I keep a tall kitchen trash can by my stove that holds 2 bags, enough for atleast 2 days for me and just scoop out of that to fill the stove.Fines settle to the bottom of the bin, it's easier then fumbling around with plastic bags over a hot stove and the son can top the stove off also.
Oh yeah. I do the same. I forgot to mention that. When I buy the bags, I store them up in the garage. I then move them down in a Gorilla cart -- 6 bags at a time -- around the house and into the back where I store them in the back room. I then move about 8-10 bags into the utility room and store them in stacks in plastic bins in the event of puncture. They are literally 10 feet from the stove at this point. I then load a bag from the bin into a cute little 5 gallon garbage can that sits right next to the stove. In this way, I keep my main inventory in the backroom stocked once a month, my pellet cache in the utility room loaded with bags for easy access, and then a garbage can next to the stove with a small metal scoop to transfer into the stove. It may sound like a lot of work but I find it's really not and I always have product on hand.
I used to keep my hopper next to my stove in my old house. I now keep it in the garage and just store a coal hod full next to the stove. It stores about 7 bags and it allows me to sift as well. The dust from sifting is from 3 2 bags. I had topped it off earlier.
one good thing about many harmans is a fines box under the auger that can be vaccumed out.. been dumping bags into my P61A for 5 years now...the fines burn up right along with the pellets. .. I'm OCD about my glass.. always wiping it down each day.