is this normal?? (pellet use)

[tractorboy924]

Ussc 5500 king new this year. it seems even on HR-1 we are going though about a bag of pellets a day. is this normal?>?>
as it seems like alot to me according to manfacturers suggestions and information in owners manual. we did a reset on the thing but still seem to be going through alot of pellets. like I say atleast a bag a day??

Thank you for any feedback.

unit is in Automatic mode and we have reset a couple of times to see it anything changes......

 

[NYBurner]

ummm a bag/day would be abnormal to me.....but I do about 2.5-3/day in 20-35F outside temps. Do you have a really small house?

 

[Pete Zahria]

I WISH I could heat with a bag a day.........

Dan

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Ussc 5500 king new this year. it seems even on HR-1 we are going though about a bag of pellets a day. is this normal?>?>
as it seems like alot to me according to manfacturers suggestions and information in owners manual. we did a reset on the thing but still seem to be going through alot of pellets. like I say atleast a bag a day??

Thank you for any feedback.

unit is in Automatic mode and we have reset a couple of times to see it anything changes......

Pellet type and quality will make a difference, but a bag in 24 hours seems a very common place to compare from.
If cost is making you question the purchase, start spending a few minutes a day searching for sales on a pellet that you have tried and had good results from. You'd be surprised what a little shopping time can yield in price reductions.

But you do need to find a pellet that works in your stove with how it is plumbed up and your elevation etc. Seems each stove brand will have a pellet type that works better than others. And each exhaust plumbing design will effect what pellet to use and how many pounds per day you will use.

 

[bags]

Not familiar with your stove but I know what it is. A bag a day is what I use on low heating needs days. Cold, cold I am at least two bags and sometimes more. I've seen 3-4 baggers. But that will not be an average if that's what you are trying to get figured out.

Pellet usage will vary depending on outside temps and heating needs. I would not be worried if I were you. If you burn 1 ton per month you are still on track overall during the cold moths but every stove and situation is different.

 

[DneprDave]

My stove burns a bag a day at the lowest setting. That is without a thermostat controlling it, it burns at the same rate 24/7.

 

[tractorboy924]

ummm a bag/day would be abnormal to me.....but I do about 2.5-3/day in 20-35F outside temps. Do you have a really small house?

not really - about 2500 sq ft. 2 story.

so I guess Im pretty good actuallyu. I was just going by what the manual said it would use.

Thank you all. I did do a little experimentation with different pellets with same results...

I can get a ton for about 235 at Tractor supply here in this area of New Yorkistan.

 

[NYBurner]

yeah...if your running under 2 bags a day in this climate for 2500 sqft, you are doing REALLY good.

 

[tlc1976]

I burn about a bag a day but I have 1/2 the square footage as you and my house is very airtight. Consider yourself lucky.

 

[tractorboy924]

my house is not very airtight but what settings are most of you running? we find this at the lowest setting with temps today in the low 40's high 30's

my wife is wondering what all you have heat settings on...yes when colder out 25-30 we are on ahigher heat setting but lately been rain and 30's - 40's here and has on lowest heat setting and made the connection today after a few days of this?

so what heat settings are your stoves set to?

thanks. I told her we seem to be normal or better as compared to others but now shes stuff on the heat setting thing. she wants me to clarify we are using a bag a day on the LOWEST SETTING of the stove.

thank you all for the feedback you have given.

 

[FirepotPete]

If you have the 4 button control board you can set the lowest heat setting lower than the factory default. Push the HR DOWN button and the AUX DOWN button at the same time. The board should flash something like 3.5 pph or 4 pph. If you decide to lower the feed rate on HR1 you will then probably have to lower the draft fan (DF) setting also as you would still be pulling the same amount of air through the stove and out the exhaust.

 

[OverlookEGR]

We are in western NY and I find that when the outside temps are above 30, I need to keep the stove at the lowest setting and sometimes it still gets the house too hot. Once the temps drop below 30 I can stand to keep it on 24/7 and once the temps drop to 25 or lower, we start to bump up the setting. We have a Harman Pc45 and I also have an oil boiler to heat remote parts of the house. In the colder weather like single digits, I end up going through just over 2 bags a day. Hope that helps


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mikey pellet guy]

Yup your good, does not sound excessive to me but typical

 

[NYBurner]

I run my pellet as PRIMARY heat, I'm in Rochester, NY as well. There is 0 chance I could keep my house decently warm on 1 bag/day. (`3000sqft and 3 levels). I have mine running on heat level 3 trim adjustment pulled all the way back to 1. Output air temps is varying 260-275F. Main room is sitting at ~75F and the main house is ~68F. That burns a bag every 12 hours. If it gets back into the 20's outside I am about 3 bags/day to maintain.

