Hi, We purchased the Enviro M55 cast iron stove and just finished the installation last evening. Its a new 2011 model so it doesn't have the upgraded convection fan, bought it from a dealer that isn't selling them anymore. I like the stove but it seems to eat the pellets real fast. Temp was 8 degrees overnight outside and stayed at 67 inside. It went thru more than one bag of Somerset pellets in 8 hours. Had the stove set on 3 heat with the combustion air on 3 and the feed trim at 2. Its not building up with any extra pellets in the burn pot and just a little ash in the pan. The slide damper is open approx. 1 inch. Thermostat set on 70 and stove set on Hi/Low. I'm not sure its burning correctly. Any help would be appreciated. We live in northeast Montana where it can get real cold and windy. Have heated with firewood for 30 plus years and was looking for a heat source that wasn't as labor intensive. Thanks, Dave
Enviro M55 cast iron pellet stove questions
- Thread starter davegeib
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Bill L
Member
Is the stove running constantly in high, or is it satisfying the tstat and dropping to low periodically? It sounds like it may be running most of the time on high based on pellet consumption.
How does your flame look? Is it upright, bright yellow, and active vs orange and lazy? Any soot in your glass?
Where is your tstat located relative to where you say inside is 67? The heat is going to be uneven throughout the house due to the nature of the stove. You may need to have a higher setting like 72 or 74 near the stove to keep a room or two away in the high 60’s, that is my experience.
8 degrees and windy is pretty cold, so you can expect it to run hard, and I use heat level 4 when it is that cold. Heat level 5 fan is too much for me noise wise, so I hardly use it, but you may need to go there. This will obviously use even more pellets, and it does sound like your consumption rate is high. I would probably expect 1.5 to 2 bags per day with it that cold and windy
How does your flame look? Is it upright, bright yellow, and active vs orange and lazy? Any soot in your glass?
Where is your tstat located relative to where you say inside is 67? The heat is going to be uneven throughout the house due to the nature of the stove. You may need to have a higher setting like 72 or 74 near the stove to keep a room or two away in the high 60’s, that is my experience.
8 degrees and windy is pretty cold, so you can expect it to run hard, and I use heat level 4 when it is that cold. Heat level 5 fan is too much for me noise wise, so I hardly use it, but you may need to go there. This will obviously use even more pellets, and it does sound like your consumption rate is high. I would probably expect 1.5 to 2 bags per day with it that cold and windy
The flame is upright and bright yellow, The tstat was never satisfied, its located approx. 5 feet from the stove but around a corner, it was set at 70 degrees. Where should the slider damper be set at? 3/4" - 1" open? the damper on this stove wasn't ever set by the manufacture, it was sliding loose back there, so I was curious what the factory setting is? Also in the pellet box is a slide cover over the auger, I just set it now to where one hole is visible, there were two visible, will that help the pellet consumption rate? 8 degrees feels great, our whole month of February was below zero day and night, saw -56 actual temperature one morning. Thanks for your help.
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
I think I'm going to purchase a magnehelic gauge, do you have any recommendations ? Thanks, Dave
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
Bill L
Member
It should be 0.15 to 0.17 inches water column. Dwyer makes the best gauges, there is 0-0.25 on Amazon, and a 0 to 1.0 a little cheaper, but a little less resolution. Little pricey for a one time check, I was able to borrow one.
Depending on your house size and insulation/tightness, you may have difficulty heating the whole house in that severe a climate. I have a 2,300 sf, with the second floor closed off, and can heat most of the first floor, but the master bed at the far end needs the oil.
Your damper and flame sounds ok, but is best to set it with a gauge
Depending on your house size and insulation/tightness, you may have difficulty heating the whole house in that severe a climate. I have a 2,300 sf, with the second floor closed off, and can heat most of the first floor, but the master bed at the far end needs the oil.
Your damper and flame sounds ok, but is best to set it with a gauge
For whatever its worth, we have a FS M55 and at single digits to below zero we run it on '3' with a feed trim of 2 or 3 and we will typically burn 2 or more bags in a 24 hour cycle.
House is 20 years old, fairly well insulated and it stays at Oh my GOD it's hot in the family room basement to 67-68 degrees upstairs. We're in Helena MT..
House is 20 years old, fairly well insulated and it stays at Oh my GOD it's hot in the family room basement to 67-68 degrees upstairs. We're in Helena MT..
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Thanks, We are by Dagmar, Mt.. We sure like the M55, it was some of what you wrote in your updates that helped us make our decision. Simply looking for something a little less labor intensive as we age, we used a woodstove for primary heat for approx. 32 years. I ordered a magnehelic gauge that should be here this Thursday to set the slider/damper correctly. Looking forward to see how close it is. Its been real cold here this winter, glad spring is close.
I hear you. We burned wood for a long time, but when we moved to MT I figured a pellet stove would make more sense, and it has. Less mess, less time and pretty clean heat.
Yes- I'm all about Spring right now, lol.
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