Couple questions from newbie to vets---for a Englander 25-ep pellet stove

[pauly2110]

First i just want to say, love this site as i have been reading it ever since i have thought about getting a pellet stove.

I bought a englander 25-ep and had it installed on nov 8th, so far (knock on wood) i Love it with a capital L, i decided on Englander b/c of the price and heard great things on this site about the customer service as i see the stoveguy on this site alot giving his advice so i bought an EP-25 after visiting many hearth stores and and it was installed perfessionaly on nov 8th and just have a couple questions, so here goes

1. Even though i have a permit and have the stove covered under my home insurance is it safe to leave it on a low (2) setting while no one is home?

2. i usally shut it down and open up the door and clean it out good , Baffle, ash pan, scrap craddle and clean cradle holder after burning 2 bags or about every 48 hours, is this ok and enough?


I plan on doing the monthly cleaning that is recommended on the on the video that came with the stove after i burn my first ton of pellets and empty the ash chambers etc, any suggestions on what i should replace at end of winter for upkeep?, I have been burning green team pellets and i am very happy with them thus far even though I don't have much to compare them to and have 15 bags on my first ton left and since lowes does not have them as of now i will have to choose another brand to burn, any hints?

thanks and i will appreciate any advice from the vets, sorry about sounding like a newbie but i am lol,

 

[imacman]

1. Yes, these stoves have many "safeties" and are safe to leave burning even when no one is at home....I've been doing it for as long as I've had a pellet stove.

2. Cleaning all that after just 2 bags is a little excessive. Unless you get a build-up of ash or clinkers in the burnpot, you should be good to burn for 5-6 days w/o opening the door.

As for the end-of-winter cleaning, most people pull both blowers and clean them & anything else they can get a brush/vacuum into. Order a couple spare gaskets beforehand...the comb. blower gaskets almost always rip when you remove the blower. Shouldn't have to replace much of anything else.

As for pellets, hard to say what you should get next w/o knowing what is available in your area. If HD has the Stove Chow's, they are getting good reviews this year. if Lowes has any Somersets, those are VERY good pellets too.

Tell us what's available....we'll give our opinions.

EDIT: BTW, welcome to the forum! Pics of new stoves are much appreciated..... :cheese:

 

[pauly2110]

1. Yes, these stoves have many "safeties" and are safe to leave burning even when no one is at home....I've been doing it for as long as I've had a pellet stove.

2. Cleaning all that after just 2 bags is a little excessive. Unless you get a build-up of ash or clinkers in the burnpot, you should be good to burn for 5-6 days w/o opening the door.

As for the end-of-winter cleaning, most people pull both blowers and clean them & anything else they can get a brush/vacuum into. Order a couple spare gaskets beforehand...the comb. blower gaskets almost always rip when you remove the blower. Shouldn't have to replace much of anything else.

As for pellets, hard to say what you should get next w/o knowing what is available in your area. If HD has the Stove Chow's, they are getting good reviews this year. if Lowes has any Somersets, those are VERY good pellets too.

Tell us what's available....we'll give our opinions.

EDIT: BTW, welcome to the forum! Pics of new stoves are much appreciated..... :cheese:

thanks for the fast reply and i will let you know when i find out what pellets i can get in my area, thanks

 

[corkman]

hey pauly.i'm not too far from ya.i'm in norton.TSC in taunton on bay rd next to bjs has the stove chow and will price match lowes and h.depot
for a better pellet call June @508-326-2987 .they are @ exit 11 off rt 24 in berkley and have okies @ $265,vermonts @ 245 and maine woods @ 235
acushnet alternative heat carries Hamer Hot Ones(soooooo frigin hot) and Barefoot.they were $260 last time i checked and they are both great pellet.
i have been burning the okies for years and loved them in my englander 25 pdv.this year they dont seem to be burning as good in my meridian but have had good luck with the green team pellets.
try to buy a couple bags to try in your stove before you commit to a ton.i bought 65 bags of okies with the knowledge that they burned good in my previous stove.not so good in my new stove.
if you dont get in touch with June for the okies you can grab a couple bags of mine to try.just soot me a pm and we can meet

 

[pauly2110]

hey pauly.i'm not too far from ya.i'm in norton.TSC in taunton on bay rd next to bjs has the stove chow and will price match lowes and h.depot
for a better pellet call June @508-326-2987 .they are @ exit 11 off rt 24 in berkley and have okies @ $265,vermonts @ 245 and maine woods @ 235
acushnet alternative heat carries Hamer Hot Ones(soooooo frigin hot) and Barefoot.they were $260 last time i checked and they are both great pellet.
i have been burning the okies for years and loved them in my englander 25 pdv.this year they dont seem to be burning as good in my meridian but have had good luck with the green team pellets.
try to buy a couple bags to try in your stove before you commit to a ton.i bought 65 bags of okies with the knowledge that they burned good in my previous stove.not so good in my new stove.
if you dont get in touch with June for the okies you can grab a couple bags of mine to try.just soot me a pm and we can meet

thanks i will let you know what i find out there when i start looking once i get under 10 bags of my green teams, i will probally try the stove chow at TSC but will post the kinds that lowes and depot have here to get opinons, thanks again buddy

 

[Crucial]

Hi Pauly, I am new at the pellet stove thing, but I can give you some feedback a horrible brand pellet. I wish I had read this forum before buying them, there are plenty of warnings. I would stay away from the "Inferno" pellets. Greene team were my best burning so far. I bought the 25-EP December 31st from Lowes on clearance. I have a 2000 sqft colonial, the stove is on my first floor and running on 7/9 it heats the room it's in to 79, the center of the first floor to 74, and my upstairs to 69-71.

