Thermostat versus letting it run.

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chriscarl

Member
Sep 27, 2013
52
Poughquag,NY
I just finished installing my Cumberland MF 3800 over the past weekend. After a few days of tinkering I have it pretty well dialed in on a remote T-stat. Any thoughts on whether a stove is more efficient on a stat versus letting it run all day on the controller, or turning it off while no one is home and turning it back on when the place is occupied. There is a lot of in and out traffic here all day, since my college student daughter lives here, and my wife only works mornings. Right now I have a St. Croix Hastings on a T-Stat down stairs and I set it back to level 2 because it doesn't have to heat the whole house now. Tell me what you think.
 
Pellet stoves can't make up a high heat loss of setting back. Even furnace users are told that no more than 8 degrees setback unless more than 8 hrs. Most pellet stoves have less than 150 cu/ft per minute fan, not the 750 plus of a whole house system. Food for thought.
 
In my experience dialing down the temp during the work day and sleeping works well when it isn't freezing outside. The recovery takes a while and as a result you might be left uncomfortable for a short period, coupled with the minimal savings in fuel. I still dial my t stat down at night (3 deg) because of our open floor plan, our bedroom gets too warm otherwise.

My wife works from home one day out of the week and during the day the stove is set to 67, but 72 when she is home. I still manage to burn the same amount of fuel in a 24 hour span.

I won't turn off the heat completely either, again the recovery is a potential issue. If you are experimenting, give it a try. In all reality everyone's situation is unique given the high degree of variables.
 
In the winter, the thermostat is actually of little use to me. It's in the fall/spring where it gets too hot inside that I find having a thermostat is handy. I haven't even plugged mine in this year-- running manual-- mostly due to having igniter problems. But I don't really miss the t-stat.
 
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