Install Complete - VistaFlame VF-55

I love this stove I finished my install yesterday evening, and fired it up this afternoon. Looks and runs great. I have not adjusted any of the factory settings and am getting a great looking flame on heat setting 2. It is throwing alot of heat, and quickly warmed up the downstairs which is approximately 1,000 sq ft. I plan to raise the heat setting to 3 overnight, and am confident it will warm up the 900 sq ft upstairs. I am using cheap Home Depot pellets for now, I bought 12 bags to get started. Now I need to do some research to figure out what are better pellets to use.

Thanks to Nailer for some great information this morning.

See picture below...

Looks great! Safety man is going to tell you to put a surge protector on it though.

Looks great. That stove will burn anything and spit out the ash. Enjoy the heat

Looks nice, what pellets are you looking into?

I'm not sure what to look for, right now I am burning 12 bags of the cheap Home Depot pellets called Fireside Ultra. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I am a novice at this, I wouldn't know how to tell that these Fireside Ultra pellets are good or bad.

Definitely get a good surge protector.....3,000 Jules minimum. Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-IS...f=sr_1_32?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1352388999&sr=1-32

Where are you from? pellets tend to be a bit localized. What we have here in new england is sometimes different than the ohio folks and the north west folks get.

There are a lot of good pellets out there, what's available in your area?

I live in Central Massachusetts. If you have any brands that you recommend, I will check around here who has them.

Good can be determained in a couple a ways. Heat and how clean they burn. Heat warms the home faster and lower ash content lets you run longer between cleanings. FSU are pretty much right dab in the middle of the pack. Good heat and decent ash.

Your M55 clone isn't pellet picky so you can be, Look for an affordable pellet that has good heat and is somewhat clean. If the FSU produce enough heat and are affordable. You should be fine with them.

If it gets really cold and the stove struggles to warm the house. Try to find Some Hamer Hot Ones(or other brands- to lazy to type em all) that produce silly amounts of heat. There is a long list of hot brands out there. I depends on your area. Do a little pellet hunting and post what you can find. The pigs here will help you pick the hot stuff. Go get a couple a bags to try and you will see why the gag gets all giddy about them.

Also it doesn't hurt to do some sampling(we call it pellet hunting) of the easily obtained brands. Gives you a feel for whats out there! This way if you can't find what your burning now, You at least know whats up with some of the local stuff. Not as much guessing when you need to fill the stash again. Again the VF-55 isn't going to be as picky. It should eat what ever you bring home.

Nice looking stove, Enjoy the new toy and the fun you can have pellet hunting! Hopefully you can dodge the swine flu thing that comes with owning a pellet eater and hangin with these nut jobs(me included)!