Now that my Mt. Vernon works... Help with settings and moving the air...

[John97]

I'm running my Mt. Vernon in manual mode, with the thermostat set to 82. I have it on medium-high heat output. It's pretty much running constantly today. I have my air handlers running to help move the air, but really don't think they are doing a whole heck of alot. I had my ceiling fan going in the upstairs hallway but I found that no matter which direction I had it spinning, it seemed to keep the hot air from getting up there. Now with it off, it's a bit warmer up there.

I think I need to cut in a cold-air return in the hallway. There is a supply but not a return. It will be a piece of cake to cut the return in, as the existing return for one of the bedrooms runs right behind the wall. I can just cut into that no problem.

House is 2800SF split-level. The insert is on the middle level. The downstairs level has always been slightly cool but that's fine. It's basically the same now.

I was told that running the stove on auto is hard on the igniter because of the constant cycling. Plus, it seems I should keep the stove running constantly with a steady output to get more even distribution of heat.

I did some searches but really didn't find much to help with my particular situation. Now that I got it fired up, it's time to fine-tune everything and get it all figured out.

 

[smoke show]

I like auto with the temp set a couple degrees higher then desired.

It ramps down to low when within a couple degrees of the set temp.

So in my opinion I don't think its any harder on ignitors.

My house works better without ceiling fans running.

my $.02

 

[pfmaloney]

I just recently purchased a Vornado compact fan and it does a great job circulating the warm air beyond the family room where insert is located. I have the fan to the right of the insert in a corner. I no longer run our ceiling fan. I ordered a second fan for the upstairs to get the far bedroom warmer.

 

[John97]

I like auto with the temp set a couple degrees higher then desired.

It ramps down to low when within a couple degrees of the set temp.

So in my opinion I don't think its any harder on ignitors.

My house works better without ceiling fans running.

my $.02

Thanks for the reply. I switched it to Auto.

I just recently purchased a Vornado compact fan and it does a great job circulating the warm air beyond the family room where insert is located. I have the fan to the right of the insert in a corner. I no longer run our ceiling fan. I ordered a second fan for the upstairs to get the far bedroom warmer.

Got a link or a model?

 

[pfmaloney]

510 is the model #

www.vornado.com

 

[John97]

510 is the model #

www.vornado.com

Thanks. I appreciate it. Gonna check into that.

 

[jtakeman]

Try moving the cool air back to the stove area. Best way I found to creat natural house convection. If you move the cool air out , The warm air replaces the cooler air.

 

[St_Earl]

I just recently purchased a Vornado compact fan and it does a great job circulating the warm air beyond the family room where insert is located. I have the fan to the right of the insert in a corner. I no longer run our ceiling fan. I ordered a second fan for the upstairs to get the far bedroom warmer.

i'm running two vornado 510s

if you go to the vornado site, the 510s are on sale through the end of december for $29.99 w/ free shipping.

just play around w/ them in your own situation.
i have one shooting warm air to the second one which gets it to the end of our linear layout.
it's working like a boss.
i had found a range for the first one where it catches the warm air from the stove but isn't so close that i worry about it's motor getting too hot.
the second one i actually hung as a doorway fan.
lol. it's a "custom" mount.
but it works great. it was somewhere around 10 below last night. so glad the second vornado arrived before that.

looks like their site is down till the 27th.
but order it from them if you go w/ the vornado. you can't beat the price for their december special on the 510s

i have no experience w/ the two level layout though.
best of luck.

 

[DexterDay]

Try moving the cool air back to the stove area. Best way I found to creat natural house convection. If you move the cool air out , The warm air replaces the cooler air.

Yep... Do as Jay suggests. Cold air is easily replaced by wam air.

The common misconception is to blow warm air from the stove room out. But you will have better luck putting the fan down a hallway or in another room blowing the cold air to the stove room. Or by setting a ceiling fan on Low in winter mode (Reverse/Sucking air up). Warm air up top, replaces the cold dense air at the bottom.

Doing a couple small things like this, will help greatly. Thermodynamics in an easy form.

 

[St_Earl]

Try moving the cool air back to the stove area. Best way I found to creat natural house convection. If you move the cool air out , The warm air replaces the cooler air.

Yep... Do as Jay suggests. Cold air is easily replaced by wam air.

