Pellet Fan

All Things Considered => General Discussion--Non food Related => Topic started by: Kristin Meredith on January 28, 2018, 09:38:29 AM

Title: Does Your Pellet Pit Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: Kristin Meredith on January 28, 2018, 09:38:29 AM
We lived in California for 50 years and I lived in So Cal for 30.  Bent moved to LA in 2002 and thereafter got the first pellet pit I had ever seen.  In SoCal it seemed we used the pellet pit all year round.  Weather was so mild, even in winter and summer, and virtually no bugs, so it was very easy to just leave the doors to the patio open and stroll in and out to cook.

Here in NoVa, it is colder in the winter and muggy and buggy in the summer.  So, my perception is that we use the pit more in Spring and Fall when it is very pleasant -- but never did any study on it. 

Any of you notice if there is a season when you use your pit more and more pellets to run your pit?  Maybe if you live in a cold climate and cook often you use more?  Or maybe you just like to cook out in the summer more?
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: Quadman750 on January 28, 2018, 10:16:46 AM
I use more pellets in the summer due to the climate here. I entertain lots in the summer sitting outside on the deck.
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: triplebq on January 28, 2018, 10:19:43 AM
I cook year round no matter the weather. I live in NC and we might dip into the teens but the smoker is outside not me.  ;D This is one of the advantages of pellet units. Set the temp, put the food on, and go back inside.
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: Canadian John on January 28, 2018, 10:41:07 AM

 A/ Warm weather pellet usage is higher due to longer and more cooks.

 B/ Higher temperature cooks consume more pellets regardless of the ambient.

 C/ The colder the ambient, the higher the pellet consumption regardless of pit temperature.  All due to radiant heat loss from the pits outer

 surfaces and the cold combustion air..Pellet pits flow a lot of air.

(Cold is the absence of heat.  Heat travels to cold).   
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: dk117 on January 28, 2018, 12:42:57 PM
I cook year round no matter the weather. I live in NC and we might dip into the teens but the smoker is outside not me.  ;D This is one of the advantages of pellet units. Set the temp, put the food on, and go back inside.
Agreed!   PNW, rain or shine, pellets are burning.

DK
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: Osborn Cox on January 28, 2018, 12:47:13 PM
I use my grill pretty consistently year round and because it’s insulated pellet consumption is fairly consistent.    The only time I really don’t like to grill is when it is sub-zero temps, then I tend to cook inside more.
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: yorkdude on January 28, 2018, 01:31:04 PM
I don't really pay attention but I bet we use more in the Fall and Winter. We use them more than because it is usually too dang cold to do much else. Also in the spring/summer we are always on the boats, that is the biggest reason we bought the Davey Crocket. In a few months we will get to see how much we will use it.
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: silverbullet on January 28, 2018, 02:01:29 PM
No brainer here, I cook outdoors year round so in the winter months I use more. Gets pretty cold here in Central Wisconsin.
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: Michael_NW on January 28, 2018, 10:01:56 PM
I use a lot more of my pellets in the winter simply due to the frequency of my cooks. I have more free weekends in the winter; the other 9 months I'm working 6-day weeks with overtime so trying to cram a cook into a Sunday already full with prep for the coming week is tough.
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: ArborAgent on January 28, 2018, 10:42:45 PM
I cook all year round and it's not noticeable to me how temperature impacts pellet usage.
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: Chris__M on January 29, 2018, 06:49:03 AM
I'm definitely a fair-weather griller. That doesn't mean I don't use it at all in the winter, but definitely a lot less.

My kitchen indoors is fairly small, so in the summer, I choose to cook even non-BBQ stuff outside, simply so I don't have to turn the oven on and swelter inside. Which is why my Traeger often has a big thick pizza stone in it, for baking bread.
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: Brushpopper on January 29, 2018, 07:38:40 AM
I've only been using a pellet grill for a year now, but luckily the weather here is usually nice enough to cook year around. 
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: mowin on January 29, 2018, 11:42:19 AM
I picked spring.. but I cook yr round fairly consistently. However I do a lot of cold smoking in the spring do to the cooler temps. 
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: Kristin Meredith on September 01, 2018, 08:42:03 AM
Since it is now offically the end of summer, I thought I would bump and see about any more responses.  And I want to know if you use your pit for cooking more in one season than any other and if that means you use more pellets..
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Pit Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: Bentley on September 01, 2018, 01:15:27 PM
More use in late Fall and early Spring when it is not a Swamp here!
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Pit Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: DE on September 04, 2018, 07:11:45 PM
Summer and Spring mostly.
Title: Re: Does Your Pellet Pit Usage Go Up During Certain Seasons?
Post by: hughver on September 04, 2018, 08:55:48 PM
Fall,winter and spring. The pit(s) don't go north with me in the summer.