Fired up my new Accentra 52i last night

[turbulator]

And wow it's great. Tweaking the settings currently. Kept the entire house in the high 60's on 1.5... (like 3,000 sq foot 2 story house - so that won't be realistic when its really cold out) Granted it only went down to high 30's last night, so it's not a great test. Also, it wasn't meant to heat the house anyway - more supplementary heat in our addition. I'll get pics posted later - I still have masonry work to do, mantle, and finish work in that room... but it's in and running.

How many bags/day of pellets will those things chew up on average?

 

[bcarton]

In theory, that stove can has input BTU of 53000 BTU per hour, yes? A pound of pellets is usually estimated at 8250 BTU. So about 6.42 pound/hr X 24 hrs / 40 per bag - you're up over 6 bags a day. I doubt you'll ever want to run that stove full blast for any length of time.

 

[alternativeheat]

And wow it's great. Tweaking the settings currently. Kept the entire house in the high 60's on 1.5... (like 3,000 sq foot 2 story house - so that won't be realistic when its really cold out) Granted it only went down to high 30's last night, so it's not a great test. Also, it wasn't meant to heat the house anyway - more supplementary heat in our addition. I'll get pics posted later - I still have masonry work to do, mantle, and finish work in that room... but it's in and running.

How many bags/day of pellets will those things chew up on average?

That's great ! And yes when real winter sets in it will probably be different . Your settings will change.

Pellet consumption is based on several factors, from quality of pellets, area to heat, the huge factor of insulation, how warm you like the house to be and the mode the stove is run in, not to mention how well/often it is cleaned.. A rough average ( very rough so don't hang your hat on it) of pellets used around the forum that we often see is anywhere from 1-2 bags per day. Obviously, if the stove strains to heat an area, you like the house at 80, it's a tough winter, crappy pellets , well the usage goes up. Using the stove as supplemental gives you the best option over pellet consumption control. You will notice when using the stove fairly regularly that your regular fuel, what ever that is, consumption goes down. Some folks here depend on pellets for the main heat source and their usage is probably going to be different than yours.

Stove capability to chew pellets, that is another story all together. Max that sucker out and watch them disappear ! The 52i isn't too bad a pellet sucker, try a P61 or P68, crank it to max and you will approach 5, even 6 bags per day if not more. Fortunately, that would ( or should) drive you out of most houses, you couldn't live next to the stove run that way LOL ! That series unlike your stove also radiates heat, which is one reason I bought one. .On a couple of really cold winter nights well below 0 I let my P61 crank the heat out instead of having oil kick on. I decided that isn't worth while, it's going to gobble between 3 and 4 bags in that situation. However, if I let the heat cycle on I then maintain my 2 bag limit and use very little oil. Now with oil prices down I indefinably am on the no pellet or supplemental heat is pellets plan for this winter. But average for me is around 2 bags as well running 24-7.. THat means I have 1-1/2 bag days and have 3 bag days and mostly just under 2 bags.

 

[bags]

I mainly bought a new P68 for shoulder season heating and some inside ambiance last October. I wanted to reduce my wood consumption and wear and tear of wood processing not to mention I was working out of town the last four winters from Jan 2nd-3rd until June. The wife was finished with wood and all she had to do was throw some loads in from inside the barn with a very short wheel barrow drive. The last few winters were brutal here and the year before last she was talking condo. Condo is not in this cowboy's vocabulary so I had to do something and fast.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised the 68 handled our house fairly easily all winter even during the extended extreme cold snaps without much effort other than more pellet bags. You will be surprised as to what your 52i will do all said and done. Just a guess on my part and I suspect you will use it more than you thought simply because it will be so easy. I didn't have my hopes up very high and honestly did not think the 68 here would do what it did. No kidding.

In the extreme colds I would use two bags in 24 hours but we stayed very warm here as in 75* inside temps. The wife likes it too warm and that bugs me a bit. I could have managed on 5-6 tons between Oct 18th thru April. Six months of non-stop heating. Granted the beginning and end (shoulder) we used less. I really averaged about a ton per month heating solely with the 68 all winter except for one week of firing the wood eating dragon just to exercise that beast.

Worst case scenario I did have some three bag days (24 hrs.) but mostly two baggers when it was cold, cold. Hope this helps. All said and done from start to finish of the heating season the average was 1 bag per 24 hrs. Maybe slightly more. I am doing two levels with high ceilings and a ton of big glass windows and glass doors. Open plan so that helps in moving air.

The biggest temperature difference between the living room and farthest upstairs bedroom was 8 degrees during the single digits. Not bad considering it was 75 to 76* in the living room and 67 - 68* in that bedroom. Enjoy that 52i. I am sure you will. Many 52i peeps here that know your stove well.

 

[bags]

Alternative,
You are correct in your bags per day except the 5-6 bags. I know here with the 68 3 bags did the trick but mileage will vary depending on various conditions and factors. Maybe the smaller stove would chew thru more to heat under stress.

