New harman P61 not heating like I thought it would

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
What mode are you running the stove in? It seems ABusWrench noticed the same thing I did with your probe.....As he noted, if you're in Stove temp. setting, the probe location is irrelevant. Although I'd still move it out and away from the stove should you ever wish to run it in room temp. mode. Keep us posted,
 
Do you use fans to move air around? Above I posted some floor plan sketches any input is always appreciated

I have two ceiling fans in the room the stove sits in. They're on the setting to push air down. Ideally the warm air created by the stove. Also, I have a fan just to the right of the stove about three feet high that helps push the warm air from my living room (where the stove is located) out into my kitchen and dining room area.

During extreme cold spells (which we haven't had much of this winter) I place a fan near my bedroom door that pushes cold air back from this typically cooler location toward the living room and very near the back of the stove. This creates sort of a circular pattern throughout the house and seems to be the most efficient way to heat my house. It's taken me a bit of trial and error over the years to figure this all out and every house is different of course.
 
I have two ceiling fans in the room the stove sits in. They're on the setting to push air down. Ideally the warm air created by the stove. Also, I have a fan just to the right of the stove about three feet high that helps push the warm air from my living room (where the stove is located) out into my kitchen and dining room area.

During extreme cold spells (which we haven't had much of this winter) I place a fan near my bedroom door that pushes cold air back from this typically cooler location toward the living room and very near the back of the stove. This creates sort of a circular pattern throughout the house and seems to be the most efficient way to heat my house. It's taken me a bit of trial and error over the years to figure this all out and every house is different of course.
Thanks for all your input . I honestly have tried all settings just moved the temp probe wire. Right of the stove on the wall about 3.5’ off the ground. Set up a few fans pushing cold air down the stairs and back through utility room. Thoughts on vents I put in ceiling. They are 8” ducts straight up through ceiling to floor upstairs. I also put 8” duct fans in them blowing up towards upstairs was hoping this would draw the heat and push it upstairs?
 
Since you moved the probe, put the stove in room temp. setting, with the small toggle on manual. Set the numerical temp. dial at, say 75 degrees, and turn the other dial mid way between low and high on the room temp. section of the dial and give it plenty of time to burn in that setting to see how things progress. Like a couple hours at least.

The dials can be confusing....At least on the P61A which is what I have. You follow what I'm saying?

Oh, and put the feed rate at 3, maybe 4 at the most.....
 
Since you moved the probe, put the stove in room temp. setting, with the small toggle on manual. Set the numerical temp. dial at, say 75 degrees, and turn the other dial mid way between low and high on the room temp. section of the dial and give it plenty of time to burn in that setting to see how things progress. Like a couple hours at least.

The dials can be confusing....At least on the P61A which is what I have. You follow what I'm saying?

when you say small toggle you mean the ignition toggle? Like this?
 

Attachments

  • 53B1242D-D359-4E87-A413-881D6F44AD6B.jpeg
    53B1242D-D359-4E87-A413-881D6F44AD6B.jpeg
    119.5 KB · Views: 139
when you say small toggle you mean the ignition toggle? Like this?

Yes...On my stove it's labeled "Manual" rather than "Disabled" As you probably know, if left in disabled the stove never shuts down and will just idle when it reaches the set temperature. If you leave it on "Auto" the stove will shut down completely when it reaches the temp you have it set on and restart with a complete re-ignition when the stove senses the heat has dropped.

I prefer the disabled as it supposedly extends the life of your ignitor. Some, however, surmise that it burns more pellets than perhaps necessary when in disabled mode.
 
Last edited:
By the way, what year is your stove? Mine is a 2013 P61A....My control panel is slightly different than yours.

One thing no one has asked you is how your stove is actually burning....That is are you getting a significant amount of ash build up in your burn pot and/or ash bucket? Do you have a proper flame that looks like it's getting plenty of air? In other words not a lazy flame and not lot of ash build up?

I suspect you're new to pellet stoves and if so one thing to keep in mind is that there is a huge difference in the quality of pellets. Fortunately Harman's are known for their ability to burn nearly anything fairly well. Still, a quality pellet makes a VERY big difference in heat output and ash build up.

I think you mentioned earlier that you're burning Infernos? Is that correct? Depending on where you bought them and when they were produced they could be a good quality pellet or not so much so. This site is a great resource for finding the best brands, locations to buy pellets, and reasonable prices. Keep this in mind as you stock up your supply going forward.
 
By the way, what year is your stove? Mine is a 2013 P61A....My control panel is slightly different than yours.

One thing no one has asked you is how your stove is actually burning....That is are you getting a significant amount of ash build up in your burn pot and/or ash bucket? Do you have a proper flame that looks like it's getting plenty of air? In other words not a lazy flame and not lot of ash build up?

I suspect you're new to pellet stoves and if so one thing to keep in mind is that there is a huge difference in the quality of pellets. Fortunately Harman's are known for their ability to burn nearly anything fairly well. Still, a quality pellet makes a VERY big difference in heat output and ash build up.

I think you mentioned earlier that you're burning Infernos? Is that correct? Depending on where you bought them and when they were produced they could be a good quality pellet or not so much so. This site is a great resource for finding the best brands, locations to buy pellets, and reasonable prices. Keep this in mind as you stock up your supply going forward.
Hey I appreciate all your help and taking the time. Yes first pellet stove. It was brand new in October. Stove seems to be burning good. Big flames. Normal ash build up. I have been burning instaheat pellets although I tried a bunch of different ones. I’ll take a picture of the burn pot and flames next time im Down there see what you think. I did order the outside air kit and will hook that up next week manual seems to recommend it. Not sure it will really change anything
 
Hey I appreciate all your help and taking the time. Yes first pellet stove. It was brand new in October. Stove seems to be burning good. Big flames. Normal ash build up. I have been burning instaheat pellets although I tried a bunch of different ones. I’ll take a picture of the burn pot and flames next time im Down there see what you think. I did order the outside air kit and will hook that up next week manual seems to recommend it. Not sure it will really change anything
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4269.MOV
    14.9 MB
It's our pleasure....Keep us posted on how things progress. Hopefully some of the suggestions posted on here will prove effective. As I said earlier, this site is a great resource so take advantage of it.
 
