Is it better to run your stove on low all day or turn it off and run it on high to re-heat the house
- Thread starter Mr Whitfield
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
MrWinkey
New Member
Well that depends on quite a few things.....
How well insulated is the room the stove is in? What is the temp loss if you leave the stove off? EG the room started out @ 70 deg and is now at 55 deg.
It takes fuel to heat up all the objects in the room again. So I've heard anywhere from 6 deg to 11 deg is too much......
My stove has a T-stat so I just let it do the work but I assume yours does not?
How well insulated is the room the stove is in? What is the temp loss if you leave the stove off? EG the room started out @ 70 deg and is now at 55 deg.
It takes fuel to heat up all the objects in the room again. So I've heard anywhere from 6 deg to 11 deg is too much......
My stove has a T-stat so I just let it do the work but I assume yours does not?
moralleper
New Member
my stove is on a t-stat, but we do have a setback at night. during the day we heat to 68 and at night when we are sleeping the stove heats to 64. Doing it this way the stove take about 1 hour in the morning to heat the house back to 68. I find that I save pellets doing it this way.
If you save pellets one way over the other, that's your answer.
the only difference as far as the stove is concerned is that the ignitor has a limited life, so you are using it up a little faster. otherwise, the stove doesn't care.
the only difference as far as the stove is concerned is that the ignitor has a limited life, so you are using it up a little faster. otherwise, the stove doesn't care.
mkmh
New Member
I tend to turn my stove off for periods oftime where nobody is around or if everyone is asleep. I find that I save pellets doing it this way but i've heard all the arguments for keeping a more stable temperature etc. I think this one may be a little subjective since i've heard strong arguments for vastly different approaches.
I like what this guy has to say about it....
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/heating.html
"Except for the most northern climates, you should be able to remain warm enough to sleep comfortably without any heat as long as you have sufficient blankets. If you can't stand to have the heat off completely then set it to as low as you're comfortable with -- 60, 50, 40. I've never used heat overnight and it gets into the low 40's in my room sometimes when I get up in the morning. Some people like to keep their houses warm all the time to prevent pipes from freezing, but if it's so cold that your pipes are at risk for freezing then you should be dripping your faucets anyway (or turning off the water at the meter and opening all the faucets, or using a pipe heater), whether you're heating your home or not.
It doesn't take more energy to heat your home in the morning than it does to keep it heated all night. Think about it: As you heat your home all night, some of that heat is lost through the walls to the outside, so your heater has to keep working to keep the temperature up. So overnight your heater is heating your home over and over and over again. If you turn it on in the morning then it's heating it only once"
Personally, I let the house drop down as low as 56 at night then I have the Pellet stove turn on and start warming things up at 5 AM. When we're away i'll let it get pretty cold as well, but I try to time it to where the stove turns on an hour before we get home.
We used 2.5 tons of pellets last year with this strategy so I felt like it was pretty effective.
I like what this guy has to say about it....
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/heating.html
"Except for the most northern climates, you should be able to remain warm enough to sleep comfortably without any heat as long as you have sufficient blankets. If you can't stand to have the heat off completely then set it to as low as you're comfortable with -- 60, 50, 40. I've never used heat overnight and it gets into the low 40's in my room sometimes when I get up in the morning. Some people like to keep their houses warm all the time to prevent pipes from freezing, but if it's so cold that your pipes are at risk for freezing then you should be dripping your faucets anyway (or turning off the water at the meter and opening all the faucets, or using a pipe heater), whether you're heating your home or not.
It doesn't take more energy to heat your home in the morning than it does to keep it heated all night. Think about it: As you heat your home all night, some of that heat is lost through the walls to the outside, so your heater has to keep working to keep the temperature up. So overnight your heater is heating your home over and over and over again. If you turn it on in the morning then it's heating it only once"
Personally, I let the house drop down as low as 56 at night then I have the Pellet stove turn on and start warming things up at 5 AM. When we're away i'll let it get pretty cold as well, but I try to time it to where the stove turns on an hour before we get home.
