# Do you keep your stove lit all night?



## BrianN (Oct 5, 2012)

With this being my first year with a pellet stove, I am wondering if you keep your stove lit all night? Or do you shut it down and start it in the morning?
Where we are, it is getting down to -10C (14F) outside overnight. When we get up in the morning it is between 14C (57F) - 16C (61F)


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## Eatonpcat (Oct 5, 2012)

Mine burns day and night when it's cold out.  Have to admit it was hard to leave the house with it burning the first couple of times though!


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## DneprDave (Oct 5, 2012)

Mine burns 24/7, when it's cold outside, stopping only for cleaning. I've never given it a second thought.

Dave


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## Utilitrack (Oct 5, 2012)

DneprDave said:


> Mine burns 24/7, when it's cold outside, stopping only for cleaning. I've never given it a second thought.
> 
> Dave


X2 No worries if properly installed and maintained.


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## thedude110 (Oct 5, 2012)

Burn mine 24/7 when the weather's "right," but like Eaton, I was worried at first.  As long as your install is OK and you have proper precautions (detectors, etc.) you can sleep sound.


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## IHATEPROPANE (Oct 5, 2012)

Yes...when needed


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## DAKSY (Oct 5, 2012)

Mine will BOTH go 24/7 probably from the middle of November thru the end of March. The P43 gets a maintenance shut down every three weeks. The P61A every 4.


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## BradH70 (Oct 5, 2012)

Once the temps get low enough the M55 runs 24/7 unless it is shut down for a cleaning, which is about once a week. The Castile will be plugged in and ready to generate heat when the T-stat calls for it, day or night. No worries, especially after having a wood stove for a few years prior to the pellet stoves.


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## Melissa220 (Oct 5, 2012)

Brian, I was worried about the same thing. But then I thought the only difference between this stove and my oil burner is that with the stove I can see the fire; in the burner, it is all enclosed. I have no qualms about either going to bed or to work and leaving the oil heat going!


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## pell it (Oct 5, 2012)

Utilitrack said:


> X2 No worries if properly installed and maintained.



X3


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## Mike D (Oct 5, 2012)

I definitely run it all night, there's nothing like getting out of a warm bed and freezing you arse off, plus the stove won't warm the house enough before I leave for work.  ALSO there are 3 females in the house (my better half, my littler half and mother-in-law half) and I don't think I would be alive today if I shut down the stove overnight and they got up with those temps.  Now I will shut down the stove in the morning when we are leaving for the day IF the outside temps are supposed to get into the high 50's / low 60's for the day and my wife will turn it back on when she gets home.  Otherwise I'll run it on low during the day just to keep the chill away.


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## Fish On (Oct 5, 2012)

dont read any of Don's post and u will be fine.  We all thought the same thing when we started

mine runs 24/7


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## Boobo0 (Oct 5, 2012)

pell it said:


> X3


 
X4!


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## kcellwood (Oct 5, 2012)

Run mine 24/7 as needed.  Sure was a strange feeling though the first time I came home at night.  Coming down the driveway and looking into the living room,  the glow was kind of erie.  No issues leaving it running though.  I didn't spend $4000+ to be cold.


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## JBWheel (Oct 5, 2012)

24/7 except to regularly clean it.


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## jtakeman (Oct 5, 2012)

No not really, I'm a stat user. Stove is setback(68ºF) during the day until stat calls for heat at 2.00 PM. Then I have it bring the heat up to 72ºF until 8.30 PM where it again is set back to 68ºF. If it cooler than 32ºF I have the stove on Hi/lo which basically just maintains the fire. Over 32ºF I just have it in Auto/Off. I can get away with this as my stove will bring the house temp up 2-3 degrees in an hours time. I also get lots of solar during the day. Only exception is the bitter cold days I will leave the stove on hi/lo during the day. Its not the fear of having the fire going, Its that I try to say fuel where I can. I saved about 1/2 ton per season with my stat alone(no over temps) and another 1/2 ton setting it back while sleeping/away with the lower temps.  

I don't recommend setting it back if your stove struggles to raise the temps quickly! But adding a stat and using the swing will save fuel if you do get the house too warm trying to idle along. Use the Hi/lo(maintained fire) where possible to help save your igniter(colder days where the stove will try to re fire to much). Warm days you can get by with auto/off when heat loss is lower. Play around a little and see if you can save some fuel.


