Big E full cleaning and asessment

[StoveMiser]

Just finished my first full cleaning of my stove. I have burned just over a ton of pellets. A mix of InstantHeat, Somerset, Dry Creek and Fireside Ultras. The bulk of the ton was Instantheat. Somerset burned the hottest and the rest were all about equal. Ash seemed pretty similar for all. I burn my stove 24/7 on High(#4) or Med High(#3). No serious clinkers from any of the brands and no visible creosote anywhere in the stove. The combustion blower fins had some light ash buildup, but in my opinion did not need to be cleaned. I'll probably only clean the fins and change the gasket twice per season. I was surprised at the amount of ash built up in the straight run of the pipe. I was also surprised with how much ash was behind the front access doors in the fire chamber.

After a month and a ton of pellets, I am very pleased with my purchase. I expect to save a substantial amount of money vs heating oil. Waiting on this months oil bill. I have been burning most of the month. My average oil bill over the last 4 years has been about 250 gallons for the month. My furnace has not gone on very much since the pellet install. I am expecting about a gallon to a gallon and a half of oil per day. Let say 50 gallons for the month versus the usual 250.

Oil would have been 250 gal x $3.30= $825
Pellets $244+oil [50 gal x $3.30= $165]= $409 for the month or roughly half!

Imagine the savings when oil goes to $4 a gallon. I imagine $5 a gallon is not that far around the corner either...

 

[MSmith66]

As long as you take care of the stove, as you are doing now, you will have a good time with it. You would not believe the stoves I have cleaned becuase owners only fill the hopper all season long and the next season the start where they left off, just filling the hopper with no maintance or cleaning.

 

[StoveMiser]

One other note. My glass stays relatively clean. The glass seems to stay relatively clean which is in contrast to what I have read about my stove on this bulletin board. I'm thinking that burning at the higher settings helps keep the glass cleaner.