feed rate settings on Harman accentra insert

[caralck]

So when our insert was installed, I thought the guy said that you set the feed rate based on the type of pellet you have but that seems odd. So to spread the heat further, does it make more sense to increase the feed rate or increase the fan speed for any given stove setting? We flipped it back to the stove from room temp to see what would heat the house better. We turned the furnace fans on without turning the actual gas heat on but that doesn't seem to blow warm air around like we were told it could. It's not frigid air but it's not warm so I suppose it's blowing some of it around and the house just isn't warm enough for that air to stay warm through the vent system (big house) and certainly won't be as warm as direct from the furnace. We're not freezing in the morning so the stove insert is doing the job at preventing that from happening. Thanks!

Currently the feed rate is at 3, the fan is at about 1/3 of the highest setting, and the heat level is at 2.5 (we're also afraid that if we set it too high, it will burn through all the pellets before we wake up)

 

[Delta-T]

honestly, messing with the feed adjuster does not do very much, and certainly doesn't need to be tinkered with for every pellet. If you have obscenely long pellets set it to 6, but you'll probably get a pellet bridge (or beaver dam) so its kinda moot. I find the "happy spot" to be 4-4.5 on the feed adjuster and then ignore it forever. Anything below 3 will sometimes end up with the stove not liking you very much (temps at ESP dont match up and you'll get the 6 blink status light,or intermittent blower operation). No down side to turning it to 6 unless your pellets are teenie tiny (most likely will overfeed on occasion). everything else is personal preference.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

Set the feed rate to 6 and then fire the stove up. Try to put enough of a load on the stove so it has continually feed pellets. Then watch the burn pot. If unburnt pellets start to fall into the ash pan turn the feed rate down a little bit and the watch the burn pot to see if unburned pellets continue to fall into the ash pan.

Repeat this procedure until the burning pellets stop about 1 inch from the edge of the burn pot.

When you switch to a different brand or batch of pellets you may have to adjust the feed rate setting a little bit one way or the other.

Unburned pellets going into the ash pan are a waste of energy. Conversely, having your feed rate set too low can also cause more pellets being consumed.

 

[caralck]

so will running the furnace fan on continuously (forced air system) actually circulate the warm air around the house? I wonder if it's really doing that or just blowing in the air from the garage? Tempted to not run the fan overnight and see how cold the house gets...then send my husband down to turn the furnace on if it gets too cold (ha ha!). Turning the blower on higher is loud...or seems loud. We turned the feed rate up to 4 to see how that goes. I hope we don't run out of fuel in the middle of the night!

 

[Nicholas440]

I dont know about the feed rate, but as far as the air moving I dont think I'd run the furnace blower. I did that with mine a few years ago, and there was no warm air, only cold air came out which didnt help anything. I find that just having a couple of fans gently moving air around the rooms will help. I say gently because if you push air too fast you create wind chill, or a cooling effect. I have a few ceiling fans that I run 24 hours a day, they are on low and gently move the air around, they also bring warm air down from up at the ceiling level which makes a big difference.

 

[gbreda]

I have found that the feed rate does vary a bit between some pellet types. My P68 uses a rate around 4 for Greene Teams. If I leave it there when switching to Okies, Spruce Point etc (high grade) the fire box blackens completely from being too rich. The better pellets run around 3 for a setting and the fire box cleans right up on its own.

edit: Also, I dont know what you are trying to heat, but the 57 lb hopper should get you thru the night easily. My P68 hold 76 lb and is in the basement. I have never run thru 57lbs overnight. But, I am not trying to keep the house at 70 overnight either, more like 60 for sleeping.