What is the most important thing you have learned with the Pellet Stove Experience? (Share experien

[cac4]

1.Lord loves a workin' man
2.Don't trust whitey
3.See a doctor and get rid of it.

One of the best all time flicks!

that sounds familiar...refresh me. I can't think of the movie...

IRT "magic pellets"--

I found this document quite helpfull...much of it applies to any stove, not just a Harman. So far, it seems to be pretty accurate, in terms of "pellet requirements".

http://www.homewarmth.com/pdffiles/installationplanningguide.pdf

"rule of thumb": 2 tons per season per 1000sqft of heated space.

 

[treehackers]

1.Lord loves a workin' man
2.Don't trust whitey
3.See a doctor and get rid of it.

One of the best all time flicks!

that sounds familiar...refresh me. I can't think of the movie...

IRT "magic pellets"--

I found this document quite helpfull...much of it applies to any stove, not just a Harman. So far, it seems to be pretty accurate, in terms of "pellet requirements".

http://www.homewarmth.com/pdffiles/installationplanningguide.pdf

"rule of thumb": 2 tons per season per 1000sqft of heated space.

"The Jerk"

 

[old4x4]

[

I quickly found it cost me more money in the long run to try heating the first floor with my pellet stove located in the insulated basement below. I went through a lot of pellets, electricity trying to spread the heat, and oil making up for the lack of heat upstairs... When everything was tallied, it cost me more than what it would cost just to heat with oil using the central heating system.

The next thing I learned was that a stove is a space heater. You'd never know this based on many of the posts around here, but space heaters don't give nice even temps throughout the house like a central heating system will.

Which leads me into the most important thing I learned right here... The BS runs strong and thick in this sub-forum. That's right, some people must be heating with nuclear pellets. Plenty of folks on here who claim they are heating 2500+ sq ft of house (in ME no less), the temps throughout the house are within 5* or so, and of course they only burn a bag of pellets a day. Yep, we have folks who live in the north that can heat their 1500 sq ft home all winter with <1.5 tons of pellets (no other source of heat needed) and have nice toasty warm/consistant interior temps. Hell, I even recall one member recently saying he lives in the mountains where temps routinly hit the single digits, yet all he heats his nice toasty home with is the solor energy coming through his windows during the day and 15 or 20 bags of pellets for the year. That's one well oiled machine right there folks!

WELL PUT!

1. That a pellet stove puts out only marginally more heat than a little electric heater and sucks money out of the wallet faster than can be counted.
2. St Croix has the worst (non-existent) customer service of ANY company I've EVER dealt with.
3. That a stove designed to "heat up to 1800 sq ft" can't even heat up 220 sq feet to more than 65 degrees.
4. I shoulda bought a wood stove.

 

[PunKid8888]

I have learned that a pellet stove is not a wood stove.

I bought the pellet stove because I wanted a wood stove but I figured trying to cut split and stack 3 cords of wood by myself would be to much (moved to NH away from a lot of my friends in Mass) , and buying a couple tons of pellets would be easier. But the off season of no worries except on looking for a good price of pellets was the best part. I don't know what it is but something about tending to the fire, not adjusting some electronic control board, is more nostalgic. The heat output is very different as well, you could have to rooms at 70F and the one with the wood stove would feel warmers then the pellet stove, And I think thats what I forgot when I decided on the pellet stove.

That and pellet stove run on electricity. which makes them useless when the power goes out for 5.5 days. But they are able to run off a very small generator which saved me from freezing up my pipes so for that I am thankful.

So in summery, i have learned that the pellet stove is not for me, maybe it will go out in my garage next year, unless somebody is looking for a used stove come the end of the heating season....... anyone?

 

[sydney1963]

All I can think of at the moment that hasn't been stated above:

-Fans! use them to at floor level to blow the cold air out of a room - the warm air naturally replaces what you move out.

-on an Englander, make sure your baffle plate (impingement plate) is not leaning forward. You can get way more heat on lower settings out of the stove by bending the tabs so that it rests flat on the back wall.

Really? Mine kind of wiggles front to back, maybe an eighth of an inch or so?

