Available Spreadsheet for Pellet Usage?

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gumballrv

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Jul 26, 2008
10
Eastern Pennsylvania
I am a new Harman XXV owner. Ordered the stove in May, had it installed mid-July. I am wondering if anyone had a Excel spreadsheet that they use to track pellet consumption throughout the winter. Since this is the first year burning pellets I'd like to have a good idea of what I used, and what I'll need for next year. I was thinking the spreadsheet should include stove feed rate settings, avg. outside temperature, and obviously approximately how many lbs. of pellets were burned that day. It's probably a bit overkill, but again I'm interested in finding out what I'm really using. Thanks for any help or insight I receive.
 
Cool idea.. I was just thinking of keeping a diary. A spread sheet is even better.
 
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Somebody posted one that they used in an older thread dating back to this past January or February. I'm too hot right now to look, but a simple search of pellet usage spreadsheet should yield you the link.
 
I actually did spend some time searching before I posted. I searched the web as well as hearth.com and didn't find any spreadsheets that fit. And after your post I did search the message boards again. No luck. If I don't find one I can always make one myself, I just wanted some input from the folks that have "been there, done that". Thanks again!


BubbRubb said:
Somebody posted one that they used in an older thread dating back to this past January or February. I'm too hot right now to look, but a simple search of pellet usage spreadsheet should yield you the link.
 
gumballrv,
I searched the threads too for "pellet usage" and I believe this is the thread I was remembering https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/16518/ It might not be exactly what you were looking for, but it is a good example.
 
I use a relatively simple one.

On one worksheet I enter the date and number of bags used in two columns.

Since this can get a bit long, I total the "Bags Used" columns on another worksheet. This sheet also has figures representing my inventory of pellets, costs and number of heating days.

Other cells on this worksheet calculate the number of bags remaining, avg bags/day used, number of days supply remaining.

With only one year of data (installed just before thanksgiving) I projected usage at 4.6 tons, so I bought (and currently have in my garage) 5 tons.

I also track my propane usage (former primary heat). Using a 10 year average propane usage and current costs (propane), I calculate my savings (pellet vs propane). I'm projecting my payback to be 3.5 seasons.
 
I had asked earlier in the season about a Excel spreadsheet used to track/calculate pellet usage. I am a new Harman XXV owner and am interested in tracking my usage for at least the first season. There are so many variables to include but I've included heating degree days and room temp settings. It's a new stove and I'm not sure where I'm going to need everything to be set, and not sure how much outside air temps are going to effect how I need to set the stove. With oil I had a programmable thermostat but never really paid attention to usage, because there wasn't much I could do about it. I'm going to share my spreadsheet for others to use, but if anyone has ideas on something I am missing or has improvements on the spreadsheet let me know. I've been reading the forums since I ordered the stove in May, and I know there are a ton of knowledgeable and resourceful folks out there. The forums will not allow me to attach a Excel document so I've hosted the link on MediaFire for downloading. Thanks again.

(broken link removed to http://www.mediafire.com/?jjanmexjxzr)



TboneMan said:
I use a relatively simple one.

On one worksheet I enter the date and number of bags used in two columns.

Since this can get a bit long, I total the "Bags Used" columns on another worksheet. This sheet also has figures representing my inventory of pellets, costs and number of heating days.

Other cells on this worksheet calculate the number of bags remaining, avg bags/day used, number of days supply remaining.
 
Thank - you

Mine was much more complicated to so the same result
 
Thanks gumballrv.
 
Can someone please explain to me what the Heating Degree Days means in the Pellet Usage Calculator.

Thank you
 
gumballrv said:
I am a new Harman XXV owner. Ordered the stove in May, had it installed mid-July. I am wondering if anyone had a Excel spreadsheet that they use to track pellet consumption throughout the winter. Since this is the first year burning pellets I'd like to have a good idea of what I used, and what I'll need for next year. I was thinking the spreadsheet should include stove feed rate settings, avg. outside temperature, and obviously approximately how many lbs. of pellets were burned that day. It's probably a bit overkill, but again I'm interested in finding out what I'm really using. Thanks for any help or insight I receive.

