Englander 55-SHP22 - Shouldn't I get more heat?

[mmNE]

Hello, A pellet newbie here in Central Maine. Today it was about 15 F.

A week ago 1/11/12 we bought our first pellet stove. Englander 55-SHP22. We really like it and mechanically it appears to be running perfect but I am a little disappointed in the amount of heat I am getting from it/how much of the house it is heating. I'm hoping that I wasn't expecting to much from it. I know its based on optimal criteria but the stove is rated for 2200sf. My house is just around that. Its an old home, two floors, the rooms are a bit cut up, ceilings are high, but is insulated well and has pretty good windows. When purchasing the stove I honestly thought if I could even get half of that (for the first floor) I would be happy. But I'm not getting anywhere near that at a comfortable temp. I installed the stove centrally on the first floor. The kitchen is to the right of that and the hallway (going upstairs) and other rooms to the left. In the stove room (194sf) I can get great heat. It's been up to 82. But on the kitchen counter 10' away it would b be 64. I can get circulation throughout other rooms with fans but can't get those temps to rise above 63. I see other posts here and from reading about other situations I feel that I should get more heat. When circulating I can see air movement through the door ways (streamers hanging in them for test) but maybe my heat is trapped in that stove room.

I called Englander today and explained this to a rep. He had be adjust my "Low Burn Air" to 9 from the factor setting of 4. With a few searches here I found statements that those settings are only for heat ranges of 1 or 2. So I question why he had me adjust that. Anyway after I did that the flame did seem to be better but I'm not sure it I just thought it was.

I'm keeping the stove really clean and have tried 3 different types of pellets. It didn't seem to make much of a difference in changing the heat output but some were "cleaner" than others - not as crumbly in the hopper.

Wasn't sure if I am missing something with my expectations. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[PA_Clinker]

You might need to install an OAK if it's kind of an older, drafty type house.

 

[smoke show]

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/88899/

 

[mmNE]

OAK is installed, thanks for the link!

 

[Nicholas440]

I think a lot of people expect too much out of a pellet stove. The stove is only a space heater, and at best most people are only cranking out about 30,000 btu, on a good day with the best of pellets and if they are running wide open on highest settings, maybe 35,000 btu.


If your house is about 2200 sq ft, and has some high ceilings, you're very lucky to get it up to 64 degrees when the outside temp is only 15 degrees. Also if it gets really windy out there with those kind of temps, you wont even make 63 inside I would say.

My ranch house is totally insulated, the best windows I could install, and even with all the weather proofing, I cant get the house up over 65 or 66 when its' 15 outside, I have to kick the furnace on for a while to help out. I would imagine your central furnace, be it oil propane or gas is rated to an output of about 100,00 btu's for a 2200 sq foot house. Mine is 1400 sq foot and my new gas furnace is rated at 80,000 btu's which is just about right for this house.

I would say your pellet stove is doing a very good job keeping you at 63 or 64 . You might try some fans, there are dozens of posts here about positioning fans in various areas to assist moving the warm air to other parts of the house.

 

[kofkorn]

Your house layout is critical to function of the stove. Some homes are just going to work better than others due to the configuration. I would guess your biggest problem is the high ceilings and "cut-up" layout.

Try using a desk fan and place it on the floor of your coldest rooms, aimed back toward the doorway where the heat should come through. Best location is probably 6-10 ft away from that door. Turn it on for about a day and see where the temperatures are afterward. If you have ceiling fans, turn them on in reverse, on low speed. Get the heat away from your ceilings.

You need to defeat your layout and ceilings by moving more air, more quickly.

Good luck.

 

[Radguy]

Mine runs great @ the 4-6-1 setting on low. Which is 2-1
Also make sure your stove is in "C" mode to get good heat!
You can check this by shutting your stove off..... Then un plugging it..... Now plug it back in and immediately press both the very bottom left button and right bottom button at the same time..... A letter will appear in the heat range. If it's not on C just adjust up or down to get it there. also there's a small little black cube on the circuit board that has a little jumper wire. Make sure that is there and it's tight

 

[Radguy]

also my house is about 1700 sq'
It was close to zero last night and I was set at 7-9 and woke up to 72'

 

[slls]

I think a lot of people expect too much out of a pellet stove. The stove is only a space heater, and at best most people are only cranking out about 30,000 btu, on a good day with the best of pellets and if they are running wide open on highest settings, maybe 35,000 btu.


