New Pellet Stove Came - Getting to the happy place - Update with pics

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IceNine

New Member
Dec 8, 2009
40
CT, by the water
Sorry for no pics of the setup just yet. Too many installers coming in and out of the house yesterday. Will post new pics IF the stove stays. :D

Ok so, stove details are in my sig. Napoleon NPS40 (Freestanding). Unit is supposed to heat about 2200SQFT. First problem, the adapter going from the 6" opening(wood stove prior) to the stove came in all mashed up and they couldn't use it. Thankfully the guys had a long enough liner that they just ran that straight in and connected it to the stove to at least get it up and running. Stove is up and running, great, the exhaust fan is not very loud and even at the highest fan setting it is bearable. Second problem, the stove has 8 heat exchangers. After about an hour of running the stove on High on both settings i noticed that the left 4 exchangers are putting out adequately HOT air (can't read exact temps but putting my hand next to the vent i'd have to move it away 10 seconds later. The right 4 exchangers are putting out CONSIDERABLY cooler air. I mean damn lukewarm AT BEST. Third problem, the stove is setup in a room that is (and i'm going to be generous here) 14x14 in a corner hearth so the stove points from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. Again, i had this sucker running at high for about 6 hours straight. In all honesty, i did not feel a temperature change in that room. Not quite what i expected for an investment worth so much money. While i understand that this would not replace my primary heat source I was at least expecting SOMETHING a little bit better than this. The wife and I at this point are really disappointed with the performance. Oh and BTW the first pellets are hamer HotOnes, HW ultra premium or premium, don't remember what it says on the bag. As far as the ash goes, happy with the output or lack thereof for the amount of time that we had the stove running. Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas? Right now i'm just about ready to call the place and have this bad boy packaged up and returned, unless i can figure out some sort of solution.


Still Cold Ice.

EDIT - ok as you will read through this you'll see that the stove is now working properly. No real change except maybe first time owner stupidity.
 
I’m sorry you are disappointed in your new stove. Many variables can determine if the house will heat, a room or even a small area. How high are your ceilings in that room? How old is the house? Is it insulated? And on and on and on. In contrast, I have approx. 2000 square foot small foundation colonial and my Quad 1200I will do the entire house in at zero degrees. I’m lucky that the air flow in the house circulates just right to keep down stairs at 71 and the bedrooms upstairs at 67. If I were to guess I bet you have a vaulted ceiling. As far as the stove goes, I am not well versed in that stove but I’m sure others on this great board can enlighten you. Good luck!!!
 
Well, the ceiling is slanted in that room, goes from about 10-12ft to 7-8ft at the lowest height. The house was built in 1951. I couldn't tell you when the addition was added(the room that the stove is in). Don't know if it's insulated or not. guess i can poke a small hole in the wall and find out. I have 1 heat vent in that room from the Oil Monster and there was really no difference yesterday. I just expected a better heat output from this thing. I guess if i stand right next to it, on the left side, i can get warm. That's about it. not exactly what i had in mind for a $3000+ inestment. :) and :(
 
IceNine said:
Well, the ceiling is slanted in that room, goes from about 10-12ft to 7-8ft at the lowest height. The house was built in 1951. I couldn't tell you when the addition was added(the room that the stove is in). Don't know if it's insulated or not. guess i can poke a small hole in the wall and find out. I have 1 heat vent in that room from the Oil Monster and there was really no difference yesterday. I just expected a better heat output from this thing. I guess if i stand right next to it, on the left side, i can get warm. That's about it. not exactly what i had in mind for a $3000+ inestment. :) and :(

A few suggestions:

You have to check to see if the room/house is insulated. (This should have probably been done before the purchase)
With 10-12 high ceilings, you are going to have a ton of heat sucked up...might suggest a ceiling fan to distribute the warm air with the colder air below.
 
ilikewood said:
A few suggestions:

You have to check to see if the room/house is insulated. (This should have probably been done before the purchase)
With 10-12 high ceilings, you are going to have a ton of heat sucked up...might suggest a ceiling fan to distribute the warm air with the colder air below.

problem is there really isn't that much hot air coming out this thing. or at least 1/2 of what it should be pumping. I still can't imagine that between the heating vent in the room AND the stove running on high for 6 hours the room temp didn't change. I can manipulate the room temp now by simply jacking up my heat. That's what i'm trying to avoid. :)
Thanks for you suggestions, will certainly look into the insulation though. Unfortunately due to the slant in the ceiling, i don't think i can install a fan.
 
