How much fuel do I use?

When I first began using a pellet stove to heat my home there was a sharp learning curve. Not just in lighting the stove (as self-igniting systems were not common), or cleaning the stove, but in learning about the fuel to heat ratio. How much fuel does it take to heat my home, and how differently will I heat my home with this fuel?
I grew up with natural gas heat in my home. I could not have told you what natural gas looked like, how much space it took up, or how much volume of gas it took to heat my home in a day/week/year. It was piped directly into my home, and was supplied as my demand required. I'd get a bill each month for what I used. I would set my thermostat at 73 and be done with it. Pay the piper later.
I once lived in an apartment that had electric heat. So the same concept applied but I was able to tune each room to my desired temperature. Absolutely no concept of how much or what type of fuel was used to create the energy to heat my space with this fuel source.
When I moved to New England, I found that oil was the predominant heat source. With oil heat you pre-buy fuel in the spring using their guidelines and past usage history to determine how much fuel to buy for the year. For example, an early buy of 1,500 gallons is common for an average three bedroom home. But how much fuel is used each day? What kind of space does that much fuel take up? How much will I use in January? I really never focused on that because the oil company comes to fill a large storage container which then feeds directly into my furnace/boiler. So on a day to day basis, I had no quantification for, or need to quantify, how much fuel it takes to heat my home. I would set the thermostat on about 70, then as winter wore on if I had a lot of fuel I would turn it up, or if it was getting down to the wire I would turn the thermostat down and put on a sweater. How warm it was became a factor of how much I had left, not how warm I wanted my home.
Then we got the pellet stove. "How many bags will I use each day?" was my first question. Never mind how subjective and virtually impossible it is for someone to speculate how warm it will be outside, how warm I want it inside, what my rate of heat loss is, and what the winter's weather will bring. To me it seemed a fair question. Our friend struggled to explain some averages, show some examples, but would not give me a concrete answer. I was frustrated at this. How could someone not know? I pushed a little further, and was told the minimum and maximum fuel intake of my stove based on how many btu's I would need. This was starting to sound complicated. What happened to just setting the thermostat? I like being green, and using an alternative energy source to heat my home, but now I have to think?!? We bought three tons based on what the previous owner told us they used and off we went. Wow, those bags are heavy. We loaded all three tons, one bag at a time, into the garage. Then came the tradition of loading the stove each day. We thought it would be once a day, but that only kept my house at about 60 degrees. I like it warmer than that! So a bag and a half or two bags a day became the norm. In the coldest months we would turn on the electric heat to supplement. The stove was running on high (almost three bags a day) and the house was still not as warm as I was accustomed to. Wow, that's a lot of pellets! It seemed like so much! Why is my stove eating so much fuel? It must be eating it, because that is a lot of fuel and my house is just warm, right?
Then I started thinking about it. Is it so much? Do I have enough knowledge and experience to determine this? How much fuel did my furnace used to eat? I had no idea. No. I don't have anything to relate it to. Is it possible that my stove "eat" fuel without equivalent heat output? The flame looked fine, the heat was blowing off, so no, not likely that it is merely eating the fuel. I realized that I just never knew how much fuel it takes to keep me and my home comfortable. How much fuel I burn isn't really a function of the stove at all, other than a stove can produce up to a maximum heat (amount of btu's per hour).
How much fuel I burn is relative to how warm I want it to be in my home, how big my home is, how well my house holds heat, and how much it takes to heat it as related to how cold it is outside.
What a learning curve, though. The bag a day that many people touted was not true for me. Sure, they were using their stove as a supplementary system in addition to their oil furnace, but why would my situation be that different? Actually if you do the math burning a bag a day in your pellet stove (only) is like using a little electric box heater to heat your house. Would that work for your home? Certainly not mine. I want it comfortable!
So, I try to remember that when I am putting two to three bags of pellet fuel in my stove each day, I am actually saving five to seven and a half gallons of oil. That is a lot of oil. Imagine how heavy and messy that would be if you had to pour it in to your furnace/boiler each day! Yuck! What if you spilled a little? At least the pellets are easy to pour and if I spill a little a dust pan and broom are all that are needed to scoop them back up and I can put them right into the hopper.
After using my stove for years, I had a wood pellet boiler with a bulk bin installed. I find that I am slipping back into the pattern of just setting the thermostat, since I don't have daily contact or concept of fuel used. I do appreciate that I was able to learn how much fuel it does take to heat my space. It gives me an appreciation for how many resources I use, and makes me appreciate even more that I use a renewable, local, alternative energy source like wood pellets.

