how are you running your stove?

[JRA]

With oil prices being so low this year I am only running my stove in the afternoon and on the overnight. I let my bb oil heat take over and maintain the house at 63 or so from about 7am to 5pm. I shut the stove off before I go to work and the wife turns it back on when she gets home before i do. I don't see the need to waste pellets when oil is 1.45 per gallon where I am. My wife insists the stove gets turned on at night because she likes the heat so I won't argue to much on that front, this is our second year with a stove and still new and exciting for us. I have gone through about 40 bags from Sept to now so not to bad considering we have had some warm stretches and last year I was well over a ton by now. My plan is to save a ton for next season, I will have to see how that goes.

 

[funflyer]

Out here in cold country the stove has been working overtime to keep the house >70. Level 4 or 5 from early morning until about noon, then if we're lucky enough to warm up into the 40s it goes to level 2 until the sun goes down then it's back to 4 or 5 until bedtime then level 2 again. Been burning a bag per day lately but it's still cheaper than propane. Since we started the stove in October we've easily burned a ton. Last winter we used 60 bags total.

 

[rich2500]

when it gets below freezing the stove goes on otherwise it's off,Here in my area of PA. I have only had maybe 8 - 10 nights below freezing so far. stove has seen very little use so far this year

 

[Deezl Smoke]

I dont care what oil prices are. It's a non renewable source. My pellet stoves and wood at the shop are my heat source choice and will remain so.

But that comment is in no way to be taken as judging those that choose otherwise. It is my choice to not burn oil no matter the price point.

 

[unbidden]

With oil prices being so low this year I am only running my stove in the afternoon and on the overnight. I let my bb oil heat take over and maintain the house at 63 or so from about 7am to 5pm. I shut the stove off before I go to work and the wife turns it back on when she gets home before i do. I don't see the need to waste pellets when oil is 1.45 per gallon where I am. My wife insists the stove gets turned on at night because she likes the heat so I won't argue to much on that front, this is our second year with a stove and still new and exciting for us. I have gone through about 40 bags from Sept to now so not to bad considering we have had some warm stretches and last year I was well over a ton by now. My plan is to save a ton for next season, I will have to see how that goes.

I do basically the same. With oil being cheap I don't fill the hopper when leaving for work. This past month with warm temps in N. Eng, days would go by without firing up the Harman.

 

[alternativeheat]

I dont care what oil prices are. It's a non renewable source. .

There are more than enough studies showing otherwise now to put that claim at least into dubious territory if not to bed all together. Of course anyone deep into green won't want to believe that anyway. Heck I remember way back in the seventies thinking "well just how many dinosaurs roamed the earth anyway" . Science today is coming to realize that is just a small part of the equation. Tests world wide have proved otherwise. And anyway, by statements made decades ago, we were supposed to be running out of oil reserves by now not increasing

For me personally, I've burned pellets for a couple of reasons. First , coal was not so available in my area as it once was. Next , at the time pellets were cheaper than oil. And last, it's nice to have a fire in a stove. Period. Ultimately, I really like a coal fire but due to circumstances we have a pellet stove.

 

[MadMax31]

Propain boiler keeps house at 62 when were gone. Fire up the pellet stove at 4:30 when we get home and its 72-77 until we shut it off at 7am when its off to work... Instead of propain top-offs the beginning of each month, were pushing them almost an extra month. I dont care what propain or oil is today, anybody who looks at todays prices and makes assumptions about future costs is a damn fool, or too young to know what they're talking about.

Im glad so many people have "abandoned" pellets. The selection they've left me is awesome.

I also get a laugh at the "I dont want to clean it" crowd. Clearly, you dont service your own oil fired equipment. I've worn enough #4 and Bunker-C to not want it in my own house. Filters, nozzles, electrodes, pump strainers and crumbling refractory are super fun to play with when its 2* outside.

 

[bags]

I am running mine but it's not working nearly as hard this year. Yippie! I'll take the warmer winters any day. If I had the cheap oil or propane option I'd be exercising that too. But I have electric central HVAC and that is just an expensive waste of time for heating. AC is another story.

I can and do heat with wood and that was my primary for decades. Pellets are still cost effective and too easy here. Hope that stays the case. I am looking at upgrading to a new wood stove just to have that option. The older Woodmaster is staying put for now and I'll only use it once it gets real cold and stays that way for weeks at a time. Otherwise it's just too much wood and I feel I am not getting the most out of it. Basically it produces much more heat than I could possibly use.

