How many tons of pellets does it take to heat an average home? Say, 1500 sq.ft.?

[BikeMedic2709]

I have been reading the forum post on pellets. I am curious as to how much (tons) it takes to heat your home with pellets.

 

[chevyhd]

I would say that four tons is probably average. I live in PA and burn around four tons per year. I usually only burn pellets durung the week and wood on the weekends when we are home. Last winter was pretty mild, I only burned about 3 - 3.5.

 

[Homefire]

Not a for sure answer due to house size and weather conditions but a 40 lb bag a day , 50 bags to ton and 180 days to winter here in CNY . Probably the same for you in Ohio.
So that's about 3 and 1/2 tons. Buy 4 to be sure you have enough .
Try this 1/2 corn and 1/2 pellets . That's what I do

 

[drizler]

About 6 tons normally for the year on the Canadain Border near Montreal. 4 last year ( corn mostly). For where you live you should seriously look into corn as out midwest its about $100 a ton or less, possibly a lot less. Do as homefire says and mix them if you are using a pellet stove. You can always burn 50% and often more than 75%. Another thing I like about corn is that it doesn' t go sky high in winter so you have to stock up. I just waddle my old pickup up to the feed lot and pull under the chute like the semi's. Someone at a feed lot a few weeks ago told me that you can't load a pickup from the chute as it blows away. She didn't even believe me when I told her I did it all the time. Sometimes you wonder ........

 

[Roospike]

About 6 tons normally for the year on the Canadain Border near Montreal. 4 last year ( corn mostly). For where you live you should seriously look into corn as out midwest its about $100 a ton or less, possibly a lot less. Do as homefire says and mix them if you are using a pellet stove. You can always burn 50% and often more than 75%. Another thing I like about corn is that it doesn' t go sky high in winter so you have to stock up. I just waddle my old pickup up to the feed lot and pull under the chute like the semi's. Someone at a feed lot a few weeks ago told me that you can't load a pickup from the chute as it blows away. She didn't even believe me when I told her I did it all the time. Sometimes you wonder ........

What are you loading for volume on your pick up ? What size truck ? 1,2 ton corn at a time per load ? How full a load in the bed is 1 ton of corn in a pickup ? How dry is it when it comes from the feed lot ? ( % )

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

most people in my neighborhood burn 3-4 tons a season

 

[ourhouse]

A guy at work used about 4 1/2 tons last year.

 

[BikeMedic2709]

Very interesting. Does one heat better than the other; or does one produce a higher BTU? (Corn vs. pellets) Most of the people I know that have these types of stoves use just corn. Most supply their own corn and have a cleaner & a way to store it.

 

[Homefire]

Very interesting. Does one heat better than the other; or does one produce a higher BTU? (Corn vs. pellets) Most of the people I know that have these types of stoves use just corn. Most supply their own corn and have a cleaner & a way to store it.

You should be asking those people their opinons of corn vs pellets and the amount they burn in your area.
No reason it will take more corn than wood pellets.
For me it is purely a money thing as corn is cheaper to buy than pellets from the local greedy pellet gouger guy.
One Harman dealertold me if pellets are more than $3 a bag it is a gouge even with transport cost.

Unless your corn is really dry it will gum up the stove works of a pellet stove not designed to
deal with clinkers.

Mine smells like corn fritters when it is burning. I like it.
The wife puts up with it but could do without the smell.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Hmmmmm, when you buy them for $4.40 a bag wholesale.. it must be gouging to charge $5. A statement from a dealer like that cant be valid, prices fluctuate to much on the wholsale end. Pellets havent been three dollars a bag for a long time. Of course it depends on where you live. Plenty about this subject in the pellet thread.

 

[BikeMedic2709]

My best friend uses 2 corn stoves. Corn only. But like I said he supplies their own corn. (Plants, harvests, dries, stores, and cleans it. When I asked him how much, he just told me how much per day. (Like so many buckets etc.) But did not give me an actual bushel amount. He does not weigh it since its his.

 

[drizler]

Don't forget last Winter was especially warm when you are making your calculations. I myself only used 4 tons last winter. I use those buckets to haul mine in too. Sometimes I just leave the corn in the back of the truck and screen it out a few hundred pounds at a time into garbage cans and totes. Usually between one and 2 pails a day do the deed.

 

[GVA]

I burned 3.5 ton last year 4.5 the years before the house is about 1800 Square feet my wife likes it warm in here....