1st Post, New Owner

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inthedirt

New Member
Nov 2, 2017
3
Montana
Recently moved to SW Montana and bought a large (newer) farm house. Moved in last December while temps were in the -40F to -50F range. The home is about 4600sqft and heated with a propane furnace. I burned about $1000 worth of propane the first month we were in the home and my wife was still pretty cold most of the time. Looking to avoid spending that much $$$ this year, so we've made some changes. In addition to adding heated mattress pads, I bought my first-ever pellet stove. Its an older Whitfield WP2 Advantage, circa 1988, according to the sticker under the hopper.

The previous owners had a sunroom added onto the home which served mainly as a smoking room. That room has been gutted (hate the smell of cigarettes!) and will eventually hold a sauna and possibly a hot tub. In that room was a stand-alone propane fireplace with thermostat. I intend to reuse the thimble and wall pipe when I install pellet stove later this weekend. Since that room is mainly used for storage right now, the hole in the wall will be blocked off. Here's a question....will the single-wall pipe be sufficient or should I pony up for double-wall? I cannot find info on local codes. Also, the pellet stove has fittings for 3in pipe. As my elevation is near 6000ft, I thought I read that I should move up to 4in pipe. The pipe that I would like to reuse from propane fireplace is already 4in, so I'll obviously have to use an adapter off the back end of Whitfield.

Lastly, I can't get pellets in my little town (pop. 650), but have found some <30mi from me. 3 different brands, all rated <1% ash. Prices are $250-280/ton, but had a guy on Facebook tell me he'd deliver his brand to me for $220. Tempted to try the delivered option! How do these prices compare to what you are getting them for? Prefer hard or soft wood?
 
Softwood is usually better (hotter), if the quality it good. What are the brands nearby and for delivery? If people know that you can get some recommendations.
 
Lemhi Valley, Premium................$220/ton, delivered
Lignetics, Premium......................$279/ton, pickup only
Rocky Canyon, Ultra-Premium....$259/ton, pickup only
 
Lemhi Valley, Premium................$220/ton, delivered
Lignetics, Premium......................$279/ton, pickup only
Rocky Canyon, Ultra-Premium....$259/ton, pickup only

I did a quick google on them and they all seem similar, about half the people like each of them, and half the people hate each of them, all of them averaging 3 out of 5 stars...maybe go with the Lemhi Valley since they are cheaper and you can get them delivered.....
 
Sounds in the ballpark at least compared to here. The pellets available here are currently $235 a ton, though once or twice a year they gone on sale for $185 a ton so that's when I stock up.

I am currently burning a hardwood pellet and it's considerably hotter than the hardwood/softwood mix pellet that I was previously burning. But that's just one example and my only experience.
 
Got the hearth laid down, thimble and pipe installed, and fired up the Whitfield this weekend. I bought the thimble and pipe from a local stove and hearth store so that every thing is matched. The pipe has a silicone seal in it, so no tape or RTV is necessary at the joints (according to the salesman). Puts out a lot of heat, so that's good. One problem I have is that we get a significant amount of smoke in the house. Noticed that the heat exchanger tubes on the front (just above the door) will puff out some smoke every 30-60 sec. I'm guessing that is not normal. I cleaned out the unit prior to install and can't see that I have a build up on the heat exchangers or holes. Tested the door seal and I can pull paper through some parts of it when closed and latched, but air should be sucked in from the door, not out....right? Will pick up some more rope gasket later this week. There is also a round rope gasket on the tube coming off the bottom of the burn box. I assume that is where the fresh air is blowing in from. Not sure how many gaskets are supposed to be on that tube, but there is 2 on it now. In the automotive world, its a no-no to double up on gaskets. Will also try to seal up any exhaust connections inside the stove with RTV. Don't know if it needs it, but likely wouldn't hurt. Thoughts/advice are welcome......
 
If you door leaks are on the top it may LOOK like smoke from exchange tubes but actually from the door. Just something to ck. If not i would inspect the tubes for cracks and weld joints
 
Sometimes the leak is actually at the stove to exhaust vent connection or any vent connection near the stove back for that matter. The room fan inlet will suck the smoke up and blow it out the room vent. I had this on my P61, took a flashlight in the dark and found more than one leak actually, the vertical clean out T is in my fireplace and was leaking on a cool start up at about every joint on the T, to include the cap. I put silicone tape on the cap because I need to get it off for cleaning and RTV on the rest of the joints. They are riveted joints, not the slip together joints, those I RTV-ed inside on assembly.