Stove Temp vs Room Temp
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most folks I think like room temp, not me however, I like stove temp. I like the stove to run steady and not turn on and off a lot. Less use on the igniter is a plus. In the cold of winter stove temp keeps my house feeling much warmer, never turning off and always pumping nice warm air.
Thank you Noel, that was the same advice I received this evening from the guy who had to come out and look at the insert to solve and issue we were having with the ignitor. My only concern with stove temp was this time of year when the temp can warm up during the day.
Thanks again
Thanks again
Centurion
Member
Hi Joel, really nice stove. Congratulations! Had one of those and loved it but sold it to buy the Harman PB105 boiler. Having a boiler keeps the pipes warm so no freeze up on the really cold nights. Anyway, I liked the room temp best for our comfort. I kept it set at 72* and the whole lower floor stayed at that temp. The upstairs averaged about two degrees cooler. Experiment a little and you will find out what suits your family best.
Thanks Centurion, prior to the service tech today we were running on room temp, the comment about less wear on the ignitor caught my attention about stove temp. By the way I got a chuckle out of the fact that the ignitor problem we had was that the ignitor was installed upside down from the factory ??? Oh well, now were are set to go when it turns cold again up here in NH.
fall and spring are tricky on stove temp I will run mine on stove temp at night and turn off at 6am that way the house gets nice and toasty all night when night time temps are lower. If your stove is new you have full covered igniter replacement so no worries about wear and tear, I had my igniter replaced three times under warranty.
lbcynya
Feeling the Heat
Who said the stove has to shut off in room temp mode? Keep the switch in manual and it will reduce heat output to maintain room temp desired without shutting off. Room temp will prevent overshooting on warmer sunny days (wasting pellets). I see no reason to have the stove shut off during the colder part of the winter since some bit of heat is awlays necessary. Room temp, switch on manual works great. You do have to experiment with sensor wire placement to "calibrate" location to actual room temp. Once you find the right spot, let it be. Or, you can ignore the temps on the control dial and simply turn the dial up/down until you find the right temp. Remember that position and you're good to go.
Stove temp, for me is best for shoulder seasons where I run the stove from 4 to 10:30 pm. In that case I run with the switch on auto so the blower runs normally and, no, the stove won't shut off with the switch on auto on stove temp mode.
Stove temp, for me is best for shoulder seasons where I run the stove from 4 to 10:30 pm. In that case I run with the switch on auto so the blower runs normally and, no, the stove won't shut off with the switch on auto on stove temp mode.
LIpelletpig
Feeling the Heat
thedak
Member
I run mine in Room temp with the ignitor set to manual, just like ibcyna posted. I don't like the stove turning on and off all the time. It really does not use that many more pellets because it runs very low when the room temp hits the desired temp.
Also, I don't run the stove during the shoulder months as I have a electric heat pump that is very efficient at temps in the 40-50's. Typically when I run both my stoves temps are below 30 degrees.
Also, I don't run the stove during the shoulder months as I have a electric heat pump that is very efficient at temps in the 40-50's. Typically when I run both my stoves temps are below 30 degrees.
lbcynya
Feeling the Heat
jdege said:
So, let's elaborate on your evaluation. Let's say last night was 38, but tonight will be 28, then your down stairs might be 68 instead of 72. So you raise your stove temp value to 2 and the next 28 degree night the down stairs is 72... Perfect. Now what if it warms up again and you forget to move the stove temp from 2 to 1 and you go down stairs on the 3rd day and the room is 76. Oops, overheated the room = wasted pellets.
Room temp = constant temp (for the most part) whether it's 38 or 28 outside. Food for though.
Some homes will react differently, so actual stove temp results may vary, but heat loss is heat loss, so you could overheat or underheat the room depending on the heat load required while on stove temp. Stove temp provides constant heat, but your heat requirement is far from constant in the winter. Temp, humididity, wind, sun, all are factors. Room temp DOES react to these external forces that impact comfort.
Either way, do what works for you. Just sharing the nitty gritty.
76brian
Feeling the Heat
lbcynya said:
Just curious here, would the wasted pellets cost the same as replacing the ignitor as needed? Or in an extreme scenario, the same as fixing a burst pipe and water damage if the ignitor fails to light the stove when I'm not home?
I'm with you on the room temp thing, I would rather use that definitely. I left my P43 on stove temp for one day last week, on it's LOWEST setting, and in 18 hours I used up a bag of pellets. The house was toasty warm, very nice... but it was only just near the freezing point outside. It gets MUCH colder than that here later in the winter. This worries me. I was really hoping a bag would last me at the very least a day in my small house.
lbcynya
Feeling the Heat
76brian said:
Well, have you read the manual or any of the posts above? Room temp with the switch on manual will not let the stove shut off until you shut it off. Only with the switch on auto will the stove go out and relight. I'm not a big fan of letting the stove go out betwen calls for heat either (especially during the dead of winter), but that's another topic...