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## rich2500 (Oct 5, 2012)

I burn mine mostly at night,fire it up around 5 when I get home from work shut down in the am when I leave for work,during the day I set the oil burner therm. for 62 while nobody is home.


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## flynfrfun (Oct 5, 2012)

jtakeman said:


> No not really, I'm a stat user. Stove is setback(68ºF) during the day until stat calls for heat at 2.00 PM. Then I have it bring the heat up to 72ºF until 8.30 PM where it again is set back to 68ºF. If it cooler than 32ºF I have the stove on Hi/lo which basically just maintains the fire. Over 32ºF I just have it in Auto/Off. I can get away with this as my stove will bring the house temp up 2-3 degrees in an hours time. I also get lots of solar during the day. Only exception is the bitter cold days I will leave the stove on hi/lo during the day. Its not the fear of having the fire going, Its that I try to say fuel where I can. I saved about 1/2 ton per season with my stat alone(no over temps) and another 1/2 ton setting it back while sleeping/away with the lower temps.
> 
> I don't recommend setting it back if your stove struggles to raise the temps quickly! But adding a stat and using the swing will save fuel if you do get the house too warm trying to idle along. Use the Hi/lo(maintained fire) where possible to help save your igniter(colder days where the stove will try to re fire to much). Warm days you can get by with auto/off when heat loss is lower. Play around a little and see if you can save some fuel.


 
Not to go off topic...I think that if the stove has to relight within an hour from shutting down in auto/off due to the temps and/or your setback, then pellet usage is pretty much the same as running in hi/low.  This is due to the extra volume of pellets required to relight the stove and get it back up to operating temp, whereas in hi/low the stove stays at operating temp.  If the stove can stay off for more than an hour, then auto/off is going to save more pellets.  That's my gut feeling as I have not actually tested this theory.  Having said that, we tend to shut our stove down when we leave because we have natural gas heat which can maintain our min baseline temp of 65F.  The pellet stove is mainly for heating the downstairs living area to a nice toasty 78-80F while we are home.  To heat the whole house with the furnace to 78-80F would probably cost more in natural gas than we use in pellets zone heating our living area.


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## kykel (Oct 5, 2012)

Eatonpcat said:


> Mine burns day and night when it's cold out. Have to admit it was hard to leave the house with it burning the first couple of times though!


 X 2


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## tsmith (Oct 5, 2012)

Mine has burned 24/7 every winter since I have it. They are meant to be used. As was said earlier if they are installed properly and maintained they will be ok.


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## smoke show (Oct 5, 2012)

Fish On said:


> dont read any of Don's post and u will be fine. We all thought the same thing when we started
> 
> mine runs 24/7


x2


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## imacman (Oct 5, 2012)

Once the cold weather sets in, the stove runs on a stat 24/7.


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## smalltown (Oct 5, 2012)

On a programmable thermostat here aslo. I think after you get comfortable with your stove that you will start leaving it on round the clock.


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## smwilliamson (Oct 5, 2012)

Geez...you shut yours down? If mine dont go 60 days between cleanings id be lucky....something like the painters house is always peeling?


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## DexterDay (Oct 6, 2012)

Install according to manual and its probably safer than your clothes dryer.

I actually dont leave my house with the dryer running...... But I will leave for 2 days and let the stove start and stop. According to what the stat is set at. 

There are lots of members who were nervous at 1st... And that makes you cautious. If you were not nervous, that would scare us more. Its the people who are cocky and complacent that have a lot of issues (read: Those that dont read the manual and worry). 

Many other things that can go wrong. Depending on what model you have, will depend on how many safety features it has. But most Stoves have a couple. Some more than that.

What model do you have?


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## imacman (Oct 6, 2012)

DexterDay said:


> ....There are lots of members who were nervous at 1st......


 
They worry about "sparks from the pipe".


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## BrianN (Oct 6, 2012)

Well, I am asking more for my wife. I am not at home, and she is trying to learn how to use the stove. What to set it at during the night. I really do not like the Harman settings, the dials are hard to read and dial in. Oh well, hope she gets used to it soon.
We have a Harman accentra insert.


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## bill3rail (Oct 6, 2012)

I only installed it in January of 2012 and last winter was mild, so we turned it on as needed.
I feel confident enough to run it through the night if we need to.


