Any downside to running stove on low for extended periods?

[GrahamInVa]

I argue with my wife all winter long about this Iwill crank it up in morning or sometime durring day and have tried to explain to her why I was doing it but you mght as well go out and talk to the pellet pile she comes in and shuts it down so when she isnt home I jack it up let her breath for awhile .I notice a difference running on low but I am also using blends this year when I was using softs nice fine black very little ash.

Maybe you should get one of theses! LOL

 

[DirtyDave]

same here setting 1 since its warm in daytime. using blazer fuel pellets no creosote build up yet that I can find. Flame looks good. just got 94 whitfield advantage to stem hemoraging natural gas bill.

 

[RidgeRunner56]

i think i have come to the conclusion that i burn more pellets running it on low 24/7, than i do running it on high with the thermostat.

But which is more costly in the end, a few extra bags of pellets or a new ignitor every couple years? I'm wrestling with this now. When on auto, stove ignites about once an hour, gives a nice 5 minute burn and then slowly shuts down again. Not going thru many pellets, but wonder about how long the ignitor will last with that much use.

 

[flynfrfun]

When on auto, stove ignites about once an hour, gives a nice 5 minute burn and then slowly shuts down again. Not going thru many pellets, but wonder about how long the ignitor will last with that much use.

Are you saying that within 5 min your stove starts, heats and shuts down? Or does it go thru the start cycle (5-15min), heats for 5min, then goes into shut down cycle (20-30min)? So really you are heating for most of the hour the stove runs

Can't imagine only heating for 5min. If my house required that little heat, I don't think I'd bother having the pellet stove come on. Either you have a very small house or the temps are not very low right now or you like it cool in the house.

One way to help save your igniter if you want to continue is to adjust the swing on your thermostat to a larger value like 3F or more. This way the stove will have to bring the temps up from a lower point and run longer. But, then it will stay off longer as well. Fewer ignition cycles.

My personal take on this situation is that if the stove is starting up every hour, you are probably better to let the stove run on low. Startup takes a lot of pellets to get the stove started and then get the stove heated up. Very likely about the same amount of pellets as the stove running on low for 1hr. You will get more heat out of the stove since it gets up to temp and stays there. Of course if this is too much heat and the house gets too hot, then like I said above, adjust the swing to a larger value and that should work.

 

[heat seeker]

I installed a thermostat with a narrow swing in order to save my ignitor, among other things. The stove goes from low to high pretty often, but does not use the ignitor because it doesn't shut off. I haven't noticed an increase in pellet usage, it is still providing heat while in low mode. Just my take on it. If it's warm enough out, I shut the stove off during the day and let the sun keep the house warm.

 

[ironpony]

only downside is, it uses less pellets
therefore I do not get to buy more

 

[briansol]

I burned for basically 3 seasons on pretty much nothing but low before i bought the thermostat. I don't like my place hot, so low keeps me around 63 or so when its cold out running constantly. I used '2' on the really cold nights.


It all depends on the pellets you are burning and yoru stove. I never had any issues, and frankly, i get more soot and glass mess running the thermo on 3 and low for an hour then off, then restart method.

 

[DneprDave]

The view side of my house is all floor to ceiling double pane glass. There was an open air porch outside that side of the house, it was useless in the fall and winter. We enclosed the porch with double pained glass and insulated the ceiling and floor, but it would still freeze out there some days in the winter.

I bought a used Whitfield Advantage II pellet stove and installed it on that 400 square foot porch. The lowest setting keeps it nice and warm most of the time. I set it on the "2" setting when it will be near freezing outside. If I leave the sliding glass door to the house open, the pellet stove also heats the house pretty well. I've noticed that the oil furnace only starts very early in the morning, augmenting the pellet stove when the night is at its coldest.

We use that porch all the time now, thanks to the pellet stove. Time will tell if we have saved any money on fuel when we fill the oil tank next summer. I have a feeling that there will be a savings.

Dave

 

[RidgeRunner56]

Are you saying that within 5 min your stove starts, heats and shuts down? Or does it go thru the start cycle (5-15min), heats for 5min, then goes into shut down cycle (20-30min)? So really you are heating for most of the hour the stove runs

Can’t imagine only heating for 5min. If my house required that little heat, I don’t think I’d bother having the pellet stove come on. Either you have a very small house or the temps are not very low right now or you like it cool in the house.

Yes, Yes, and Yes.

Full cycle is about an hour from start up to shut down. House is small, less then 1,000 sq/ft on one floor of living. And while we had some snow already this year, temps are usually only dropping into the 30's and rising to 50 in the daytime.