We used 2.5 tons of pellets last year with this strategy so I felt like it was pretty effective.
Xena
Minister of Fire
Like Mr W said, it depends on a lot of things...
For my needs, it's better to run it on low all night. I hate
waking up to a cold house. But then again, I'm
heating 90% of my 1400+ sq ft home solely with
the pellet stove. If I shut it down at night it would
take a few hours before the whole place was up
to comfortable temps. Everyones comfort level is
different. Me, I am comfy with most of the house
at 72F which requires me to run my stove 24/7 at either
#1 or #2 setting depending on the outside temperatures.
Personally I think my stove runs the best when it's
on a constant run so it all works out.
For my needs, it's better to run it on low all night. I hate
waking up to a cold house. But then again, I'm
heating 90% of my 1400+ sq ft home solely with
the pellet stove. If I shut it down at night it would
take a few hours before the whole place was up
to comfortable temps. Everyones comfort level is
different. Me, I am comfy with most of the house
at 72F which requires me to run my stove 24/7 at either
#1 or #2 setting depending on the outside temperatures.
Personally I think my stove runs the best when it's
on a constant run so it all works out.
stoveguy2esw
Minister of Fire
i think it depends on the house as well as its occupants , i like running during the day on lowest setting, seems that i use more fuel heating than i do maintaining, but it does depend on the home and how well it retains heat in daytime
This is what I am thinking of doing. I agree about letting house get cold at night but it takes so long to heat back up using pellet stove. My stove is in basement so it takes a real long time to reheat the upstairs. During the work week nights I am going to turn pellet stove way down so it stays cool all evening when we are sleeping but then program the propane furnace to kick in just before we wake up. My guess it would have to run only about 5 minutes.
I wonder if the amount used to reheat the house the one time with the propane furnace would use up the savings I made keeping it cool at nite?
BIH
I wonder if the amount used to reheat the house the one time with the propane furnace would use up the savings I made keeping it cool at nite?
BIH
Souzafone
Feeling the Heat
Ours is the primary heat source for the house and stays on 24/7 if it's very cold, otherwise it's off during the day when we all work. Oil FHA with only the ducts to the bedrooms open now. T-stat for this is in our bedroom and turns on at 57 degrees. I usually have the stove on all night as it keeps the rest of the house warm.
eernest4
New Member
I think the less you run your stove the longer it will last.
combustion blower motor , room air circulator motor & auger motor all have bearings that wear; as well as the auger assembley itself.
It costs more pellets and more electricity to run your pellet stove 24/7
Sometimes ,when I let the house get cold for a spell, I will run my oil burner for like 45 minutes, to help get the house up to temp fast, with the pellet stove going too.That costs
me about $4.00 every time I do it because the oil/money burner eats 1.6 gal/hr @ 3.10 /gal
But quality of life has a lot to do with it.
And every one make up their own minds on the subject anyways.
And when my 95 year old mom says, lawrence,the house is cold, something either gets turned on or lite up real fast & I think once I did all 4 at the same time, pellet stove ,oil burner
wood stove and gas stove.
House was up to temp in 24 min. & then I shut off the gas stove,oil burner ,pellet stove & let the wood stove do its thing.
combustion blower motor , room air circulator motor & auger motor all have bearings that wear; as well as the auger assembley itself.
It costs more pellets and more electricity to run your pellet stove 24/7
Sometimes ,when I let the house get cold for a spell, I will run my oil burner for like 45 minutes, to help get the house up to temp fast, with the pellet stove going too.That costs
me about $4.00 every time I do it because the oil/money burner eats 1.6 gal/hr @ 3.10 /gal
But quality of life has a lot to do with it.
And every one make up their own minds on the subject anyways.
And when my 95 year old mom says, lawrence,the house is cold, something either gets turned on or lite up real fast & I think once I did all 4 at the same time, pellet stove ,oil burner
wood stove and gas stove.
House was up to temp in 24 min. & then I shut off the gas stove,oil burner ,pellet stove & let the wood stove do its thing.
- Status
Similar threads
