I haven't been here much since the forum change over, but wanted to check back in with some changes I made this last heating season. For those that have read my prior years posts, you'll know I wasn't thrilled with my enviro empress. I'm not unhappy with it, just had reasonable regrets about performance and ash build up. This also extended to the quality issues I had with NEWP pellets and my stove.
Well, this winter those regrets went away.... mostly. So, what changed? I added an outside air in take, despite the fact it did not connect directly to the burn pot (see my prior posts if you are stunned by this... the empress has an air gap). My house is far from air tight, even so it seems to have helped. I also just purchased 6 tons of okies upfront and decided not to worry about the cost in that respect. I minimized my delivery charge (flat $30 charge) and took advantages of a 3% cash back rewards program from my vendor (East coast Lumber, in Hampstead NH).
End result... rarely turned the stove about 2 most of the winter... except some really cold days where it was on 3 (of 5). Ash production was manageable and allowed more spaced out cleanings. Stove got pretty full of ash at times, but kept warm and burning well, something I couldn't even attempt to do before these changes.
I made some other changes to my house, thermal curtains to segment my heating zones more definitively, which results in a much warmer section with the stove, but that aside the stoves behavior was just that much more different, I wanted to post to say... if you don't have an air intake... get one. Everyone has an opinion on them, I just wanted to state mine. Oh, and good pellets used with picky stoves can make a *huge* difference. My $0.02 from this last season.
Well, this winter those regrets went away.... mostly. So, what changed? I added an outside air in take, despite the fact it did not connect directly to the burn pot (see my prior posts if you are stunned by this... the empress has an air gap). My house is far from air tight, even so it seems to have helped. I also just purchased 6 tons of okies upfront and decided not to worry about the cost in that respect. I minimized my delivery charge (flat $30 charge) and took advantages of a 3% cash back rewards program from my vendor (East coast Lumber, in Hampstead NH).
End result... rarely turned the stove about 2 most of the winter... except some really cold days where it was on 3 (of 5). Ash production was manageable and allowed more spaced out cleanings. Stove got pretty full of ash at times, but kept warm and burning well, something I couldn't even attempt to do before these changes.
I made some other changes to my house, thermal curtains to segment my heating zones more definitively, which results in a much warmer section with the stove, but that aside the stoves behavior was just that much more different, I wanted to post to say... if you don't have an air intake... get one. Everyone has an opinion on them, I just wanted to state mine. Oh, and good pellets used with picky stoves can make a *huge* difference. My $0.02 from this last season.
