Does blower speed effect burn rate? (He said, she said)

[pamela010257]

My husband (the engineer) and I own an older model Whitfield Advantage pellet stove. We bought it used and love it.
However, we are having an ongoing discussion about why we are burning 2 bags of pellets/day.
I believe it is because he has the room blower cranked to the highest speed. I think that makes the pellets burn faster.
He believes that because the air does not blow directly on the flame, that the speed of the room blower makes no difference.
Our home does not have any insulation in the roof but should that make a difference?

Please help us solve this mystery.
How many bags of pellets do people burn/day?

 

[leaddog]

I have an Whitfield Advantage insert in my fire place that I use. I can't see where the blower speed will make any difference in the amount of burn as that only controles the amount of air going thru the heat tubes not the combution air. The combustion air is controled by the air shutter on the side and the feed rate. If you have the shutter open to much it will burn faster and sent much of the heat up the stack. You can also adj the feed rate on the lowest setting by adj the pots if you are trying to just keeping it from going out. different pellets make a difference, as they feed slightly different and the fire will go out or you will feed more than you want, but on the other speeds it don't make any difference.
The amount of pellets you will burn depends on how much heat you are trying to get. the higher the feed rate the more you will burn. On high I think mine would burn 3 or more bags a day
leaddog

 

[pamela010257]

So, should we be concerned about the setting of the combustion air trim on the control panel or the damper?
According to the operating manual, the combustion air trim dial is factory set at zero.
What is your dial set at?



Pam

 

[leaddog]

my air trim is set by a push pull lever on the side. You set it so you have a flame that is just more than a lazy flame. too much air and it dances and too little and it is lazy. play with it and you will see what I mean. It sounds like we have different models. you might post this on the pellet fourm and will get more responses
leaddog

 

[Gooserider]

Moving it to the pellet room.... Hopefully it will get more response there...

Gooserider

 

[Mr Fixit]

That is correct, the room air blower has no connection to the combustion air. The combustion air is controlled by a seprate blower. Turning the room air blower higher or lower makes no difference in the burn rate of the fuel.
You will know if the stove is getting too much air by watching the burn pot for a little while. The flame should be blue at the bottom, and not too agressive, and should stay at a (somewhat) constant level. If your flame flares up high and then dies down to nothing, and then flares up again, for example, there is too much air going into the stove. The pellets are being burned faster than they can be replaced.
Also, yes. no insulation in the attic makes a huge difference.

 

[DannMarr]

I believe it does has some effect to it. When the air is going through those tubes, it is actually picking up the heat from the heat exchanger. The faster the air goes through the more heat transfer. This would lower the heat somewhat within the combustion chamber and trigger more pellets to drop to keep up the consistent heat.

 

[krooser]

I believe it does has some effect to it. When the air is going through those tubes, it is actually picking up the heat from the heat exchanger. The faster the air goes through the more heat transfer. This would lower the heat somewhat within the combustion chamber and trigger more pellets to drop to keep up the consistent heat.

AFAIK pellets are dropped on a timer not on firebox temps...

 

[DannMarr]

I guess my signature says it all. :red:

 

[schmeg]

The reason why you are going through 2 bags a day is because you are asking the stove to do a certain amount of work. BTU output = pellet input. If the stove
is running as designed and is relatively efficient in design and is clean, hopefully the BTU output is where it should be all things given. Insulating the roof/ceiling will make a differrence.
All heat goes up.

 

[DannMarr]

When you say, you have no insulation in the roof, what are you referring to? Between the rafters or the attic floor?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

When you say, you have no insulation in the roof, what are you referring to? Between the rafters or the attic floor?

Oh that's an easy one, I can answer it for them. Yes.

 

[THE ROOSTER]

When you say, you have no insulation in the roof, what are you referring to? Between the rafters or the attic floor?

There's the reason for two bags a day...

 

[sydney1963]

One to one and a quarter bags per day, 1500 square foot, well insulated cape. Temps have been in single digits at night and low 20's during the day. Hope that helps.

 

[krooser]

I guess my signature says it all. :red:

Don't take it too hard...I look like Macman's avatar....

 

[Pellet-King]

Whitfields burn less than 1 bag a day on heat setting 1, 2 will burn lil over a bag a day, 3 will burn 1.5 to 2 bags a day, 4-5 i dont know waste of pellets!!
Be cheaper to use oil or gas heating then.

 

[DannMarr]

I stand correct on my earlier assumption, the convection fan speed set on high will burn more pellets.
The Convection blower fan speed is used in conjunction with the burn rate. This would make sense.
As I stated before, if more heat is being transfered, then more heat needs to be established.
This is done with the heat output switch (which also controls the Convection blower speed).
Of course this is based on my model, Quadrafire Castile insert.
I don't know if this applies to all stoves.
My manual states; "The heat out put switch is located above the reset button . The function of the heat output switch is to regulate the burn rate; low, medium, high." Burn rate: 1.5 lbs on LOW, 2.5 lbs on MEDIUM, 3.5 lbs on HIGH (Pounds per Hour).
Maybe I do know something. .

 

[filburt]

I have a Winston stove and have been using for 20 years. For my stove, the two functions are totally independent. The combustion fan brings in air at a constant rate. The circulating fan is adjustable. The burn rate is dependent on the pellet feed control but the combustion air flow is fixed. On max, 40# would last about 20 hrs, on low about 36 hrs. The Winston Company has been out for nearly 20 yrs, but their stove was probably one of the best and definitely the most efficient.