First post here..installed my M55 yesterday...Had a Harman Invincible, went to the M55 because it was a lot quieter, seems to deliver better heat and for the tax credit money. So far so good. I am always amazed at some of the things manufacturers overlook. Like they have a slot on ONE side for the power cord?? I had to make a slot onthe side I needed it. There is a cast firebox liner that would not stay on place expecially when you cleaned the heat exchanger it would fall forward?? I secured that with a screw. I really am just rambling but so far I really like the stove just need to get use to it and work the bugs out. Surprised there is not more infornmation in the manuals about how the thing operates. Meaning on off time for pellet delivery in different modes ect. Moved the damper rod when I installed it so I guess I will get a magahoosic guage and adjust it because my glass is getting dirty fast with black soot. Although I think I have it set better now. Anybody else with any input I would appreciate it. Sorry for all of the ramblings.
Enviro M55 C Insert
- Thread starter nh1234
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nh1234 said:
Welcome to the forum nh1234. The M55 stove is getting a lot of interest.
As for the damper setting, if you're getting black soot and the glass is getting dirty fast, I suggest opening the damper some....cleaner burn.
BTW, how about some pics of the new stove...we LOVE pics on the forum.
Wachusett
Feeling the Heat
NH1234, Dirty glass is pretty common, search previous posts on the M55 it has been recently discussed. I have been able to minimize the
black soot to a gray ash by increasing the air trim. Good Luck and enjoy the new stove.
black soot to a gray ash by increasing the air trim. Good Luck and enjoy the new stove.
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
NH1234, Welcome to the forums.
There are a bunch of the M55 cast fellows hanging here. I'm sure they will join in and share there experiance with you! Seems to be a popular stove lately. Sure does look fancy too!
Echo the picture as we love to see the new toys.
There are a bunch of the M55 cast fellows hanging here. I'm sure they will join in and share there experiance with you! Seems to be a popular stove lately. Sure does look fancy too!
Echo the picture as we love to see the new toys.
Thanks for the input on the dirty glass I will try the trim and play with the damper. I am assuming that If I set it up with a magnehelic guauge I would get it burning as clean as it can?? Is that a realistic view?? Pictures..hummm will have to get that done also..Thanks for any and all input. So far seems to be a great stove.
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
From what I have read the air wash doesn't cover the whole glass. It misses the upper right side some. The magnehilic is a must for these toys. I have had mine for 3 seasons. Set the stove up per manual in the default trim settings. I promise you will not need to move the damper again unless you hit some sour fuel. The trim settings will be all you need to tinker with.
I have a new Empress Insert, but am pretty sure that it is defective and I figure that I will be negotiating for the M55 insert instead but was wondering what your pellet burn rate is?
I am going through a bag of pellets in less than 20 hours which is unacceptable to me, since it always seems to run out at about 2:00 am every morning. How is your M55 doing on pellets? Is it economical and are you getting the BTUs that they advertised.
Thanks for your input.
I am going through a bag of pellets in less than 20 hours which is unacceptable to me, since it always seems to run out at about 2:00 am every morning. How is your M55 doing on pellets? Is it economical and are you getting the BTUs that they advertised.
Thanks for your input.
jumpink
Member
Jay,
Did you use the magnehelic yourself? I am wondering if I need to adjust my damper as well. Really black soot on glass and clinkers after two days of burning.
Did you use the magnehelic yourself? I am wondering if I need to adjust my damper as well. Really black soot on glass and clinkers after two days of burning.
No it was done by the installer on two separate occasions and I am now waiting for the him to come out the 3rd time. They think it has to do with "trim rates" and the amount of pellets being dropped. What I have been told by the Enviro Factory is that each setting, 1,2,3, has to be set independently,,,,something that their owners manual does not reference. Since I have a mechanical background,,,and in 3 months have become very familiar with this stove, I have come to the conclusion that this stove just does not meet the specs that they advertise.
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
FredfromBoston said:
The stove is defective because it eats a bag of pellets in 20 hours? Don't change the stove change the pellets. Stoves feed by volume not weight. If anything the M55 will probably eat more fuel as it is rated for higher BTU output. Or you need a larger hopper capacity. I only see about 12hrs average per bag on the dense brands. Check here:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/60581/
Kevin C said:
Yes, I bought mine shortly after installing the stove. I just felt better knowing I was in spec on the settings. Do you absolutly need to use one? No, But it does take the quess work out of the adjustments.
The M55 will not solve your "pellet consumption issue". It will easily burn a bag in 20 hours, depending on what level(s) the stove is set at. I'm not trying to be smart, but if your issue is running out of pellets in the middle of the night, knowing that it will run for 20 hours on a bag, why not fill it right before you go to bed?FredfromBoston said:
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
NPCoot said:
NPCoot that sounds very logical!
A fill right before bed time should do. Unless they sleep more than 20 hours straight?
