Enviro Empress insert owners, pellet survey

[davevassar]

I'm going into my 2nd full season with my Empress insert. Last year, I burned Barefoot pellets, and they were without a doubt the hottest burning pellet we used. I can't find them anywhere this season.

I've tried:
Lignetics: not hot at all
New England Pellets: same as above
Corinth: seemed to throw alot of heat
Eagle Valley: not the hottest
Energex: seemed to throw decent heat

What are you burning and how is the heat output?

 

[Obie25]

Im burning Pennington Natures Heat Pellets in my enviro empress insert. Thats the only pellets we currently can find. The lowest setting I can go is three.
And some bags seem to be better than others. Some seem to produce a lot of ash..little heat. Some produce small ash and great amounts of heat.

 

[nanama72]

So far we've only tried 3 kinds in ours:

Barefoot, burned hottest, not too much ash, was able to go through pellets more slowly because they put out more heat.
Cleanfire, not quite as hot as barefoot, so we're spending more time on high but have less ash
Pacific Northwest, not as hot as cleanfire, and similar ash to barefoot

This is a great post because we're behind in our pellet supply as well.

Thanks.

 

[phil san]

First year with Enviro Empress Insert. Never believed how diff pellets could be. So far in order of best liked:

Cleanfire - HHHot, minimal ash, great flame at all levels,saving my 2 tons for coldest Months., my choice to date and would buy for next year!

LG Granueles - very good flame, little more ash, decent heat.

Lignetics, hot, good all around flame, burned faster , not the all wonder for heat and longer burn time as advertised.

Big Heat - Ok but thats it.

Greenway - lousy, low level burn is terrible, not much heat, but clean.

Now don't go asking wher I got all these to try. Month before I installed the insert, I couldn't find a pellet - period! Little detective work, research, their out there!

 

[mnoack]

Last year I burned:

corinth
comfy cozy (good heat - fairly high ash)
PA pelltes (Sams club last year - hard wood pellet - lowest heat - very heavy ash - filled the ash pan every two days)
penningtons (I had pretty good luck, but general consensus here was not good)
& energex

energex were the hottest & The Empress seems to like the short cut. The Corinth are cut short as well but the bags of Corinth I've had (I have a ton right now) have been pretty dusty.

I have 4 tons of Freedom Fuel now as well. I've just replaced my auger motor so I'll let you know how they burn when burning clean (the stove burned pretty dirty with the flaky auger motor), but for the moment, I will say that of all the brands I've burned these are far & away the cleanest coming out of the bag. Almost no dust or fines.

 

[nanama72]

How old is your stove that you had to replace the auger motor? Also, what do you think about the heat output of the corinths?

 

[mnoack]

How old is your stove that you had to replace the auger motor? Also, what do you think about the heat output of the corinths?

My auger motor went after about 3 tons of pellets. Others here have had similar experiences with this stove. I replaced it under warranty. That said, I heat the whole house (1900 sq ft) from January through March with the thermostat on high/low. Some have suggested that it is a bad idea to run the stove (or any stove) at high power for long periods of time. I have to admit, I find it the idea that manufacturers are producing units with parts that cannot withstand running continuously at one of the standard settings somewhat irritating, but I plan on running the unit on 4 hg/low for the most part this winter, using 5 only periodically as needed to take the chill off. If I continue to have Auger motor problems, I'll probably look for a better after-market part after the warranty runs out.

As for the heat output of the Corinths, I found them similar to Energex, & less expensive.

 

[jezbo33]

I've used Barefoots last season good heat but nakot of ash, I tried a ton of New Englands and hated them. Burning Lignetics now good heat but seem to have alot of ash. I burn about a bag and a half a day on #4, is this normal?

 

[davevassar]

On setting 4 that's about what I would burn. I got some Heat Resource pellets from a dealer, and they are 100% oak, and they seem to be pretty much equal to Barefoots on heat output.

 

[Lennyden]

This is my first year with the Empress FPI (installed late last season, maybe used it a month). This year I'm finishing up the ton of PA Pellets I bought at the end of last year. I have two new tons of Barefoot that I will begin burning in about a week or so. The PA Pellets are producing a huge amount of ash (in my short life opinion). I'd say I have to vaccum out the stove every two bags (every two days max). Does anyone else have this problem or is it just the PA Pellets? It does seem that the ash pan in the stove is very shallow so I'm not sure if I should expect much more time before cleanings. Also, should I be doing any other cleaning besides vaccuming out the stove and making sure the burn pot is clean (and the box under the burn pot, whatever that is called).

I appreciate the help,

Lenny

 

[seige101]

This will be my 2nd full season with the Empress.

I have burned New England Hardwood Premium(tannish bag maroon lettering) since i got the stove. Good heat, low ash.