Bill


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## thedude110 (Oct 6, 2012)

BrianN said:


> Well, I am asking more for my wife. I am not at home, and she is trying to learn how to use the stove. What to set it at during the night. I really do not like the Harman settings, the dials are hard to read and dial in. Oh well, hope she gets used to it soon.
> We have a Harman accentra insert.



I love my XXV, but the Harman controls suck.  Someday they'll make that big, bold leap into 1990 ...


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## movemaine (Oct 6, 2012)

24/7 - that's the beauty of pellets - in the coldest part of the season, you might burn a bag a day - so $5. to have constant even heat. I put my stove on "stove temp" versus "room temp", which ensures my entire house is the same temperature all day long.


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## Eatonpcat (Oct 6, 2012)

imacman said:


> They worry about "sparks from the pipe".


 
You mean when a seed pops??


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## imacman (Oct 6, 2012)

Eatonpcat said:


> You mean when a seed pops??


Wait.....you mean you don't know the history of "sparks from the pipe"???    If not, read here:
www.hearth.com/talk/threads/sparks-from-the-pipe.24417/


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## earl764 (Oct 6, 2012)

Depending on where you sleep, the stove running at night may scare the hell out of you the first few times you wake up.

Mine is an insert, and our bedroom is off the living room where it's installed. Several times I would wake up at 02:00 and see the light of flames dancing on the wall and it would scare the hell out of me.

Or you would come home from grocery shopping at 18:00 on a Sunday and see the light glowing through the windows and it would make you stop for a second.

After a while it becomes a very reassuring sight.

I leave mine set to the t-stat. I have the stat 15' away on the other side of the chimney/house that it vents into. It assures a fairly even temp.


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## Seasoned Oak (Oct 6, 2012)

My home is usually only cold late at night but mostly in the morning due to solar gain during the day. SO i need to start my fire late at night and let it burn out by morning.


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## mfglickman (Oct 6, 2012)

DexterDay said:


> Install according to manual and its probably safer than your clothes dryer.
> 
> I actually dont leave my house with the dryer running...... But I will leave for 2 days and let the stove start and stop. According to what the stat is set at.
> 
> There are lots of members who were nervous at 1st... And that makes you cautious. If you were not nervous, that would scare us more. Its the people who are cocky and complacent that have a lot of issues (read: Those that dont read the manual and worry).


 
This, exactly. I won't go to bed or leave teh house with the dryer on, but the stove, I'm OK.


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## SteveB (Oct 11, 2012)

DAKSY said:


> Mine will BOTH go 24/7 probably from the middle of November thru the end of March. The P43 gets a maintenance shut down every three weeks. The P61A every 4.


 
Daksy,
I'm considering a P43. Do you scrape the burn pot once a day? Do you do any cleaning between the three week shutdowns? Sounds pretty sweet!


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## Bank (Oct 11, 2012)

I run mine 24/7 except to clean on Sunday AM. You'll get over the fear of it. After all; your oil or other furnace runs all day, it has a fire in the box as well.


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## Bioburner (Oct 11, 2012)

24/7 first with countryside,then bixby now this year Harman pc45's . One in the basement and a used one in the garage. Full time burning multifuel since 2003. No furnace since 2005. Have a smaller Dovre gas stove for backup that cost me $100 with venting. The savings on the stove will pay for a lot gas even though it's not real high efficiency of a furnace. 200 gallons of propane lasts over two seasons and is great for shouldering and power outages. Last heating season used only 25 gallons.


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## DAKSY (Oct 11, 2012)

SteveB said:


> Daksy,
> I'm considering a P43. Do you scrape the burn pot once a day? Do you do any cleaning between the three week shutdowns? Sounds pretty sweet!


