Englander 25PDVC not putting out as expected

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potentially dumb question but does a bigger stove in the pellet world just mean more fuel burned? im assuming larger stoves just burn more pellets hence the higher BTU output but im not sure. in coal stoves its not neccesarily that, they hold more coal but dont burn more for always output more BTU. Reason i ask is for an extra 500 bucks for the next size up id probably rather just rip this stove at its peak than deal with a return and exchange.
 
From looking at different stoves. The bigger u go the more and larger the heat exchangers are, bigger blowers, etc. They may burn a little more fuel but I'm betting no ware near the fuel your burning on a high setting compared to their lower setting. On setting 2 on my stove I'm a good 30 hours per bag. Right now I'm on setting 3 and get 25 or so hours on a bag but I'm also sitting at -15 right now in a somewhat drafty home. If i was more airtight I'm sure I could run on setting 1 and easily get 40 hours. The only reason I'm on 3 right now due to the temps the far end of my home cools down to much. If it was not for that I would stay on 2

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I ran a lighter around the stove door and noticed at the bottom right there's an obvious draft pulling in....are these stoves known for having dog crap rope gaskets or something? not sure how a brand new stove doesn't sit perfectly unless they use inferior parts. not impressed with englander upon seeing that.

beyond that i have shut the restrictor plate to leave about 1.5" in an attempt to slow the fuel to control the height of this flame. thinking now that its probably more due to the leaky door gasket.
 
another random finding about these stoves....not sure if anyone has noticed this and if its part of the design but where the heated room air leaves the stove there is a divider inside the stoves that creates two sections of air. the air on the right is 120 degrees cooler than the air on the left. granted the temperatures may be innacurate by placing a stove thermometer on metal grates trying to get the air temp but regardless it is still a drastic temp drop. im showing 350 on the left and 220 on the right. this could very well be the design but i thought it very odd.
 
I would definitely sort that leaky gasket as it will only get worse over time. I found with my Englander TRPIP stove I had build quality issues also and had to make corrections to get it to work properly. It was poorly assembled and if I had to do it over I would have returned it.

All pellet stoves have a "sweet spot" where they burn the cleanest and most efficient, mine is on heat setting 5 or 6. I run my stove on on/off mode with a thermostat as trying to idle the stove resulted in dirty glass, more ash, fouled burn pot and wasted pellets.

That flame picture you posted is definitely lazy, something is stopping proper draft, sorting out that leaky door gasket is a start. New stove should be under warranty, I'd phone them and ask for a replacement gasket kit.
 
another random finding about these stoves....not sure if anyone has noticed this and if its part of the design but where the heated room air leaves the stove there is a divider inside the stoves that creates two sections of air. the air on the right is 120 degrees cooler than the air on the left. granted the temperatures may be innacurate by placing a stove thermometer on metal grates trying to get the air temp but regardless it is still a drastic temp drop. im showing 350 on the left and 220 on the right. this could very well be the design but i thought it very odd.

One side of the heat exchanger area gets hotter then the other, mine is also like that.
 
Englander stoves are sheetmetal stoves and are not high tech and priced accordingly. Almost any pellet stove is going to be a learning curve no matter what they all have thier quirks. The next model up from yours is the 25PDV it has a larger body and footprint but an additional 700btu and has the same components you have now. Not many economically priced stoves will compete with a coal stove. Your choice though.
 
thanks again guys. part of the reasoning behind the smaller stove is even though we have two levels the master bedroom is on the first floor so i was hoping the 1300 square foot floor would be taken care of with a 1500 square foot stove. i did see some posts from people saying 2000 square feet was being heated with the pdvc (understanding no one situation matches anothers) the other major factor is we are only planning on being here for 2-3 years and then selling the house so the initial investment had to be low to make it worth while. we have electric baseboard so really these englanders can pay for themselves in one cold winter because of electric bills punching 500+. (which ive never seen but the previous owner was racking up 600+ winter bills)

Ill handle the door gasket situation and see how that does. i was intending on making the outside piping straight out today for tests purposes butttttt its ungodly cold out so ill standby on that, went and got a bag of LG softwood for a test burn of softwood instead..... if after all tinkering doesnt appease me will probably just go for the PDV. with a military discount at lowes its only an extra 360 bucks. probably the amount dollars in pellets ill burn having to run this little guy on full tilt for the next 2+ winters anyway.

P.S. coal is king but so far it is very nice to fill a hopper and let it burn as opposed to some of the more attention needed with coal. next house will have a coal stove but the design of this one it just wouldnt work. coal or wood stove, would dominate the living room space.
 
I think a lot of you're issues are that exhaust. Door gaskets can be a pia... very easy to pull it to tight creating a low spot.. file a warranty clam and make em come fix it

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After burning a 100k btu coal stove in my basement ranch for 5yrs. I switched to a 25-PDV stove for easier filling and less ash emptying. It has not been going well for us. I used to fill hopper every 24hrs and empty ashes every 3-4 days. Ashes don' have to be emptied for a week, but I am on setting 4 and go through a bag and a half every 24hrs and can' keep up. If I turn it up to heat house (setting 6-7) it would cost me over $300. A month in pellets. My fault for not comparing BTUs prior. Nice stove, just not correct application.
 
