Understanding how many pellets a pellet stoves will use canhelp you to plan how many bags of pellets you need to order or even help you tounderstand whether it’s worth installing a pellet stove in the first place.
A range of factors can influence how many pellets a pelletstove will go through and this can include whether the stove is operating atlow or high heat output settings.
Based on the average pellet stoves using a 40lb bag ofpellets every 24 hours, a pellet stove will typically burn through 1.67lbs ofpellets per hour. However, this amount can be more or less depending on thesize and heat output potential of a pellet stove, among other factors.
Our own pellet stove goes through a similar number ofpellets per hour as the typical average, but the number consumed can also beaffected by a few settings.
We’ve explained in more detail below using our own pelletstove as an example:
- Factors that can affect the burn rate ofpellets.
- The typical range of pellets consumed per hour.
- How to check the pellet consumption rate of apellet stove.
- How long a bag of pellets will typically last.
- How many bags of pellets you’ll typically needfor a season.
How Many Pellets Does APellet Stove Use?
Pellet stoves require the use of pellets, commonlymade from wood, to be used as the fuel in order to generate heat.
While other forms of stove such as wood burning require youto add the fuel manually to the fire, pellet stoves are electronic appliancesand automatically feed the pellets to the fire in the combustion chamberfrom the integrated hopper by using a motorized auger.
All pellet stoves will go through the fuel in theform of pellets during operation at a certain rate. This will be knownas the burn rate or the fuel consumption rate.
The number of pellets that a pellet stoves uses can rangedepending on a number of factors, including the:
- Make and model of stove
- Heat output potential of stove
- Stove efficiency
- Age and condition of stove
Expect a pellet stove on average to burn throughapproximately 1.67lbs of pellets per hour.
The burn rate of any particular model of pellet stove isoften stated in the manual.
For example, the manual for own particular model of stoveexplains that the stove has a:
- Minimum fuel consumption of 0.7kg/hour(1.54lb/hour)
- Maximum fuel consumption of 1.525kg/hour(3.36lb/hour)
The minimum fuel consumption for our pellet stove (typicallywhere the stove is keeping the room at a constant temperature) is similar tothe average estimated burn rate of any pellet stove.
However, our stove can also consume much more than theaverage and can be burning through more pellets per hour, most likely whentrying to bring the temperature of the room up to the desired room temperaturewe’ve set. This will require more fuel than simply keeping the room at aconstant temperature.
How Long Will A 40lb BagOf Pellets Burn?
Based on the typical burn rate of pellets of 1.67lbs, apellet stove can on average burn through a standard 40lb bag of pellets every24 hours.
When this consumption rate of pellets is associatedwith the capacity of the hopper, the total burn time can becalculated.
We’ve discussed how long pellet stove can burn for in more detail in another article but many pellets stove (including ours) are able to burn for 24 hours continuously before more pellets will need to be added.
Both the fuel consumption and the hopper capacity willaffect total burn time.
Pellet stoves with larger capacity hoppers can hold morefuel, while pellets stoves with lower than average consumption rate of pelletscan use less fuel per hour.
With a larger hopper capacity and lower pellet burn rate, apellet stove can last for many hours before you need to re-fuel.
Based on a 40lb bag of pellets lasting for approximately 24hours, a 20lb bag of pellets will therefore typically last for approximately12 hours.
These figures are only averages and expect any particular model of pellet stove to deviate slightly from these burn rates and how long a bag of pellets will last.
See specific models of pellet stove for their individual pellet consumption rates.
How Many Bags Of PelletsIn A Ton?
A standard 1 ton pallet holding bags of pellets willcontain 2000lbs of pellets. Based on each bag of pellets typically containing40lb of pellets there will be 50 bags of pellets in a ton.
How Many Bags Of WoodPellets Do I Need?
Based on a household using an average of 3 tons ofpellets per heating season and that there are 50 bags of pellets in a ton, thenumber of bags of pellets needed per burning season can be approximately 150.
Pellets for use with pellet stoves are most commonly sold inbags of 40lb (or 15kg bags in the UK).
The Pellet Fuels Institute explains:
‘A typical homeowner uses 3 tons of pellets per heating season.’
PFI
Based on each bag of pellets weighing 40lb and 1 ton equalling2000lb, approximately 150 bags of pellets will be required to keep a pelletstove burning for a season.
Further Reading
Can You Burn Corn In A Pellet Stove?
How Long Do Pellet Stoves Last?
