Newbie creation: Pellet furnace usage log

[elevenMracing]

Hello, Newbie here posting my first thread. I am so glad to have found this forum as a first time pellet burner. I've been lurking for several months getting a wonderful education, so thank you all for that! Tomorrow will mark one week since I fired up my Harman PF120 pellet furnace. I have been tracking my pellet usage relative to the several other factors such as outside air temps, thermostat setting, etc etc. I have been doing this in an Excel spreadsheet which I laid out to do several of the calculations automatically. It's only been a week but so far it seems to be working out. I expect it to help out in the long run with determining efficiency of different pellet types, feed rate adjustments, etc. Unfortunately I could not upload the file template itself as the file type (.xlsx) is not supported by this forum. I have however attached a .jpg screenshot of my data entry so far. If any of you have Excel and would like a copy of my file please let me know. I am far from a computer genius but I believe I would be able to to email you a copy of my spreadsheet, you could open it with your copy of Excel, enable editing, and just erase my data (in black) and enter your own. Being careful not to erase anything shown in green as those cells contain formulas to determine their own data rather than data entered by you.


How it works:
Each time I fill my hopper I make sure to fill it to approximately the same level, I then enter the data shown in black: date, fill time, elapsed time (number of hours since last fill rounded to the nearest 15 minute mark), auger hour meter reading (PF120 tracks auger motor powered-on hours), lbs of pellets added, outside air temperature high and low (for the previous day), remote thermostat setting, current feed rate adjustment, pellet type, and any applicable notes.

Per the formulas I have entered the spreadsheet automatically calculates the data shown in green: elapsed auger hour meter hours, the % of time the auger motor has been activate, the average lbs per hour of pellets that have been burned, and the average daily outside temperature.

If anyone has any suggestions for improving this thing I'm all ears.

Thank you!

 

[Wilbur Feral]

Ah, a fellow data geek. Welcome!
There may be posts telling you this is of little value. Ignore them as they will pipe down when something shiny distracts them.

I sadly do not have an hour meter on mine, so cannot use this. But nice Excel work!

I do have a spreadsheet that aids in tracking pellet use and predicting what will be needed for remainder of season (which helps with next year's purchase planning). Can send directly if you wish - just send private message to let me know.

 

[pen]

Nothing wrong with tracking data. Some folks completely ignore it and are just happy if the unit is firing, others may go to far extremes.

For one vehicle, I tracked every gallon of gas I put through it. I could tell you which week the gas station switched over to their winter blend of fuel each winter, and then back to the summer blend just from the fuel mileage.
It certainly wasn't necessary for me to do that, but I decided I wanted to, and did. It was interesting keeping track and trying to figure out why a regular trip may have yielded different results than in the past, etc.

Good luck, and enjoy playing

pen

 

[bill3rail]

I too am a secret Excel pellet tracker! I only track when pellets and fuel oil are purchased, not weekly or monthly, not willing to take that much time yet.

Bill