Wood is great heat and very cheap all said and done. The trade off is a bunch of time busting wood and moving it around like a squirrel packing nuts. If wood was ALL I had to do then that would be another story too. Here wood gathering and processing is a full time gig on a part time basis if you know what I mean.

I am looking into a new more efficient wood burner to cover me IF pellet prices get goofy and to heat with possibly when I want to or need a less intensive heat or use the smaller but big stove to cut down on wood for shoulder season etc; Pellet stoves and the 40 pounders are definitely the ticket here now. Pricing gets out of line and I'm back to wood. I would only use electric heat here if absolutely necessary or say if we leave town for a week or more during winter just to keep the house from freezing up. I'd shut of the water and drain things down and probably set the stat at 50.

I think you all are heating wisely using the cheap oil and such. As they say smoke'em if ya got'em. I don't smoke and never have but I get it. I am too the point now to where it is all about staying warm cheap. Could care less about the PC stuff. I do like my fires though and will always burn pellets and / or wood for enjoyment but for a primary heat source I'll always opt for the 'best' option at that given time.

 

[bags]

Im glad so many people have "abandoned" pellets. The selection they've left me is awesome.

BINGO! I hope there are tons of deals this spring. My philosophy is that one must have multiple options to heat with to be competitive these days. That way one is not pigeon holed and forced to play their game. If one doesn't work then just switch gears to what is best at the moment. I have 4 options for heat currently. Pellets. wood, electric heat pump, and kerosene. Right now one of those makes zero sense = electric. Kerosene isn't bad with the cost not much more than pellets but they are mainly another back up emergency type heat. Pellets are working well and cost effective here. Wood is even better cost wise but time wise it's not the best for now.

I am also looking at some propane options here along with the newer wood stove. I will not be investing in a new propane nor oil fired central HVAC system though. Maybe a couple of 30,000 BTU units and some bigger tanks. I have an uncle that heated a house that way on the cheap for years. He had a couple of bigger cylinders 120 - 150 lbs. if I remember and a propane provider he would call when one ran out. He'd simply switch to the other cylinder and the company would drop another full one and take the empty.

When propane became silly high cost wise he used his wood stove more and kept the propane use to a minimum. He now has a new place with Geo and isn't real happy with that for heat as it uses an electric heat pack ( high $$$ ) last year anyway. This year with the warmer temps he is liking it much better. But the winter isn't over yet either. He spent a bunch for his geo system too a few winters ago. That will take forever and a day to recoup that return on investment. But he also went in with the attitude of just drop the upfront money and start after that with cheaper heating and air. Another words, forget about taking it on the chin at the install. For AC he loves it.

I have friends in the HVAC business, primarily geo, and only one out of many have a geo system. To me that speaks loudly. But to each their own. I'd do geo if it wasn't so expensive for the set up and system. In many ways it makes a lot of sense. Cash layout and RTO here it doesn't for me.

 

[MadMax31]

I wont delve into Geo-Thermal HPs... The people who sell them will tell you how wonderful they are.

In a nutshell, energy payback is 8-10 years..... Finding a Service Tech who knows proper charge and operations is tough. Its not your standard AC system. 17 degrees of Super Heat IS normal. Proper pump sizing.... Heat exchanger sizing....
Discharge air temp is 105 max on most systems.... Not worth a chit unless your south of the Mason Dixon Line, where Heat Pumps belong....

My Weil Mclain ECO, (Triangle-Tube knock off boiler) is North of %97 efficient. Doesnt mean I enjoy paying for the fuel it burns. Only 14 months ago, propain was ~ $2.89 gallon.... Ouch. They only way any home-owner in the USA will get more than %90 efficient on #2 is to import a Weishaupt burner. Find one of three-six Techs on the East Coast who have properly setup and know NOT to use a wrench, but their laptop to dial it in. Proprietary software was $6gs last I heard.

My lowly Englander serves me well. It burns every pellet Ive dumped in it. Some more ash than others, more heat than others. Im not heating a 2600 sqft 1800s farm house so I really have zero complaints. Im not calling anybody out, we all complain on the internet.

 

[bcarton]

Electric heat here. Stove has been running almost every day here since October 1. We like being warm, keeping the 1st floor in at 72-73 and upstairs at 68. Stove works perfectly for us. We've burned about 67-68 bags so far.

 

[THE ROOSTER]

Just fired it up for the first time in over a month, I am like most here, if it is below freezing stove is on & set pumps get set at 71.

 

[Wilbur Feral]

Using air heat pump much more this year as temps are so often in 40's, 50's where it operates efficiently. Keep it at 70 during day and monitor it with a Nest. When it starts to use backup (resistance) heat during the season I dial it back to 68 and crank up the pellet stove stat a couple of degrees, to 73-74, which keeps the overall house at about 70.