Tried some softwood stuff last year when i ran out wasn't happy, really haven't experimented that much, i supposed i will try a couple of bags that you guys have had good luck with..

As far as auger motors failing, i had an issue last winter that i fixed my self.
I took the motor off the stove and split the gear case open, there was barely any grease in there and what little was there was nasty and almost dried up. So a quick clean and some new grease haven't had an issue yet. Also a couple drops of 3 and 1 oil on the bearings for all the motors quieted it down nicely!

 

[mnoack]

This is my first year with the Empress FPI (installed late last season, maybe used it a month). This year I'm finishing up the ton of PA Pellets I bought at the end of last year. I have two new tons of Barefoot that I will begin burning in about a week or so. The PA Pellets are producing a huge amount of ash (in my short life opinion). I'd say I have to vaccum out the stove every two bags (every two days max). Does anyone else have this problem or is it just the PA Pellets? It does seem that the ash pan in the stove is very shallow so I'm not sure if I should expect much more time before cleanings. Also, should I be doing any other cleaning besides vaccuming out the stove and making sure the burn pot is clean (and the box under the burn pot, whatever that is called).

I appreciate the help,

Lenny

As I indicated above, PA pellets produced the most ash of any of the 5 pellet brands I used last year. The heat output was not as goos as the other either & they tended to soot up the glass quickly. I have now burned over a hlaf ton of the Freedom Fuel I mentioned above. These pellets are very clean coming out of the bag. Almost no dust. the heat output is very good & the glass does not soot up quickly. they do, however, produce almost as much ash as the PAs. I have to vacumn the ash pan every 3 days running at level 4. I have noticed in other threads, many people say they clean their as pans every 2 weeks, of some, even once a month. I wonder whether the Empress produces a lot of ash generally or whether other stove have a much larger ash pan. I will say that when I was burning Penningtons last year, I only cleaned the ash pan once a week & it was not much more than half full. Do other with this stove feel that they are cleaning the ash pan more than the apparent average voiced by many users on this site? I find it particularly interesting that the Freedom Fuel fills the ash pan so quickly, but appears to burn so well & so hot. I took of the plates to vacuum the baffles (behnd the ash pan going to the exhaust motor), as I thought that with the amount of ash building up in the pan, there would likely be a lot there as well. there was almost none, as it turned out.

 

[mnoack]

This is my first year with the Empress FPI (installed late last season, maybe used it a month). This year I'm finishing up the ton of PA Pellets I bought at the end of last year. I have two new tons of Barefoot that I will begin burning in about a week or so. The PA Pellets are producing a huge amount of ash (in my short life opinion). I'd say I have to vaccum out the stove every two bags (every two days max). Does anyone else have this problem or is it just the PA Pellets? It does seem that the ash pan in the stove is very shallow so I'm not sure if I should expect much more time before cleanings. Also, should I be doing any other cleaning besides vaccuming out the stove and making sure the burn pot is clean (and the box under the burn pot, whatever that is called).

I appreciate the help,

Lenny

As I indicated above, PA pellets produced the most ash of any of the 5 pellet brands I used last year. The heat output was not as good as the other either & they tended to soot up the glass quickly. I have now burned over a hlaf ton of the Freedom Fuel I mentioned above. These pellets are very clean coming out of the bag. Almost no dust. the heat output is very good & the glass does not soot up quickly. they do, however, produce almost as much ash as the PAs. I have to vacumn the ash pan every 3 days running at level 4. I have noticed in other threads, many people say they clean their as pans every 2 weeks, of some, even once a month. I wonder whether the Empress produces a lot of ash generally or whether other stove have a much larger ash pan. I will say that when I was burning Penningtons last year, I only cleaned the ash pan once a week & it was not much more than half full. Do other with this stove feel that they are cleaning the ash pan more than the apparent average voiced by many users on this site? I find it particularly interesting that the Freedom Fuel fills the ash pan so quickly, but appears to burn so well & so hot. I took of the plates to vacuum the baffles (behnd the ash pan going to the exhaust motor), as I thought that with the amount of ash building up in the pan, there would likely be a lot there as well. there was almost none, as it turned out.

 

[Keys]

I have an Enviro Empress free standing stove. This is currently my third year using it.
I built an ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) house, which is Energy Star rated and bought this stove to use as my main source of heat for the 3100 sq ft house. Our heated space is about 2200 sq ft. The stove works great, and the heat pump sits queitly. The first year we used Lignetics pellets, which weren't to bad, but expensive (purchased at tractor supply). Last year we switch to Country Boy White Lightening pellets, They were much hotter and less money at a better dealer. This year the same dealer sold a new brand of pellets manufactured by a Somerset, KY hardwood floor manufacture. Very hot fire due to a better quality of wood used and the compression (6000PSI) So I'm told.
I have never had any problems with the stove and it runs just about 24/7 on level two. I use about 60 lbs per day and I have over 3 tons stored.