New Pellet Mill Opened in Schuyler, NY

New England Wood Pellet, which started producing pellets in the early 1990's, has opened a new pellet manufacturing facility in Schuyler, New York. New England Wood Pellet moved to New Hampshire from Massachusetts in the late 1990's. Since then they have added a sawdust dryer to expand their raw material options, a truck dump, and an on-site warehouse which has helped them ramp up production and accommodate 150,000 ton annually. The new mill will have the capacity to run 100,000 ton per year although it is unlikely that it will start with maximum production. The company also has a contract with a Canadian company that ships unbagged product into Massachusetts, where New England Wood Pellet has a processing facility to bag and distribute product in a New England Canadian branded bag.
The Jaffrey, NH plant services most of the New England states, and the New York plant will primarily focus on serving New York state. “There is opportunity here in the region for raw materials, a work base and a place for the market to grow,” Plant Manager Paul McCarthy said Friday at the grand opening of the facility at the Schuyler Business Park.
The new mill will employ around 20 people, and cost almost 11 million to build. The plant had it's grand opening on December 7, 2007.

Clean Stove Act Introduced

Clean Stove Act Introduced
On November 15, Rep. John Salazar (D-CO) introduced the Clean Stove Act of 2007, H.R. 4244. This legislation would authorize a $500 tax credit to encourage consumers to replace their old wood stoves with a new technology EPA-certified wood stove or a pellet stove.
H.R. 4244 is cosponsored by Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME), Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA), Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), and Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO).
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) is expected to introduce the Senate companion bill soon.
Contact your local congressman and senator to encourage additional support.

In the beginning

In the state of Washington, in the early 1980's pellet stoves were introduced to the US. Boeing Aircraft engineer Jerry Whitfield pioneered the first stove than uses sawdust waste for fuel. By using a compressed material that resembles rabbit food, a clean, renewable, carbon nuetral heating alternative was born.

Whitfield learned about pellet technology in Europe and started working on the first project, a wood pellet boiler, in his garage. He even paid a local university to test it. The tests were successful and gave Whitfield a new direction. Wood stoves were a popular alternative heating source at this time, but they were getting a lot of bad press about their emissions and regulators were starting to crack down. With pellet stove emissions were only 0.7 grams of particulate emissions per hour, as compared to wood stoves at 50-100 grams per hour, it was a viable alternative for the mass market. "What better time to come out with something that still burns wood, that will save the day for a lot of people," he said.

He introduced his first stove at the Wood Heating Alliance show in Reno, Nev in 1984. At the end of the four day show he had orders for 1,000 stoves. Whitfield's stove looked like a typical wood stove on the outside, but inside it was state of the art. With an auger feeding specific amounts of pelletized low moisture fuel, and adding combustion air at just the right level a clean, consistent, and controllable burn was established. By blowing the heat off of the stove the safety and efficiency was raised, and the back side of combustion air made chimneys obsolete.

His first facility was a privately funded 1,500-square-foot shop in Lynnwood, WA. A short time later, he left Boeing. From Lynnwood, the company moved to a 15,000-square-foot plant in Everett, then in 1990 a 115,000 square foot plant in Burlington, WA. They manufactured up to 150 stoves a day during peak production. Discontinued this year the Whitfield IIT is the longest running and best selling stove to date.

In 1999 Whitfield's company, Pyro Industries, was sold to Lennox International which was later reorganized into Lennox Hearth Products. Business as usual, was the pronouncement of the 100 year old heating company. Many changes and new products were rushed into production, and many difficult years followed. The leading industry and pellet stove design innovator began to fall and sadly the last of the stoves that were once Whitfield were discontinued this year as Lennox purchased Country Stoves, and abandoned the Whitfield legacy.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. Here I will share what I know about wood pellet fuel, the appliances, politics, installation, maintenance, and service as I am able to. Items written about, by me or others, should be considered opinion, and general conversation. I am not liable for any information or misinformation contained in the blog, or comments. If you have a concern or issue with your product I definitely recommend going back to the place you purchased your item for help.
I have been in the industry for ten years, specializing in wood pellet and biomass appliances. I think it is a good technology, and would like to continue to see it grow! Renewable, reliable, local, and economical wood pellet fuel is a viable alternative to heat our homes and businesses.
Comments and feedback are welcome. Personal attacks will get your comment deleted, however.