Englander 25-Pvdc upgrade to Drolet Eco45

[Mikeporter]

i have an Englander 25 PVDC pretty happy with it. Had issues at the beginning because I got standard pellets shipped instead of premium. I am in Canada. I have a house that's 2200 square feet. The Englander can keep the main floor at 19 at 3 with the blower at 9. I am running 441 on the board settings. Electricity is a fortune in Ontario so I am using it to run during the day to help out my bills. I have Geothermal heat. The system is great but 500 bux a month for hydro is killing me. I have a chance to get a Drolet ECO45 pellet stove. It's double the BTU's then the Englander. I also burn wood in the house as well but the upstairs is cold. Do you guys think this is a good purchase? I can get it for 1200 CDN.
Thanks for the help

 

[Lake Girl]

Welcome to the forum! Would suggest that you do a search on the Eco 45 on the forum for a better idea of what you can expect for performance and maintenance.

Wood stove in basement? Does it have an OAK? Does the Englander? You would likely be happier heat-wise if the wood stove was upstairs...

How is the insulation, windows, weatherstripping? Remedies for those will prevent cold air infiltration and be far more helpful in the long-run.

 

[Cedarjunki]

I do not know about drolets at all but, looking up the specs it says 45,000btu.
It has a single auger feed system. And has an ash drawer which are both a plus over the pdvc. Both of these reasons are why i jumped on a good deal i found.

But, if you are only looking at it because of the btu factor, you are aware that the pdvc is capable of running in the mode meant for its big brother right? Meaning you can get alot more heat out of the stove you already have without spending anything.

 

[Mikeporter]

Welcome to the forum! Would suggest that you do a search on the Eco 45 on the forum for a better idea of what you can expect for performance and maintenance.

Wood stove in basement? Does it have an OAK? Does the Englander? You would likely be happier heat-wise if the wood stove was upstairs...

How is the insulation, windows, weatherstripping? Remedies for those will prevent cold air infiltration and be far more helpful in the long-run.

Actually I have the wood stove and the pellet stove on the same level. We run the pellet stove during the day when we aren't home and the wood stove when we are home. If it's really cold we run both. Both have OAK.
Insulation is ok it will be improved when I redo the siding on the house. Windows and doors are all brand new I did them all this summer. Like I said it's a 2000 sq foot house and running the Englander I am having a hard time keeping the house at 19. When we have the wood stove going we can hit 23 24. Just wondering how people are making out with this type of stove. Our energy prices in Ontario are astronomical ( I'm not kidding here). I find the higher levels of the Englander seems to eat more pellets but I don't seem to be getting a lot more heat. I did a total clean out of the stove and it made a little difference but not much. I am running the stove on 441.
Thanks for the reply
Mike

 

[Mikeporter]

I do not know about drolets at all but, looking up the specs it says 45,000btu.
It has a single auger feed system. And has an ash drawer which are both a plus over the pdvc. Both of these reasons are why i jumped on a good deal i found.

But, if you are only looking at it because of the btu factor, you are aware that the pdvc is capable of running in the mode meant for its big brother right? Meaning you can get alot more heat out of the stove you already have without spending anything.

Really I thought the big brother was a physically bigger stove? How do you do this. I haven't read anything about this. I do like the ash drawer idea. I also find that the Englander doesn't really keep the glass that clean. I'm pretty happy with the Englander just find I am having a hard time keeping the house warm.

 

[Cedarjunki]

Really I thought the big brother was a physically bigger stove? How do you do this. I haven't read anything about this. I do like the ash drawer idea. I also find that the Englander doesn't really keep the glass that clean. I'm pretty happy with the Englander just find I am having a hard time keeping the house warm.

The actual size of the pdv is larger than the pdvc. But the control is the same for both stoves. The control board has multiple modes for many stoves. There are many threads on this forum discussing this and many people are doing it.
You can either do a search for "C mode" or "changing modes"
Or call esw tech line and inquire about the mode change and they can give you exact instructions and info regarding your specific stove.

