My Journey with a Castle Serenity Pellet Stove.

Well the journey has begun. I've been heating my shop, approximately 650 sf, for the last 7 years with electric heat. Made the decision to go with wood pellet heat about a month and a half ago and have been doing some research. Narrowed the search down to 2 possibilities. The Castle Serenity and the PelPro PP60. Went with the Castle Serenity . I at first tried to acquire one thru Ace Hdwe using their 15% off coupon and they cancelled the order after about a week and a half . stewed about that for a day and just went ahead ordered it thru Home Depot. Supposed to be delivered to store on 3-16 or 17. Went ahead and installed the exhaust vent using the measurements given in the Serenity pdf manual. Bought the Selkirk vent kit off ebay. Have never used Selkirk before, it seems sufficient, time will tell.
Have been heating with wood pellets in our residence since '92. Using a Quadrafire Classic Bay 1200 right now, bought new 2 -1/2 years ago. Has been trouble free with the exception of mistakenly dumping a taped up bag of pellets into the hopper last winter and having to clean out the floor trash from the auger that someone put in the bag .

Anyways, I'll try to document this journey as it goes in the hopes it will benefit some.
Here's the exhaust vent install:

Lake Girl said:

What kind of shop? Any chance of nasty vapours from fuels and code calls for it being 18" (I think) off the floor. OAK hook-up is mandatory too. May want to check local by-laws if they have more specifics...

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Interesting. Do you have any links that would provide more info?

Just a quick note: my son and I went and picked up the Serenity last evening at the HD. At approximately 200 #'s, was easy to pick up and slide into the back of his van. Will explain in more detail later, but for now, I am super impressed with this little guy! No OAK as of yet but it is in the plan. Left the voltages at default and left the draft at just a wee bit over half open. Flame burns between 4 to 6" above burn pot on Manual-1 with Lignetic pellets.
I was starting to have a few doubts that it might put out too much heat after some reading here and other reviews but am very satisfied with it's performance!
More to come, stay tuned .

Sittin' in the shop burnin' the stove at Manual-4 trying to get a little of the stink burned off. Pulled the batteries in the alarm as I figure if I can smell it, the alarm can . Hoping to put the batteries back in later this evening. I did want to mention to those that might be concerned, my stove was attached to the shipping pallet with only 2 brackets at the rear and one of those was broke and the other was almost ripped out of the pallet. So I'm confident the stove got jostled around a bit during transport. No visual evidence when picking up the stove but once getting it home and removing the cardboard surround it was evident. A little paint rubbed off the bottom left edge, no big deal for me but for those that are in to aesthetics it might be worth removing the cardboard (easy) at the store and dealing with the situation there. I find it hard to believe that it wasn't attached on all four corners though .
I'm extremely pleased with the stove, it is a performer! Nice healthy flame at Manual-4, it kicks. Oh, I just kicked it up to 5 (high) with the remote , the manual says it's an option but it came with it. At first I thought it was a little over the top but I can see where it might prove useful, in the shop anyways.
Well, I'll share more thoughts on this lil' Gem as time goes on.

Sunday I decided to seal the exhaust vent to pipe connection. I think it was Lakegirl that suggested this tip in another thread. Anyways, got it at HD and so far so good. Seemed to notice a positive difference right away.

Pelleting In NJ said:

Can you post a bunch of pictures of the inside guts of this stove?

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Sure, be glad to. Just hope waiting a few days works for you. I'll try to install an OAK this weekend and will be pulling the stove out away from the wall at that time which leaves it easy enough to remove the necessary panels to get some inside pix.
Been using it everyday here in the shop so hoping for a dry wknd day to install the OAK. And besides I have some parts to acquire and also fabricate for the OAK so the weekend works for me and hope it works for you.

chickenman said:

If you haven't bought the bits you should install a balanced flue like we have. Would work perfect on a Serenity and give you 10% improved efficiency. Plus you don't needa second hole in your wall.

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Okay, you have my attention. I'm all eyes & ears. I already have all the bits laying around, i.e., pipe, wall thimble material, etc.. ...but am always open to a project that makes things more functional.
Did a search here on the forum for 'balanced flue' and was only able to come up with info regarding closing off air intake on lower base of stove. Still a 'lil vague for my limited imagination. Would you be willing to provide some links or a little more info pertaining to your 'balanced flue' design?
Thanks!

rich2500 said:

I believe this is chickenmans vent he is referring to.
http://www.fireflamestoves.com/Accessories.htm

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Thanks for the link, rich2500. That is quite the piece of engineering. Quite a bit more involved than I'm willing to try to fabricate, . And at current pellet prices here it would take 15+ ton to realize the 10% efficiency savings if purchased the one at that link plus start all over with my venting . Right now I'm vertical 4' inside then out. We'll see what chickenman responds with. Really appreciate you taking the time to post that link, great info!

Or this "single hole" thimble/OAK
http://www.woodlanddirect.com/3-inc..._a_7c2594655&gclid=CNb1ovORxMQCFY-HaQod_ZkAoQ

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I looked at those when first considering options with venting and it appeared to me at the time that one would still need to cut the 2 holes for the fresh air, plus, even though that aluminum foil stuff is legal, I don't like it. If ever the stove did vent 'out' the intake I would prefer something more secure than foil. At my age I have enough trouble sleepin' at night .
Thank you for posting the link Pelleting In NJ.

chickenman said:

Clearance to the outer tube to combustibles is 1" as the pipe barely gets warm. So all you need is a single 7" hole through you wall. So simple....

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Well, you definitely got me thinking about this! It appears the general concept is to preheat the combustion air. With that in mind; if putting another hole in the wall was no big deal, would it work in a vertical arrangement with inlet at the bottom and outlet at the top of the chamber? I'm not totally against pulling my stove out further but I'd rather put another hole in the wall if getting approximately the same results .

chickenman said:

Like this?

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Sorta. Sure appreciate you sharing this info! I'll do up a sketch of what I was thinkin' and submit it for your review. Might not be today, forsee a full day at work and giggin' tonite.
Thanks again!

bogieb said:

I'm thinking if it ever gets so far as to try to vent out the OAK, you have way more problems than the aluminum flexible pipe not holding up (since I see no reason it wouldn't hold up to just smoke and maybe a bit of heat).

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Well, you got me there . Just a personal thang, no scientific facts to back up how I feel about it.

Don2222 said:

Hello

Balanced Flue in this country is Selkirk Direct Vent.
See my install pics of it here
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...-pellet-stove-hearth-for-garage.104197/page-3

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Thanks a bunch for the link! Enjoyed it!

chickenman said:

I am away on business for the mext 3 days. Delivering a stove 700 miles, plus other irrigation stuff.

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Thanks for the heads up.Still no sketch done. Still like the idea of diy so am still scheming.