Will experiment with running heat pump blower to distribute pellet heat after much work over summer to seal and insulate ductwork. Leaked like a sieve before but use of it for cooling was dramatically improved so hoping for good results on heat. IF it ever gets cold again around here!

 

[bogieb]

Electric heat here. Stove has been running almost every day here since October 1. We like being warm, keeping the 1st floor in at 72-73 and upstairs at 68. Stove works perfectly for us. We've burned about 67-68 bags so far.

• Propane heat here but there are many reasons and factors that come into play for my choice of using pellets
• The price I pay; got 150 gals in Oct. and paid $500. That is the least I've ever paid
• The amount of propane it takes to keep this house at 64* - the house looses heat fairly rapidly
• The FHW is only run thru my main floor, so the basement has no heat from propane

I'm am in that weird circumstance where it is cheaper for me to run two stoves and heat my entire house- even this year of "low" prices for gas/oil and "high" prices of pellets. Although truthfully, I am not paying more for pellets so far this year (actually less in some cases). I've used ~1.75 tons since sometime in September and keep the upstairs at 72 (thermostat) and the downstairs at ~73 (temp probe). The boiler thermostat is set at 62* - just in case.

Looks like next week the single digits are coming to visit overnight so I will be changing the way I run my stoves - they will be in some sort of constant burn mode.

 

[Pellet-King]

All I know is Oil is Cheap, Pellet's are Expensive, my house has never been equally heated and no work carrying bags in and loading the stove which seems always in the am before work, and my back is enjoying it.
You people saying your whole house is 72 your full of chit and you don't have a thermostat in those far rooms to show exactly how cold it is, a pellet stove is a space heater like a kerosene heater, electric heater and so forth, what heat get's to other rooms is alot cooler

 

[alternativeheat]

I'm going to grab a few bags of pellets for the coming week, supposed to get cold for a few days. Be nice to have a fire in the living room from my pellet burning space heater as pellet-king calls it. I'll keep the thermostat to the boiler set where it is now 67 and run the stove in maybe stove temp mode. I doubt there will be a call for heat to the boiler but if there is so be it. Most modes I run the stove in keeps both my living room and dining room well above 70 deg and the thermostat is in the dining room.

I'd say a good pellet stove set up right in the house is a little more than a space heater though because of the convection fan that moves air . Let's put it this way, a space heater with benefits ! Because of that fan, my space heater does a good job of warming two complete rooms fairly equally down stairs, the down stairs hall and the main bedroom up stairs, since the stairway is in line with convection fan air. From there other rooms get a little less heat but all in all it does a pretty darned good job compared with my radiant only coal stove we had in here for decades. That distribution fan makes a huge difference. Not perfect but a huge difference. And really, when it gets cold enough out I like to run dual heating systems. Our central heat makes the upstairs too warm in cold weather and to turn it down then the downstairs is too cold. The stove evens that up.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

• Propane heat here but there are many reasons and factors that come into play for my choice of using pellets
• The price I pay; got 150 gals in Oct. and paid $500. That is the least I've ever paid
• The amount of propane it takes to keep this house at 64* - the house looses heat fairly rapidly
• The FHW is only run thru my main floor, so the basement has no heat from propane

I'm am in that weird circumstance where it is cheaper for me to run two stoves and heat my entire house- even this year of "low" prices for gas/oil and "high" prices of pellets. Although truthfully, I am not paying more for pellets so far this year (actually less in some cases). I've used ~1.75 tons since sometime in September and keep the upstairs at 72 (thermostat) and the downstairs at ~73 (temp probe). The boiler thermostat is set at 62* - just in case.

Looks like next week the single digits are coming to visit overnight so I will be changing the way I run my stoves - they will be in some sort of constant burn mode.

.

That is another aspect that is usually left out of the equation by many. House design and air pathway configuration differ in almost every house that differs in location, construction, size, and furnishings.
My house is a simple rectangle box with a hallway in the center. Because I am the only occupant (right now) I have removed all interior doors except the bathroom. I installed my stoves to meet that concept. If I were to install and use just one more interior door, it would completely change the heating abilities.

How are your stoves located and what settings do you find work for your situation? Do you change the settings at each hopper fill according to your outside temps and how much time you anticipate to be inside?

 

[rich2500]

My house is smaller just under 1300 sq.ft. but it's an open floor plan, my stove is installed in my dining room which is the center of the house I have a 2 deg. Difference from my dining room to the furthest rooms which on one end is the master bath and the other end is a bedroom,when walking through the house you don't even feel the temp.difference and this has been the same case no matter how cold it has been outside and that's only running the stove on low.

