Yet another Harman feed question;)

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SciGuy

Feeling the Heat
Aug 17, 2007
403
Constableville, NY
Yes I did read the whole "How Your Harman Works -what your manual doesn't tell you.." thread but didn't find specifically what I was seeking.

Is the fuel provided to the burn pot strictly a function of the amount of time the auger run's per minute or is it also altered by the feed adjuster setting as well? Does the slide plate open a variable amount to allow more of less pellets into the auger for each 2.5 second increment of feed?

I'm finding that when run on Stove mode with the the feed adjuster set to 3 or more and the temperature set at the lowest setting i.e. "1" the stove still outputs more heat than needed to heat our small house to the desired temperature when its warmer than ~30*F. The at that setting the auger will be running at 15 seconds per minute. If I turn the feed adjuster down to about half way between 1 and test the auger runs ~10 seconds per minute and produces enough heat to warm the house ~ 32*F above the outside temperature. I've seen warnings about running such a low fire for a long time period of time leading to erosion of the end of the auger tube and auger itself but hate to waste pellets overheating the house and needing to keep the windows open in November. Perhaps if I run the stove in room temp mode it will ramp down even lower than the minimum stove temp value......but then there's even more worry about fire down in the auger tube neck.

Thanks for all informed replies.

Hugh

 
Really sounds like your stove is too big for your house.Have you tried running it in room mode auto,and let it turn itself off and on?Lowest burn I can do with mine is room/manual,the maintenance burn is very low,I use it quite a bit,room blower does not run,and puts out enough heat to keep house warm,in inbetween outside temps.Other than that,when a bit warmer,I have mine on a wall t/stat,and let it do its thing.Burning back up the auger tube really is not a problem with most Harmans,some had an issue,and a bypass air kit was available to install.
 
Really sounds like your stove is too big for your house.Have you tried running it in room mode auto,and let it turn itself off and on?Lowest burn I can do with mine is room/manual,the maintenance burn is very low,I use it quite a bit,room blower does not run,and puts out enough heat to keep house warm,in inbetween outside temps.Other than that,when a bit warmer,I have mine on a wall t/stat,and let it do its thing.Burning back up the auger tube really is not a problem with most Harmans,some had an issue,and a bypass air kit was available to install.


Thanks for the quick reply. I'll try running room temp manual for a bit. One thing that actually bothers me about that mode is that the distribution blower doesn't run unless the stove is running very warm. We have a roughly 20' cathedral ceiling where we don't want the heat to congregate and the stove distribution does a nice job keeping the whole house pretty evenly warmed. In stove mode auto with the feed adjuster tuned way down the stove burn ~ 9/10 of a lb per hour to warm the house 32*F above the outdoor temperatures.

Hugh
 
I would run it in room temp mode until the colder weather makes it appropriate to run in stove mode. I keep my P43 on a thermostat set up in a room half way down the house - otherwise I would cook out until the temps get down in the single digits (and it is by no means a tight house). I run my P61a on room temp using the airt temp probe until it gets really cold too.

As far as the fan going off at lower temp setting (while in stove temp mode) - it is doing what it was designed to do. It is keeping the temp as close as it can to what you programed at, while still burning continuously to give you the "fireplace effect".
 
With a 20' ceiling you defiantly need a ceiling fan.

I have an air destratifier that works well but could use a new less noisy fan.

stratotherm.jpg
 
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Come the middle of January you will look back at this post and think it was an igment of your famagination. :)


You're probably right:) It was -17*F last night but we are off with relatives. Hope the backup heat was working while we were gone.

Going to do a deep clean on the cold stove when we return and will see if all the low output done so far gummed things up at all.

Hugh
 
So I have a eco 65 I’m thinking about installing a OAK someone was telling me it will blow out colder air? But the house is drafty when it’s running atm so in the end would it help heat the house better

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I’m looking at this


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hi Zaptear,

You'll probably receive more feedback if you start your own thread on this topic. I will say OAK is a good ideal but the drier vent would need to be modified as it's configured to be a one way valve for blowing air out rather than allowing it to come into the house.

Good Luck,

Hugh
 
my problem with running room temp/manual is there are conciderable times the distribution blower shuts off for quite a while thereby sending heat out the exhaust and not into the room. to me it is a waste of pellets and heat.
In room temp/auto the blower is on 99.9% of the time squeezing every last bit of heat out of the stove into the living space. saving the ignitor should not be a reason to use manual. it's like not running your car's AC to save gas & engine wear.. I have changed one and it's quite simple.

my 2cents anyways.
 
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my problem with running room temp/manual is there are conciderable times the distribution blower shuts off for quite a while thereby sending heat out the exhaust and not into the room. to me it is a waste of pellets and heat.
In room temp/auto the blower is on 99.9% of the time squeezing every last bit of heat out of the stove into the living space. saving the ignitor should not be a reason to use manual. it's like not running your car's AC to save gas & engine wear.. I have changed one and it's quite simple.

my 2cents anyways.
My Accentra puts out quite a bit of heat,from the top,sides,and from the inside flue pipe.Also,remember,when t/stat temp is met,the combustion blower runs a really long time,cooling down the stove,and stove has to run a long time to come back up to temperature.Certain temps,room/manual makes more sense to me,as the heat is more even,less up and down.But,my house is small.
 
yes i understand the nuts and bolts of it all but still bothers me that my stove is sending heat outside instead of inside for sometimes 15 minutes or so.
we burn 24/7 so the that occurs many times in a day if in manual mode.
 
my problem with running room temp/manual is there are conciderable times the distribution blower shuts off for quite a while thereby sending heat out the exhaust and not into the room. to me it is a waste of pellets and heat.
In room temp/auto the blower is on 99.9% of the time squeezing every last bit of heat out of the stove into the living space. saving the ignitor should not be a reason to use manual. it's like not running your car's AC to save gas & engine wear.. I have changed one and it's quite simple.

my 2cents anyways.

Both my stoves are mainly run on room temp/auto and I've not had an issue with igniters (KOW). In the deep of winter when the highs are in single digits and lows in double negative digits (and the wind is probably howling), I don't let them shut down - but that is only 4-6 weeks out of 6-8 months of heating strictly by pellet stoves. I do have a spare igniter just in case though (I thought one was going two years ago - so ordered one and didn't cancel the order when I figured out it wasn't the igniter causing the issue).
 
Both my stoves are mainly run on room temp/auto and I've not had an issue with igniters (KOW). In the deep of winter when the highs are in single digits and lows in double negative digits (and the wind is probably howling), I don't let them shut down - but that is only 4-6 weeks out of 6-8 months of heating strictly by pellet stoves. I do have a spare igniter just in case though (I thought one was going two years ago - so ordered one and didn't cancel the order when I figured out it wasn't the igniter causing the issue).
as mentioned before,
the ignitor is ezpz to remove/install.
 
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I also run in room temp auto 95% of the time. Have been doing it for 5 years and the igniter is still fine. Stove has cycled thousands of times and it still ignites all the time every time.
Ron
 
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