Summer's Heat stove burn questions

[skydmark1]

I have the small Summer's Heat (Englander) pellet stove that is sold at Lowe's and HD (Got mine at Lowe's where I work) and it's been a pretty good stove, no real complaints. However, it seems to burn a bit fast, and a bit dirty. On setting 2 for heat 9 for blower, I can blow through a bag of pellets in about 12 hours or less and it leaves a good amount of ash on the burn pot. I'm burning Green Team Pellets this year, just cleaned my exhaust vent with a 3" brush and gave the stove a good cleaning inside. I'm wondering if any of the setting might need to be changed, or if this is the nature of the beast. Seems like last year it burned cleaner with the same brand of pellets also. Any thoughts or tips on tweaking this baby to run better are greatly appreciated

Thanks,
Jason

 

[imacman]

Hey Jason....welcome to the forum.

If the stove burned well last year, I'd have to say that maybe there are some dirty areas in your stove still. Can you explain what your end of the winter cleaning entailed last spring?

Also, have you changed any of the lower 3 button settings on the stove since you bought it? If so, what are they set at now?

What is your exhaust vent set-up like? You DID install the OAK, right?

 

[Panhandler]

Besides the cleaning, try closing the slide in the bottom of the hopper a little. This can slow the feed a bit. I do this especially if the pellets are smaller pieces. Smaller pellets, more volume.

 

[MCPO]

I have the small Summer's Heat (Englander) pellet stove that is sold at Lowe's and HD (Got mine at Lowe's where I work) and it's been a pretty good stove, no real complaints. However, it seems to burn a bit fast, and a bit dirty. On setting 2 for heat 9 for blower, I can blow through a bag of pellets in about 12 hours or less and it leaves a good amount of ash on the burn pot. I'm burning Green Team Pellets this year, just cleaned my exhaust vent with a 3" brush and gave the stove a good cleaning inside. I'm wondering if any of the setting might need to be changed, or if this is the nature of the beast. Seems like last year it burned cleaner with the same brand of pellets also. Any thoughts or tips on tweaking this baby to run better are greatly appreciated

Thanks,
Jason

Try lowering the LFF (low fuel feed) setting. (first of the 3 lower buttons) I have to turn mine down when I want a slower burn on heat setting #1 and #2 . The heat range settings on #1 and #2 work in tandem with the LFF . Keep in mind the it takes several minutes for the change to happen.

 

[skydmark1]

My outside air is hitched up, and my install looks almost exactly like the side of the pellet vent kit box with the exception of a 45 elbow to kitty corner the stove. I've been wondering about adjusting the bottom 3 buttons as I've heard of some people that tweaked this and got a better burn. Maybe I'll try lowering my LFF a click or two. I'll write down the setting in case I have to put it back...haha

 

[MCPO]

My outside air is hitched up, and my install looks almost exactly like the side of the pellet vent kit box with the exception of a 45 elbow to kitty corner the stove. I've been wondering about adjusting the bottom 3 buttons as I've heard of some people that tweaked this and got a better burn. Maybe I'll try lowering my LFF a click or two. I'll write down the setting in case I have to put it back...haha

I think the bottom 3 factory settings are 6-4-1. Unless it`s freezin cold out after a while I usually lower the heat setting to #1 or #2 but I also have to lower the LFF a couple notches too or else it still burns way too high and consequently continues to burn plenty of pellets.
I also leave the middle button (Low Burn Air)on 7 .
I offer these settings only as guide to help but no guarantee your stove will respond the same. All stoves might be created equal but the installations , and other influencing conditions are not.

 

[skydmark1]

Ok so I've played with my settings a bit over the past few days and I'm set at 5-7-1 now. Still seem to be getting the same amount of ash but also seem to be getting a more complete burn, does that make sense? Turning the air up makes it burn better? Also, I think we are getting about the same amount of heat as the house stays at about the same temperature as before, but the pellets are feeding a tad bit slower. I will report back if anything changes. Also, we just got in some Maine's Choice pellets at work, I think I'm gonna buy a few bags to try out and see if I get better results with the ash.....although I've got 2 more ton of the Green Team to burn through still.

 

[sydsdad]

makes sense more air will burn better ,just dont get carried away.i run mine at 6-6-1 when running on #1 and it cleans up the burn nicely..rmw