If your house is about 2200 sq ft, and has some high ceilings, you're very lucky to get it up to 64 degrees when the outside temp is only 15 degrees. Also if it gets really windy out there with those kind of temps, you wont even make 63 inside I would say.

My ranch house is totally insulated, the best windows I could install, and even with all the weather proofing, I cant get the house up over 65 or 66 when its' 15 outside, I have to kick the furnace on for a while to help out. I would imagine your central furnace, be it oil propane or gas is rated to an output of about 100,00 btu's for a 2200 sq foot house. Mine is 1400 sq foot and my new gas furnace is rated at 80,000 btu's which is just about right for this house.

I would say your pellet stove is doing a very good job keeping you at 63 or 64 . You might try some fans, there are dozens of posts here about positioning fans in various areas to assist moving the warm air to other parts of the house.

Nicholas440 You need a bigger stove. I heat my 1500 sq ft on medium, 70 deg thermostat so it will not get too hot.
It is going down to -7 F tonight and -2 F tomorrow night, it will still shut down on thermostat.

 

[mmNE]

Thanks for all the information! It is well appreciated and I will experiment over the weekend.

 

[Dr.Faustus]

awesome trick i just learned this season....

we have a few rooms we dont use regularly. its just wife and i, plus dog. so we made zipper doors out of plastic sheeting and blocked off those rooms. we cut our pellet use in half already. if we do need the room we can just unzip the plastic and open the room back up. ok so it doesnt look that cool having plastic up but it doesnt look horrid either. we noticed the difference an hour after the plastic was up.

 

[petemal]

what pellets are you burning and what temp is coming out of machine

 

[silverfox103]

awesome trick i just learned this season....

we have a few rooms we dont use regularly. its just wife and i, plus dog. so we made zipper doors out of plastic sheeting and blocked off those rooms. we cut our pellet use in half already. if we do need the room we can just unzip the plastic and open the room back up. ok so it doesnt look that cool having plastic up but it doesnt look horrid either. we noticed the difference an hour after the plastic was up.

Could you explain how exactly you made the zipper doors.

thanks

Tom C.

 

[mmNE]

I tried a few different kinds of pellets.

Per a call to Englander the stove is at 6-9-1 - The factory settings were 6-4-1

Pellets
Green Supreme (Premium Hardwood Blend) From Lowes - These seem to burn pretty good

Greene Team Platinum (Premium Hardwood) From Lowes - These seen to burn a little better than others

Maines Choice Premium Wood Pellets (Hardwood Blend) From Aubuchon Hardware - These are pretty crappy - More smaller pieces than the other brands, kinda crumbly with lots of saw dust (unfortunately I bought a ton.)

North American Pellets (Premium Hardwood/Softwood Blend) From Lowes - Trying these now

Not sure of the temp coming out of the stove with all the brands. I've been burning the the North American Pellets for an hour or so with the Heat Range and Blower Speeds on 9 its around 150 2" away from the blower holes. With the doors shut the room is 73. Everything else is cold

Even though I have the air intake at 9 i wonder if I need more air. I installed the OAK that came with the stove but I've read from others that they went to a 3". I can feel air intake on the exterior but there seems to be a lot of clinkers in the burn pot while its running.

I read on an earlier post about the stove being in "C" mode. I also read that is for older models. Anyone know about that?

"10 out today and snowing"
Thanks!

 

[Pelletfisky]

Zipper doors common with construction in buildings where ppl are still using other rooms hallways etc.. Now making your own that's interesting...

 

[mmNE]

awesome trick i just learned this season....

we have a few rooms we dont use regularly. its just wife and i, plus dog. so we made zipper doors out of plastic sheeting and blocked off those rooms. we cut our pellet use in half already. if we do need the room we can just unzip the plastic and open the room back up. ok so it doesnt look that cool having plastic up but it doesnt look horrid either. we noticed the difference an hour after the plastic was up.

Could you explain how exactly you made the zipper doors.

thanks

Tom C.

Tom,

They were probably made with zippers you can get at Home Depot or Lowes. They are called "Zipwall" They are usually sold in the paint areas for closing rooms off during demo or remodeling. You tape them onto a sheet of plastic that fits in the doorway. Then you would cut a slice where the zipper is so you can enter and exit trough those rooms.

Being in the home renovation business I have used them a lot and they do work quite well.

mmNE