 

[alternativeheat]

My house is smaller just under 1300 sq.ft. but it's an open floor plan, my stove is installed in my dining room which is the center of the house I have a 2 deg. Difference from my dining room to the furthest rooms which on one end is the master bath and the other end is a bedroom,when walking through the house you don't even feel the temp.difference and this has been the same case no matter how cold it has been outside and that's only running the stove on low.

You have the ideal floor plan for a stove as heat Rich, that's awesome !

 

[bogieb]

All I know is Oil is Cheap, Pellet's are Expensive, my house has never been equally heated and no work carrying bags in and loading the stove which seems always in the am before work, and my back is enjoying it.
You people saying your whole house is 72 your full of chit and you don't have a thermostat in those far rooms to show exactly how cold it is, a pellet stove is a space heater like a kerosene heater, electric heater and so forth, what heat get's to other rooms is alot cooler

Okay, I admit, my bedroom right now is only 70.5* - yes I have a thermometer in there full time and it never gets below 68. My den (halfway point between stove and LR) is at 72 by the digital thermostat that the stove is hooked to, and the living ro0m is at 76. I have the stove set up so it blows air directly down the hallway to the bedroom (farthest point in house), so the warm air isn't trapped in the living room.

When using the boiler, the living room is at 64 (set at thermostat in LR) and the bedrooms are 55-58 because of the way the FHW is set up; the LR has 27 feet of FHW fins in a 12x15 room - both bedrooms combined have 16 feet of FHW fins heating 12x24 area - a big mismatch especially with the unheated garage under the bedrooms. I literally cannot afford to have the thermostat set to any higher for the boiler ($1k/month to keep the LR at 64). And, the temp difference between LR and BR is actually more with the boiler than with the pellet stove. And yes, I freely admit that this is just my weird set of circumstances that make this possible.

My basement is open concept and only 650 sq/ft. the far side is at 75* (yes, by a thermometer) and I have the stove probe set at 73* although that means nothing as it all hinges on where the probe is placed.

 

[bogieb]

.

That is another aspect that is usually left out of the equation by many. House design and air pathway configuration differ in almost every house that differs in location, construction, size, and furnishings.
My house is a simple rectangle box with a hallway in the center. Because I am the only occupant (right now) I have removed all interior doors except the bathroom. I installed my stoves to meet that concept. If I were to install and use just one more interior door, it would completely change the heating abilities.

How are your stoves located and what settings do you find work for your situation? Do you change the settings at each hopper fill according to your outside temps and how much time you anticipate to be inside?

My main floor stove is against the far wall in the LR and pointed straight down the hallway to the bedrooms at the other end of the house (24x40 house). A den is halfway down the hallway on one side, and the bathroom on the other side. The kitchen is across from the LR and it is heated primarily from the heat rising up the stairs from the basement stove (why I keep it warmer downstairs than upstairs), but also gets some residual heat from the mainfloor stove. Right now it is in room temp / auto and hooked to a thermostat that is set up in the den and the feed rate is 3 since I run smaller pellets in it.

The basement is open concept with only one wall and a closet in the middle of the room and ony 650 sq/ft. The P61a is basically in one corner blowing toward the far corner, and into the back of the stairs. I have replaced the stair back with vented openings that allow the heat to rise up thru the back of the stairway. That stove is set on room temp / auto using the probe for now and feed rate at 3.5 (I run a mix of small pellets and long pellets).

I don't fiddle with the settings until the real cold sets in. Then the basement stove will go to room temp / manual. The main floor stove is one I will be experimenting with (I had the Hastings last year, so need to find what works best with the P43). I will either be running room temp / manual or try out CoryS's configuration of Stove temp / auto and play with the feed rate and temp setting to find what setting I like. CoryS's way holds appeal as it allows me to control the fan without having to set the stove to 80* to keep the fan from turning off. I need that fan to keep the warm air blowing toward the bedrooms. And, that setting seems to be much the way I ran the Hastings last year.

Oh, and I'm the only person ever here, so all interior doors are always open. I took the door for the stairway off completely.

 

[bcarton]

I have programmable thermostats in the rooms that are occupied and not close to the stove. I do use some electricity, but there is a heckuva difference between a $230 electric bill in February and a $950 bill. The thermostats are set to 68 in the bedrooms and 70 in the living room and upstairs bathroom. The floor plan is far from ideal, but one little fan blowing air into the stove room manages to dump tons of heat into the rest of the house.