Btw... in order to get more heat you need to burn more pellets

 

[Mikeporter]

The actual size of the pdv is larger than the pdvc. But the control is the same for both stoves. The control board has multiple modes for many stoves. There are many threads on this forum discussing this and many people are doing it.
You can either do a search for "C mode" or "changing modes"
Or call esw tech line and inquire about the mode change and they can give you exact instructions and info regarding your specific stove.

Btw... in order to get more heat you need to burn more pellets

Ok cool I will look into that. I am running it on 2. When I go to 4 I am not getting much more heat. Only 215 degrees I am measuring with an IR heat gun. I am using more pellets but only 15 more degrees and getting a lot more clinkers. I am going to plug the holes under the wear plate as I have seen on the forums and see what happens.

 

[Mikeporter]

Welcome to the forum! Would suggest that you do a search on the Eco 45 on the forum for a better idea of what you can expect for performance and maintenance.

Wood stove in basement? Does it have an OAK? Does the Englander? You would likely be happier heat-wise if the wood stove was upstairs...

How is the insulation, windows, weatherstripping? Remedies for those will prevent cold air infiltration and be far more helpful in the long-run.

What I didn't mention is I have been creeping the forums for a few years. Didn't ever get an account just a ton a reading. I finally had a question so I got an account. There is a nice group of people on here. Some of the other forums not so much.

 

[Cedarjunki]

Ok cool I will look into that. I am running it on 2. When I go to 4 I am not getting much more heat. Only 215 degrees I am measuring with an IR heat gun. I am using more pellets but only 15 more degrees and getting a lot more clinkers. I am going to plug the holes under the wear plate as I have seen on the forums and see what happens.

The biggest question is how long are you letting in run on a higher setting before you say its not putting out enough to justify the pellet use??

 

[Cedarjunki]

Also you may not be seeing much differance between setting 2 & 4 if your LFF is set higher than it should be. What are the lower 3 buttons set at?


Edited.... never mind i remember you already said in your first post

 

[Lake Girl]

3 buttons set at

Mentioned 4-4-1

A heads up from when you redo the siding ... there is a self-adhesive membrane to use around windows, doors, sill plates. Waterproof and prevents air infiltration as it seals between house wrap and nailing flange on the window. We used it on our condo windows and the engineer in charge of the exterior rehab for the complex mentioned we were the only ones that had properly sealed windows! We used the one from Menards as we are near the border...
https://www.menards.com/main/doors-...flashing-1-roll-4-x-33-ft/p-1444426702337.htm
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.blueskin-weather-barrier-6-inch.1000403475.html
http://www.dupont.ca/en/products-an...s/products/straightflash-window-flashing.html

 

[Mikeporter]

The biggest question is how long are you letting in run on a higher setting before you say its not putting out enough to justify the pellet use??

5 hours. I was home all morning one day so I was playing around with it. It was piling up with pellets as well. Flames good. Stoves clean.

 

[Mikeporter]

Mentioned 4-4-1

A heads up from when you redo the siding ... there is a self-adhesive membrane to use around windows, doors, sill plates. Waterproof and prevents air infiltration as it seals between house wrap and nailing flange on the window. We used it on our condo windows and the engineer in charge of the exterior rehab for the complex mentioned we were the only ones that had properly sealed windows! We used the one from Menards as we are near the border...
https://www.menards.com/main/doors-...flashing-1-roll-4-x-33-ft/p-1444426702337.htm
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.blueskin-weather-barrier-6-inch.1000403475.html
http://www.dupont.ca/en/products-an...s/products/straightflash-window-flashing.html

Yepper I used that stuff it's typar here (Canada). I installed all the windows and doors. I have wood siding so I pryed it out and put the typar under the siding then wrapped it in the window frame. Stuff is nice to work with. Does a wonderful job of removing beard hair from your face too!

 

[Cedarjunki]

5 hours. I was home all morning one day so I was playing around with it. It was piling up with pellets as well. Flames good. Stoves clean.