If the stove is brand new then you have a warranty on it have the dealer come back and make it right, if it's blowing lukewarm air on one side and hot on the other theres definetly an issue with that stove and with the money you just dished out for it I would be on the phone real quick.
mnkywrnch
 
mnkywrnch said:
If the stove is brand new then you have a warranty on it have the dealer come back and make it right, if it's blowing lukewarm air on one side and hot on the other theres definetly an issue with that stove and with the money you just dished out for it I would be on the phone real quick.
mnkywrnch

Yup. Already on the horn with the dealer and they'll be coming out Mon-Tuesday hopefully with the part going from the thimble to the stove as well. Wish me luck boys.
 
I have a Harmon P61a, and that is all that I can speak for, but some pellet stoves will put out a tremendous amount of heat. I have a 175+ year old plank two-story house that is fairly tight, but not well insulated. The basement is field-stone ruble with a poured concrete floor. My stove will heat my main floor nicely, and send so much heat upstairs that I had to install a curtain at the foot of the stairs to stop some of the heat from going up to the bedrooms. I also blow some of the heat into the basement to keep the pipes from freezing downstairs. I can heat the entire house with the thing, and be comfortable when it is minus 20 degrees fahrenheit outside. There has to be something wrong with your stove.

Edited to say that when the stove heats the entire house comfortably when it is minus 20, it does use around 120lbs or three bags of pellets a day to accomplish the task.
 
I'm not familiar with the Napoleon stoves but remember that a pelletstove and a wood stove are two different animals... there have been some former woodburners here who have run their pellet damper (intake air) wide open and got less heat than expected. Simply adjusting the damper makes a difference.

You should have temps somewhere north of 200F at the stove... I'd read and re-read the instruction manual and have the dealer send a knowledgeable person out to explain how these things work... many times the guy in the showroom doesn't even own a pellet stove.
 
I'm with Sawduster and mnkywrnch; there's got to be something wrong with the stove. When mine is cranking, it puts out so much heat I can barely stand to be close to it. Even if you were losing heat due to lack of insulation, there should be plenty of heat at least coming out of the stove. Where it goes after that is another problem, but it doesn't seem like it's even putting out the heat. Hopefully the dealer will make things right, one way of another.
 
krooser said:
I'm not familiar with the Napoleon stoves but remember that a pelletstove and a wood stove are two different animals... there have been some former woodburners here who have run their pellet damper (intake air) wide open and got less heat than expected. Simply adjusting the damper makes a difference.

You should have temps somewhere north of 200F at the stove... I'd read and re-read the instruction manual and have the dealer send a knowledgeable person out to explain how these things work... many times the guy in the showroom doesn't even own a pellet stove.

During the course of the 6+ hours yesterday i tried the damper on every level, 0-5 and the flame would dance accordingly. heat output never changed. going back to my OP the most bizarre thing to me was the temp difference between the heat exchange tubes from left to right. I've heard good things about the Hamers(pellets) so i was expecting SOMETHING! Regardless of insulation or ceiling height there should've been SOME extra heat in the room. As i said in another post i CAN get more heat in that room if i bumped up my thermostat for regular oil heat. Dealer is coming back out next week to check it all out so we'll see.

Thanks for all the help and ideas all.
 
I have a Napoleon NPS40 freestanding in a room that is 16x25. The ceilings are on 7'6". It is the lower level of a Raised Ranch. This room stays very warm and the heating system never comes on. I was expecting to get better heat upstairs than I am, but I can deal with that. The other side of the lower level is a Garage that is about the same size. If I open the door separating the two sides the garage will eventually warm up to 72°. The garage is not insulated very well, which also hurts my heating of the upstairs above that side of the house.
I don't think the air on the right side heat exchanges is cooler, but it definitely does not come out as strong as the left side. At night I run the feed at 4 1/2 and the blower at the highest setting, with the air damper at 3-4. I can usually hold 65° upstairs and probably 75° in the room the stove is in. The bedrooms over the garage are a bit cooler.
 
what kind of pellets are you burning eschills? and how long does it take to get that room warm? With the door leading to the garage closed?
 
IceNine said:
what kind of pellets are you burning eschills? and how long does it take to get that room warm? With the door leading to the garage closed?
Burned Natures Own from Home Depot last year and and burning NEWP this year. The room is warm in an hour with the garage door closed. Will start feeling warm upstairs in a couple hours. If not real cold out I will have to open the garage to let some of the hot air out f the room and pull some cooler air in. If real cold it will just keep the room warm.
 
IceNine said:
ilikewood said:
A few suggestions:


Thanks for you suggestions, will certainly look into the insulation though. Unfortunately due to the slant in the ceiling, i don't think i can install a fan.
ceiling fans are designed to hang from slanted ceilings, the only issue I ever saw in the manuals (I have installed four in my house) was to make sure the fan blades didn't hit the ceiling when hung from steeply pitched ceilings, this would be fixed by adding a longer rod that the fan hangs from.
while a fan will help distribute the heat, I second that the air coming out should burn after a few seconds, considering it is a new stove and install I would say the stove has something wrong.
 