 

[orangecrushcj7]

All I can think of at the moment that hasn't been stated above:

-Fans! use them to at floor level to blow the cold air out of a room - the warm air naturally replaces what you move out.

-on an Englander, make sure your baffle plate (impingement plate) is not leaning forward. You can get way more heat on lower settings out of the stove by bending the tabs so that it rests flat on the back wall.

Really? Mine kind of wiggles front to back, maybe an eighth of an inch or so?

I wedged an 8 penny finish nail in between the lower tab and the plate so that the plate seats nicely against the back wall. I gather the point of the plate is to help block heated air from escaping out the vent. I now get equal heat out put on 4 that I used to have to get out of 9. It is 10 degrees outside right now and the entire 1400 sf open plan cape with vaulted ceilings open to the 2nd floor bedrooms is 70 degrees. I have the stove in my back hall. The back hall has an open stair off one end of it, and a hallway that leads out to the LR and Kitchen off the other end. The only fan I use is a 50watt tower fan that I blow down the hall at the stove. It is 93 in the back hall but 71 in the kitchen/LR, and 70 in the 2 upper bedrooms. Well, I have 2 ceiling fans in the LR/Kitchen set on low to mix things up.

 

[pelletizer]

I did bend my tabs to make mine a bit more snug and it could be snugger, In this cold weather I can not run on 1 but need to run at 3 min to maintain 72 in the main part of the house were the stove is. My old Jotul wood stove in the same room would have the room 75 to 80 easy. But I have not tried the stove for long periods on setting 5 or 6 either.

 

[strangemainer]

IMO, a stove that promises to heat "2,200" square feet is like a car claiming to get "up to"
35 mpg. Dont expect it!

My 2,200 sq foot model Englander heats my 1,600 sq foot home nice and toasty.
Of course its warmer in the room the stove is in, but the back bedrooms are around 65.

Bottom line...go big!

 

[strangemainer]

PunkKid888, how much for the stove?

I might be putting one in the basement next year.

 

[richkorn]

The most important thing I learned was:
Don't buy pellets in large amounts till you are sure about the product. Something I knew for years...but I let the pellet shortage scare of this summer to sway me into buying 3 tons of unknown (Maine Woods). Will never do that again!

Ditto!

 

[travlnusa]

1) This board offers more info than my mnaual ever thought of printing.

2) Damper control is an art, not a science.

3) I use more pellets than I thought I would have (still less than LP)

4) Stove heats house better than I ever hoped for.

Thus I voted "Other" in the poll.

My wife would have voted cleaning expert. She keeps it brand new.

 

[PunKid8888]

PunkKid888, how much for the stove?

I might be putting one in the basement next year.

Honestly not sure at the moment, I will let you know a little later in the season. I am still up in the air about it, and the cost of putting a wood stove is probably going to be more then what I can recoop on this stove. You are number 1 on the list though if I do sell it.

 

[alexdrozd]

It sounds a lot louder in my living room than it did on the dealer's floor. Wish it was less noisy. I learned it's hard to compare noise levels between two places.

 

[Wet1]

PunkKid888, how much for the stove?

I might be putting one in the basement next year.

If you want to drive to CT, you can have mine for $425.

 

[rayttt]

What is the most important thing you have learned with the Pellet Stove Experience?

the most important thing I have learned is not to reach over the stove to pick up stuff behind it while being naked!

 

[Tom D]

im heating aprox. 1250 sq ft 2 story home,just had some very cold weather nine deg. below zero
and 4 deg. during the day burned 50 lbs in 24 hrs.74 deg. down 68 deg. up stairs no fans.
just had attic and crawl space insullated. still would rather heat with pellets, like heat better than
natural gas and i like the harman xxv. rather give my money to some one trying to feed there
family in a pellet mill then the greedy gas company. also like watching the flame.

 

[doghouse]

eng. 25 powervent allows for much experimental burning fun!

Alright Czar, give. What is a 'powervent'? How will it improve my E.-25?

 

[trogers]

I have learned that, apparently, a lot of people didn't understand that pellets stove were not central heat. I'll file that one under... "no $#@!! Sherlock", but thanks for pointing it out for the billionth time anyway. I have also learned that although I have saved 47% on my propane usage so far this year, while being much more comfortable, that a lot of people on these forums don't think that they are that great. I guess that might be the difference between oil and propane though.


