M55...Still confused about the difference between Auto/Off and Hi/Lo

Auto/Off will shut the stove all the way down if there is no call for heat. Then when there is a call, the stove will go through a whole new start sequence, run the igniter, dump a bunch of pellets at it and start it back up again.

Hi/Low will provide max (set) heat when there is a call from the t-stat. When there is no call, it will go to min burn or idle. When there is a call again, all it has to do is drop a few more pellets, kick up the blowers and viola, heat.

When choosing which mode to run in, you have to consider how many times per day it is going to call or cycle, and how many cycles that is going to be on your igniter ( a very life-limited part). Alos consider that if your stove shuts down and your t-stat calls, how long the start cycle will take to get your stove making heat again, it could lend itself to very inconsistent heating.

What I personally do is in the not-so-cold season (Now and early spring) I run in Harman's equivalent of Auto/Off. I have the t-stat set high and use the stoves controls to moderate the heat so that the t-stat is never satisfied. I have a programable t-stat that I use more as a timer, so based on time, the t-stat will tell the stove to shut down, (set to 40). In the Coldest part of the season, I run on hi/low where the stove idles all day until the t-stat calls, it bumps the heat up and then goes back to idle.

You are right with what you said. Personally if the stove is starting back up w/in 1hr in auto/off, you might as well run in hi/low. The reason is that it takes a lot of pellets to go thru the start cycle and bring the stove back up to temp. It's easier on the stove and more pellet efficient to just let the stove idle on low and then dump fewer pellets to ramp the heat up again. In other words, in auto/off you are taking the stove from 70F up to 220F+ during a start cycle. If running in hi/low the stove only has to go from about 150F to 220F. Add on top of that all the pellets it uses just to get started and it adds up. I haven't done any real world experiment, but my gut feeling is that the stove probably burns about the same amount of pellets on low for 1hr as it does going thru a start cycle and getting back up to temp. An added benefit in hi/low is instead of being off during that hour, the stove is still putting 150F air into the house. Now if the stove is off for longer, yes it makes sense to use auto/off.

AVIVIII, that is a good explanation. Just one thing to add... To set the HI heat level for the HI/LO and Auto/Off mode, go into Manual mode, select a heat setting you want to run the stove at and then go back into HI/LO or Auto/Off mode. Obviously you would want to set it to 3 or higher or it will take forever to satisfy the T-Stat. I had mine set at heat level 3 originally and it seamed to take a long time to satisfy the T-Stat. This year I have it set to heat level #4 and take about 30 minutes to satisfy the T-Stat (68deg with 1.5deg swing).

As a side not, if you lose power or unplug the unit, the heat level is reset to #1, so you will have to reset the level you want to run the stove at when in Hi/Low or Auto/Off.

Brad,
My M55 will allow me to change the "hi" setting even when in auto/off or hi/low as long as the thermostat is calling for heat when I want to change it. That is usually when I'm thinking about changing it anyways.

I love the VTs!!

They are so clean and so HOT!!

I wish I lived a little closer to make it worth picking them up at the factory, but oh well.

AVIVIII said:

I love the VTs!!

They are so clean and so HOT!!

I wish I lived a little closer to make it worth picking them up at the factory, but oh well.

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Where do you have to go to get them? I'm in SW NH, close to VT border when at work.

bostonfan49 said:

Brad, the plant is in the Rutland/Clarendon area...what is your Zip? Or go to the web site and find the nearest dealer...Bill

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Cool, I will check out there web site.

flynfrfun said:

Brad,
My M55 will allow me to change the "hi" setting even when in auto/off or hi/low as long as the thermostat is calling for heat when I want to change it. That is usually when I'm thinking about changing it anyways.

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x2. Mine also is the same as flyfrfun

I'm sure that mine would do the same, just never tried. Next time it kicks in the Hi mode I will see if I can adjust the heat output.

So basically if i'm reading this topic correctly (i have the M55) i should be running my stove on high/low instead of the auto/off..

I was running my pellet stove strictly in the manual setting until about 1 week ago..then i set up my thermostat and was running in the
auto/off setting...I keep getting error #3 on my stove since switching to the auto/off setting..what is/could be causing this..i'm
not out of pellets in the hopper so that is one option that is not causing the issue..any suggestions..

mjlakers22 said:

So basically if i'm reading this topic correctly (i have the M55) i should be running my stove on high/low instead of the auto/off..

I was running my pellet stove strictly in the manual setting until about 1 week ago..then i set up my thermostat and was running in the
auto/off setting...I keep getting error #3 on my stove since switching to the auto/off setting..what is/could be causing this..i'm
not out of pellets in the hopper so that is one option that is not causing the issue..any suggestions..

Click to expand...

As long as the low setting doesn't raise the house temps. Sure Hi/Lo is a nice feature in the cold season. Saves wear and tear on the igniter. Still may need to go to Auto/Off once the shoulder season comes around. Anytime the dattime high temps dip delow freezing, My stove is in Hi/Lo.