 
Hey, SteveB...I scrape the burnpot about every other day, maybe every 3 - 4 bags or so. Depends on how much I'm putting thru it. Once a week I'll scrape the accordion up top & maybe twice a week I'll use some Speedy White on the glass...When I scrape the "Harman Speedbump" outta the burnpot, I also move the fly ash from where it catches on either side, into the ash pan. HTH


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## nayslayer (Oct 11, 2012)

Run all the time, as others say, furnace has a fire in it as well, no worries


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## Chain (Oct 11, 2012)

I just let mine run overnight for the first time last weekend.  Previous to my new Harman, I had a Lopi FoxFire and unless it was very, very cold outside, I would never run it overnight or during the day if I wasn't home for the entire day.  Two days this week now I've run the new Harman 24/7 on Room Temp. with manual light.  It got pretty cold here in upstate, NY last night and it was pretty comfortable getting up this morning and the stove still running.  I turned it way down this morning but left it running as I left for work.  It's only supposed to get up to 58 degrees today so I figured I'd keep it going.  Interestingly enough, I just had my oil tank filled yesterday with 133 gallons of fuel oil.  $466.12 cents was my bill.  I'm hoping with the new Harman running 24/7 this heating season that it'll be the only fill -up I'll need this year.  At $3.55 a gallon for fuel oil, it'll be a pricey winter otherwise.....


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## bschrager (Oct 11, 2012)

Typical working family with kids and school..........pets at home all day.

Typical week for us is, Friday after getting home from work we will light the stove and it stays on till Monday morning when we go back to work/school. Then every night around 5pm when we get home from work the stove is lit and we will turn it off each morning before we leave for work again.

80% of my heat comes from pellets but also have oil heat, now natural gas since I recently converted. I can supplement with a little gas heat to heat the house up right when we get home each day during the week until the pellet stove is hot enough to maintain temp.

Typical winter I burn about 2 tons of pellets and 300 gallons of oil, now it will be about 2 tons of pellets with some natural gas as well.


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## Mongo (Oct 11, 2012)

BrianN said:


> With this being my first year with a pellet stove, I am wondering if you keep your stove lit all night? Or do you shut it down and start it in the morning?
> Where we are, it is getting down to -10C (14F) outside overnight. When we get up in the morning it is between 14C (57F) - 16C (61F)


 
During the winter mine only gets shut down for cleaning, other then that it is running 24/7


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## SteveB (Oct 11, 2012)

DAKSY said:


> Hey, SteveB...I scrape the burnpot about every other day, maybe every 3 - 4 bags or so. Depends on how much I'm putting thru it. Once a week I'll scrape the accordion up top & maybe twice a week I'll use some Speedy White on the glass...When I scrape the "Harman Speedbump" outta the burnpot, I also move the fly ash from where it catches on either side, into the ash pan. HTH


 
Ok thanks Bob, sounds good to me!

BrianN,
 I burn two pellet stoves 24/7 during the heating season. We've gone out of town for about a day and a half several times with them burning on low while we're gone. Keep it cleaned and maintained and it should treat you well!

Steve


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## Xena (Oct 11, 2012)

24/7 when it's cold out baby.  As you've heard, we all were scared newbs at the beginning.


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## MommyOf4 (Oct 11, 2012)

You leave it on even if you leave your house for hours at a time? 

<-----Scared newbie.  LOL


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## imacman (Oct 11, 2012)

ygrant said:


> You leave it on even if you leave your house for hours at a time?.....


Yes, the stat controls it.  Turns On-Off (or changes from Hi-Lo during real cold weather) even while I'm at work and house is empty.....gotta keep the dog warm too!


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## CtPaul (Oct 11, 2012)

Mike D said:


> I definitely run it all night, there's nothing like getting out of a warm bed and freezing you arse off, plus the stove won't warm the house enough before I leave for work.  ALSO there are 3 females in the house (my better half, my littler half and mother-in-law half) and I don't think I would be alive today if I shut down the stove overnight and they got up with those temps.  Now I will shut down the stove in the morning when we are leaving for the day IF the outside temps are supposed to get into the high 50's / low 60's for the day and my wife will turn it back on when she gets home.  Otherwise I'll run it on low during the day just to keep the chill away.



This is how I run my stove too ..for the most part! I was concerned at first . If I woke up I would go downstairs and check it in the middle of the night!  I have 3 females in the house also! Wife and 2 daughters, first thing they all do when they come downstairs is stand in front of the stove for 20 mins!


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## Mike D (Oct 11, 2012)

CtPaul said:


> This is how I run my stove too ..for the most part! I was concerned at first . If I woke up I would go downstairs and check it in the middle of the night! I have 3 females in the house also! Wife and 2 daughters, first thing they all do when they come downstairs is stand in front of the stove for 20 mins!


That's too funny, my wife will do the same thing sometimes, as if she just came in from the frozen tundra.