 

[Lennyden]

Burning Chunk,

Are we cleaning out much more than others because the ash pan is just much smaller (shorter) than other models? I have a friend with a free-standing Harmon (I think) stove. His ash pan is huge compared to ours, VERY tall. He only has to empty it maybe every few weeks. After two bags, the ash in my stove is piled up the sides of the burn pot like a snow drift.

Cleaning....do you anything more than vaccum the ash out and scrape down the burn pot? Also, I noticed that the loose fitting plate at the top always seems to have a lot of ash stuck up there....which I try to vaccum out. Does this plate come off? What else do you do?

Lenny

 

[mnoack]

Burning Chunk,

Are we cleaning out much more than others because the ash pan is just much smaller (shorter) than other models? I have a friend with a free-standing Harmon (I think) stove. His ash pan is huge compared to ours, VERY tall. He only has to empty it maybe every few weeks. After two bags, the ash in my stove is piled up the sides of the burn pot like a snow drift.

Cleaning....do you anything more than vaccum the ash out and scrape down the burn pot? Also, I noticed that the loose fitting plate at the top always seems to have a lot of ash stuck up there....which I try to vaccum out. Does this plate come off? What else do you do?

Lenny

That is what I'm wondering. Whether this is basically just the size of the burn pot.

As far as cleaning, I vacuum the burn pot & remove it & vacuum anything out of the igniter tube & the air intake. I vacuum the walls & the heat tubes with a brush. I remove the ash pan & vacuum that out. I have a small flexble plasitc hose with which I vacuum the area around the heat tubes, both in front & in back. Every half ton or so, I remove the two small panels on the sides right behind the ash pan & use this flex hose to vacuum the exhaust baffle area. Every ton or so I vacuum the duct-work. Twice a year, I remove the firewall panels & vacuum the exhaust baffles from the top.

mark

 

[Lennyden]

"vacuum the area around the heat tubes, both in front & in back"

I don't have the manual for this stove. Where are the heat tubes? What about the plate on the top (underside), it covers some horizontal bars that appear to be dirty. I vaccum those as best I can, but if you touch the plate (it's kind of loose), there is always some ash that falls down. Is this plate removable to better clean the stove?

Lenny

(Almost done with my PA pellets, about 7 more bags...then I'll finally get to start in on the Barefoot and see how they do). I've noticed with the PA Pellets that when it's not too cold out they heat the house up just fine, but in the colder weather (20s-30-s), I have to run it continuously on 5 to keep the house at about 67. Looking forward to seeing if the Barefoot give me that much more heat.

 

[mnoack]

"vacuum the area around the heat tubes, both in front & in back"

I don't have the manual for this stove. Where are the heat tubes? What about the plate on the top (underside), it covers some horizontal bars that appear to be dirty. I vaccum those as best I can, but if you touch the plate (it's kind of loose), there is always some ash that falls down. Is this plate removable to better clean the stove?

Lenny

(Almost done with my PA pellets, about 7 more bags...then I'll finally get to start in on the Barefoot and see how they do). I've noticed with the PA Pellets that when it's not too cold out they heat the house up just fine, but in the colder weather (20s-30-s), I have to run it continuously on 5 to keep the house at about 67. Looking forward to seeing if the Barefoot give me that much more heat.

The heat exchanger tubes are the tube on the top. I assume the loose plate you are talking about is the cleaner for the tubes. There is a small rod when you remove the top of the stove in the center just above the door that you pull back & forth a few times to clean the tubes. Then I vacuum them. I also vacuum the lip above the door at the front of the tubes & the area above the back wall behind the tubes.

 

[dixie chick]

I have the Enviro Milan insert which is similar on the inside. The loose plate does come off easily. It is just help in place by the tab at the back side of the stove. I take it off to sweep and vacuum the bars.
I have used 2 types of Pennington Pellets, Energex and one in a white bag with green lettering made in MA ( sorry, cant remember the name). The Pennington Pellets(Natures Heat) that I got at WalMart say Made in Canada. These and the Energex are the best that I have used.
The other Natures Heat ( not made in Canada) did not burn as evenly and were less uniform.
The ones made in MA with the green lettering were terrible. The pellets were all broken little peices and the cloud of dust that came from the bag when I was pouring them in was something I had never seen before. There was dust all over the inside of the hopper. These would not burn on the lowest 2 settings. I only had two bags of these as part of a neighbor swap to see the differences. I still have a bag that I am hoping to trade with another unsuspecting neighbor.
Lovin the stove. The oil guy came last week and could only get in 24 gallons - last fill was the end of May. Granted - its been pretty mild until last week.

 

[johnnywarm]

I have the Enviro Milan insert. Granted - its been pretty mild until last week.

dixie chick hows the milan doing??? can you post a pic of it??

Thanks john