Do you (personally) feel more comfortable at a lower heat in the house with a pellet stove?

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smaxell1

New Member
Oct 24, 2008
74
Central Maine
It seems odd to me, but last year running on all oil, I kept the house at 70+ degrees. If it was really cold, I would kick the furnace up a couple of degrees and maintain 70-72. So far with the pellet stove, I have been running it mostly on low heat with the thermostat for the furnace set at 55 degrees for backup. I have actually found that I am as comfortable with the pellet stove maintaining my downstairs at around 65 degrees as I was for oil at 70+!!! All of my rooms downstairs are definitely at a lower temp - I have little thermometers stuck all over my house to monitor how the stove is heating it. At last count, I have seven thermometers that I check. All of them are several degrees lower than I would expect them to be and have me feel comfortable.

Has anyone else noted this, or is it just psychological warmth from not paying for oil??

Seems to be working for me, and I love it. Right now it is 66 degrees with a thermometer sitting on top of my computer - and collecting all that warm air from inside. I feel fairly toasty - any not just from the Budweiser!

---scott
 
I absolutely agree with you. Pellet heat is a new and different way of heat. Over the years 72° was comfortable with our baseboard heat and now 68° with our pellet stove is equal if not more comfortable.

I know that others have said the same thing.

Steve
 
Im new to the pellet persuasion too and I agree it feels warmer, If you have a hygrometer on your wall you will notice that the humidity is staying a lot higher. THIS KEEPS MORE MOISTURE IN CONTACT WITH THE SKIN AND LESS EVAPORATION WHICH TENDS TO MAKE A PERSON FEEL COLD.

Higher humidity, allows you to run your heating systgem at a lower temperature. FAO or gas is a real humidity killer.

My $.02
 
well- I havent paid much attention to the moisture thing-but if its true-so far my hands are dry but not as dry{ so far} as using the oil all the time in previous winters. I shall now get one of those things to hang on the wall.Using the pellet stove-its constant heat-all the time- not just a blast of hot air every 20 minutes. We notice its a much more steady heat- much more evenly distributed around the house. Before I would get chilly at 70* using oil- and constantly turning it up-now I am able to tolerate lower temps which I didnt think was female possible...lol
 
We were all prepared for cooler temps, but when we got the stove up and running, it is MUCH warmer in the house. We have a Big E, running it on #2.

I think I have the damper figured out enough so that we will now be turning it down to #1 at night, then bump to#2 for the day.

We could not be more thrilled.
 
The pellet stove runs continuously & the temperature is consistent. With the oil heat, the house feels warm when it is running, but unless it is very cold outside it isn't running most of the time. There is about a 3 degree temperature variance between when it kicks in & when it turns off.

mark
 
I'm an over the road trucker and I was sick of coming home after one or two weeks on the road having to freeze to death at 65degrees just to be able to pay the gas bill.

I sleep in a cold truck every night (I pretty much refuse to idle my truck) so I wanted my old barn WARM when I came home.

Now it's warm... and has been ever since we installed our stove last November. Right now it's 74 in the kitchen/porch and living room. The bedrooms are about 65... nice for sleeping. When the weather turns really cold I crank my stove up to 3 or 4 stay toasty... no more freezing for me.
 
Definatley a different kind of heat. My stove keeps the downstairs at about 71-73 with relative ease, and I love it. This is the first winter that I have had the temp above 67 due to high LP costs. Even if pellets were a bit more than LP, I'd still use them because I now know what it means to be comfortable.
 
I don't like more than 72* and am having a hard time keeping the room my stove is in at that temp consistantly even on lowest settings. Other areas of the house are 70*. Not complaining mind you. I just get it up to 72-74 and turn the stove off for a few hours. Maybe when it's colder that will change. Before the stove, I kept the house on 64* so still getting used to being warmer.
 
I keep my nat. gas furnace at 68*, my furnace thermometer is in the hallway, and pellet stove is in living room, (15 feet away) when I get home, we used to turn furnace up to 72*, I have my pellet stove turned on the lowest setting, and our hallway thermostat is reading 69 to 70 most of the time. The living room is definitely warmer, we were having to open the upstair bedroom window (chalet) because it was hotter than we are used to sleeping. we have a ceiling fan circulating the air, and are getting used to the upstairs being about 70* to sleep in now.
 
I heated my house for years with oil fired hot water baseboard and I would keep the thermostat at 65 at night and 68 during the day. Last year I went thru 4 tanks (275 gal) of oil. Now with my pellet stove in the basement, my basement (finished) is between 78-82 and my first floor is 68-72. I use no oil to heat the basement and first floor. My second floor bedrooms I heat with oil and keep their thermostats at 65 all the time. So far this year I am still running off the oil I got back in April and still have 1/4 tank. I would have filled up oil tank in Oct. and then again in late Dec or Jan. So far my house is warmer this year than it was last year.
 