I also am a Harman virgin. Mine being an Advance. As with all things computer, one must have a paper back up. Here is what I do.
Write the number of bags on the pellet bag itself. Starting with number 1
After you have used all of bag number 1, mark the calender bag 1 on the day you open bag 2 and repeat.
I have 3 tons, and marked only the bags I can get to like 10 or so, as I use them I keep numbering them in consecutive order.
 
gumballrv said:
I had asked earlier in the season about a Excel spreadsheet used to track/calculate pellet usage. I am a new Harman XXV owner and am interested in tracking my usage for at least the first season. There are so many variables to include but I've included heating degree days and room temp settings. It's a new stove and I'm not sure where I'm going to need everything to be set, and not sure how much outside air temps are going to effect how I need to set the stove. With oil I had a programmable thermostat but never really paid attention to usage, because there wasn't much I could do about it. I'm going to share my spreadsheet for others to use, but if anyone has ideas on something I am missing or has improvements on the spreadsheet let me know. I've been reading the forums since I ordered the stove in May, and I know there are a ton of knowledgeable and resourceful folks out there. The forums will not allow me to attach a Excel document so I've hosted the link on MediaFire for downloading. Thanks again.

(broken link removed to http://www.mediafire.com/?jjanmexjxzr)



TboneMan said:
I use a relatively simple one.

On one worksheet I enter the date and number of bags used in two columns.

Since this can get a bit long, I total the "Bags Used" columns on another worksheet. This sheet also has figures representing my inventory of pellets, costs and number of heating days.

Other cells on this worksheet calculate the number of bags remaining, avg bags/day used, number of days supply remaining.

There is a glich in the matrix on the spreedsheet formula that will make you go crazy on your lbs/day estimate.
H13 should be =SUM(C38)
 
I just printed a calendar sheet out of Outlook and put by my stack of pellets. every time I grabbed a a bag I marked the day.
 
flashbang said:
gumballrv said:
I had asked earlier in the season about a Excel spreadsheet used to track/calculate pellet usage. I am a new Harman XXV owner and am interested in tracking my usage for at least the first season. There are so many variables to include but I've included heating degree days and room temp settings. It's a new stove and I'm not sure where I'm going to need everything to be set, and not sure how much outside air temps are going to effect how I need to set the stove. With oil I had a programmable thermostat but never really paid attention to usage, because there wasn't much I could do about it. I'm going to share my spreadsheet for others to use, but if anyone has ideas on something I am missing or has improvements on the spreadsheet let me know. I've been reading the forums since I ordered the stove in May, and I know there are a ton of knowledgeable and resourceful folks out there. The forums will not allow me to attach a Excel document so I've hosted the link on MediaFire for downloading. Thanks again.

(broken link removed to http://www.mediafire.com/?jjanmexjxzr)



TboneMan said:
I use a relatively simple one.

On one worksheet I enter the date and number of bags used in two columns.

Since this can get a bit long, I total the "Bags Used" columns on another worksheet. This sheet also has figures representing my inventory of pellets, costs and number of heating days.

Other cells on this worksheet calculate the number of bags remaining, avg bags/day used, number of days supply remaining.

There is a glich in the matrix on the spreedsheet formula that will make you go crazy on your lbs/day estimate.
H13 should be =SUM(C38)

Flashbang,
The formula "fix" you have above refers to "Heating Degree Days" column, which would make it incorrect. There is a link that explains it but basically, heating degree days refer to the amount of heat that is needed in a certain day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heating_degree_day
http://www.accuweather.com/us/pa/bo...tner=accuweather&traveler=0&zipChg=1&metric=0
So therefore heating degree days doesn't refer to the actual number of days the stove is used. It would probably be less confusing if I used Average Outside Temp.

The way I have it set to work is that the formula counts the number of dates that are entered in the column. Unfortunately I can't figure out how to get it to count the days between the entered dates, also. If someone knows of a better way to do that...I am open to suggestions. I am new to the stove but when it's cold in the winter, I'm figuring to be using a bag a day, so it probably won't make much of a difference.
 
I made it usefull to me. Meaning it will tell me what my bag usage is. The degree days does not help in this manner.
 
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