Last year I burned all of three tons starting on November 30. This year it'll probably be 4 tons give or take 10-20 bags.

This is the floor plan for the 1st floor. The red star is where the stove is located.

 

[bogieb]

The layout of my main floor


Although the stove is a "corner install", I have it so it is situated so that it blows air right down that wall between the stairs and living room, so it blows straight down the hallway into the bedrooms. So far it has worked well - much better than when I had the Hastings, which was truly a corner install in the same location. Then I had a fan in the upper corner of the entrance to the hallway, plus a tower fan setting on a table in front of the hallway to blow the warm air to where I wanted it. Here is how the P43 is situated.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Bogieb, your house is very close to mine in floor plan, just that mine is single level and only 900 sq/ft. My house is 3 pieces of houses added on together at various times from the 30s or so on to the 50s. It's been moved twice.

Every room has a doorway, or door size entry. (I forget the proper term for that) The pink highlites are the current location of the Castle serenities. The black shaded box in the laundry room is the gas furnace with runners to each room. Originally there was wood heat when the house was much smaller, and the stove at the living room location of the castle. Then there was a gas furnace at that location with no runners to any room, just a stand alone furnace. The was the furnace that left the hole in the wall that I installed my fresh air vent.

The issue with my house with no wall or floor insulation, just lots of attic insulation was humidity. The cycling nature of the furnace and the cold walls and floor caused excessive moisture. I have sever pics of the same humidity meter showing the levels it ran in the winter with no one living here showering or cooking. I had moved out tot he house next door for 3 years before remodeling this one and returning to it.

Keep in mind the machine that meter is sitting on is a dehumidifier.

Now with the two pellet stoves, I am at an average of 33% at 72 or so degrees F. I only run one stove at a time, on low.

 

[bogieb]

Bogieb, your house is very close to mine in floor plan, just that mine is single level and only 900 sq/ft. My house is 3 pieces of houses added on together at various times from the 30s or so on to the 50s. It's been moved twice.
View attachment 170642

Every room has a doorway, or door size entry. (I forget the proper term for that) The pink highlites are the current location of the Castle serenities. The black shaded box in the laundry room is the gas furnace with runners to each room. Originally there was wood heat when the house was much smaller, and the stove at the living room location of the castle. Then there was a gas furnace at that location with no runners to any room, just a stand alone furnace. The was the furnace that left the hole in the wall that I installed my fresh air vent.

The issue with my house with no wall or floor insulation, just lots of attic insulation was humidity. The cycling nature of the furnace and the cold walls and floor caused excessive moisture. I have sever pics of the same humidity meter showing the levels it ran in the winter with no one living here showering or cooking. I had moved out tot he house next door for 3 years before remodeling this one and returning to it.

Keep in mind the machine that meter is sitting on is a dehumidifier.

Now with the two pellet stoves, I am at an average of 33% at 72 or so degrees F. I only run one stove at a time, on low.

That is funny - I have a craft room also, I just labeled it as a bedroom (it is the bed room next to the "den"). I elected to use the smaller bedroom as mine (doesn't show in my crude drawing - actually the bathroom looks huge compared to what it is in reality), and use the slightly larger room as a craftroom and library. And, the living area is 950 sq/ft - very close to yours.

My house was built in 1960 and I tore out all the exterior wall in the summer of 2014 and added insulation - there was like an inch of rock wool, and no vapor/wind barrier, behind the walls so I can feel your pain for insulation. Being 2x4 construction, I could only put in R13 insulation, but it is still much better than it was. Also put in new windows - most triple pane, but also added a bay window in the living room (that was a large picture window) and it is double pane. My main problem now is that there are acoustical tiles instead of sheet rock for the ceiling and they let in a lot of cold air from the attic. I will be replacing ceilings one room at a time.

The basement is unfinished, but my laundry is down there. There is also a 1-car garage is under both bedrooms, which lets in a lot of cold air despite R19 insulation that I installed winter of 2013/2014 (one of my first projects when I moved here - first project was replacing the basement door to the garage as it was so warped there were literally 1" gaps in some spots). I have installed rigid foam along almost all of the inner portion of the foundation to help keep the warm air in, but the bare concrete floor still brings up the cold.

During the winter, unlike you, I have very little humidity. right now I'm at 33 %, but during cold weather, it is down to 20% or less. I have a large pan of water sitting on the P43 (as shown in the picture in my previous post) that I fill every day or two, which helps but truthfully I like it desert dry as opposed to what most people prefer humidity wise. I would NOT like the humidity that you deal with though.

I thought my house was small (living area wise anyway), what are the outside dimensions of your house?