Harman P68..stove or room temp?

This is the first time I have used Room Temp on my P61A. During most of the cold weather so far, with the lowest temp setting, the stove maintains consistent 200 degrees on the side panel which is sufficient for our application. During colder temps, I did have to increase the stove temp until it reached approx 300 degrees - again to maintain a comfortable temperature. Cycling up and down in the Room temp mode may be good for the local room the stove may be in, but there may be a difference - especially in the age and "wind currents" that may exist in older homes (1910 colonial) that make Stove temp a better choice for consistency in heating. I'm theorizing this from the fact that our home once had a coal burning "octopus" that was fed in the basement, the cast iron would heat up, and ductwork would carry the heat into the rooms. There was no thermostat involved - just the intensity of the fired coal and the temperature of the cast iron - along with draft and "wind currents" to distribute the heat. The gas conversion of this monster (1930's) did include the addition of a thermostat and blower to this unit, but would regulate temperatures according to the one room where the thermostat was attached.

I do know that there is likely a difference in volume of pellets burned in each case. Someone with more years on these stoves may chime in on their experience. I do think it is trial and error - every home, stove, and individual is different - the fun is in the experimentation.

Happy Holidays

I am a control freak when it comes to some things so I like to run my stove in stove temp mode. I found running it in room temp it was cycling high/low all the time and the blower was adjusting itself and it was annoying. I also feel I have better control over the feed rate when running in stove temp. An example, if I set the dial to 4 I know I’ll burn 1.5 bags a day. If I set the dial to 6/7 I’ll burn through 2 bags a day. In room temp you can’t really control feed rate since it’s based on room temperature and not whole house temperature. I guess it’s a personal thing.

Here in KY. our electric is rather cheap and I use my heat pumps as well as the pellet stove, so I too choose to run in stove temp. It's a fact that running in room temp. the stove has the ability to burn hotter, so this year I plan on keeping it in stove temp until the outside temp reached the teens...

I like stove temp way better than room temp. With stove temp, I know my pellets are being used for HEAT and not just idle burn as room temp mode.

Except for the shoulder seasons, I have always run the stoves in stove temp mode.
Seems to make my home feel more comfortable and keeps it at a consistant temp.

Not exactly sure why, but I go through pellets much faster on room temp.

I have tried both and like stove temp much better. I like being able to know how long a hopper full of pellets will last and think the stove will last longer also. I drive almost all highway driving and am surprised how long tires, brakes, exhaust will last. Our mechanic explained to me that cars that go at constant speed rather than stopping, starting, accelerating, etc will last much longer without replacing parts. I gotta think pellet stoves are the same way. However, we are home full time so if we find the house getting too warm or cold we can tweak the stove as needed.
JB

Medreach said:

I am a control freak when it comes to some things so I like to run my stove in stove temp mode. I found running it in room temp it was cycling high/low all the time and the blower was adjusting itself and it was annoying. I also feel I have better control over the feed rate when running in stove temp. An example, if I set the dial to 4 I know I’ll burn 1.5 bags a day. If I set the dial to 6/7 I’ll burn through 2 bags a day. In room temp you can’t really control feed rate since it’s based on room temperature and not whole house temperature. I guess it’s a personal thing.

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I have the same stove accentra insert. what setting do you use in stove temp. I never used stove temp only roomtemp. I avg 230-250 degrees with stove temp gauge

i prefer stove temp......in room temp being as cold as its been, upstairs wouldn't be as warm as it is.....

Question about stove temp for my Harman P61A (very similar to the P68 just a little smaller). When using stove temp mode do I still use the thermostat dial where all the temps are listed or just the L-H dial to regulate blower speed? I figure I use both but am not sure.

Bigjim13 said:

Question about stove temp for my Harman P61A (very similar to the P68 just a little smaller). When using stove temp mode do I still use the thermostat dial where all the temps are listed or just the L-H dial to regulate blower speed? I figure I use both but am not sure.

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yes you use the temp dial but use the in part of the dial for stove temp...for example the degree's on the dial are for room temp and #'s on the dial are stove temp....hope this helps ya

On the real cold days (upper20s to 32 degrees) I push the stove to #5-5 1/2 on stove temp on my accentra. (2 bags per day) I keep the living room a 78-80 degrees and the rest of the house is a steady 70-72 degrees. I really think its the pellet...I am mixing my Country Boy & Energex this year and its not the greatest heat. I don't think either burning them solo would of made a difference either. The Barefoots are incredible! So I have to push it harder.

gee, I guess I'm the lone dissenter, here. I use room temp. I don't see any excessive "cycling" of the stove; it maintains a very steady temperature in the house. What people are describing here sounds more like how another brand of stove would function with a thermostat..."hi/low" mode, running like a furnace. The whole point of using "room temp" is to avoid this cycling; if its not working that way, I wonder if its due to poor positioning of the temperature probe. (?)
I found that the 3' length that they give you is inadequate; I don't see how it can possibly work without getting away from the stove. There is no spot within 3 feet of the stove that isn't affected by the radiant heat output.

I don't see how "stove temp" can be more efficient. Its either going to be too much, or too little, as the heat load on the house is constantly changing.
Unless you're using the stove as "supplemental" heat; like, letting your furnace/boiler continue to run, to even out temps in far-reaches of the house. I can see setting the stove for a steady, constant output, and letting the central heating system adjust itself to fill in the gaps, so to speak.