Sorry to hear your stove is not putting out the heat you were hoping for. My Harman P68 would solve your problem. When we first got it, I cranked it way up and we had to open all the windows because it got so hot. Maybe you need a bigger stove.
 
stevo may have a point: when we ran the p68 on the showroom, many owners of napoleon stove would come in and marvel at the heat out put of the thing: then they would ask how hot we were running it: usually on a low stove temp setting (2-3).. they always had a dissappointed look on their faces when I told them it was set on low, as theirs would not do that on high....
 
same as Summit......we have done many chageouts from Napoleon to Harman........dont know what the BTU/hr output of the Napoleon is, but the Harman P68 is 68,000 BUT/hr.......might be quite different. Also, please be warned that some stove slaesman, or stove literature might state the stove is good for "X" square feet, but that is an exceedingly POOR way of sizing a stove....! Houses (and owners), vary in characteristics, such as heat loss, how warm the folks like the house, etc.......
 
as a owner of the nps40 you wont be the only disappointed owner.mine has always been a little hotter on left side than right side by 20-25 degrees. was told that was normal and feedback from other owners say the same.also this stove is only rated at a maximum of 43000 btus. so it wont make it for 2200 sq.ft. check your temp at stove in front even with a meat thermometer,to get an idea of heat output. mine will range from 200-280 depending on settings. ive tried several pellets and soft wood burns better and cleaner in this stove.good luck and be patient. would this be my first choice of new stove again? no! im glad i have much less than half of 3000.00 invested in my stove setup. good luck
 
thats one of the reasons i went with a real wood stove instead of a rabbit food burner ,they are more of a gimmick in my eyes .
 
well i have some good news. apparently i was an idiot the first day and for some reason the stove was being hateful toward me as well. Had a good night yesterday but a VERY good morning so far. Just ran the stove at the highest pellet feed setting with the blower fan at 3 and the intake air at pretty much off. Very comfy in the room with the stove as well as the kitchen which is behind the family room about 3-4 steps up. The thermostat toward the end of the house in the hallway where my bedrooms start is reading 72. I lowered the Oil Monster to 63 this morning and haven't looked back. Just topped off the hopper with most of the 2nd bag of Hamers. Just lowered the feed down to 4. We're getting there. Thanks everyone for your comments and help. Pics when they fix the adapter and i don't have a lining coming out my chimney into the stove.

Ice
 
Good to hear things are getting better....please swallow some pride and share the enlightment that has taken place to help the stove meet your expectations. This is important feedback for other members that may run into the same circumstances.

We've all been there! Happy burning.
 
keep-in warm said:
Good to hear things are getting better....please swallow some pride and share the enlightment that has taken place to help the stove meet your expectations. This is important feedback for other members that may run into the same circumstances.

We've all been there! Happy burning.

I agree. We've all had those "doh!" moments, so please share with the members what it was you realized that made the difference.

Oh, and also .......where's the pics???? :cheese:
 
This is my second year with that same Napoleon stove. No noise, good heat, low initial investment. No clinkers, auger never clogs up. Bay window needs cleaning about every 3ed day. First 4 tubes run hotter than the second, but so what, I am heating a split 28x40. The large open area the stove is in is 78 degrees now, upstairs is about 72 degrees. The outside temp is 28 degrees. If the outside temp goes down below to 15-20 degrees, our forced hot air furnace will run for a short time. I heat my water with a separate oil fired hot water heater. Last tank fill up was last April. Only a quarter of a tank used so far. I burn about 8 bags of pellets each week. Run my air at wide open. Run my the auger feed just under 4, and run the damper wide open. Use a ceiling fan (set on low speed) in the room of the stove, and run a small fan on the floor at the bottom of the stair well blowing cold air towards the stove. House was build in 1975. Have had additional insulation put in the attic, did the house wrap when needed new siding. Window all thermopane with storm windows added, even on the double atrium doors. Double entry to our main entrance. Thermo blind on the picture window. If I could have had the new 6 in thick wall, that would have been even better, but for what I have, I think this stove is doing a good job. We really enjoy sitting in the family room near that big bay window. Our two dogs also enjoy it. With the leaf blower method, this stove is very easy to keep clean and running well.
 

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will be curious to see how long you ran on top setting with air shut off. sure cant do that on mine,pellets would overflow and flame would be some lazy. mine needs air. do you have oak?
 
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