Got a free pellet stove - Is it worth the trouble of installing it?

[shas595]

Hey all,

first post here, so let me give you a little details. I got a free pellet stove a few days ago (Englander 25-PDV, from 1996 I believe) it is in great shape and from what I can tell all parts there. I have it on my front porch right now to clean it out and test it. So far the exhaust blower works, augers work, and are adjustable. They room air blower is not kicking on (but from what i have read, it needs a fire first but I could be wrong). My main question is this : Is it worth it for me to lug this thing into my basement and get it going, or should I consider buying new? I have a woodstove that I can take out and adapt the piping for the exhaust, the area is all bricked off and fireproofed, and its no big deal for me to add the OAK. The house is 1200 Sq. Ft, and we are currently using oil. (wood stove was too much work). Just not sure if it will be worth it in the long run due to its age. Any thoughts, and sorry if I am missing info!

John

 

[Polar Bear]

If you are tired of paying for oil and don't mind a bit of elbow grease to keep her happy, then yes. Especially if everything works correctly. You can probably sell the wood stove for the price of the adapting pipes. You are the one doing the maintenance on it, so it's your call.

 

[Peterfield]

If it's all cleaned up and works, it should operate with the same effectiveness as when it was new. I don't have one but understand "Mike" who is the owner of Englander monitors this forum and is always willing to help Englander owners. I say you fire up that bad boy and see how it treats you. Worst case is you don't like it and then shop for a new one. Best case, it serves you well and you'll be nice and toasty this winter.

 

[shas595]

Nice and toasty is my goal. I am not familiar with their operation but after reading the manual a few times I think its worth a shot. My plan is to grab a single bag of pellets, clean it out this afternoon and try to get it to run on my porch. If the blower gets going then that will give me enough reason to haul the thing downstairs. Its very heavy (375lbs I think) so I am committed once its in the doorway. I am thinking for the money I can sell my old stove for I can get a new blower if the room motor one is bad and pay for the OAK piping and hardware with some change left over, maybe grab a bag of pellets or two. And from what I can gather, I can get a digital control for relatively cheap. I was hoping I could find someone else who has an older one to see if its still kicking. Thanks for the input

John

 

[bags]

In my opinion the price was right and if you have to buy a few things and do some maintenance so what. After that you still have a great heat source for chump change. Good Luck! I'd be all over it as I am now looking for another pellet stove as we speak.

 

[Lake Girl]

Clean, clean, clean and then test-fire it outside. Compressed air assist on the cleaning while it is still outside your home. If you can get some heat out of it, it would give you a good idea of whether pellet heat will work for you. Just remember, this is a very different beast than the wood stove...

Did the person you got it from buy another pellet stove or switch to some other heat source?

 

[shas595]

Clean, clean, clean and then test-fire it outside. Compressed air assist on the cleaning while it is still outside your home. If you can get some heat out of it, it would give you a good idea of whether pellet heat will work for you. Just remember, this is a very different beast than the wood stove...

Did the person you got it from buy another pellet stove or switch to some other heat source?

As far as I know, he got it from someone and never got around to hooking it up. He told me the blower didn't work, but again I think it needs fire/heat before the blower kicks in after 20-30min. I will get some compressed air and get to cleaning. I hope it works, I am so sick of Oil and everything associated with it!

 

[briansol]

My only concern with it would be putting it in a basement. It is not a radiant appliance like a wood stove is -- it's a space heater. If you want the heat in your living space, you're probably going to want to install the unit in your living space.

 

[Polar Bear]

My only concern with it would be putting it in a basement. It is not a radiant appliance like a wood stove is -- it's a space heater. If you want the heat in your living space, you're probably going to want to install the unit in your living space.

Mine's in my basement... the heat makes its way upstairs fairly easily. The only issue is that the stove is in the rec room with my pool table .: lots of beer and shorts needed to play

 

[shas595]

For the heating issue, my thought was to put in a few vents in the floor above the stove, one for each room. The basment is open, so I hope the heat radiates upwards. I used the wood stove a few times lightly, and with the basement door open I could feel the heat flowing up.

 

[Lake Girl]

put in a few vents in the floor above the stove

Very against building code and, in the event of fire, becomes a shaft to spread the fire.

The room blower should kick in a once the heat produced in the burn chamber reaches temp (120F or so depending on stove)... about 10 minutes for lighting sequence on mine. Can bench test the blower.

 

[shas595]

Very against building code and, in the event of fire, becomes a shaft to spread the fire.

Well there goes that idea! Thanks for the heads up. So open doors and slow moving fans are the way to go. The floor layout is open and its a small house so I am not too worried about not being able to feel it upstairs
John

 

[festerw]

Not sure on your old beast but the newer stoves have a diagnostic mode that will let you turn each component on to test operation.

http://www.englanderstoves.com/help/PelletStove/diagnostic_mode04.html

 

[shas595]

Update! Went home and cleaned it out for about an hour, with vacuum and compressed air. Added some pellets and started a fire. Turned it on and let and run and what do ya know, the blower kicked in and I had heat!! I was so happy, so now I juts have to get the parts for the OAK and I'll be warm in no time! Thanks for all the great advice.
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[Ranger72]

My Whitfield is from 1991. Don't let the age scare you!