If your running of a thermostat and for arguement sake maintaing say a constant 70 degrees and burning a 1 bag in 20 hrs. there is very little you can do, the only way to " save " pellets is to run in stove temp and lower the heat output settings, then your house will be colder. A change of pellet brand can sometimes buy you a few more hours but in the end it is what it is and 1 bag / 20 hrs. is it.
flynfrfun
Minister of Fire
I've had my M55 cast insert for over a month now. On heat level 3 (feed trim 3), it burns about 4lbs/hr. I get about 10hrs/bag. I'm not using a thermostat. I run it on manual and just leave it on.
It does dirty up the upper right corner of the glass. All the M55's do this. I have my damper all the way open (I'm at 600' MSL) but have not used a magnahelic to set the damper yet.
Pro's/Cons:
Pros: Super quiet!, very nice looking, slide out rail system for easy maintenance, multifuel, effective agitator system makes long burns with no cleaning of burnpot a reality.
Cons: Needs more convection blower ouput, need more control over settings. The control panel allows different heat settings and feed trim options, but it locks you into one convection blower setting per heat setting. I would like to put it on heat setting 3 and turn the blower all the way to "hi", but this is not possible. I have to turn the heat setting up to 5 to get "hi" blower setting. Efficiency...I'm not sure on this one. I get about 240F air at heat setting 3, but it's not moving a whole lot of air, so I'm not sure what to make of the efficiency. This is my first pellet stove, so I don't have anything to compare it to.
With natural gas at about $1.05 per therm in my area, I'm almost 35% cheaper to run my furnace than the pellet stove. I'd really like to have someone familiar with pellet stoves to see just how the M55 compares to other stoves on the efficiency. Somehow I get the feeling it is not very efficient.
Flynfrfun
It does dirty up the upper right corner of the glass. All the M55's do this. I have my damper all the way open (I'm at 600' MSL) but have not used a magnahelic to set the damper yet.
Pro's/Cons:
Pros: Super quiet!, very nice looking, slide out rail system for easy maintenance, multifuel, effective agitator system makes long burns with no cleaning of burnpot a reality.
Cons: Needs more convection blower ouput, need more control over settings. The control panel allows different heat settings and feed trim options, but it locks you into one convection blower setting per heat setting. I would like to put it on heat setting 3 and turn the blower all the way to "hi", but this is not possible. I have to turn the heat setting up to 5 to get "hi" blower setting. Efficiency...I'm not sure on this one. I get about 240F air at heat setting 3, but it's not moving a whole lot of air, so I'm not sure what to make of the efficiency. This is my first pellet stove, so I don't have anything to compare it to.
With natural gas at about $1.05 per therm in my area, I'm almost 35% cheaper to run my furnace than the pellet stove. I'd really like to have someone familiar with pellet stoves to see just how the M55 compares to other stoves on the efficiency. Somehow I get the feeling it is not very efficient.
Flynfrfun
j-takeman said:
Figuring that the Dealer was going to tell me that the pellets that I am using were inferior I went out and bought 10 bags each of Lignetics and Cubix premium grade pellets. I am currently using green tree premiums, 100% hardwood, less then 1% and a BTU rating of >8K, I burned a few bags of each and seen no difference in heat output or longevity. Let me re-explain, I am not so much complaining about burning so many pellets, but the fact that I am burning them without getting any heat from the stove. I can only run it at high which will only bring my room up to 70 to 72 degrees. My house is very tight and very well insulated and stays at 62 without heat on when average temp is 32 or so. I can run this stove for 12 hours and can only heat a 300 sq ft room up by 8 degrees to 70 is unexceptable since I could have achieved that with a Costco $40 quart heater. Don't mean to ramble, but I have been to several friends homes that have $1K dollar Home Depot specials and are heating 1500 sq ft homes to 80 plus degrees, (not saying that is optimal but they can do it). I could run this thing all day, piss through 60 to 80 pounds of pellets and can't get 70 degrees. Def something wrong with this stove or Enviro just makes an inferior product.
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
FredfromBoston said:
More like improperly installed or flat out undersized. Its a space heater not a furnace. The Empress isn't the heat thrower, Its a pretty little stove you set in a corner. By the time your done figuring the actual output of it its really only 24 to 25K BTU's. It should easily heat that 1 room if it was completely closed off. Might get 1200 sqft max(thats with everything perfect). If your trying to heat your whole house its a pretty big strech for that LITTLE stove.
mpcm
Member
If it really isn't producing heat, it is either going up the chimney or your fuel is really bad. I've got an enviro empress, this is my second season burning... and were I live is a really drafty old nh farm house. Despite this, when we lost power last year for 5 days, my stove kept at least the room we were in excessively toasty when sectioned off.
Grab a temperature gun, and see what you are getting as the air temp coming out of the stove... this will tell you what is going on more or less... and remove the subjective nature that people here are suggesting. I'm burning through about 1-2 bags every day right now on heat settings 3 or 4. I rarely leave it on 5 (out of 5) for long, as it'll eat through a bag in ~12 hours.
Grab a temperature gun, and see what you are getting as the air temp coming out of the stove... this will tell you what is going on more or less... and remove the subjective nature that people here are suggesting. I'm burning through about 1-2 bags every day right now on heat settings 3 or 4. I rarely leave it on 5 (out of 5) for long, as it'll eat through a bag in ~12 hours.
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