How do i estimate electric usage of pellet insert

[offingmoot]

i have a quadra fire santa fe insert. My girl raised the question of the impact on the electric bill as opposed to the oil furnace. How do i calculate the electricity usage?
the manual only says start up 4.1 amps and running 1.1 amps
dont i need to convert that to kWhr??

 

[Corey]

The 'start-up' amps will be such a short duration, it won't even be worth considering.

1.1 amps x 120 volts = 132 watts, (0.132 kW)

then multiply by the hours a day it runs.... 0.132kW x 10 hours = 1.32kWh

Finally, multiply that by your electric rate - ie 10 cents/ kWh would be 1.32 kWh x 10 cents/kWh = 13.2 cents

Of course, I chose 10 hours and 10 cents for easy math, but you can stick in what ever numbers are more realistic for your situation...but in most cases, you would be well under 50 cents per day.

 

[DiggerJim]

i have a quadra fire santa fe insert. My girl raised the question of the impact on the electric bill as opposed to the oil furnace. How do i calculate the electricity usage?
the manual only says start up 4.1 amps and running 1.1 amps
dont i need to convert that to kWhr??

Yes. The formula is KWH = V * A * 1000 which multiplied by the # of hours per month and the rate per KWH to find out how much it will cost you to run it (roughly). Startup is probably only a few minutes and running is probably based on high speed which means your actual use will be lower based on running the stove on low or medium most of the time vs. high.

 

[cac4]

my stove manual says "250 watts". Its hard to say what it'll really do, because these things are all variable output. Usually, the rated wattage is the most the thing will use when its running "full blast", and we know it won't be running on its highest output all the time.

I heard a second-hand conversation from a stove dealer than he can run his stove from a deep cycle marine battery for 8 hours in a trade-show environment, which translates into "it has to be consuming less than 100 watts".

I did the figures a couple of weeks ago on my oil furnace (forced hot air), and found that it should be pretty much the same as my pellet stove running all day long at the highest setting.

 

[offingmoot]

man you guys are good
and fast too!
thank you

 

[MainePellethead]

Cutting through all the kw's etc ...lol. I ran mine 24/7 last season.....my light bills went up approx. 12-18 dollars per month....less than operating my furnace.

 

[offingmoot]

yeah thats what i figured but i had no answer for her
the last few nights have been chilly, and she is cold when its 85 outside
so each time i asked if she wanted to fire the stove up she was concerned about the electric bill

 

[mcmanus]

In my general experience, the labels don't tell you anything useful about real power consumed. They are useful for planning maximum circuit load, etc, but they don't tell you anything useful about actual power usage of an appliance over time. Too many variables for the manufacturer to predict. You need to measure your own usage pattern - this isn't specific to pellet stoves in any way. But it's easy!

I've got a Kill A Watt doo hickey to answer questions like this.

Less that $20 - just plug stuff into it (like a power strip) and you can measure the real watts used. No guessing or debating the validity of the results.

I wish I could tell you what my stove uses - I'm quite curious about it. However, I've got my trusty Kill A Watt meter - but my mt vernon is still backordered. (Purchased June 4th, I was assured at the time there would be no problem with availability. bah!).

 

[offingmoot]

never saw one of those its a great idea i can use for much more than the stove
being the penny pincher i am, i can cut some corners with this

 

[webbie]

My recent electric bill was about 16+ cents per KWH, so don't forget to figure the accurate local rates in!

I don't think it is fair to use the "furnace" comparison....because it is an expense that adds to the top line. Also, a gas or a wood stove (most) use no electric, so it is best IMHO to simply figure it out and use it in your assumptions.

I think we came to the conclusion that most pellets stoves use 150-300 watts (some more on startup due to ignition). Some, like Thelins new model, use quite a bit less. Taking 200 watts, every 5 hours would be a KWH, or about 5 KWH per day. At 15 cents (I pay more, some pay less), that is .75 a day, or approx $20 a month. Some might cost $10, and some might cost $30+.....

It is something to be concerned about when shopping for a stove - maybe a little thing, but $100 plus a year is nothing to sneeze at. Also, a stove with higher wattage could have more or louder fans and augers - again, a possible shopping point.