76brian said:
I run my Harman Accenture insert on room temp. The feed rate and fans will increase and decrease as the room sensor dictates, but it does not routinely shut off and then ignite again. It idles down, and then revs up...but the flame remains. It would seem that in the dead of winter, the stove would never shut down completely, but I could be wrong since this is my first year.
Dougsey
Feeling the Heat
76brian
Feeling the Heat
lbcynya said:
Well thats pretty snarky... Maybe the wording of my post triggered that kind of attitude but it was not meant to. I genuinely think it would be cheaper to replace an ignitor every couple of years than it would be to use room temp or stove temp in manual mode, based on my experience setting my stove that way. The only thing I would worry about is the stove not lighting if I'm not there, causing a frozen pipe.
lbcynya
Feeling the Heat
76brian said:
No snark, but you're kind of jumbling a few things together.
First, let's define the 2 burning seasons:
1. Shoulder season - I define that as temps consistently over 32 degrees at night. Fall and spring, for the most part
2. Burning season - I define that as temps consistently under 32 degrees during the day, colder at night.
During shoulder seasons, I run stove temp, switch on auto and I run the stove for 5-6 hours to take the chill out. Stove temp + auto will not let the stove shut down, it just turns on the distribution blower. I go through about a bag and a half a week (7 days) at this rate. Igniter is used 7 times, once per day.
During burning season, I run on room temp, switch on manual to prevent the stove from shutting down. During burning season the house always needs some heat to offset the losses, even if you set the stove back while you're not home. Setting the stove back will put it into maintenance burn which is roughly .75 lbs per hour. As noted above, room temp will likely fall quickly enough of cold, windy days for the stove to never reach maintenance burn levels.
I would contend that your house is always consuming heat in the winter, so I would rather spend 80 bucks extra on pellets than 80 bucks for an ignitor since the goal is to offset the heat your house loses, not to buy igniters.
Finally, it is my opinion that letting a stove go out between calls for heat is hard on the stove since you are heat cycling every component within the stove. I deal with this issue on $300,000 machines, let alone a couple thousand dollar stove. Keeping the stove in maintenance burn (if it ever gets there during burning season) reduces the fluctuation intensity of each heat cycle which can be beneficial long term. Also, there is a lot of debate about the energy it takes to warm the stove back up vs. letting it stay warm and ready to go. And, you have to factor the cost of a 300+ watt igniter kicking on several times per day into the total cost equasion.
Setting the stove switch to manual also solves your question about failing to relight and the pipes freezing....unless the power goes out. ;-)
lessoil
Minister of Fire
We use Room Temp mode.
Went to a Harman seminar a couple of years ago. Question of course was asked.
The Tech told the group that Room Temp was more efficient.
If the outside temps are not real cold or the temps rise during the day, our house temp
will swing the same as the outside temps. So if the temps get to mid 30's our house will
get too hot in Stove Temp mode even at lowest setting. In Room Temp mode the stove runs
the same as the furnace did. If at setpoint it shuts off. But, everyone has a different situation.
Our pellet use in Room Temp mode vs oil seems to be fairly accurate as far as BTU to BTU comparison.
4 tons has replaced 500 gal of oil.
Bottom line: Stay warm in whatever mode you choose and save money too!
Went to a Harman seminar a couple of years ago. Question of course was asked.
The Tech told the group that Room Temp was more efficient.
If the outside temps are not real cold or the temps rise during the day, our house temp
will swing the same as the outside temps. So if the temps get to mid 30's our house will
get too hot in Stove Temp mode even at lowest setting. In Room Temp mode the stove runs
the same as the furnace did. If at setpoint it shuts off. But, everyone has a different situation.
Our pellet use in Room Temp mode vs oil seems to be fairly accurate as far as BTU to BTU comparison.
4 tons has replaced 500 gal of oil.
Bottom line: Stay warm in whatever mode you choose and save money too!
76brian
Feeling the Heat
lbcynya said:
I'll have to try this, thanks.
All I know is last week when I set it to room temp, manual, it would continue eating a crap load of pellets even after it had gone to a maintenance burn. The hopper was empty in about 18 hours. I thought it was ridiculous, though I know when running at a higher burn it will be a fair bit more efficient.
I just checked my stove out on room temp in manual and it seems to only go down to what I would call the lowest settings on stove mode, I can't see how that would save pellets, it seems to be the same as running the stove on stove temp low fan on 1 setting?
jedidiah578
New Member
noelp68 said:
I would suggest checking out your stove with same settings when it is well below 20 degrees for a few days. I would bet you will get a totally different end result.
lbcynya
Feeling the Heat
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