New Pellet Stove

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pjmcs10

New Member
Oct 28, 2010
13
Cromwell, CT
Hey, I recently had a Harman P35i installed in my house. Love it so far! I got the stove from fireside supply and they were great. Got a free ton of infernos and just ordered 2 tons of pellets from BT enterprises. (okanagan and cubex) The only thing I am worried about is getting my NG boiler to turn on every once and a while so that the pipes dont freeze in the house. I have been reading the boards for a little while and have learned a lot.
 
welcome.
check out the thermguard regarding frozen pipes.
 
Hello

My Avalon Astoria in the Basement of our split makes the upstairs around 70. The basement now is between 75 -80 degrees so I never have to worry about the pipes freezing!!

Where is your boiler and where is your pellet stove?
 
the boiler is in the basement. The pellet insert is on the first floor of our dutch colonial. There is a home built wood stove in the basement that i wasnt planning on using since the basement isnt finished. I bought the house over the summer and it is my first home so I am just a little worried since I dont know a lot about boilers and that kind of stuff.
 
Hello

Well I guess in your case there would be some concern of the basement temps. Since my house is not like yours, I would get a Radio Shack Digital Thermometer with a remote sensor so you can monitor the basement temperature easily. I have one to check my basement, Outside and Attic Temps by buying two more sensors!

Then you can always put foam or fiberglass pipe insulation on the pipes. That not only keeps them from freezing but brings more heat upstairs if you do use it. I have some on mine but I have not used the oil yet this year for heat, just for hot water.


So monitor the basement temps and with that knowledge you can become the expert for your house. That is what I did.

Good Luck

P.S. The Themguard is for Hot Air Furnaces or Baseboard.
http://www.bearmountaindesign.com/
 
Don2222 said:
P.S. The Themguard is just for Hot Air Furnaces not Baseboard.
http://www.bearmountaindesign.com/

Actually, ThermGuard was designed with baseboard heat in mind. My pipes froze and burst twice in my home in Montana. The last time there was $4000 in damage to my finished basement. Now I have ThermGuard units on two zones and I never worry about freezing pipes again. The timing function of ThermGuard is very flexible and that is why it works with furnaces and with baseboard. For furnaces, you could set it to turn on the furnace fan for 10 minutes every half hour, while on baseboards, you could program ThermGuard to turn on the boiler for 2 minutes every couple of hours. ThermGuard works great for both applications.

ThermGuard can be purchased from www.bearmountaindesign.com

Cheers,
John
 
Hello

Thanks for the details about Thermguard. The info on the Website should be as good as what you just wrote! LOL

Looks like an option.

Question on Thermguard? My friend goes away in the winter for a few weeks. So would thermguard be cheaper than leaving the furnace set to 55 degrees to keep the pipes from freezing??
 
I think I will get the thermguard for my 2 zones. It is a natural gas boiler with baseboard so I think that product will work great. I am not sure if I will be able to heat with just the pellet stove so I may not even need to worry about it but I guess it would be better to have it and not worry.
 
I have the ThermGuard for my 2 upstairs bedrooms that don't get used too often. I leave the that set at 45, and the Thermguard handles any issues with freezing on the coldest of days. I have the oil burner come on every 2 1/2 hours for 5 minutes....GREAT product, IMO.
 
Hello Imacman

Do you think the Thermguard saves alot more oil than leaving the thermostat set at 45 degrees all the time?
 
Don2222 said:
Hello

Thanks for the details about Thermguard. The info on the Website should be as good as what you just wrote! LOL

Looks like an option.

Question on Thermguard? My friend goes away in the winter for a few weeks. So would thermguard be cheaper than leaving the furnace set to 55 degrees to keep the pipes from freezing??

Hi Don,

ThermGuard will help keep the heating pipes from freezing by periodically circulating hot water through them. It works on time, not temperature. I wouldn’t substitute ThermGuard for the thermostat. Stay the course and set the thermostat to 55. That will keep the domestic water supply pipes from freezing.

Thanks for asking!

Cheers,
John
 
What about moving your thermostat to the basement, or using a remote suggested, and simply rezone so that most heat goes to the basement run?

Since you are a boiler newbie I would recommend getting someone in that can explain how to do that so you better understand the system.
 
Unfortunetly there is no baseboard or zone in the basement so no way to heat basement besides the homebuilt wood stove which was left down there when i got the house.
 
pjmcs10 said:
Unfortunetly there is no baseboard or zone in the basement so no way to heat basement besides the homebuilt wood stove which was left down there when i got the house.

Bummer! Looks like you will have to resort to protecting those pipes, unless you are willing to add a heat source.
 
Don2222 said:
Hello Imacman

Do you think the Thermguard saves alot more oil than leaving the thermostat set at 45 degrees all the time?

Tough to say. I was hoping I was saving oil and protecting the pipes, all at the same time. I tend to think that a 5 minute burn every 2 1/2 hours doesn't use as much oil as when the burner comes on 2-3 times an hour just using the stat.
 
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