Fed up with Hampton GC60!!!!! Not sure what to do now?

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Nick Sterner

Nick Sterner

New Member
Nov 18, 2013
40
Vermont
Last night we had our coldest night, -2 F. I ran the stove on heat level 5 and set the thermostat at 72 in High/Low mode. This morning the house was 60! Even the room the stove sits in was only 62. My house is only 1600 sq feet and the room the stove is in is approx 19x12. I miss my old cheep wood stove. It was only rated at 45000 BTU's and I could keep it 75-80 in the living room and 70 through out the rest of the house. I've never been so upset and disappointed with a $3,000.00+ investment!! Not sure if I just have a dud or I purchased the wrong stove.

Thanks for any insight
Nick
 
Nick Sterner said:
Last night we had our coldest night, -2 F. I ran the stove on heat level 5 and set the thermostat at 72 in High/Low mode. This morning the house was 60! Even the room the stove sits in was only 62. My house is only 1600 sq feet and the room the stove is in is approx 19x12. I miss my old cheep wood stove. It was only rated at 45000 BTU's and I could keep it 75-80 in the living room and 70 through out the rest of the house. I've never been so upset and disappointed with a $3,000.00+ investment!! Not sure if I just have a dud or I purchased the wrong stove.

Thanks for any insight
Nick
Click to expand...


How is your insulation? Is the stat hooked up correctly? Was it calling for heat?
 
Out of curiosity what t-stat are you using and where is it located relative to the stove?

How full was that hopper this morning?
 
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Those temperatures sound too close to default t-stat setbacks which is why I asked which t-stat.

ETA: I run on a Lux TX500E t-stat my stove is nominal 50,000 BTU/Hr I operate in Hi/lo mode at heat range 3 of 5.

The default night energy star approved temperature (and the default program for my t-stat) is 62 ::F from 10PM until 6AM then it goes to 70::F until 8 AM and then drops back to 62::F.

People tend to forget about the program that is always running unless you have told the t-stat to hold temperature.
 
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That stove should be able to heat that space no problem.....provided its not a barn.

Seems to me it was either stuck in low due to improper t-stat or t-stat set up.

Like Smokeybsaid earlier....pellet level will be a good indication of what setting it was running. If it was on 5 struggling to heat the place it would be a noticeable amount of pellets used.
 
Hopper was full at 9 pm and was completely empty at 9am this morning.
Stat is LUX 500, just a Home depot digital. Insulation is pretty good. It's an old house but it's been torn apart and remodeled. My cheap tractor supply wood stove rated at 45000 BTU's did just fine.
I've never had pellet stove before but the heat coming out of the stove is not all that hot? It just doesn't seem to produce much heat.
 
Some of your heat could be going up the flue instead of into the room. But you burned close to what I did overnight considering the difference in temperatures between here and VT. It was 3.9 this morning at my house and frost was on the OAK. I'm heating over 1800 square feet on two floors.

Who did the install and did they set the damper using a dwyer gage or other differential air pressure measuring device?

You should check that t-stat program. It will take over when the time slot changes unless you told the t-stat to hold temperature. The default for your version of the t-stat is the energy star program as well. I just read most of your t-stats manual. Check both the weekday program and the weekend program.
 
I did the install and I used the gauge, can't remember what it's called, to read the negative air pressure in the stove. It's right on with what the manual wants. .015-.017.
I do have the stat in "hold" mode.
I also had frost on the OAK this morning.
I have also tried three types of pellets. Not seeing a whole lot of difference in any of them.
Thank you for the advice and help. This is super frustrating when it's your only source of heat and your house is at 60 after a 3,000.00 + investment.
 
Nick Sterner said:
I did the install and I used the gauge, can't remember what it's called, to read the negative air pressure in the stove. It's right on with what the manual wants. .015-.017.
I do have the stat in "hold" mode.
I also had frost on the OAK this morning.
I have also tried three types of pellets. Not seeing a whole lot of difference in any of them.
Thank you for the advice and help. This is super frustrating when it's your only source of heat and your house is at 60 after a 3,000.00 + investment.
Click to expand...

Hopefully you let the stove run long enough before taking the readings and between readings when making the adjustments.

Please describe the flame.
 
This is not directly about the GC60 but how did you have your old wood stove vented?
 
The flame looks great! 7" tall not lazy and no black tips. I will try to upload a video later today.

The wood stove was vented straight up with 12 ' of chimney. The pellet stove is vented out the back with only a 12" rise. Total pipe length might be 5'
 
When you removed the wood stove how did you block off that chimney aka house heat sucker?

ETA: I'll wait for the video before discussing the flame.
 
The old chimney was just metal bestas so that hole is completely gone. I did leave the hole going through to the second floor and turned it into a register vent. This register is directly above the new stove. The living room has a second register vent going into another bedroom upstairs.
I will upload a video tomorrow. My phone won't let me do it.
Thanks for all the ideas/ thoughts on this. I really hope to get it figured out and not abandon the pellet idea.
 
Here is a video of the flame. This is on heat setting 3, feed 3 and combustion 3.
Last night we had 27 degrees. I set the stove to to heat setting 4, set the stat to 70 and it maintained 70 all night. It burned a little over one bag in 14 hrs of 100%hardwood pellets. No complaints with last nights performance other than it gets much colder than 27 here, and sometimes it stays below zero for days. Having to run the stove at 80% seems much too high. It just can't keep up with single digits or below.
Tell me what you think?
Thanks
 

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What brand pellets are you burning?
 
Well, there's your problem... those pellets suck. i wouldn't use them here in CT under 30 degrees....
 
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yes, they are the mcdonalds of pellets. if you want your stove to run a marathon, you need to feed it better.

you're in VT, so i suggest some Vermont super softwoods.
 
What about Energex Premiums? A lot of people around here burn them with great results. The price is a little easier to take than VT Softwoods.
 
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