When I moved into my new place I brought my PDVC with me. Placement of the stove was a challenge of were I could put it. Mainly because I'm in a mobile home. The only place that I could put it was in my addition and the only place I could put it was between 2 windows. I went out the wall to a tee clean out. Then straight up 6 feet to get above the ridge line. I past inspection and is working well.
You might also want to change out your end cap to a round cap. The one you have picture will be susceptible to winds blowing up the wall.It will also eliminate another bend in the line.
 
considering just going with the PDV this weekend. the PDVC seems to be putting out decent heat, I am starting to think it cant handle the space. burning bags in 12-18 hours and struggling for low 60s in my first floor is not exactly what I expected (still hiding under blankets after a 1300 dollar investment). i understand the outside connection can be an issue but a new clean stove with new clean piping, i am doubting that change will result in drastic inside air temperatures.

does anyone here have experience going from the PDVC to the PDV. also lowes does carry the other 2200 sqaure foot model which sits taller and has the "smartstove" control panel. any opinions on the difference? If i go up im going to likely just get the PDV because its a similar footprint and appears as if the exhuast port and intake air connector sit at the same dimensions. seems like i could disconnect the PDVC and easily slide in the PDV.
 
In my opinion, you are way undersized.
In this weather, that stove is just not big enough.
And if you are using a bag or bag and a half, you just are not getting
enough btu's to do the job.
I mean here this morning it was -10° and now it is only 6°...
You would be asking that little stove to change the temp 70-80°

Dan
 
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Ya i agree with that. I actually spoke with ESW today and was basically talked out of swapping for the PDV. The way it was relayed to me was I will only burn more pellets to gain the additional heat with the PDV. He did say that stove comes with a larger room blower and heat exchanger but I was expecting a definitive yes you need a the larger stove and I was told otherwise which was suprising. He said ithat ts not a massive difference when standing next to each other. In so many words i was told the PDVC in heat setting 7 is comparable to the PDV in 4 or 5. For an extra 360 dollars and removing the PDVC / re installing the PDV (with an exhaust height that now does not match) I'll probably just stick with what I have and see how she does with normal winter temps in a week or so.

I guess i installed this thing during a massive cold snap so its not a true measure of its capability. I've got the basement hunstman wood stove going today to help it out. Cant wait for normal outside temps, 32 would feel like 55 right now!

National Grid is coming out next week for a home energy audit. I've done a lot of weatherstripping/sealing but itll be good to see how they rate the insulation and find drafts. They install a blower at the front door which pressurizes the air, with small flags at draft points they can find drafts that are tough to find otherwise. Should be interesting to see.
 
Well now, I have the pdvc and my neighbor has the larger PDV and we have been comparing our stoves for years and there is absolutely no doubt that the larger PDV is a beast of a heater compared to it`s smaller sibling. Of course the larger stove eats more pellets about 25% more but IMO it puts out twice the heat . It puts out more heat on a med-low setting than mine does on the highest setting.
I am satisfied with my pdvc but I`d be much better off with the larger stove.
 
If I were you I would go to Lowe's and check out the new smart stove I got one two years ago ,And this stove really puts out the heat .It's simple to operate .holds three bags for long run time ,easy to clean and maintain .I don't use the thermostat mode .I like the manual mode .I start it on no. 5 ,It takes about four to five minutes to get going I let it run for five to ten minutes ,than set it down to no. 2 .Above two it gets up to 80 . It's been great in this cold spell were having .I've had up to 4 . Great stove .Check it out .
 
I would take that PDVC back while you can and get either a PDV or smart stove, your already finding out that the pdvc isn't cutting it so why keep it and then regret it after your past the return window.
 
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I would take that PDVC back while you can and get either a PDV or smart stove, your already finding out that the pdvc isn't cutting it so why keep it and then regret it after your past the return window.

Yep I agree you will never be happy with it
 
Personally... I would never buy a stove by the claims of
how many sq.ft. it will heat.
It is WAAAAY too vague.
Just look at the btu's...
That is what is going to matter.
More btu's.. more heat.
Just math.

As a former wood, and coal burner.... you will never be happy with a small
stove.... trust me.

Dan
 
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does anyone know the BTU numbers for the 25PDVC, 25PDV, and smart stove? I see conflicting info online. Looks like ill be swapping out for the smart stove today

any update
 
If I were you I would go to Lowe's and check out the new smart stove I got one two years ago ,And this stove really puts out the heat .It's simple to operate .holds three bags for long run time ,easy to clean and maintain .I don't use the thermostat mode .I like the manual mode .I start it on no. 5 ,It takes about four to five minutes to get going I let it run for five to ten minutes ,than set it down to no. 2 .Above two it gets up to 80 . It's been great in this cold spell were having .I've had up to 4 . Great stove .Check it out .
Does the smart stove have the same double auger system as the pdv and pdvc
 
no it's a top feeder so only one auger