It is a different kind of heat than oil. We're finding it's a more even heat throughout the house. Living room where stove is stays at around 72-74, hallway at 69-70, and bedrooms at roughly 66-68, perfect for sleeping. House is your basic ranch, 1100 sq. ft. We love the warmth! :lol:
 
First year with pellet stove set temp at 74 and it keeps the house at an even 70 degrees running on low setting for now. Temps are till holding low 30's and we have yet to fire the propane furnace. We went through 975 gallons of propane with tstat set 68 day 62 at night last year and never felt warm.
 
This is our first season with the pellet stove. Last year we used just under 600 gallons of oil (heat & hot water) in our 1800 sq ft home w/ bb ht wtr with thermostat set at 68 on both floors. It was always chilly.
We pre-purchased 400 gallons for this year and do not anticipate using all of it. We're toasty warm at level 3 on the Hudson River Saranac when the outside temp dips below freezing and very comfortable on level 2 during sleeping hours or when it's above freezing outside.
You guys are right about this type of heat having a different feel to it. It's not the high dry heat you get from a wood stove that makes your skin feel like beef jerky by March. This is a thorough, non-parching heat that felt especially good walking into after cleaning the barn and feeding the horses in the freezing rain this evening. And the bad weather has only just begun! BRING IT ON!!!!
 
We haven't used our propane furnace yet this winter (and its been cold) - we have maybe had the propane fireplace on twice this year so basically we been heating with the pellet stove. I have gone through 60 bags so far and the upstairs is about 70 (the stoves in the recroom downstairs.) Our bonus is having a cold air return right by the stove and with the furnace fan on it circulates nicely. This house is new to us and never had a propane tank to fill but since we been here it has gone from 80 on the guage to 70 from the propane fireplace.
One thing someone mentioned above I find the opposite of - the house is much drier than it was on propane. Our house was around 70% rh and since the stoves been in running it is no higher than50% (averaging 40 - 50%rh).
oh and we are 980 sq ft on the upper and lower floors(1960 sq ft) for comparison :D
 
Scoop said:
Im new to the pellet persuasion too and I agree it feels warmer, If you have a hygrometer on your wall you will notice that the humidity is staying a lot higher. THIS KEEPS MORE MOISTURE IN CONTACT WITH THE SKIN AND LESS EVAPORATION WHICH TENDS TO MAKE A PERSON FEEL COLD.

Higher humidity, allows you to run your heating systgem at a lower temperature. FAO or gas is a real humidity killer.

My $.02
Click to expand...


What are you running for humidity in your house. Mine seems to be somewhere between 45-55 depending on how long I let the vents spin after forgetting to fill it.
Thanks
E
 
Jester said:
What are you running for humidity in your house.
E
Click to expand...

My humidity level is at about 48% using the whole house humidifier.
 
so then its agreed....its a drier heat. Just like my woodstove was.
My basement has dried up significantly since the pellet stove was added.
 
I have the pellet stove in the basement of a 2300 sq ft rancher. I''m not running any type of humidifier and the humidity has been staying between 50 and 60 per cent. With FAO at the same time last yearr my humidity was around 20 per cent. Its such a big housee I never considered a free-standing humidifier.

I think the oil furnace takes more moisture out of the hear for some reason.
 
we had to run a dehumidifier up until installing the pellet stove. Emptied it daily so the pellets are drier than propane anyways
 
mnoack said:
The pellet stove runs continuously & the temperature is consistent. With the oil heat, the house feels warm when it is running, but unless it is very cold outside it isn't running most of the time. There is about a 3 degree temperature variance between when it kicks in & when it turns off.

mark
Click to expand...

To feel like I was saving fuel, I used to program my FHW Oil furnace to range from 62' - 72' depending on the time of day. During the 62' periods, the entire contents of the house would get down to that temperature before the next cycle and the eventual slow recovery back to 72' (the air would recover faster than the furnature). The fact that my pellet stove is maintaining a pretty even 68-70' temp range, and all the furnature and other house contents are constantly at that temperature, I would say "yes" the pellet stove feels like it puts out a different kind of heat!
 
My hands and feet are all I need to tell the difference in warmth. At 70 degrees using the oil furnace, my feet and hands are still cold. At 70 degrees using the pellet furnace, feet and hands are nice and warm. So, for now, during the week when we are seldom home we use the cheaper oil, but when we are in the house on weekends and holidays, the pellet furnace is on.
 
I think its just great that with all the problems in the world, the growing recession, the stock market collapse, the presidential transition, the war in Iraq, the terrorist massacre in Mumbai, we can sit here on a Monday afternoon and contemplate the flame in our pellet stoves. If everyone burned pellets it would be a lot better world me thinks.
 
I think its just great that with all the problems in the world, the growing recession, the stock market collapse, the presidential transition, the war in Iraq, the terrorist massacre in Mumbai, we can sit here on a Monday afternoon and contemplate the flame in our pellet stoves. If everyone burned wood pellets it would be a lot better world me thinks.
 
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