Ahh yes, We be keeping the shack at least 2ºF warmer than last season. Even with consuming the $240 Hamers them $99 chit has us under $500 clams for the whole season if we burn the normal 3.5 tons. One of our cheapest winta's to date. Have to go way back to 1999 where we came in at around $550 for the season. $2.98/bag at wally world..........
30 bags for January, same as last year. dino juice was on from the 1st to the 10th, as we were away. i will have to buy oil this summer as its a little under 1/2 tank and i didn't get any last year. 660 capacity in twin 330's.
I don't know if you save any by setting back or not. If you set back 5* like IHP, once you get home it's gonna take a lot more btu's to raise the temp to the desired temp than you use maintaining the temp. I shoot to have my house around 70 in the AM and I'll turn it up a tad before I leave. At night, I get it as warm as my comfort level demands, usually 73+.
Let me offer a counter opinion. I had an interesting conversation with a co-owner of a pellet stove shop. She shared with me that when she moved in with her then fiancé who owned the pellet store, she kept asking him why he maintained his house at the same temperature with his pellet stove even when they were out. He explained to her that in his experience, it was more efficient. She didn't believe it so they had a bet. They would burn one week where every time the house was unoccupied, they'd turn the temp setting down and then back up again when one of them returned. The second week, they would set the thermostat at 70 and not touch it whether they were home or not. She was amazed to find out that fewer bags of pellets were used the second week versus the first. I know it wasn't a controlled scientific experiment but the result surprised me, too.
I can't either. There are many variables that come in play. Solar gain(applies to daytime setback only), Outside temp, How fast you can recover(heat rise), and heat loss(how fast the house loses heat) only to name a few. I do have answers to some of them. My heat rise is over 2ºF an hour(above zero outside temps) and I can easily recover from a 5 hour setback of 6ºF(66ºF) as long as the outside temps are above 10ºF. Even if its overcast. With the solar gain and warmer outside temps it never actually gets to 66ºF. Just making sure it stays off and a safety if it does get that low. Once we get the sub zero temps. I usually only setback 4ºF(68ºF). Mean temp is 72ºF for the most part. So if the stove is idle(using zero pellets) and only takes approx 3 hours to recover. I see a 2 hour pellet savings(approxly) most every day. And thats on an overcast day. Approximately 10 pounds of pellets(5 pounds per hour normal consumption). With solar gain its likely a bit more. No hard evidence or solid proof. Just cruisin by the seat of the pants feel. Because there is no solar gain in evenings I only setback to 68ºF. Sub zero is around 70ºF.. And I'm cheatin like h&ll with this setup I have. Its nearly acting like a legit furnace!
I know I saved with the oil furnace at the previous house using setback. The theory of setback has been proven and the reason setback stats were concocted. Not sure I would try it with a under-powered stove as it would likely not recover quick enough to see a savings and It would likely get ya .
I know of an oil dealer, who is now retired, that used to say it cost more to turn the furnace down at night than to leave it set at the same temp. That could have been to increase his sales, I don't know. This is another of those debates that could go on and on. So, whatever works for you, do it.
I will have to try what peterfield suggested some day. Setting back to conserve isn't the only reason I do it though. I also do it to minimize the wear and tear on the igniter. Where setback usually eliminates 3 to 4 stove cycles IIRC when not using the hi/lo feature the stove has.
I see it like this. Would you use less pellets if you set you stat at 65 for a week compared to 70? Of course you would. How about half a week, a day, 12 hours an hour. The savings might be small every day, but I feel like they are there. Either way, to each there own. I see value in either choice.
When I'm home I usually have the P43's thermostat set at 69*. When I leave for work, I usually set it back 68*. If it will be a really sunny day, I set it back to 67*. If it will be really cold (negatives to single digits) AND windy, I run the stove differently so it isn't paying attention to the thermostat anyway I only set the P61a back during early fall and late spring - during those times I have the temp dial for the room probe set at 70 or just above. Once it gets cold out I set the dial at midway between 70 & 75 on the dial (room temp probe). I DO NOT want the concrete floor or foundation walls to cool off as they will literally take 1/2 day at warm back up again so that stove would be eating thru pellets like there was a fire sale every day of the year . Didn't think to count my pellet usage for January last night - will do so tonight before I top off the hoppers.
Everyone has a unique situation. If a man is only home 6 hours a day and heats to 70* in the house when he's home, and 55* when he's not, then is he saving money by not heating the house to 70* when he's away for 18 hours of the day? Sure. To make the example more extreme, now consider the man is only home 3 days a week. However, in another scenario, where the man is home 22 hours a day, then it's probably not much value to drop the temp for the 2 hours he's gone. This is just a generalization and there are loads of other factors to account for, like is your heating solution sized properly, able to recover quickly, are you heating a basement, etc. Those other factors are what makes everyone's experience and perception different. Over here we do set back. The recovery time is fast, and the constant nagging thought of paying to heat the house to 70* when no one is home to appreciate it, is enough to drive me nuts.
I agree... that is the biggie... In the long haul, I think the set it and forget it is the best/easiest.. Life is too short to worry about two pounds of pellets.... Dan
x 180 heating days and it doesn't sound near as petty. Nearly 8 whole bags even. That's 8 ya don't need to haul in or stack or stick in the stove or clean the ash up after its done cookin em. Plus I doubt its a mear 2 pounds as most stove eat more than that in an hours time. More like 2 hours saved at say 5 pounds+ an hour. 10 pounds a day x 180 and ya get 1800 pounds. Nearly a ton if the stars done line up. Dat equals savings ya can go to da bank with and or better yet. Fill da beer fridge. Lifes to short to skimp on beer. Save pellets so ya can buy more beer! I bet if ya pole most pellet burners they do a setback if away from home for long hours. Now if da Mrs. is home while your off workin. Dat be a whole nudder equation!!
mine is on 70 all the time. we both work so the house is empty during the day. now, when i was burning dino juice, it was on a setback schedule. but, like Dan, i sell pellets, not #2 fuel oil.