That said, here I would be very hard pressed to burn 5 bags a day ever no mater how cold. I might have seen on or two 24 hour periods where I did 4 bags but those were not burned. Three were but the 4th had been dumped leaving the hopper full or half full at the new start of a 24 hour time frame.

Also keep in mind my wife likes it 75 degrees inside no matter how cold it is outside. She has forced me into the Pellet Pig category right from the get go. This year I am shooting for a reasonable 71 -72* inside temp. We shall see. The way I see it is that I am already ahead of last years usage since temps have remained nice. Much nicer than last fall. Last year we were hit with 5 - 6 inches of snow Nov. 17th and they were off of school.

I installed and fired the 68 Oct 18th and it did not stop until mid April keeping the house 75 - 76* hot inside. It's bad when I'm in flip flops and shorts and it's very cold outside.

 

[alternativeheat]

Alternative,
You are correct in your bags per day except the 5-6 bags. I know here with the 68 3 bags did the trick but mileage will vary depending on various conditions and factors. Maybe the smaller stove would chew thru more to heat under stress.

That said, here I would be very hard pressed to burn 5 bags a day ever no mater how cold. I might have seen on or two 24 hour periods where I did 4 bags but those were not burned. Three were but the 4th had been dumped leaving the hopper full or half full at the new start of a 24 hour time frame.

Also keep in mind my wife likes it 75 degrees inside no matter how cold it is outside. She has forced me into the Pellet Pig category right from the get go. This year I am shooting for a reasonable 71 -72* inside temp. We shall see. The way I see it is that I am already ahead of last years usage since temps have remained nice. Much nicer than last fall. Last year we were hit with 5 - 6 inches of snow Nov. 17th and they were off of school.

I installed and fired the 68 Oct 18th and it did not stop until mid April keeping the house 75 - 76* hot inside. It's bad when I'm in flip flops and shorts and it's very cold outside.

Ya but bags, I was saying max output, not what ever it took to get the house comfy. I meant turn it up all the way and leave it for 24 hours. LOL. The stove is capable of chewing 5-6 bags. That's why I said that fortunately we don't do that ! Two bags per day on average keeps my dining room at 73-74 deg, one room away from the stove room.

 

[bags]

My bad. I melt around here at 75*. I COULDN'T IMAGINE a Max out run. Although the wife might like the winter time tan in the living room. There were some times the stove ran pretty hard but usually throttled down to a lower level. 5 bags a day and I will call myself a quitter in the pellet stove arena. Too hot and way too much expense.

I have no intentions on running the pellet stove and the AC in tandem in Jan - Feb.

 

[Arti]

I would plan on 150 to 200 bags a year... That is approx 3 to 4 ton per season if you burn the stove daily.
I heat mostly with corn so we get 100 bu of corn in the fall (5,500 lbs. or approx 135 bags of corn) and a ton of pellets. Last year the pellets we purchased came on a skid that was 55 bags and we had approx. 15 bags leftover for this year.

 

[Husky]

Your going to like the 52i. I got mine last year and love it. We planned on using it as supplemental heat but ended up using it a lot more than that. I was burning wood before and when we changed over I was surprised at the amount of heat that this stove can put out and we like the ambiance from the flame. I went through 4.5 tons last year and used it from Oct to April almost every day. During the real cold snap I would use 2+ burning 24 hours. Enjoy!!

 

[turbulator]

i think it will be minimal to what my Tarm HS4.0 boiler chews. What a machine though.

 

[alternativeheat]

i think it will be minimal to what my Tarm HS4.0 boiler chews. What a machine though.

The thing about pellets is you can set the stove as a continuous source of heat in your house or you can cycle it to where there is little fluctuation . I know that in our house we took out an old fashion coal stove and before that we burned wood. Well the coal stove was fai

i think it will be minimal to what my Tarm HS4.0 boiler chews. What a machine though.

It's surprising how constant a heat source a pellet stove or insert can be. However right now is not the time to make one compete with oil. We are still burning oil till the colder weather appears, then we will run both this winter, which is a scenario I like in this house for comfort. Stoves are great but you will always find that chilly corner or back room in the house after all, with using a stove alone. And the P61 will heat the house right down into 0 deg f weather conditions but it's nice to feel the central heat kick on now and then to heat the outer corners. That will be affordable this winter I think. I used to do the same with coal, just that stove had no blower and you had to run a little oil heat in the coldest weather of mid winter. The pellet stove actually does a little better and will heat to a constant temp all winter even if with some cool corners and big fluctuation in fuel consumption. A non stoker coal stove has a certain curve to it's heat output, it backs down on output a bit as it needs tending. Tend it too late into the burn cycle you lose the ability to maintain a fire on refill. Pellet stoves don't do that. And while pellets may not heat a house up quickly they can do it pretty constantly 24/7.

Bet a coal stoker is awesome, best of both worlds and more btu !

Just babbling here LOL ! I'm awaiting knee surgery this Thurs, so kind of penned in .