I pretty much stopped using the oil except for a few auger jams and 3am shut downs due to the Inferno pellets. The Inferno are too big so they make a whole in the center of the hopper, get crossed up and it prevents them from sliding down the hopper. They either clog the auger or stop feeding and the stove shuts off. Once got new pellets, the stove runs fine.

The only issue that I have with this stove is that the the auger squeals when it turns. If I use lubricant on the auger after a good clean, it will go away for a little while, but then comes back every now and then. I am trying to get it swapped now for a new unit, I saved $330 buy getting it on clearance, but even at full price it's still a good deal and will save us money. This unit has some issues.

Other than the squeal, I am happy with the 25ep. If the new one has problems, then I will have to probably pay more and get a better stove. At some point, any stove will break even and then start saving money when compared to running the oil.

Good luck with your stove.

Mike

 

[BillM2]

Like yourself, I'm a newbie as well. I've been opening the door and cleaning out after 24 hours of use. Sometimes I just dump the ash to the holding area and after a few days I'll vacuum it out. I always clean out the burn pot grate and clean the glass. I'm used to a fireplace insert where I would clean it out sometimes twice a day. I don't think it's a bad habit to clean it thoroughly but my guess that'll subside a bit after the novelty wares off.

 

[imacman]

Like yourself, I'm a newbie as well. I've been opening the door and cleaning out after 24 hours of use. Sometimes I just dump the ash to the holding area and after a few days I'll vacuum it out. I always clean out the burn pot grate and clean the glass. I'm used to a fireplace insert where I would clean it out sometimes twice a day. I don't think it's a bad habit to clean it thoroughly but my guess that'll subside a bit after the novelty wares off.

Bill, the PDV and PDVC need a scrape of the burn pot once a day....to make sure those air holes are clear. Then do a full firebox clean 1x a week.

 

[pauly2110]

Hi Pauly, I am new at the pellet stove thing, but I can give you some feedback a horrible brand pellet. I wish I had read this forum before buying them, there are plenty of warnings. I would stay away from the "Inferno" pellets. Greene team were my best burning so far. I bought the 25-EP December 31st from Lowes on clearance. I have a 2000 sqft colonial, the stove is on my first floor and running on 7/9 it heats the room it's in to 79, the center of the first floor to 74, and my upstairs to 69-71.

I pretty much stopped using the oil except for a few auger jams and 3am shut downs due to the Inferno pellets. The Inferno are too big so they make a whole in the center of the hopper, get crossed up and it prevents them from sliding down the hopper. They either clog the auger or stop feeding and the stove shuts off. Once got new pellets, the stove runs fine.

The only issue that I have with this stove is that the the auger squeals when it turns. If I use lubricant on the auger after a good clean, it will go away for a little while, but then comes back every now and then. I am trying to get it swapped now for a new unit, I saved $330 buy getting it on clearance, but even at full price it's still a good deal and will save us money. This unit has some issues.

Other than the squeal, I am happy with the 25ep. If the new one has problems, then I will have to probably pay more and get a better stove. At some point, any stove will break even and then start saving money when compared to running the oil.

Good luck with your stove.

Mike

so far so good i love it, i clean it out really good about every 48 hours and last week after burning my first ton of green teams i did a very good cleaning, scrapped the heat tubes, vacummed the ash traps etc, and so far its really great. Don't hear many on this forum talking about our stove mostly just the pdvc instead.

Stay away from potmac softwood pellets it was a really bad burn with tons of pine chips and ash in bag, but so far green teams are treating me well and thanks for the heads up on the inferno's, whats your cleaning schedule like?

 

[Crucial]

I clean it about the same, every couple days, it seems like it burns stronger after a good cleaning. The cleaning only takes around five minutes, so to me it's not a big deal to shut it down for a half hour. I had to get a fine particle dust bag for my shop vac. I learned about ash and vacuums the hard way after fogging myself out of the room. I need to find more of those Greene Teams. I'm burning Stove Chow from Home Depot which isn't too bad, but not like the Greene's. Back to your original post, I leave the stove on when we are not home, I am satisfied with the safety. Those pellets need air right on them to burn. Without the air and constant feeding, they burn out right away. I think you would be safe to leave it running.

What are you getting for temperature readings around the house for your stove settings? I'm curious how it compares.

Mike

 

[pauly2110]

well my next pellet will be a stove chow if i can't find any more green team pellets, as i will stay away from potomacs and infernos. As far as my temp goes inside the house, i have a 1950 square foot colonial and i have it in the kitchen of the first floor and so far on level 2 it keeps my 1st floor from 64 to 69 depending on outside temps and thats the setting i leave it on when we are not home, then at setting 3 it gets my first floor to 70-73 and upstairs 66-68. I have not used it past level 5 yet because im happey with 70 overall in our house. I have a duravent set up with a foot or two untill it goes direclty through wall then up at an L angle, how about you?

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Inferno Pellets are made from recycled construction material and have a very distinct smell!

However I do like their ad

 

[Crucial]

Can't disagree with you on that ad. Pauly, I have mine in the living room above the garage. That was my coldest room due to the zero clearance fireplace not being insulated. I have it vented out through the chimney that was already there. The room has a cathedral ceiling, but the ceiling fan circulates the air down and I use these doorway corner fans. One fan to get the air out of the room and one fan going up the stairs. I do have to crank the stove in order to get upstairs to 70 that does make the room hot, but it's not unbearable and if I get too hot where it starts to annoy me, I just think of the last tank of oil that cost me $500 and I that does the trick.