HO HO Ho - Merry Christmas to all...and to all a warm night!

 

[kinsmanstoves]

What is the most important thing you have learned with the Pellet Stove Experience?

the most important thing I have learned is not to reach over the stove to pick up stuff behind it while being naked!

That will leave a mark.

Eric

 

[doghouse]

eng. 25 powervent allows for much experimental burning fun!

Alright Czar, give. What is a 'powervent'? How will it improve my E.-25?

powervent is the exhaust fan so it dont need chimni. improvements involve violating ul listings as per modifications=not code legal & insurance foolish. but I DONT CARE! CUZ ITS FUN & i'm still typing,eh?

Nice!

 

[kinsmanstoves]

1.) Read the manual.
2.) Read the manual again.


Eric

 

[CenterTree]

What is the most important thing you have learned with the Pellet Stove Experience?

the most important thing I have learned is not to reach over the stove to pick up stuff behind it while being naked!

Hey, I think your referring to a different POLE there! YIKES!

 

[rowerwet]

What I learned:

1. That I can control the worldwide price of oil. All I had to do to get the price to drop through the floor was to buy a pellet stove and 2 tons of pellets at a time of peak demand.

2. That the answer to every installation question (OAK or not? Horizontal vent ok or is vertical rise needed? screen the pellet fines or not?) is "it depends"

3. That, based on the prices charged by local suppliers, pellet piping is made from a rhodium-platinum alloy and has gold foil lining.

4. That pellet stoves are excellent stud finders. Just place the stove in your room exactly where you want it. Draw a straight imaginary line from the exhaust port to the wall. Behind the wall at that point is a stud. Most likely a double stud with electrical conduit attached. And next to a PVC waste line from the bathroom above.

5. That homemade hearth pads weigh more than the sum of their constituent parts (plywood, wonderboard, adhesive, tile, and grout). The grout curing process adds approximately 100 pounds.

6. That the fork lifts attached to pellet delivery vehicles do not fit in my garage.

7. That 6 year old boys like to put objects in pellet stove hoppers. Especially metal objects.

8. That my wife's carrying capacity is 39 pounds. Anything even just one pound heavier than that is my responsibility to lift.

Having said that, we are really happy with our stove so far. Buying online was no prob. Installation was pretty easy and it runs well. And this forum has been a great resource.

I find this the funniest post I have read on the hearth! and I didn't run into any of these problems. The stud finder line works for any hole in the wall, except a nail to hang something from.

 

[countk]

Unlike Punkid 8888, I will never go back to a wood stove. For 22 years I stacked 3 - 4 cords a year, (didn't even split them), lugged them in all winter, not to mention the constant clearing off of snow and frozen ice from the pile. Got up sometimes in the middle of the night, to put logs in the stove. Loaded it I don't know how many times a day!

This April I got my first pellet stove and you couldn't pay me enough to go back to a wood stove. A trip down to my basement once a day and no worries (until of course I run into a stove problem). I remember seeing a post awhile back about someone complaining about some of the hassles with a pellet stove, like loading it and figuring out the setting, etc. Give me a break! If you have had a wood stove for any length of time, the effort and time to maintain a pellet stove is far easier!

Although I do sometimes miss the tremendous amount of initial heat I used to get with my wood stove, my pellet stove certainly is more efficient and heats more evenly. At 55 I was getting to old for the wood stove, even though it may have been good exercise, I would much rather go for a run or work out, or at this stage of my life do something else with my time. Don't get me wrong, for those of you who still like your wood stove, I can understand. It's just not for me anymore.

So what do I like about my pellet stove. See paragraph 1

 

[AmandaSkye]

I learned the following:

-the Drolet web site is useless.
-SBI will call you at home to help though
-my stove would still be blinking if it wasn't for you guys
-I've saved a bloody fortune in oil, even with the cost of oil being down
-it makes my living room look really homey
-joe-blow can install the stove by themselves as long as they read a manual and ask advice
-a slate hearth is the way to go (DIY no less)
-cleaning it thoroughly will wreck a white housecoat