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## cold front (Oct 11, 2012)

Auto stat is the way to go.  Just clean it, fill it, set it and forget about it, like you would an appliance.


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## DexterDay (Oct 11, 2012)

ygrant said:


> You leave it on even if you leave your house for hours at a time?
> 
> <-----Scared newbie.  LOL



Yep...

You would leave your furnace on while your away? Right? There is flame in it (assuming you have HHO or LP/The flame is still there) its just hidden within the furnace.

The stove has plenty of safety features (depends on model, as to how many). My dryer scares me more than the stove. Dryers start a lot of fires every year. They have, well, lets just say, very few safety features (if any). And people trust them day in and day out. 

If you haven't cleaned your dryer vent in the last 2 years (even 1 year depending on loads ran) then you would be utterly surprised at the lint build up and fire hazard within that steel box


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## firecracker_77 (Oct 11, 2012)

A stove would not be very valuable if it could not be heating at night.  There should be built-in safety features.


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## CtPaul (Oct 11, 2012)

Mike D said:


> That's too funny, my wife will do the same thing sometimes, as if she just came in from the frozen tundra.



Yeah I tell her we live in CT not Alaska! That and if you do that for too long you are going to feel cold when you walk away.


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## chuckster (Oct 11, 2012)

24/7 and shut down to clean once a week.


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## doghouse (Oct 11, 2012)

bschrager said:


> Typical working family with kids and school..........pets at home all day.
> 
> Typical week for us is, Friday after getting home from work we will light the stove and it stays on till Monday morning when we go back to work/school. Then every night around 5pm when we get home from work the stove is lit and we will turn it off each morning before we leave for work again.
> 
> ...


 

Perfect candidate for a thermostat. Why not go 100% pellets?


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## gymrat0663 (Oct 11, 2012)

24/7 because I live by the "Happy wife, happy life" motto!  (And I like my happy life!)


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## blanc12 (Oct 12, 2012)

Thermostat. any time it needs to come on. These machines will shut down if there is a problem. If there is a power outage you need a good draft in your exhaust pipe like a wood stove. I use a ups. for at least as long as it lasts. Without a draft, Mine is a direct vent. It will smoke up the house. Stinks but not a big deal for me. Some on these forums may have a big problem. If I can save cash and do it safely I am in.


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## MommyOf4 (Oct 12, 2012)

gymrat0663 said:


> 24/7 because I live by the "Happy wife, happy life" motto! (And I like my happy life!)


 
HA! My husband says the same thing, but sometimes says that we (women) can never be happy...or satisfied.  Can't live with us and can't live without us!


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## robert65 (Oct 12, 2012)

24/7 here also with a once to twice a week cleaning, 7 years now no issues!


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## SXIPro (Oct 12, 2012)

12 years straight 24/7 over the winter. It's my only source of heat.


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## IHATEPROPANE (Oct 12, 2012)

I will have mine in all night tonight


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## Northwoodneil (Oct 12, 2012)

If I could clean it running I'd never shut it off. Room temp set at 75 and it comes on and goes off as needed.


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## Danny Cathcart (Oct 12, 2012)

All night long.


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## JHASS (Oct 12, 2012)

I leave it turned on but it only runs when the T-stat tells it to.


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## Redbarn (Oct 12, 2012)

JHass said:


> I leave it turned on but it only runs when the T-stat tells it to.



X 2


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## SmokeyTheBear (Oct 12, 2012)

Depends upon the t-stat mode, during the winter it is lit 24/7 except for a weekly cleaning.


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## JHASS (Oct 12, 2012)

I always run in auto on/off, I live down in the tropics compared to you Smokey.


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## Snowy Rivers (Oct 13, 2012)

24/7
Unlless the weather warms up.

This house is a 2300 ft ranch style and once it gets cooled off, it can take a long time to bring it back up to temp.

With one small stove and one large one, we can tailor the heat pretty well to fit the weather conditions

I always worry about fire, but I keep the stoves in good shape and the pipes clean, so the worry is minimal.

The one thing to worry about is msking sure the Smoke and CO alarms are in good order.

Snowy


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## tjnamtiw (Oct 13, 2012)

24/7 like every other person here.  If you trust it when you're awake, trust it when you're asleep. Make sure you have CO and smoke alarms, which you should have anyway.


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