Honestly - Is your stove getting dirty at all? At this current setting my stovebox gets black and crappy quick. If I bump fuel trims back up for a 3/day rate it cleans right up. I cannot imagine 1bag/day?

 

[Mikey pellet guy]

I run my pellet as PRIMARY heat, I'm in Rochester, NY as well. There is 0 chance I could keep my house decently warm on 1 bag/day. (`3000sqft and 3 levels). I have mine running on heat level 3 trim adjustment pulled all the way back to 1. Output air temps is varying 260-275F. Main room is sitting at ~75F and the main house is ~68F. That burns a bag every 12 hours. If it gets back into the 20's outside I am about 3 bags/day to maintain.

Honestly - Is your stove getting dirty at all? At this current setting my stovebox gets black and crappy quick. If I bump fuel trims back up for a 3/day rate it cleans right up. I cannot imagine 1bag/day?

You have a big area to heat & it depends on how well your house is insulated. Try giving your stove a little more air you might find less carbon, pellets are a factor as well as far as clean or dirty burn. How often do you clean your stove, and do you get the ash out of the venting system this is very important for efficiency. I clean my piping out every 7 days with the stove thoroughly. My stove upstairs is 50000 btu i get 24 hours on a 20 degree day any colder then i start using more. My temp is at 73 to 75 degrees.1300 sq ft upstairs.

 

[NYBurner]

Hey Mikey - you're def right and Im ok with my consumption. 320kBTU across 12 hours is probably about right. I am just really confused how their stoves are not sooty messes with a 1 bag/day burn. Like you I dissasemble my exchangers, back plate, and run a brush up the liner every 7 days. On a high demand day my stove will be outputting 465F, no complaints. I just cannot for the life of me get it to burn 'clean' on a low setting...so to me this is very perplexing.

 

[Mikey pellet guy]

Hey Mikey - you're def right and Im ok with my consumption. 320kBTU across 12 hours is probably about right. I am just really confused how their stoves are not sooty messes with a 1 bag/day burn. Like you I dissasemble my exchangers, back plate, and run a brush up the liner every 7 days. On a high demand day my stove will be outputting 465F, no complaints. I just cannot for the life of me get it to burn 'clean' on a low setting...so to me this is very perplexing.

What does your flame look like on low burn mode , is it a lazy slow flame? If this is the case if you can open the damper. My stove glass gets dirty after 7 days of burn this is normal but the color of the soot should be a light color not dark otherwise not enough air. Are you sure you know where all the hidden air ports are on that stove? What are you burning soft or hardwood & what is your feed rate?

 

[tbear853]

Bag a day is what I average when running .... I use it like primary and set house Tstat lower so house heat only comes on if pellet stove lets temp drop.

I use stove when temps drop into 40s or below for long periods ..... but on days like this with upper 40s, I use the infrared heaters some and leave pellets off.

 

[NYBurner]

What does your flame look like on low burn mode , is it a lazy slow flame? If this is the case if you can open the damper. My stove glass gets dirty after 7 days of burn this is normal but the color of the soot should be a light color not dark otherwise not enough air. Are you sure you know where all the hidden air ports are on that stove? What are you burning soft or hardwood & what is your feed rate?

on a heat setting 1 (low burn) you cant see the flame over the guard...its tiny and active. Heat ouput is so low I do not see how that could possibly heat a house? By the running at the manufacture suggested Mag draft it burns dirty..I always open my damper a touch more. I've tried various configs. my ash is ALWAYS like a fine black sand/baby poweder ash. I've burned hard and softwood....makes no difference.

Im thinking that the reality is the M55 is a 'big' stove and hence does hit an efficient burn unless it is running 2bags/day minimum.

 

[Mikey pellet guy]

I wasn't concerned about your pellet consumption, i was trying to figure out why your stove is burning so rich. If your feed rate is at default settings most likely thats to much feed which can cause black soot. My harman default says to run on 4 i never run it on 4 cause i get dirty burns the pellets never get a chance to burn the pellets before the feed sends more down the chute. On hardwood i run my feed rate at 2 half and 3 on soft. Every stove is different you know your stove better than i do.

 

[dozerdean]

That's normal a bag a day. U can change feed settings . I did on mine as low as I could & still have a very small flame , but mine was on a thermostat. Set stove on 2 or 3 heat setting,when temp was reached it would kick blower down & heat setting would go to 1 .

 

[Peterfield]

A bag a day is good. Your home must be well insulated. I can get away with a bag a day when it's 30-40'putside and I run stove temp mode at a low setting. Once it gets into the teens, I'm closer to two bags a day and my house is smaller than yours.