How many tons did you go through last winter?

Hobokenkitchen said:

Interested in how many tons you used and how many sqft you heat with your pellet stove.
Also how it compares usage wise with the years prior.

Thanks!

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Las year I went through close to 4 ton along with 80 gallons of fuel. This year I've gone through 15 bags. I'm only burning at night to keep the chill off. My place is small at 1200 sq.ft.

I go through 3 1/2 tons in a typical year heating an 1800 sqft area.

Same here 3-1/2 to 4 tons. 1800sq ft. We use a little oil too, I can't really say how much but for our house it isn't much, we have an attached apartment with a tenant, so use oil over there. Last winter , being a tough one I opted twice to have oil and pellets heat the main house on the two coldest days, the heat came on maybe 4 times through that, so maybe 4 gallons used. This winter or this fall anyway, so far is mild, oil prices are down so through this shoulder season we have been on oil, where last year we were well cut into our first ton of pellets.. Haven't used a single bag of pellets yet this season. Heck, we haven't bought them, never mind use them.

2.5 ton per year! 975Sq Ft Ranch.
Although, this year looks like it will be a lot less!

Last year was my first full year of burning pellets and also the first year I heated my whole house using only pellets. I used somewhere between 4 & 5 tons with two stoves heating 950 sq/ft on the main floor and 650 sq/ft of the basement. that basement number is a bit misleading because I am positive it keeps the garage temperature up a bit too as the wall between has big gaps in the sheetrock and then you add that it is an unfinished basement and I am heating part of the foundation + concrete floor.

I started this season with a bit over 5 tons and will pick up bags here and there to try or just to keep my stash from getting too small. If I get down to 1 ton, I get really nervous as I don't want to use the propane for any heat at all.

2 ton and 1/4 tank of oil heating 1200 sq. ft. rancher,always atleast 72 deg. inside, got 2 ton on hand for this year but with the warmer temps and lower oil prices I doubt I will burn 2 ton this year.

Hobokenkitchen said:

Interested in how many tons you used and how many sqft you heat with your pellet stove.
Also how it compares usage wise with the years prior.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

4 Tons 1800 sq.ft....could of used a little more

i was shocked to have used nearly 5 1/2 tons last year. 925 sq. feet single story and 925 sq. foot basement. i send warm air down to the basement and keep it at an average of 50f even in the dead of winter.
first year here we used a few bags over 4 tons.
it was very cold for long stretches last winter. houses all over town had their street to house water lines freezing. the water bureau put a no read meter in our basement and ran a hose from our house to the neighbor's because they simply had to wait to thaw the main supply line. they tried to thaw it, but failed.
but also, heating season stretched 3 days into july. we were just burning once in awhile, but still, a 9 month heating season takes its toll.

and to think i was shocked a few years back when someone here on the forum (with a much bigger house) reported he had used 6 tons.

higher??!! Thats really not bad imo!! I went through 7 ton last season used 0 oil for heat. We had about 4.5 ton on hand (have started burning so probably closer to 4 now) and I will pick up more through the season to replenish.

i'm just gonna go ahead and assume it gets colder for longer here. (nudge nudge, wink wink)

About 3 ton last year first year burning 1500sq ft. So far 13 bags this year from September up until today.

6 tons October in April + $ 200 electricity house 2350 sq 3 floor stove in the basement and remains very cold in Quebec Abitibi

Hobokenkitchen said:

Wow. some of these are much higher than I was expecting!

Thanks and keep sharing. : )

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Ya, we use nearly double what the dealers tend to indicate LOL ! But you have to consider locations, specific winters etc. Last winter was a tough one everywhere, it was cold, stormy and long. It was a winter where even here on Cape Cod we were burning in late Oct, where often it's not till mid Dec. The winter before wasn't much better. Here on Cape Cod we can have a mild winter or typical severe New England winters in the mid season of winter. I've seen open water on the ponds here some winters, and others 16" of ice.. Even so, A lot of these super high pellet users are in mountains, up in Canada, Minnesota, Northern Maine, NH mountains etc..

