How many bags of pellets do you burn?

I would guess that in your area 200 bags a year would be a close estimate.
For 900 sq ft it sounds like you are using a lot of pellets. It might be worthwhile to look into windows,doors and insulation.
I don't live that far from your area (just north of Dubuque) and figure 4 to 5 ton a year for 1300 sq ft in a 70's house that isn't really that well insulated or tight.
I heat 100% with corn and pellets except on days above 40 degrees we use a heat pump.

You definitely want to look at improving your insulation. I have one pellet stove that heats an approximately 1800 sqft area and I average about 1 bag per day with the thermostat set to 70.

Could be pellets your burning. Every stove burns pellets different. I know in my stove the heat output can vary quite a bit with different brands. The only way to learn your stove is to buy several different brands and burn until you find a pellet that puts out good heat. I tried probably 10-12 different pellets until I found what worked best for me.

Could you possibly post a picture of the stove after it's been burning for about 20 minutes. I'm not real familiar with the stove that you have however it may need to be setup better, There are a lot of really sharp people on here and they will be along soon to get you on the right path.

Forgot my manners, Welcome to hearth, Nice to meet one of my neighbors.

I have 950 sq/ft upstairs (main floor) and 650 s/ft unfinished basement (under-story garage uses rest of space). Last year, I installed the P61a in the basement that in theory should have heated everything without a problem. That kept my basement at 80-90F but only the living room, kitchen and office upstairs stayed at a livable temp (and that was with a gazillion fans going. The bath and both bedrooms were very cold. I also had to run propane FHW if the temps were under 10. I slept on my couch all winter, much as you did.

Over the summer, I tore out walls and put in new insulation to replace the thin rockwool, plugged up the 8" of open wall all around the perimeter (yep, the outer plywood stopped at the eaves, which are 8" below the 8' walls), and put up vapor barrier (it had none). Also new windows. I then put up rigid foam insulation on about 2/3 of the concrete basement walls and covered that with heat reflective material (more as a fire precaution, but also to help retain the heat from the stove).

By late October 2014, I could tell that the bedrooms would still be very cold as the cold from the garage was coming up despite installing insulation and new sheetrock in the garage ceiling. So, I put a smaller stove (Hastings) in my living room. With a couple of fans set up, the house stayed toasty warm all the way thru. This winter I went thru about 5 tons of pellets (+/-) and zero propane. Okay, I did use a bit of propane for hot water and during really cold stretches I ran the boiler system for 8 minutes / 2x day to keep the FHW pipes from freezing, but that was it.

My guess is that you have little to no insulation, no vapor barrier (which helps cut down air filtration) and/or huge air leaks somewhere (windows, doors sill plate etc.). Another issue might be how the house is laid out. My main floor is very cut up, so the two fans are a necessity to get the air moving.

my house is 90 yrs old so no real insualtion...
was going to concider blow-in from the outside for walls but my downstairs has 13 windows and all though double pane, they take up more space than walls.
so don't know if the blow in would be a bust..it's like the house of glass here..
anyone have similar setup and did insulate this way?
4/half tons pellets per winter to heat..

10-11 tons a winter in NE Wisconsin, keeping 3,000sq ft at 73 the entire time. Wife is cold blooded.

1800 sq ft home in south NH built in 1997
Year 1 - 3 ton
Year 2 - 4.5 ton
This year 5.5 ton so far

You either need to get better pellets or better insulation.

Before I added the corn furnace in the basement, I heated my 2400 sq ft colonial with an Englander 10 CPM, using 4-5 tons per year. I kept the main area of the house around 71, with outlying rooms and upstairs a few degrees colder. The stove couldn't keep up if it was below 0 or below 20 and excessively windy, but even then it kept the house in the low to mid 60's if I didn't turn the propane on. I'm probably a little less windy than you, but not much, and I'd wager it's every bit as cold here.

Time for an energy audit/assessment.

Any idea of how much $$ it cost to heat the place previously?

Just curious if you are running the outside air intakes on your stoves?
If not, then you are constantly drawing that 10° air into your house, and not the stove.
Just a thought.

Dan

elevenMracing said:

10-11 tons a winter in NE Wisconsin, keeping 3,000sq ft at 73 the entire time. Wife is cold blooded.

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Your wife is Warm blooded.... If she was cold blooded, her body would be able to adapt to exterior temperatures

I had a older farm home, built 1953 and even after blowing in insulation, new windows and doors etc the home was still sucking lots of fuel. 1700 sq.ft. including the basement. Built another home on site and even with almost double the area, 3,000 sq.ft. it takes an average of 1.25 bags of pellets to heat with stove also heating DHW. The Red River Valley gets a lot more wind and fair amount colder than Iowa. Those old farm houses would probably be banned from construction now as they waste so much energy. Best way to get some old houses warm is to use five gallons of fuel to burn them down. Like comparing a 72 Chevy truck with a V8 350 that one was lucky to get 8 MPG to a newer truck today.

Bioburner said:

I had a older farm home, built 1953 and even after blowing in insulation, new windows and doors etc the home was still sucking lots of fuel. 1700 sq.ft. including the basement. Built another home on site and even with almost double the area, 3,000 sq.ft. it takes an average of 1.25 bags of pellets to heat with stove also heating DHW. The Red River Valley gets a lot more wind and fair amount colder than Iowa. Those old farm houses would probably be banned from construction now as they waste so much energy. Best way to get some old houses warm is to use five gallons of fuel to burn them down. Like comparing a 72 Chevy truck with a V8 350 that one was lucky to get 8 MPG to a newer truck today.

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Perfect example right there....

I burn about 5 tons a season ..

I burned close to five ton's last season.

Pass the Pellets said:

I burned close to five ton's last season.

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That would seem to be a lot of work, pouring all those pellets into an insert. How much can it hold?

velvetfoot said:

That would seem to be a lot of work, pouring all those pellets into an insert. How much can it hold?

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The Yankee Bay hopper is adjustable to fit the fireplace opening. I am able to set it to the maximum size for my fireplace. When set to the maximum it holds about 80 lbs.

Pass the Pellets said:

The Yankee Bay hopper is adjustable based to the fireplace opening. I am able to set it to the maximum size for my fireplaces. When set to the maximum it holds about 80 lbs.

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That's pretty good.

6-1/2 tons here in a 1950's cinder block 1300sf rancher with zero insualtion in the walls, but I do keep the house rather warm. Ok actually used 322 bags!

Last year was my first season and I used just over three tons about 165 bags

You have the same stove(s) that I have. Last year I burned about 4 tons (bag per day on ave) and 1 tank of heating oil. 2,250 sqft old home in Maine, long cold winter. The original half of the house is 100+, other half is 1980s. Kept the house 70-74 during the day, 65 at night. I think you have an insulation issue, hope you worked on it this summer.

Last year I went thru 80 bags. Pellets are used for dip colds when it's less than about 15F outside. A mix of heat pump and electric baseboard provide the basic load.