# How many pounds of pellets do you burn per hour?



## slackercruster

Was reading about a USS pellet stove. It said it burns 5.1 pounds of pellets per hour. 

Is that about average?


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## imacman

Maybe on the highest heat setting.  Otherwise, that's a LOT of pellets.  (over 3 bags/24 hrs.)


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## SmokeyTheBear

slackercruster said:
			
		

> Was reading about a USS pellet stove. It said it burns 5.1 pounds of pellets per hour.
> 
> Is that about average?



No such thing as an average burn rate.

Most stoves allow three methods of burning and from 1 to 9 firing rates you set it up to heat your house and your house is different than anyone else's house.
For example my stove is currently in high/low mode and operates on a thermostat.  The firing rate is set to 3 of 5 which is around 3 pounds an hour when the thermostat is calling for heat otherwise it goes to the lowest firing rate (also known as maintain fire or the lowest rate on the stove).

So my stove's average firing rate is less than 3 pounds an hour.

I can also run in manual mode I would likely have the stove on firing rate 2 in that case.

I can run in on/off mode as well which is the thermostat calls for heat and starts the stove when the call for heat has been satisfied the stove enters shut down,  In this mode the stove would be set as it was when running in high low mode.


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## jp0469

slackercruster said:
			
		

> Was reading about a USS pellet stove. It said it burns 5.1 pounds of pellets per hour.
> 
> Is that about average?


That sounds like it might be the consumption at the max feed rate.  That would work out to about 3 bags a day.  I think the general consensus around here is roughly 1 to 2 40lb. bags per day depending on weather, size of house, how well house is insulated, etc, etc...  That's 1.667 to 3.33 lbs/hr

For comparison, since I started the stove in late November, I'm averaging approximately 1.2 bags/day (2 lbs/hr).  I have a small ranch with good insulation and the weather has been on the mild side here.


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## DirtyDave

I use 1.66 lbs per hour 2300sqft house cathedral ceilings and moderately well insulated maintains about 72 thruout house on low when its in the teens here at night, and I use ceiling fans to circulate air.  Have never had the stove on 5 setting, 3 means opening the windows and venting or the ac kicks on auto at some point. 1 bag a day


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## superchips

I usually burn ~1 bag/day 40 lbs.
However, when I had Woodfiber Inc's Hardwood pellets that claim 8000 BTU's cough cough
I burned 3 bags a day while watching the temp in the house go down.


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## PA_Clinker

You must have a very well insulated house to only need around 14,000 BTU for that square footage in the teens. 



			
				DirtyDave said:
			
		

> I use 1.66 lbs per hour 2300sqft house cathedral ceilings and moderately well insulated maintains about 72 thruout house on low when its in the teens here at night, and I use ceiling fans to circulate air.  Have never had the stove on 5 setting, 3 means opening the windows and venting or the ac kicks on auto at some point. 1 bag a day


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## superchips

And the lable on the bag of crap


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## Harman Lover 007

superchips said:
			
		

> I usually burn ~1 bag/day 40 lbs.
> However, when I had Woodfiber Inc's Hardwood pellets that claim 8000 BTU's cough cough
> I burned 3 bags a day while watching the temp in the house go down.



Hey Superchips...we get it. You've posted the doctored picture and your opinion of that brand about 5 times now.


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## BradH70

DirtyDave said:
			
		

> I use 1.66 lbs per hour 2300sqft house cathedral ceilings and moderately well insulated maintains about 72 thruout house on low when its in the teens here at night, and I use ceiling fans to circulate air.  Have never had the stove on 5 setting, 3 means opening the windows and venting or the ac kicks on auto at some point. 1 bag a day



Jeeeessss Your pellets must be partially radioactive! I'm heating 2200sq pretty easily with the t-stat set for 68* downstairs. The upstairs gets heat from natural convection and stays around 65-66. If it drops into the teens, the upstairs can go down to 63-64. With this, I go through ~1.25 bags per day which averages to about 2lbs/hr

I guess I could turn the t-stat up a few degrees but that would mean more pellets being burnt.


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## jdempsey

BradH70 said:
			
		

> DirtyDave said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I use 1.66 lbs per hour 2300sqft house cathedral ceilings and moderately well insulated maintains about 72 thruout house on low when its in the teens here at night, and I use ceiling fans to circulate air.  Have never had the stove on 5 setting, 3 means opening the windows and venting or the ac kicks on auto at some point. 1 bag a day
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Jeeeessss Your pellets must be partially radioactive! I'm heating 2200sq pretty easily with the t-stat set for 68* downstairs. The upstairs gets heat from natural convection and stays around 65-66. If it drops into the teens, the upstairs can go down to 63-64. With this, I go through ~1.25 bags per day which averages to about 2lbs/hr
> 
> I guess I could turn the t-stat up a few degrees but that would mean more pellets being burnt.
Click to expand...