Just wanted to make sure.. it takes time to heat all the steel up.

Has this been an issue since day one? How old is the stove?

Have you cleaned the heat exchanger? By means of wire brush or bottle brush and cleaning around the exchange tubes and the top of the stove. Use a small rubber hose to reach around inside the exchanger/exhaust path behind the baffle platte?

 

[Lake Girl]

Did you put another layer over the nailing flange too? BTW, I don't have to worry about the beard

 

[Mikeporter]

Just wanted to make sure.. it takes time to heat all the steel up.

Has this been an issue since day one? How old is the stove?

Have you cleaned the heat exchanger? By means of wire brush or bottle brush and cleaning around the exchange tubes and the top of the stove. Use a small rubber hose to reach around inside the exchanger/exhaust path behind the baffle platte?

I got the stove a year ago first year burning. It's an 08. Before I brought it in the house I totally cleaned it. Bottle brush compressed air. Took everything apart made one heck of a mess of myself and the ground. I have an attachment for the air gun that blows out in a wide V that works excellent for cleaning it out. I stuck my fiber optic camera in and took a look around all the chambers to make sure it was all clean. It was a really dirty job.

 

[Mikeporter]

Did you put another layer over the nailing flange too? BTW, I don't have to worry about the beard

My Windows don't have a nailing flange because they are all custom. When I do the siding I will do the next layer. Where about are you in Ontario? I am in Belwood just north of lake Belwood near Fergus. Out in the country.
That stuff hurts when it gets stuck to skin too!

 

[Cedarjunki]

I got the stove a year ago first year burning. It's an 08. Before I brought it in the house I totally cleaned it. Bottle brush compressed air. Took everything apart made one heck of a mess of myself and the ground. I have an attachment for the air gun that blows out in a wide V that works excellent for cleaning it out. I stuck my fiber optic camera in and took a look around all the chambers to make sure it was all clean. It was a really dirty job.

Ok but have you cleaned the exchange tubes and behind the impigement plate lately?

What pellets are you burning?

 

[Mikeporter]

Ok but have you cleaned the exchange tubes and behind the impigement plate lately?

What pellets are you burning?

Yep just cleaned it last weekend. I am running spruce pointe premium pellets.

 

[Cedarjunki]

Yep just cleaned it last weekend. I am running spruce pointe premium pellets.

Well i dont know then. Other than making sure it is in fact mode D and trying it in mode C.

 

[Lake Girl]

Where about are you in Ontario?

Farthest end of the province and still be in Ontario ... hour northwest of Fort Frances, Ontario out in the boonies.

 

[Chrisnow86]

it's easy to check the stoves mode.. Shut down the stove the unplug it wait a few seconds plug it back it then push the blower speed up and down arrows at the same time for a second then release a letter will appear in the heat range window.. That tells you what mode it's in

 

[Lake Girl]

When you change modes, what parameters change? Sounds like the Spruce Pointes are dumping too quickly to burn effectively for the air flow. For the most part, Spruce Pointes are fairly uniform smaller sizes with the odd one being an 1" or a bit over.

How adjustable are the Enviros for air/fuel mix? Might want to take a wander through an on-line manual.

 

[Cedarjunki]

How adjustable are the Enviros for air/fuel mix? Might want to take a wander through an on-line manual.

I think you mean englanders? But they arent really adjustable in factory mode other than on the lower 2 settings.

As far as the spruce points go, i have heard they are a very good hot low ash pellet. Between that and him saying " its clean" i see no reason it wouldnt produce enough heat.
The only thing i can think of is maybe, just maybe its possible the board was reset at some point and it reverted to mode A. My 25pdv's board did this. Or the previous owner played with it.

And the modes or anything to do with them are not listed, or mentioned in the manuals.

 

[Mikeporter]

Well i dont know then. Other than making sure it is in fact mode D and trying it in mode C.

Ok I will try that thanks for your input