no heat using pellet stove as back up

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Courtney

Courtney

Member
Jan 27, 2013
54
Westminster, MD
Good evening! I have a2011 Quadrafire Santa Fe in our finished basement and a heat pump. Recently the head pump died (defrost board fried) and I am waiting for the part. It is single digits in MD. I have a 1100 sf tight rancher and am running the pellet stove on med fan at 70 degrees to maintain a temp upstairs at 60. Could this overheat the stove? I noticed since I usually run the stove on low 24/7 that now the bricks have oxidized white and the ash is very minimal/fine/white. The exterior is warm but not hot. I maintain the stove daily and perform a full clean out weekly with the shop vac.

I really love this stove and now am relying on it. Thoughts? and many thanks!
 
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Run it like you stole it!
 
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Your stove was built to heat right? What reason are you holding back? Turn the temp up and enjoy the heat. That is why we all buy them.

Put it at 75 and enjoy, or up to 80!

I dare you! ;)
 
Courtney said:
Good evening! I have a2011 Quadrafire Santa Fe in our finished basement and a heat pump. Recently the head pump died (defrost board fried) and I am waiting for the part. It is single digits in MD. I have a 1100 sf tight rancher and am running the pellet stove on med fan at 70 degrees to maintain a temp upstairs at 60. Could this overheat the stove? I noticed since I usually run the stove on low 24/7 that now the bricks have oxidized white and the ash is very minimal/fine/white. The exterior is warm but not hot. I maintain the stove daily and perform a full clean out weekly with the shop vac.

I really love this stove and now am relying on it. Thoughts? and many thanks!
Click to expand...
RU sure? Will do want this to last many years. Thanks for the feedback!!
 
lightyear said:
Your stove was built to heat right? What reason are you holding back? Turn the temp up and enjoy the heat. That is why we all buy them.

Put it at 75 and enjoy, or up to 80!

I dare you! ;)
Click to expand...
ok!
 
IF the stove indeed over heats , the high limit switch will click and safely shut it down , but you are no where near that point .

many here keep their stoves heating their houses at 72-74 and above .
 
Hello

I have 2 Santa Fe's and luv them both!
What bricks are you talking about?

If you have ceramic fire logs or brick backing in the stove then you can take them out to keep them from getting brittle and cracking.
 
Don2222 said:
Hello

I have 2 Santa Fe's and luv them both!
What bricks are you talking about?

If you have ceramic fire logs or brick backing in the stove then you can take them out to keep them from getting brittle and cracking.
Click to expand...
 
I've the same stove. We had our coldest spell in 50 years from New Years until about 10 days ago. Coldest day clocked in at -16. Mine ran 24/7 the entire time, mostly on high. I did throttle back the feed gate, as the flame was to the upper metal shield (normally I run it wide open on medium). It's never shut down from overheating on me once, unless you count running out of fuel, which it will tend to do on high.

Crank it!
 
If yer stove could talk it would thank you, not unlike the Tin Man after a little oil. Don't be the Cowardly Lion ;) Let her rip!
 
Just the baffle and bricks at the back of the stove , no logs.
 
Dinger said:
I've the same stove. We had our coldest spell in 50 years from New Years until about 10 days ago. Coldest day clocked in at -16. Mine ran 24/7 the entire time, mostly on high. I did throttle back the feed gate, as the flame was to the upper metal shield (normally I run it wide open on medium). It's never shut down from overheating on me once, unless you count running out of fuel, which it will tend to do on high.

Crank it!
Click to expand...
Many thanks!
 
try a fan at the top of the basement stairs blowing down and low to the steps/floor. you should feel the heat come rushing up at the top of the door and into the upper spaces as it is forced out buy the fan's input.

i can't use this trick everywhere in my house due to the layout. but i have started doing from outside my stove room from the dining room.
works great.

and yeah, crank it.
 
St_Earl said:
try a fan at the top of the basement stairs blowing down and low to the steps/floor. you should feel the heat come rushing up at the top of the door and into the upper spaces as it is forced out buy the fan's input.

i can't use this trick everywhere in my house due to the layout. but i have started doing from outside my stove room from the dining room.
works great.

and yeah, crank it.
Click to expand...
Thanks I am using a vornado at the top of the stairs on low. I was just afraid this trick would overload the stoves capacity. Not sure what it can do in dire straits!
 
Give her some!
 
LOL I hate it when the head pump dies........!!!

P.S. my propane tank has been empty for 4 years.
 
Courtney said:
RU sure? Will do want this to last many years. Thanks for the feedback!!
Click to expand...
My Quad had been running on high for more than 3 days until this afternoon. It's eleven years old, and still runs fine. Medium is a piece o' cake.

Can you use the heat pump fan (no heat) to distribute heat from the basement? Some thermostats have a fan "auto/on" switch.
 
ye
SwineFlue said:
My Quad had been running on high for more than 3 days until this afternoon. It's eleven years old, and still runs fine. Medium is a piece o' cake.

Can you use the heat pump fan (no heat) to distribute heat from the basement? Some thermostats have a fan "auto/on" switch.
Click to expand...
yes great idea and I use that all the time even if the pump was operational. Thanks!
 
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If you have the flame height set per manual (4"-6") then run it on High 24/7... That's what it's designed to do.

It's a Quad!! Nothing burns like a Quad!!
 
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