Harman P68 room temp mode vs stove temp mode

you will likely use a lil more pellets through the on-off cycles than you would if it just ran on low, but the unit is basically the same efficiency in either mode. Try the Stove Temp mode and set it at 1 and see what happens. The worst you could do is use a few cups of pellets, not bags and bags.

We have the same stove and are going into our 3rd season with it. We started out using room temp mode which is good for fall and spring when the sun comes out and day time temps go up. However, in my opinion you do use quite a bit more pellets with room temp mode in the dead of whinter. We have used stove temp mode consistently since then after 2 years of learning the in's and out's of the stove and what settings are best for our stove and our home. When it's really cold, a feed rate of 4 works best on our stove. The fire is a bit bigger that way and so ultimately a bit warmer without wasting or using too many pellets. I hope that helps and after some time, you will learn the best settings for you. Keep it really clean and it will work great for you. It is our sole source of heating and we have 2800 square feet.

[del]I run a p68 also and used to use room temp, I ran through alot of igniters that way so now I only run on stove and since then no new igniters and it seems like maybe less pellets run on 1 when in 40s-50s and 3or so when it gets colder.[/del]

[del]I run a p68 also and used to use room temp, I ran through alot of igniters that way so now I only run on stove and since then no new igniters and it seems like maybe less pellets run on 1 when in 40s-50s and 3or so when it gets colder.[/del][del][/del]

[del]I run a p68 also and used to use room temp, I ran through alot of igniters that way so now I only run on stove and since then no new igniters and it seems like maybe less pellets run on 1 when in 40s-50s and 3or so when it gets colder.[/del]

I run a p68 also and used to use room temp, I ran through alot of igniters that way so now I only run on stove and since then no new igniters and it seems like maybe less pellets run on 1 when in 40s-50s and 3or so when it gets colder.

Harman (it seems) has gone to great lengths to make their stoves functioning as confusing as possible.

manual mode isn't really "manual;" The computer still governs things.

the "feed rate" isn't really the feed rate. It is really a "maximum". "no more than ___". The owner's manual says to set it to 4. That doesn't mean that its going to always feed at that rate. It means that it won't feed any MORE than that; even in "manual" mode, the computer decides how much to feed, up to that limit, depending on what it senses...whether its taking direction from the exhaust temperature sensor, or the room temperature sensor. You'll see owners of other stoves talking about "how much heat" a certain brand of pellets puts out, and so forth...They can get an idea of this because their stoves can be set for a fixed input--fixed amount of pellets, fixed amount of air= if there's a difference in the output (air temp coming out of the stove), it must be from the pellets. Well, we can never see that, because we can't "fix" the input; if one bag of pellets is burning hotter, the stove will simply adjust the input to satisfy its sensors, no matter what mode is set.

The stove is going to run most efficiently in room-temp mode, IF its getting an accurate sense of the heat load on the house. It won't get an accurate sense if the probe is too close to the stove, or sitting on the floor. If there is another heating system still in use somewhere else in the house, the stove will get confused, and turn on and off the fans erratically as it tries to match the heat load. In room temp, the stove isn't just going by a fixed temp, and turning up when the temp is too low, and down when its too high; it is sensing the rate of change of the temp. A central heating system can change the temp so fast, the stove has to constantly react in the only way it can, which is by cutting off the fan. (you can't make a wood fire disappear in an instant, like you can w/ gas or oil).

Its "normal" for a "normal" vac to make a huge mess when trying to vacuum ash. you should never do that. You need a special fine-dust filter in whatever vac you use. Lots of people use regular shop-vacs, but they must have a special fine-dust ("HEPA") filter.

I’ve been playing with these settings the last couple days myself. After only a couple I like running the insert on room temp with the igniter on manual. And at night I set the ignitor back to auto. That way the stove doesn’t turn on and off during the day. It hasn't been real cold the last couple of days, but I can see where stove temp will be an option when it gets cold.