Yeah, that air temp probe is way too close to the exhaust. My P43 was acting wonky one time with surging the feed and flame abruptly and when I investigated, the probe had moved so it was close to the backside body of the stove. I moved it away and it immediatly improved its behavior.

Before I put my basement stove on a thermostat, I had the probe stretched away from the stove at about the height @P51mustang described, and slightly behind (I didn't have it on the wall since it was bare cinder block - just tied it to a metal shelf). On my P43, I wrapped it around the door that covers the controls (with the door open).
 
If you’re burning instant heat I think that’s a big part of your problem there. One of the worst out there for sure. What else do you have available for pellets in you area
 
I don't know that the pellets are as much of the problem as as something else; being a harman owner yourself, I'm sure you know they will burn most anything and make heat (except maybe the pellets for horse stalls). This is accomplished by using a combination of probes & board programming based on feedback from the probes (room & ESP). I would try to establish what my temps are (stove & exhaust) before I would go out and purchase additional pellets, at least then you have a baseline to work with. The stove should feed as many pellets as needed to meet temperature settings in either mode (even if that means going through 4 bags a day), if the fire is blazing around the clock from being constantly fed it is going to produce heat. Have you tried unplugging the stove and letting it reset? Do you have it on a surge protector or have you had storms since having the stove that may have damaged any components? If it will not produce heat in either mode, I would suspect the ESP (1st) since it has to work for both room and stove temp settings. If not the ESP probe I would suspect the board; I didn't pay attention in earlier posts to see if the stove was purchased new or used, is the stove under warranty? Did you self install? Did you (or installer) check draft?
 
It's our pleasure....Keep us posted on how things progress. Hopefully some of the suggestions posted on here will prove effective. As I said earlier, this site is a great resource so take advantage of it.
Today it’s 38 outside the stove had been on constant heat all day with temp maxed out and that room is only 73. Tried different pellets as well. Going to try cleaning the temp probe in exhaust. Do you think I have a draft problem Any idea how I test that?
 
I don't know that the pellets are as much of the problem as as something else; being a harman owner yourself, I'm sure you know they will burn most anything and make heat (except maybe the pellets for horse stalls). This is accomplished by using a combination of probes & board programming based on feedback from the probes (room & ESP). I would try to establish what my temps are (stove & exhaust) before I would go out and purchase additional pellets, at least then you have a baseline to work with. The stove should feed as many pellets as needed to meet temperature settings in either mode (even if that means going through 4 bags a day), if the fire is blazing around the clock from being constantly fed it is going to produce heat. Have you tried unplugging the stove and letting it reset? Do you have it on a surge protector or have you had storms since having the stove that may have damaged any components? If it will not produce heat in either mode, I would suspect the ESP (1st) since it has to work for both room and stove temp settings. If not the ESP probe I would suspect the board; I didn't pay attention in earlier posts to see if the stove was purchased new or used, is the stove under warranty? Did you self install? Did you (or installer) check draft?

Bought the stove new from a place going out of business but it was brand new 2019 model. I did the install according to install manual. Today it’s 38 outside the stove had been on constant heat all day with temp maxed out and that room is only 73. Tried different pellets as well. Going to try cleaning the temp probe in exhaust. Do you think I have a draft problem Any idea how I test that?
 
Today it’s 38 outside the stove had been on constant heat all day with temp maxed out and that room is only 73. Tried different pellets as well. Going to try cleaning the temp probe in exhaust. Do you think I have a draft problem Any idea how I test that?

What number do you have the Feed Adjuster set on and what number do you have the Stove mode set to? Something is certainly amiss.

Hugh
 
So you gained a degree or two downstairs. Have you gained anything upstairs?
 
I know very little about your stove. But I am curious
what is the temp of the output air at the stove
You can use a candy thermometer. air should be hotter than what it can read
 
Before trying to heat your entire house, I would see if I could just get my basement warm If the temp is set at 80, then it should be able to get the basement to 80. If that can be achieved, then yI would play with how to get more of it upstairs. Until then, we really don't know if some or all of it are going upstairs and you just don't know it.
 
I don't know that the pellets are as much of the problem as as something else; being a harman owner yourself, I'm sure you know they will burn most anything and make heat (except maybe the pellets for horse stalls). This is accomplished by using a combination of probes & board programming based on feedback from the probes (room & ESP). I would try to establish what my temps are (stove & exhaust) before I would go out and purchase additional pellets, at least then you have a baseline to work with. The stove should feed as many pellets as needed to meet temperature settings in either mode (even if that means going through 4 bags a day), if the fire is blazing around the clock from being constantly fed it is going to produce heat. Have you tried unplugging the stove and letting it reset? Do you have it on a surge protector or have you had storms since having the stove that may have damaged any components? If it will not produce heat in either mode, I would suspect the ESP (1st) since it has to work for both room and stove temp settings. If not the ESP probe I would suspect the board; I didn't pay attention in earlier posts to see if the stove was purchased new or used, is the stove under warranty? Did you self install? Did you (or installer) check draft?

I can tell you for a fact that Therma Glows only put out luke warm air from my P61a, which on any other pellet (crappy to middling is what I normally burn) produced plenty of heat.

True, I wouldn't instantly blame the pellets, especially if other brands have also been tried with the same results, but it can happen.