For those using a programmable thermostat

[john193]

Do you adjust your thermometer during the day and night depending on occupancy? I'm trying to garner some ideas on the subject. Currently we set our quad at 73 during the times we are there and 70 at night and at work. The temperature changes occur with an hour of overlap so the house is warmed up before we get in from work. I can't quite decide if this is an economical way to run my stove. On colder days, the stove is working near capacity heating up the house in the morning before we wake up. So I have been thinking maybe I should let it be at a single temp. As a side note, I run my stove on auto with 2 degree delta. At the set point of 73 the house is generally 70, as the stove steps down the heat closer it is to its set point.

 

[smalltown]

We have our programmable thermostat set to lower the nighttime temperature to 66 deg F. at 10:30 PM until 4:30 AM then rise to 76 (76 because my thermostat is relatively close to the stove). In my my mind the big consideration and I think you have touched on that is how long it takes a particular stove to return the home to your normal temperature.
Our stove is a Quad Castile so its heat output I think small compared to other stoves so it takes a while to catch back up.

I think we are saving quite a bit running it this way, and prefere cooler sleeping temps. By the time everybody is up and getting ready temps are around 70 deg F., and by mid morning we are at normal temps and the stove begins to cycle on and off with the same 2 deg swing as yours.
Before when we were working outside the home we added more temp changes to lower the temp while we were away.

We just expiremented especially with the morning temp and time to start until we reached a happy medium. For the vast majority of days its works great and on those really low outside temps it just takes a little longer.

 

[nailed_nailer]

I have a huge stove and a small house. So take what I do with a grain of pellet dust.

My stove is in my Living room which is connected to my kitchen via a large 8'x7' archway.
The living room and the kitchen both have cathedral ceilings BUT, there is a knee wall over the archway that closes the ceilings down to about 7' between them.
Total floorspace is 900 sqft.

My wired stove thermostat is in the kitchen at eye level.
I usually run the stove (M55 FS) at Heat level 3.

The thermo is set to bring kitchen up to 69* at 5AM till 9AM then go down to 62* for day.
At 5PM it goes back up to 69* till 11PM. Then goes to 62* for night till 5AM.

I find this works well for me.
The Living room stays about 70-72 and the kitchen is at 68-70 while I'm there.
Very comfortable.

I do use a small 4" quiet muffin fan (Imperial) at ankle level blowing cooler(kitchen) air back towards the stove.
This circulates the room(s) air and helps balance it all out.

If I find myself at home during the day I just manually override the thermo to 69*

My stove is large enough that it easily heats the house quickly so very little heat lag on warmup.

Your results will vary.
----Nailer---

 

[imacman]

As smalltown touched on above, it all depends on the stove and stat location. I have my 10-cpm set to come on at 4:45am (70) , turn down at 7:30am when house is empty, back up about 1 hr. before first person is expected home, then down at 10:45pm to 67.

My stat is around 15' away, behind a short stub wall in the kitchen, so it doesn't get direct heat from the stove blowing on it.

 

[mepellet]

Temperature setbacks save energy. Period. No one can argue that. It is all in the comfort factor and how long it takes to bring the space back up to the higher temperature. That's why it is smart of you to set it up to bring the space up to temp prior you getting back home.


I say keep doing What You are doing.

 

[DexterDay]

I experimented today.... I shut my Furnace down (pellet ) and only put a small load in the wood stove (5am). By the time I arrived home this evening (5pm) the house was 58*.. Basement was 65* (wood eater was only small coals).

I turned on the Fahrenheit and loaded the wood eater. This is the first time I ran the furnace full tilt for an hour. Within that hour, it was close to 70* and I turned it back to t-stat mode (heats at level 3). Another hour later and entire house is 74*

I could have clicked the Quad on too...... But there really was no need. Unless I wanted to heat the neighbors house.

Prior to this, I used to set back to 62* during the day (7:30am-3:30pm) then it was 74* the rest of the day.

But I think I am gonna go without heat all day.... No one is here and the small load I put in the wood eater keeps the basement warm enough, to keep freezing pipes at bay

Saving pellets is saving pellets. Set backs work..

 

[mepellet]

I experimented today.... I shut my Furnace down (pellet ) and only put a small load in the wood stove (5am). By the time I arrived home this evening (5pm) the house was 58*.. Basement was 65* (wood eater was only small coals).

I turned on the Fahrenheit and loaded the wood eater. This is the first time I ran the furnace full tilt for an hour. Within that hour, it was close to 70* and I turned it back to t-stat mode (heats at level 3). Another hour later and entire house is 74*

I could have clicked the Quad on too...... But there really was no need. Unless I wanted to heat the neighbors house.

Prior to this, I used to set back to 62* during the day (7:30am-3:30pm) then it was 74* the rest of the day.

But I think I am gonna go without heat all day.... No one is here and the small load I put in the wood eater keeps the basement warm enough, to keep freezing pipes at bay

Saving pellets is saving pellets. Set backs work..

Well said. Last year I only ran the pellet stove while we were home and set the oil baseboard heat zones to 55. Then when we got home I just let the pellet stove blast away for a couple hours. This year though with a little one I set the temp back to 63 while we are gone and 69 while we are home. Using more pellets but things are not about me anymore....

 

[briansol]

My thermostat has a 'smart' mode, where it can anticipate how long it will take to heat based on past runs to have the house READ x temp BY x hour.

i've never used it though. I do the hour before setting like most do. sometimes its not 100% up to temp when i get home or get up, but it's good enough. I generally keep my place cooler than most. 63 at night, 68 when i'm home. I still find myself sweating at night. 63 is too hot.

 

[john193]

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like I'll stick to what I'm doing. Interestingly enough it was 15 here overnight and I left my stove set at 73, burned the same amount as if I had run my usual temp program. I did get hot in the bedroom, which was 66.

 

[TheMightyMoe]

Setting back 3 degrees in my opinion won't be very noticeable in the savings department.

A 10* setback for 8 hours will result in AROUND 10% savings with a typical oil boiler baseboard setting. So 3 degrees over 8 hours? I would expect around 3% savings. I would be hard pressed to see a 3% difference in pellet use (3 extra bags per 100 bags)

 

[john193]

Setting back 3 degrees in my opinion won't be very noticeable in the savings department.

A 10* setback for 8 hours will result in AROUND 10% savings with a typical oil boiler baseboard setting. So 3 degrees over 8 hours? I would expect around 3% savings. I would be hard pressed to see a 3% difference in pellet use (3 extra bags per 100 bags)

A valid point. Back to the drawing board then.

 

[briansol]

I don't think that math is real-world valid at all.

If i left my stove on regualr temp, it would run on high to maintain that temp most the night. probably burn a half bag in that 8 hours. (10pm to 6am). Instead, I kick it back, and it usually shuts off after the hour of 'low' for a couple hours (11-1am? depending on how cold it is, then it runs high again for an hour or so and then idles at the low setting the rest of the night as it can maintain the 63 temp on low. It burns maybe 1/10th of a bag this way. So, i'd say there's a 25% savings involved for what do, but ONLY for this 1/4 of the day mind you. so 1/4 of 1/4 is 1/8th or 12.5%. still a lot more than 3%.

 

[TheMightyMoe]

Okay you saved 25% over a setback of 8 hours... Relative to a 24 hour day or 1/3 of 25%, your saving 8% a day. The math of setback is pretty solid.