Anyway, my stove acts like an outdoor thermometer. If I want to know how cold it is outside, I can just glance over at the flame on the stove. If its high...its cold out. If its low...its warming up out there...or my wife is cooking something.

cac4 said:

gee, I guess I'm the lone dissenter, here. I use room temp. I don't see any excessive "cycling" of the stove; it maintains a very steady temperature in the house. What people are describing here sounds more like how another brand of stove would function with a thermostat..."hi/low" mode, running like a furnace. The whole point of using "room temp" is to avoid this cycling; if its not working that way, I wonder if its due to poor positioning of the temperature probe. (?)
I found that the 3' length that they give you is inadequate; I don't see how it can possibly work without getting away from the stove. There is no spot within 3 feet of the stove that isn't affected by the radiant heat output.

I don't see how "stove temp" can be more efficient. Its either going to be too much, or too little, as the heat load on the house is constantly changing.
Unless you're using the stove as "supplemental" heat; like, letting your furnace/boiler continue to run, to even out temps in far-reaches of the house. I can see setting the stove for a steady, constant output, and letting the central heating system adjust itself to fill in the gaps, so to speak.

Anyway, my stove acts like an outdoor thermometer. If I want to know how cold it is outside, I can just glance over at the flame on the stove. If its high...its cold out. If its low...its warming up out there...or my wife is cooking something.

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Stove temp keeps the house temp steady too by constantly having the blower fan on and not shutting down at a temp set. In my case, the temp would drop and then the stove had to make up the loss, till it was back to house temp. That's the main reason why I don't like Room temp. But, it doesn't mean that your or mine is wrong. Each house is different and application varies. ;-)

thats my point, though...its not supposed to "swing" like that. Unless the temp in the house is swinging alot....like, I suppose, if you had lots of people there, and there were lots of comings and goings, doors opening and closing often.

my fan never kicks off. Unless...something drastic happens. like, (as I mentioned), the oven gets turned on, and the temp in the house then starts rising drastically.

cac4 said:

gee, I guess I'm the lone dissenter, here. I use room temp. I don't see any excessive "cycling" of the stove; it maintains a very steady temperature in the house. What people are describing here sounds more like how another brand of stove would function with a thermostat..."hi/low" mode, running like a furnace. The whole point of using "room temp" is to avoid this cycling; if its not working that way, I wonder if its due to poor positioning of the temperature probe. (?)
I found that the 3' length that they give you is inadequate; I don't see how it can possibly work without getting away from the stove. There is no spot within 3 feet of the stove that isn't affected by the radiant heat output.

I don't see how "stove temp" can be more efficient. Its either going to be too much, or too little, as the heat load on the house is constantly changing.
Unless you're using the stove as "supplemental" heat; like, letting your furnace/boiler continue to run, to even out temps in far-reaches of the house. I can see setting the stove for a steady, constant output, and letting the central heating system adjust itself to fill in the gaps, so to speak.

Anyway, my stove acts like an outdoor thermometer. If I want to know how cold it is outside, I can just glance over at the flame on the stove. If its high...its cold out. If its low...its warming up out there...or my wife is cooking something.

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Hi Chuck, Another dissenter here.... I always use Room Temp unless the temps are down into single numbers when I switch over to Stove Temp so that the stove becomes supplemental heat and the oil burner comes on so that the far end of of the house gets some heat (exactly as you described).

I find that there is a lot of cold air rushing into the living room where the stove is which is a bit uncomfortable when in Room Temp when it's very cold.

As you say, I love how Room Temp adjusts the stove depending on BTU's required... outside temp, turkey in the oven, etc.

I would agree that placement of the temp sensing probe is crucial for Room Temp to work correctly.

cac4 said:

gee, I guess I'm the lone dissenter, here. I use room temp. I don't see any excessive "cycling" of the stove; it maintains a very steady temperature in the house. What people are describing here sounds more like how another brand of stove would function with a thermostat..."hi/low" mode, running like a furnace. The whole point of using "room temp" is to avoid this cycling; if its not working that way, I wonder if its due to poor positioning of the temperature probe. (?)
I found that the 3' length that they give you is inadequate; I don't see how it can possibly work without getting away from the stove. There is no spot within 3 feet of the stove that isn't affected by the radiant heat output.

I don't see how "stove temp" can be more efficient. Its either going to be too much, or too little, as the heat load on the house is constantly changing.
Unless you're using the stove as "supplemental" heat; like, letting your furnace/boiler continue to run, to even out temps in far-reaches of the house. I can see setting the stove for a steady, constant output, and letting the central heating system adjust itself to fill in the gaps, so to speak.

Anyway, my stove acts like an outdoor thermometer. If I want to know how cold it is outside, I can just glance over at the flame on the stove. If its high...its cold out. If its low...its warming up out there...or my wife is cooking something.

Click to expand...

how far from the stove do you have the probe?......are you using someting other then the probe that came with it?

the probe is about 10' away from the stove (which is in a corner), along an adjacent wall. Its the same probe that comes with the stove; you extend it w/ 18-gage thermostat wire, and some crimp-on spade connectors to attach to the stove.

I feel for my Harman accentra insert the room temp works great. Lets put it this way. When its 20 and below I dont care what setting its on it still runs full throttle