Does anyone know how to contact harman stoves directly??

[davepk]

Another thing to consider. Is the distribution blower working properly? While it sounds like you are having an overdraft you are still getting a 550 degree stove temp on low burn. At this temp you should feel a strong push of hot air blowing out the top of the stove. I have a Harman 44 Magnum stoker and if I get the stove temp to 550 it feels like I am standing in front of a huge hair dryer if I turn the distribution blower on high. Remember, on Harman stokers you aren't getting a lot of radiant heat directly from the stove you need the distribution blower to push air over the heat exchanger inside the stove to disperse the heat.

It also takes time to get the feed rate setting just right for your situation. When I first got my stove I was also pushing a lot of burning coal out of the burn pot because they set everything at the factory to the highest levels to get max btus. It took me a few weeks before I finally got everything adjusted right. Now I have a stove temp (measured on the side panel with a magnetic therm) of 250 on low burn to 750 on high burn. I can adjust the distribution blower speed on my stove so if I don't need the heat I can put it on low or crank it up when I want the heat distributed into the room. FYI - To keep a stove temp of 550 I would burn around 60 lbs / 24 hour.

I have a 2400 sq ft house (2 floors with open floor plan) and my stove is more than enough to heat the entire house, even when it gets down to 0 like it has recently.

 

[begreen]

Lime, my apologies. I didn't realize this stove had forced draft. It should not have a manual damper installed. I'm sorry for the confusion and will let the coal owners/dealers take the lead here.

 

[webbie]

40lbs of coal in 7 1/2 hours is what it used running full bore

Well, let's do the math....

that is about 5 lbs per hour.....so 70,000 BTU input. Looks like Harman is right on on their rating....kudos for that.....

So now we have the mystery of where that heat is going. Given your stack temps, it is hard to imagine that it is going anywhere but into the house! 70K input = at least 50+K BTU output, which is a lot of heat!

We now enter the realm of the twilight zone! From afar it appears the stove is working correctly.
The other variables, of course, are outside temp, home heat loss, etc. etc....how many times you open the door to let the dog out and more!

So, where exactly are you located and does it seem to be doing better in the more normal weather we are having now?

I don't think there is any magic here - all your perceptions and experiences with other stoves are important, but a BTU is a BTU. With less than 200 degrees stacl and all that pipe, it is hard to imagine you burning at a low efficiency. That basically leaves nothing left to chance or adjustment.

 

[lime4x4]

gonna insulate more this weekend but that btu output is low by the way..Harman rates that stove as 85K OUTPUT btu per hour..Harman said i had to compare it to a stove that has an input of 108 to 110K btu input At max btu output it uses 8.75lbs per hour..the best i can do is 5 lbs per hour.I'm located just north of Allentown Pa or 90 miles north of Phila.Last night the temp went in to the mid 20"s was able to keep the first floor at 80 with the stove running non stop

 

[webbie]

gonna insulate more this weekend but that btu output is low by the way..Harman rates that stove as 85K OUTPUT btu per hour..Harman said i had to compare it to a stove that has an input of 108 to 110K btu input At max btu output it uses 8.75lbs per hour..the best i can do is 5 lbs per hour

It might be low by their standards, but 50K BTU should be able to heat most houses quite well!

As a for instance, if someone used oil and needed 50K BTU
that means they would need about 11 gallons per 24 hours, or about $680 a month at current rates.
Yes, insulate, insulate, insulate.....you don't want to HAVE to burn 8 lbs per hour since that will also be thousands of dollars a year! I have found that in most general uses, folks use 2-4 lbs per hour.

Good Luck....

 

[lime4x4]

but that still doesn't answer my question how come a lower rated btu device heated just fine but yet i'm having such a hard time with a bigger one?

 

[lime4x4]

begreen advise is always welcome..U never now till u try no harm done..Just now know that isn't gonna work with the dampner...lol
cozy heat just don't tell elk about the kraft faced insulation...lol..the specs on the stove call for 4 inches from the back of the hopper i put 7 inches of space..plus since that pic was taken i've installed drywall..Just regular drywall was gonna go with fire resistant stuff but i'm not 100% the stove will stay there yet still working on things yet

 

[webbie]

but that still doesn't answer my question how come a lower rated btu device heated just fine but yet i'm having such a hard time with a bigger one?

That is a question that cannot really be answered except to say that temp, wind, and so many other factors vary.

That might sound like a cop-out....but there are no other answers that make sense.

I often had people come into the shop with bad chimneys and state that things had worked well for 5 years. On inspection, nothing had changed.....just that fact that the weather, wind, trees, stars, tides, moons and everything else make every day a little different! They might have had problems for a couple weeks and then never again.

I guess that's why they say solid fuel is an art AND a science.

RE; Perception...we've discussed that before in the old forum. I often had people with junk stoves that became really upset after we installed a Defiant Encore or something very modern like that. The old stove used to blast them out of the room, while the new stove was a soft constant heat. Luckily, in time most came to appreciate the more sophisticated units.