Pellets Burned This Year versus Last Year

burned maybe 10 bags, and most of it was this weekend, and about 300 gallons of oil all winter

should be around 5 1/2 ton this year compared to 8 ton last year

Last year's 2014-15, total = 327 bags This year's will be close to 250. No oil use(we chose not to). The Honey is retired, and the stoves burn nearly 24/7.We buy most of our pellets during the summer months, and hopefully the prices will continue downward.

4 tons last year...
bit over 2 tons this year...
[I learned to stop messin with the stove and leave it on 1 setting most times].

Tonyray said:

4 tons last year...
bit over 2 tons this year...
[I learned to stop messin with the stove and leave it on 1 setting most times].

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Incremental changes might be a good term to use, for me anyway. It's all about the weather otherwise. The weather has a big effect on how the stove consumes pellets, all on it's own regardless of my intervention or not..

Some pellets are really small, with them I run a feed rate just up from 3. With moderate length or average length , about 3-1/2. When there are larger ones mixed in ,like the ones that go bang in a Harman, I run 4 and in super cold weather with those same ones, just over 4. I mostly run in room temp Auto. Depending on weather, the temp dial might be someplace between just under 70 and just over 75. Blower speed is about 3/4 of full blast most of the time but sometimes the stove gets hot enough it goes up on full speed all by itself anyway. At night if I want heat upstairs the blower is on full. And that's a lot of words to say I don't move the dials a whole lot either, Tony ! Sometimes , mostly in fact , I go weeks without touching a control, other than shut down to clean.

2.5 T last year...7 bags this year. Wood and oil this season. burning wood tonight to knock chill out. Will sleep with oil off and bed windows cracked.

4 Tons Last year...3 Tons this year

I don't keep official track of the pellets I burn. I know I burned 6+ tons last winter.

Let's see, this winter: I started with 5.3 tons. I purchased 5+6+27+15 and a few others probably - let's call it a 1.2 of individual bags. Then I bought 11 tons this spring. I currently have 12.7 tons. So 5.3+1.2+11 = 17.5. Subtract 12.7 and I get (hold on, I have to grab a cat because I ran out of fingers and toes, just gotta remember they only have 4 to a pad ) - umm 4.8 tons used so far this season. (Math is hard for this old brain )

I actually used quite a bit more than I should have with the basement stove because I removed the inside sheetrock that is between the garage and basement in September (insulation and outer sheetrock still there - but could definitely feel a lot of cold emanating from it). So the stove had to work harder to keep it warm down there until I finally got it re-sheetrocked toward the end of November.

bogieb said:

(hold on, I have to grab a cat because I ran out of fingers and toes, just gotta remember they only have 4 to a pad

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We've got some spares here if you need more toes ... plus the dog!
Where are you storing all those tons? Two car garage now a pellet house?

Lake Girl said:

We've got some spares here if you need more toes ... plus the dog!

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Actually I forgot that one of the cats has 5 toes per foot (plus dewclaws) so it's a good thing I grabbed the right cat

Lake Girl said:

Where are you storing all those tons? Two car garage now a pellet house?

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3 Tons in a 1 car garage (on 2 pallets) - they make a cozy fit for my car and bike. Fortunately I have a small shed to put the mower and snowblower in or the car would be keeping the truck company on the lawn. 8 tons are sitting out on the lawn (keeping the truck company) and the rest are in the basement. If I can find some 1/2 pallets, I could move 1 ton into the shed (just - assuming the floor doesn't cave in) and in a couple of weeks get another ton into the basement. 6 tons are a permanent grass killer until next year - Althought they are double and triple wrapped, I'll probably get a tent to go over them.

I think a tent/portable garage would be a fine pellet storage "thing". Speaking of which our son got one to work on his motorcycles in. Fairly cozy in there, keeps out of the worst of the weather and keeps the bike dry. No floor though. I have a wooded area that right now has an enormous brush pile I had hoped to burn this spring and thought I might put one of those there. However we went under a fire ban and fire warning about a week ago, go figure ! We even had the warning up on a rainy day last week, guess it wasn't enough rain after all. Then one day I didn't see it up and we had 25-35 MPH winds instead. We have to call in a permit number at the fire house if we want to burn, I didn't bother calling.

We have another sick adult cat. This guy has thyroid trouble and now it looks like his sugar has gone crazy. But he doesn't look too hot, we shall see. He sees the vet today.

alternativeheat said:

I think a tent/portable garage would be a fine pellet storage "thing". Speaking of which our son got one to work on his motorcycles in. Fairly cozy in there, keeps out of the worst of the weather and keeps the bike dry. No floor though.

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I think that is what I'll be looking at. Since the 6 pallets that will be left outside were stacked on empty pallets, not having a floor isn't an issue.

alternativeheat said:

We have another sick adult cat. This guy has thyroid trouble and now it looks like his sugar has gone crazy. But he doesn't look too hot, we shall see. He sees the vet today.

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Hoping the best for your kitty!

alternativeheat said:

I think a tent/portable garage would be a fine pellet storage "thing". Speaking of which our son got one to work on his motorcycles in. Fairly cozy in there, keeps out of the worst of the weather and keeps the bike dry. No floor though.

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I have a Harbor Freight tent that I keep garden equipment in. The frame is hoops with flat bar running across the floor, I laid plywood on the floor, and then put my lawnmower and stuff in there, it helps keep it anchored in the wind. It is ten years old and it's still in pretty good shape.

alternativeheat said:

We have another sick adult cat. This guy has thyroid trouble and now it looks like his sugar has gone crazy. But he doesn't look too hot, we shall see. He sees the vet today.

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Crazy thyroid will affect sugar if untreated ... at least in humans. Well acquainted with the disorder unfortunately...

bogieb said:

I think that is what I'll be looking at. Since the 6 pallets that will be left outside were stacked on empty pallets, not having a floor isn't an issue.

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Make sure you invest in good anchors if your area experiences high winds. We had some of the canopy type for a wedding that the guys didn't bother to use the heavy duty anchors I bought. Can you say "redneck wedding"? Canopy had to be tied to the 1/2 ton so it didn't take off in the wind The rental tent with the appropriate anchors was fine but it played havoc with the 1000 cranes we strung up inside! Wind died off a bit later so all was good...

He's been on thyroid pills for a couple of months and the levels are perfect. But he continued a decline so they did more labs and found sugar up, that was recently.. Now it's a diabetes test. And he will probably poop out anyway because it seems when our cats start down this sort of path the end is generally near LOL. He's 13.

I don't know what Scott did to anchor his tent rig but it survived the winter winds what ever it was.

Last year burned 5.5 tons and no propane until late April. This past winter only burned 4.5 tons. We keep the house at 73 to 76 degrees downstairs. The Harman is set on auto/manual and is not changed except to lower the temp when it gets unbearable in the family room. This keeps the upstairs at approximately 64 to 66 degrees. Plan on buying 4 tons of Turmans or Lignetics when the price is down. Turmans at the local stove shop is now at 215 a ton so it will probably be Turmans this year. I still have 4 tons in the basement left over from last year so we are in great shape. The Harman P68 gets new door gaskets this year when we do the spring cleaning. Have had it for 6 years now with no major issues. Is very dependable and a great stove.