I went through almost 7 ton last season, heating 3300 square feet. That was burning 24/7, and without the furnace kicking on one single time over the entire Winter. House is 10 years old, well insulated, very open, and my P68 sits in the corner of my family room. With the price of pellets continuously on the rise, and the fact that propane is so inexpensive (for me), I've opted not to burn pellets this season. I will probably fire up the pellet stove a few times here and there (for ambiance only), but I'm not buying pellets this season, and suspect that I won't burn much more than a half ton, given how infrequently I plan on using it.

Actually, last winter I only used 3 tons, not the 3 1/2 I mentioned earlier. Before last winter started, I added OAK and 10" of R30 insulation to my attic.

Enigma869 said:

I went through almost 7 ton last season, heating 3300 square feet. That was burning 24/7, and without the furnace kicking on one single time over the entire Winter. House is 10 years old, well insulated, very open, and my P68 sits in the corner of my family room. With the price of pellets continuously on the rise, and the fact that propane is so inexpensive (for me), I've opted not to burn pellets this season. I will probably fire up the pellet stove a few times here and there (for ambiance only), but I'm not buying pellets this season, and suspect that I won't burn much more than a half ton, given how infrequently I plan on using it.

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You're lucky on your propane pricing. Here on Cape Cod it's over $4 a gallon. I thought of a gas stove but no way. I took out a coal stove, maybe should have left it in or bought a newer more efficient coal stoker.. At the time there was no rice coal in our area but now Tractor Supply carries it. Who knew !

TimfromMA said:

Actually, last winter I only used 3 tons, not the 3 1/2 I mentioned earlier. Before last winter started, I added OAK and 10" of R30 insulation to my attic.

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I need to do some re-insulating in my attic too, we had it blown in in the late 70's. Well, it's kind of packed down and then we did some ceiling work around and lost some etc. There are some sparse looking areas up there and the stupid drop down stairs. Wow, I remember the year I put those stairs in, the heat cycled longer and more often from then on. I had a well insulated hatch up there but the wife wanted steps so she could get up there. Well guess who goes up there still ? Ya me. Anyway, enough complaining, I need to build a push off cover or what ever to put over that stair stack. last year I put some insulation around it, filling gaps, that at least stopped the cold air draft that was spilling down into the hall. But I know there is still heat transfer going on up there.

5.4 tons + 100 gallons of oil. Heating 900 square feet of a 1500 square foot first floor. There's a full basement under as well, no internal insulation (floors) so all 3000 sq feet are kept warm enough not to freeze pipes (coldest part sees temps in the 40s.)

I burned just over 4 tons (208 bags) to heat 1200 Sq ft. Brick Cape with no insulation in walls downstairs. Upstairs and attic are fairly well insulated.

Wife liked the Temps between 72-74

Yes, well that's the other thing. On oil I keep the heat at 68. With the stove more like 73-74, at least in the dining room which one room over from the stove. when I heat with both I keep about 70-72. The only comes on very limited amount of time per day running both. It's probably the most conservative way to heat actually and comfortable.

As alternativeheat stated, one has to figure in where the home is. I live at the bottom of the Red River Valley, in the middle of the country and it blows hard out of Canada bringing in a lot of cold air. If I remember the mean temperature for Fargo is 43 degrees. That's a lot of need for heat for a long time.

Just a little over 4 tons last year. About what I have burned in previous years.

I order 6 tons every year for 2,000 sq. ft. with vaulted ceilings. I usually have to get bags locally by the end of march. We use very little oil. This year I will probably just run oil (being so cheap) when the 6 tons runs out.

St_Earl said:

i was shocked to have used nearly 5 1/2 tons last year. 925 sq. feet single story and 925 sq. foot basement. i send warm air down to the basement and keep it at an average of 50f even in the dead of winter.
first year here we used a few bags over 4 tons.
it was very cold for long stretches last winter. houses all over town had their street to house water lines freezing. the water bureau put a no read meter in our basement and ran a hose from our house to the neighbor's because they simply had to wait to thaw the main supply line. they tried to thaw it, but failed.
but also, heating season stretched 3 days into july. we were just burning once in awhile, but still, a 9 month heating season takes its toll.

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Yeah, I remember very well burning on June 28th this past summer.

St_Earl said:

i'm just gonna go ahead and assume it gets colder for longer here. (nudge nudge, wink wink)

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Yeah, I'm guessing that for my area compared to the OP's area also