Tips for improving Enviro Milan efficiency?

[Racharles]

Hi all,

We had an enviro Milan pellet insert installed in our fireplace a little over a month ago. We live in eastern Canada and are expecting a cold winter.

I've been reading a lot from these forums and have appreciated the information I've found here.

We are concerned with the amount of pellets we've been burning. Our installer felt that the stove would heat our home without any problems and that only on the coldest days of the winter would we need a full bag of pellets. He guessed most days would be .5 or .75 of a bag. Our house is around 1100 sq feet with a relatively open floor plan. Is this realistic?

We've had a few cold nights (around 0 Celsius or 32 F) so we fill the hopper with a full bag before going to bed. In the morning, the hopper is empty. At this rate we will need a minimum of 2 bags per day -- and it's not even all that cold out yet.

I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with this stove and if there are any tricks to improve the efficiency. We are running the stove on manual with a heat level 4 and burning Crabbe premium softwood pellets. We had been running it on level 3 but it seemed like i was constantly having to adjust the damper and trim settings.

 

[Lake Girl]

Two bags a day sounds about right as we get colder temperatures. The higher feed setting will use more. Did the dealer assume you would be occasionally burning or did he realize it was more primary heat? Welcome to the forum.

 

[stovelark]

Hello, welcome. If you burn a bag overnight, you are running it on 5?? Most people don't run their stove on max, do you need that amount of heat to stay warm? If so, it is what it is. A question though, where is the air control? Milans and Empresses inserts' usually run best when the air control is all the way left, then about 3/8 inch to the right. I'd look on youtube for enviro videos to compare flames. Are you using good pellets and simply is the stove feeling hot?? If so, she appears to be doing her job. For your environment, 1100 sqft sounds like the ceiling for the Milan, I would have probably suggested the Meridian or M55 for you, to give you more horsepower, espec if you are looking for a primary heater. Here in CT, my Empress can handle our upper level (about 1200 sqft), but I supplement with wood heat in our lower level (As you prob know, Empress and Milan have the same burn engines). Sorry for the long answer, but the stove might be doing what it can for you, could be nothing wrong with your stove. Good luck, think you made a good choice though.

 

[Racharles]

Thanks so much to you both for these replies.

Lake Girl, we told the dealer it was for primary heat, but am wondering now if he was more of a salesman than a stove expert.

Stovelark, we are running the stove on 4 all the time to maintain a temp of about 22C/72F. When we turn it up to 5, the temp keeps climbing -- which gives me some comfort since it's about to get a whole lot colder. I guess we will have to just wait and see what happens when the temps really start to drop. If this winter doesn't go well, we might put something rugged with a larger hopper in the basement to help.

We are using good softwood pellets, but the stove doesn't always feel hot. Thanks for the tip about the air control -- I will follow your advice and see if that helps. We have been having a hard time with the settings. We are currently running on 4 with both feed and combustion trims set at 1. When we increase those settings it's tripping the high temp sensor in the hopper.

 

[Racharles]

We are having some problems with the stove now and I'm wondering if anyone here can speak to these issues.

We are still running the stove on 4. After I clean the stove, it takes a few hours, but pellets begin to build up in the burn pot. After 24 hours there are lots of unburned pellets in the ash pan (I guess they bounce out) and pellets are burning at the very top of the burn pot.

When I adjust the damper as recommended above, the flame is huge and also what I think is meant by "tall and lazy." It continuously trips the high temp sensor for the hopper and shuts down until it cools off enough. So I open the damper by moving it to the right to get that sensor to stop from tripping. I also keep the feed trim on 1 since the pot is so full.

There is significant soot buildup on the glass. Kind of like a big horizontal oval across the top half of the glass.

I am having to get up in the night to adjust the settings because of the tripping heat sensor (#4 flashing). I am able to keep it running and heat the house but feeling like I have to babysit it too much. I assume there is something about the adjustments that I just don't understand yet. Any tips would help.

 

[stovelark]

Sorry to hear you still are having issues. We are starting to use heat here in CT at times. but nothing serious yet. I don't understand popping the high heat like you seem to be doing? This is a new milan, right? What has your dealer/installer told you? I'm not a fan of adjusting the trim levels, if a stove is clean, has good airflow through it with reasonably good fuel, the factory settings should be ok. Pellets running out of the burnpot unburned?? I'm wondering if your Motherboard is ok- maybe the voltages to the combustion/convection blowers aren't right?? What fuel are you using? I'm watching my empress run now on 2, flame poking above the burnpot, air is set almost all the way left. Your burnpot is setting in the two holes, the tabs I mean and the liner sitting in correctly...? You ought to have someone look at it, something is not right..

 

[Racharles]

Thanks for the response. We are burning Crabbe premium softwood pellets. We called the dealer today and they are going to send the installer back to have a look in a few days. At this point I am hoping it's a problem like you describe because then they can fix it!

I will set the trim settings back to factory tomorrow after cleaning it and try burning on a lower level to see what happens. So far we have not been able to maintain the temperature we like in the house without leaving the stove on 4 24/7. Even still there is a bit of a chill in the air which makes me worry about how this is going to go when the temperatures really plummet.

 

[Mt Bob]

Stove sounds way too small for your average temps up there.Stove is not provisioned for an oak=heat loss.Possible bad heat losses in the house.Was chimney liner blocked/insulated properly.

 

[Racharles]

Hi Bob, thanks for your questions. I don't have the answers for them but will pass them along to the installer when he comes by the house. Hopefully this week!

 

[Racharles]

The specs say the stove can heat 1500 sq feet and the output is 34000 BTUs. These are the same specs as the Empress (stovelark's stove). Stovelark, is the Empress your primary heat source?

 

[stovelark]

Hi Racharies= something don't seem right, I'm wondering if your convection blower is working and working correctly?? My Empress does pretty well by itself for our upstairs (about 1200 sqft). My wife likes it warm, and I am a wood stove burner and another Enviro (EF3) downstairs. I like burning my wood stove for primary heat and running the pellet stoves when necessary. Most of the time my woodstove does well by itself, but in super cold weather (like winter before last) we were running our Empress almost constantly on 2-3 upstairs. The Empress/Milan Insert should heat well for my area (CT), about 1200 sqft with normal insulation as a primary heater. I'm thinking in your neck of the woods, she might be a little light. That's why I suggested I would have shown you a Meridian or M55. I'd rather you have about 30 percent of heat in reserve in case we have a nasty winter. Everyone's definition of being warm varies too, my wife thinks 75 is toasty- me, I'm getting warm at that point, ha. Don't give up on the Milan, something doesn't seem right yet... Let us know what happens- I am an Enviro guy, I like their wood stoves and pellet stoves.

 

[Racharles]

Well the installer came back today and identified the issue in less than five minutes. There was an air leak around the ash pan due to user error. It's essentially been leaking air from that spot since the first time we cleaned the unit. We had not been tightening the screw that seals the ash pan.

He thinks this is the root of all our issues: incomplete burns, using more pellets than we should be, error code 3, error code 4, and obviously the heat output.

So now we know better. It is already throwing way more heat. Will update again if any issues persist.

 

[BrotherBart]

Glad ya got it ticking along. Keep us posted.

 

[stovelark]

Awesome to hear- I've seen that problem cause a vacuum errort (2) but not much else. It must have really been leaking and the flame would definitely been affected in how it looked?? Anyway, glad you got it. In the future when you take the ash pan out, careful not to distort the inner wall frame, it will make the ash pan not fit inside properly. That pan needs to be locked down..... Glad its better for you too.