Pellet control

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rmcgr8one

New Member
Oct 24, 2012
45
Southern NH
When you are not home or sleeping do you turn down the temperature or the feed rate on your stove. Currently I run the stove in room temperature auto and turn down the temperature. I was wondering what is the best way to save pellet consumption.

Thanks
 
All depends on what you like. Do you want to wake up or walk in a cold house? How long does it take for the house to come up to temp? This is a Ford vs. Chevy argument.

Eric
 
If you're using room/auto, just turn the temperature down.
 
It would really depend on your own preference and how long it takes to heat up again. In general turning
the thermostat down will use less resources but if you won't be gone for long and will just be turning up
again it might make more sense to leave it alone.
 
If you can trust the government, the department of energy says that for each degree set back for an eight hour period you will save 1 percent of fuel. So if you set back 10 degrees every day for 8 hours you should save 10%. So in theory you could save 5 bags per ton setting back 10 degrees for 8 hours every day.
 
During the day, if I or someone else is home, I run the stove at 70 which keeps the downstairs around 68. At night, or when the whole family is out, I turn the stove down to 67, which keeps the downstairs around 64. The house is well insulated, so it doesn't take a long time for me to make up those 3 degrees when I turn the stove up.

I suspect any pellets I'm saving when the stove is running at a lower temp are lost when I make up the temp by turning up the stove, but it makes me feel better.

For me, the best "savings" feeling is when I see other houses in the neighborhood getting oil deliveries. I'm down to 1 or 2 deliveries a year -- used to be more like 6.
 
Thanks for the replies.
 
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