My wife would freeze to death at those temps and i would never hear the end of it. Can not get lower than 72 (preferable 74-76) around here and thats upstairs. Yep.And it can eat some pellets.

I adjust three diff dampers at my ducts in the basement To get the temps around 68. Which is just right for my tastes while working.


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## PA_Clinker

BradH70 said:
			
		

> DirtyDave said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I use 1.66 lbs per hour 2300sqft house cathedral ceilings and moderately well insulated maintains about 72 thruout house on low when its in the teens here at night, and I use ceiling fans to circulate air.  Have never had the stove on 5 setting, 3 means opening the windows and venting or the ac kicks on auto at some point. 1 bag a day
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Jeeeessss Your pellets must be partially radioactive! I'm heating 2200sq pretty easily with the t-stat set for 68* downstairs. The upstairs gets heat from natural convection and stays around 65-66. If it drops into the teens, the upstairs can go down to 63-64. With this, I go through ~1.25 bags per day which averages to about 2lbs/hr
> 
> I guess I could turn the t-stat up a few degrees but that would mean more pellets being burnt.
Click to expand...


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## slls

I burn rate at 3.5 lb per hour, but only about 20 minutes every hour.


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## John97

Whatever the thermostat tells my Mt. Vernon to drop...   :cheese: 

It hasn't gone above a bag a day.  Generally I bring up a bag in the morning and dump in what fits.  Then the rest of the bag usually goes in at night to top off the hopper.


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## smoke show

John97 said:
			
		

> Whatever the thermostat tells my Mt. Vernon to drop...   :cheese:
> 
> It hasn't gone above a bag a day.  Generally I bring up a bag in the morning and dump in what fits.  Then the rest of the bag usually goes in at night to top off the hopper.



x2


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## DirtyDave

our house is single story, 12 yrs old . the house is nicely insulated, but we plan to update floor and ceiling to an r-60 this year. crawlspace is double plastic lined and stays dry like it should. we had house Tyvec wraped before being sided to help stop drafts  and they did some joint seal stuff when framing house.  I am open for more ways to stop paying the utility companies money.


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## IHATEPROPANE

The mfg lbs/hr is just an estimate.  For instance,  on low my stove is 2lbs/hr....depending on pellet, I get real life usage of 2-3.2lbs/hr.  This also is part of the temp difference between pellets.


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## jtakeman

Depending on the weather outside, I use an average of a bag a day. More when its colder. Can't figure out an average as I use a stat. Stove doesn't run but only when needed. So I just add a bag of fuel when it will fit in the hopper, Having a 3 bag hoper also makes life much easier. I can forget a day and still not need to worry I will have a cold stove when I get home.

Its ratings are 1.7 lbs/hr on low and 7.8 lbs/hr on hi. But this is actually a wild guess. The auger feeds volume of fuel to the burn pot. The volume will vary by weight/size with each brand of pellets out there. Bulk density varies greatly in pellet fuel. A greater density pellet will allow for more fuel. Size also plays a roll. Longer pellets will generally provide less volume compared to shorter fuel.  I wouldn't get so hung up on pounds per hour.


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## dw06

j-takeman said:
			
		

> Depending on the weather outside, I use an average of a bag a day. More when its colder. Can't figure out an average as I use a stat. Stove doesn't run but only when needed. So I just add a bag of fuel when it will fit in the hopper, Having a 3 bag hoper also makes life much easier. I can forget a day and still not need to worry I will have a cold stove when I get home.
> 
> Its ratings are 1.7 lbs/hr on low and 7.8 lbs/hr on hi. But this is actually a wild guess. The auger feeds volume of fuel to the burn pot. The volume will vary by weight/size with each brand of pellets out there. Bulk density varies greatly in pellet fuel. A greater density pellet will allow for more fuel. Size also plays a roll. Longer pellets will generally provide less volume compared to shorter fuel.  I wouldn't get so hung up on pounds per hour.



I 2nd that, mine runs when needed and adjust up and down when needed to adjust for outside temps. Wish I had a 3 bag hopper though!!  :cheese:


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## 3650

We had a cold snap with 40 mph winds.  I loaded my 62lb hopper full before leaving for work at 2 pm, when I got home at 11:30 pm she was empty and just slightly warm. That comes up to about 6.5 lbs per hour which is more then the stove is rated at and I didnt even have it on its highest setting.  I'm going to do a test on high and see how long it takes to empty the hopper.  BTW if youre wondering why its using so much I live in an uninsulated 100 old splitfaced block house.  So when it gets in the single digits its normal for me to see 3+ bag per day usage.


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## Xena

I forgot how many lbs per hour I'm burning and
am too lazy to go look it up but Don can tell ya for me.


Bout a bag a bag and half on average a day tho.


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## joe_pinehill

slackercruster said:
			
		

> Was reading about a USS pellet stove. It said it burns 5.1 pounds of pellets per hour.
> 
> Is that about average?


We burn two bags a day


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## mnkywrnch

Honestly I don't keep track.


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