Measuring hours per bag of pellets.

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Tonyray

Tonyray

Minister of Fire
Dec 11, 2013
3,507
Bucks County,Pa /North of Phila Eagles
do you guys dump a bag in, then when it's pretty low sort of judge "maybe nother hour or so left,
or do any of of you WRING THE BEJESUS out of a bag by waiting till the last few pellets fall to come up with your
"my stove burns x amount hours per bag"....
I always sort of judge when there is a small pile but sometimes that small pile lasts a bit.
so I am aprox 14 -15 hrs per bag of Energex or O'Malley's pellets but have never waited to the last pellets dropped or fire started to die...
Room temp/manual/ feed rate 4.. fan 3/4 speed.
Harman P61A.W/OAK. . Since mid January cold wave..Not a good Insualted Old house.
 
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I have mine set to last 16 hours on a bag of Lacrete. It works out within ten minutes every time.
 
Never gaged it, I go by what the digital; readout says in PPH. We keep it full all the time.
 
I don't care. I'm interested in the houses temperature and how we feel (hot or cold). Turn the stove up when were chilled, and add more pellets when needed.

I'm more concerned about where my pellet inventory is sitting relative to number of heating days remaining.
 
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Tonyray said:
do you guys dump a bag in, then when it's pretty low sort of judge "maybe nother hour or so left,
or do any of of you WRING THE BEJESUS out of a bag by waiting till the last few pellets fall to come up with your
"my stove burns x amount hours per bag"....
I always sort of judge when there is a small pile but sometimes that small pile lasts a bit.
so I am aprox 14 -15 hrs per bag of Energex or O'Malley's pellets but have never waited to the last pellets dropped or fire started to die...
Room temp/manual/ feed rate 4.. fan 3/4 speed.
Harman P61A.W/OAK. . Since mid January cold wave..Not a good Insualted Old house.
Click to expand...
I did that a few times last year when I was learning the capabilities of my stove. I wanted to see how many hours it would take to burn a bag on its highest setting. Now that I know, I just keep the hopper full.

As for 14-15 hrs per bag, that works out to about 2 and ¾ pounds an hour, or about 21k BTUs an hour. So, your stove should be running on one of its lower settings.
 
Quite simple - I mounted a self adhesive tape measure to the inside of the hopper. I can measure rates easily with this, and I know how much one bag adds in inches. I have one on each side of the hopper. Smooth out the fuel, note the readings on both sides.
 

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My stove has a 60 lb hopper so I try to add a bag when its down 40 lbs. That way I dont have any left over pellets to deal with.
 
I have a hopper extension on my P61A so it can hold almost 3 bags. I just fill it every night. the St. Croix doesn't even hold one bag, so I fill it every morning and every night. The Harman is on Room temp mode (manual) and idles on a regular basis. The SC is on a thermostat and shuts down for hours at a time some days and not on other days, and it is the only one I ever have to worry about running out while I am at work (which hasn't happened yet - close, but hasn't happened.)
 
Phoenix Hatchling said:
I have mine set to last 16 hours on a bag of Lacrete. It works out within ten minutes every time.
Click to expand...

I just check the Pellet Rate readout on the Accentra's control panel.
 
tiger said:
You do realize that's a joke...
Click to expand...

On my stove, you can. Just put it in program mode and read the PPH delivery in direct digital readout.... No joke.
 
Top off before bed and before leaving for work.... Easy enough. I'm not concerned with how long a bag lasts because there are too many variables that need to be considered if you are trying to estimate the length of time until you run out of pellets.
 
At -14 below this morning I care about keeping my butt warm, not how much fuel I need to keep the stove full. Its pretty rare to have to turn up the Bixby to 3. I have enough stash to go into next season with ease unless winter never leaves.
 
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I measure my pellet consumption per day down to 1/8 bag
 
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mepellet said:
Put it on a scale to with our just by guess?
Click to expand...

I have 2 buckets that each hold 1/2 bag. Let’s say I start they day with 1 bucket full which equals 0.5 bags. Over the course of the day, I empty that bucket, refill both and have ½ bucket left. That means over the past 24 hours, I’ve used 1.25 bags.
 
I try not to run my stove out to the last pellet but I do get forgetful once in a while ;em
 
I fill my stove up all the way, run it for 12hrs straight and refill, measure how many pellets needed to refill, then divide by 1, that gives me pellets per hour.
 
bogieb said:
And last night I thought I was doing good at just about 2 bags/day.
Click to expand...
The past couple of weeks, Ive been averaging about 1 1/2 bags per day.
 
I am burning exactly 2 bags a day. Bag when I get up, bag in the evening.
 
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