The common misconception is to blow warm air from the stove room out. But you will have better luck putting the fan down a hallway or in another room blowing the cold air to the stove room. Or by setting a ceiling fan on Low in winter mode (Reverse/Sucking air up). Warm air up top, replaces the cold dense air at the bottom.

Doing a couple small things like this, will help greatly. Thermodynamics in an easy form.

you can do both. just have the warm air moving up high and the cold air moving the other way down low.
i have to move warm air to the back bedroom because there is a serious narrow bottleneck with four door arches also impeding the movement.
but i've really got my system working well now.

the vornado design is great for that because you can focus the airsteam so there isn't interference with the flow coming the other way.
get that convection conveyor belt going.


* sorry to sound like a vornado salesman*

 

[John97]

Thanks folks. I am going to try and order two of them. I understand the concept of moving the cold air. I will give that a shot.

In addition, I am replacing the chandelier in the living room with a ceiling fan. Since we have 7' ceilings, the damn thing hangs down too low and I am always cracking my head on it anyway. My wife is only 5'2 so she can easily walk under it. A flush-mount ceiling fan in its place will probably help the cause as well as my noggin.

 

[tsmith]

I agree with smokeshow, I have found that running in auto with the temp set about 2 degrees higher than I actually want works the best. It actually keeps the stove running longer and should be easier on the ignitor than if you always run on medium high and reach your set temp and it shuts down then comes back on. I also find that auto keeps the house at a constant temp no swings. Keeps the wife happy

 

[John97]

Auto mode is definitely working better.

Just gotta get the fans...

 

[smoke show]

What fuel type setting are you using???

You'll get the longest auto clean cycle times on softwood.

 

[John97]

Hardwood Pellet.

I checked the ashpan today, hardly anything in it. I gave the firebox a quick vac, dropped the baffle, and did a brush/vac on the heat exchanger.

 

[John97]

After doing some more experimenting, I found that the ceiling fan in my upstairs hallway with the switch up does in fact help pull warm air up. I have the fan in our bedroom running the same way and that seems to help also. I have the thermostat set to 77/78 for the stove and it's getting to 73 in my room.

I plan on putting one of the Vornado fans on the floor in my upstairs hallway to push the cold air towards the stove. I plan on using another downstairs in a similar manner.

Now that Vornado's website is back up, I don't see the $29.99 special. The 510's are $39.99.

 

[jmcp]

I leave my mt vernon on its lowest setting on manual mode so the stove never goes out, in this type of weather it is easy to heat the whole house.The downstairs family room is 74 degrees upstairs 73 degrees I will burn 3 or 4 bags before I shut the stove to clean.But when the real hard cold comes it will be hard to maintain those type of temps I messed around with fans to me they do not work they just generate drafts.When the temp hits 20 you might be better off setting your oil to come on at 68 and leave the pellet stove do most of the work that way you will even out temps in the house.

 

[pfmaloney]

Now that Vornado's website is back up, I don't see the $29.99 special. The 510's are $39.99.

I called them directly to get the second fan for 29.99. I told them that when I bought the first one, their website stated that the price was the December special.

 

[St_Earl]

yep. call them on their 800 number.

 

[pfmaloney]

http://www.vornado.com/product.aspx?CategoryID=fc1b32ec-99a3-445d-a874-47c311299b54

 

[St_Earl]

defo get the 510.
i was reading reviews and the 530 is a newer model and perhaps the motor is chinese or something.
i just remember reading a detailed review and he spoke of a bad low frequency hum from the motor.
the 510 is a tried and true model.

*ah. just saw your post.
glad you got the deal.

 

[John97]

My wife has a gift certificate for Target. They got them for 39.99, but since the gift cert was a gift, they will essentially cost us nothing. I convinced her to let me use it to order two.

I read it's important to get the 510 because the 530 is made in Mexico and is a POS, whereas the 510 is USA made.

 

[ironpony]

I use a couple of floor box fans to move air around and mix on the lower level
the furnace is programmed to run 10 mins every 30 mins, return air on lower level
which circulates warm air through the whole house
everything stays at 70, which is to warm for me and the wife
68 is perfect for us, run on stove temp 24/7
and I know some will doubt it but
I heat 4600 sq ft with one Invincible RS, 4 tons a year

oh OMV you are to far away to share with
if you were local I'd say help yourself