scrape it down once a week. Down by the auger I get dime size chunks.

I have our auger set at 3 1/2.

Can not recall what they said about the fan. Does that make much of a difference? Guess I should dig my owners manual out again.

We also bought 4 tons. We bought 2 different brands and are finding the 100% hard wood ones burn MUCH better. Think I said that before though.

Also, as I said before I put a few drops of fragrance in the water on top. I changed the water this morning because I accidently dropped a pellet in. I enjoy the smell, gives the "stale" house a little boost. After Thanksgiving I will put in pine.

Thanks everyone for your experencies thus far!

 

[dpratt68]

one more question-what should I expect for a monthly increase on my electric bill for using the pellet stove?

 

[dpratt68]

rough idea anyone????

 

[blast822]

We've been heating exclusively with a pellet stove for the last two years. We have an Avalon. Ours is able to be set on a thermostat, like any other kind of heat, and kicks on and off according to the thermostat. I love it. We do go through about a bag a day when it's really cold (we live in western New York), but I love the fact it's not continuously burning. I do have a question about the person who put water on the stove, though. My stove does not get hot. The only place that gets hot is the glass part. You can sit on the stove if you wanted to. We burn about 4 tons of pellets a year.

I do not see an increase in electric bills because of the pellet stove, but I am pleased because I do not buy heating oil anymore, which was quite expensive the last time I bought it 3 years ago, and I can't imagine what it would be like now.

Good luck with your stove, as I said, we love ours!!

 

[8 Ears]

Hi blast822! What is your question concerning water on the stove?

On ours above the "stove" part and in front of the hopper is where I have our water.
Our stove gets VERY hot! Hot enough so if you put your finger or hand in the water is is too hot.

Also feel free to PM if not comfortable asking on the thread.

 

[twoeeyy]

O.k. I called the store where we bought it and talked to a service tech ( he was very nice, said to call him anytime ). He walked me thru it over the phone and explained it much better to me than the owners manuel. I did have it set on a fast feed rate, he slowed it down for me.

Ours is a vista flame made by harmon / Hammen ?

He told us not to hook it up to a thermostate, he gave some big LONG explanation as to why it is much better to run it manuely.

 

[Suz D]

Thank you for starting this thread and sorry to hijack it. We have been wanting to add a fireplace to the home we just purchased. I like the look of a fireplace but would rather have the efficiency of a pellet stove. This thread has given me lots of information!

 

[twoeeyy]

Thank you for starting this thread and sorry to hijack it. We have been wanting to add a fireplace to the home we just purchased. I like the look of a fireplace but would rather have the efficiency of a pellet stove. This thread has given me lots of information!

this is obviously my first winter with the pellet stove. We have oil heat otherwise.

For our stove , installation parts ( we installed it ourselves ) and 3 tons of pellets we are around the $ 3,000 price point. With oil being the better part of $ 600 - 700 a fill ( we would definately use 3 plus some of the 4th fill to get us thru the winter we figure we will / have break even on this first winter, plus we can keep the house warmer .

 

[mla1977]

We put two stoves in last year and figured we saved $750 over the cost of oil versus the cost of pellets. I love our stove. We have one insert in the fireplace and one freestanding one in the in-law apartment downstairs. We just purchased 3 tons to get us through the winter and have been using about a bag per 2.5 days right now. The one in the fireplace is also connected to a programmable thermostat. When the weather gets really cold, I plan on turning the oil heater thermostat on during the day to keep the pipes warm, but other than that, the stove keeps us nice and toasty in the night.

 

[twoeeyy]

Another question for all of you vetran pellet stove users.

Do you keep it on when you are not home?