 

[JDenyer236]

My Whitfield is from 1991. Don't let the age scare you!

Exactly, a can of black stove paint and that puppy will look like new again.

 

[Lake Girl]

Don't forget the acetone to clean the surface before painting...

 

[Dhosh]

Mine's a 25-PDVP from '96 as well. Parts still available. Yours has the side louvers .. mine doesn't
I've only had mine in for a couple weeks. I put mine in the basement, and will likely be disappointment in how much warm air gets upstairs. I'll still be happy in how much it will help the basement though! Yep .. it's not much of a radiant heat source ... it's surface, although warm, doesn't get as hot as a wood stove. If those room air vents are pointed towards your stairs you'd likely get some warm heading upstairs.

Initial testing shows the exit air can be a very consistent 84 degrees, even when set at it's lowest setting. That would likely be great, if the stove was upstairs in between our dining room and living room. 84 degrees going into a poured concrete wall and floor basement, with no (inside) insulation, with ambient are around 55 ... only takes a bit of chill off. Gotta crank it to warm it up. When it's warmed up, I do get some perceptible heat going up the stairs, but not what will help much when it's -20F outside, and the wind's a-howling! I'm not sure what the burn rate will be at 9-9....

With less square footage, you may fare better than me. I basically have a open floor plan 1,800 sq ft ranch, with a full basement. Blocking off the section where the stove is, in the basement, will likely help upstairs, but will be less helpful in my shop and the couple rooms on the 'other' 1/3rd of the basement.

Hope this helps!

 

[Ctcarl]

Update! Went home and cleaned it out for about an hour, with vacuum and compressed air. Added some pellets and started a fire. Turned it on and let and run and what do ya know, the blower kicked in and I had heat!! I was so happy, so now I juts have to get the parts for the OAK and I'll be warm in no time! Thanks for all the great advice.
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wow that is a monster!congrats on the flame wrking

 

[tjnamtiw]

These guys AND GAL are telling it like it is. You want to cut the cord on oil heat but putting it in the basement is not going to accomplish that IMHO. You're going to use all your btu's heating the concrete floor and walls and have little left over for your living space. These pellet stoves do not put out NEARLY as much as your wood stove did. With pellet prices inflated, you're much better off putting it upstairs and getting those $$$ btu's directly into your living space. If you place it appropriately, you could just use a simple, out the wall and up exhaust system available directly from amfmenergy.com or Englander.
You keep speaking of an OAK installation but don't mention the actual exhaust except once when you said you would use the wood stove venting. That's another whole issue to be discussed.
Paint it up and make it look even prettier and put it upstairs!

 

[Watcher1]

Update! Went home and cleaned it out for about an hour, with vacuum and compressed air. Added some pellets and started a fire. Turned it on and let and run and what do ya know, the blower kicked in and I had heat!! I was so happy, so now I juts have to get the parts for the OAK and I'll be warm in no time! Thanks for all the great advice.
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I would like to jump in here. Basement stove// well I have a 1200 ft log cabin full basement and I run a Magnum 3500 down here and it works ok. I work in the basement(office) and so I wanted heat down here. Heat goes up the stairs with the help of a small fan. It is what IT IS. Stove paint. Lots say stove black. I have used the new hammered metal and that works and looks great! Can't use it on the door or real hot spots but the top and sides. I paid 1700 for a baby magnum countryside and 350 for this 3500. most of these pellet stoves work fine if you keep them clean. Good luck with your new stove!

 

[Lake Girl]

Everyone has to start somewhere - this allows him to get an idea of the heat production and work involved without much cost.

Can get exterior stove paint in colours - haven't used it personally... (broken link removed to http://www.stovepaint.com/Content.asp?id=33)

Edit: Also Stove Bright (broken link removed to http://forrestpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/SBCC-1a.pdf)

 

[lessoil]

I was able to trade a wood stove for an Englander last Fall (2nd stove). Installed in basement. Works great easily keeping the basement warm.
Hooked up an old Honeywell thermostat. Good to go.
Good find and enjoy!!

 

[whit]

Very against building code and, in the event of fire, becomes a shaft to spread the fire.

What's the code say? My 1910 house has a few vents left from the basement to the first floor, I think there was originally a coal furnace in the basement. House was converted to oil and baseboard since.

Okay, so now I've got a wood stove in the basement, as well as a pellet stove at one end of the first floor. And I still run the oil furnace for hot water and to supplement the heat on the colder days. So that wood stove is taking advantage of the vents. Forced air heat is obviously within code. So vents with enough duct attached are code, right? Is there some formula for that - minimum duct length on back side of vent to make it code worthy? Or is forced air within code if from an oil fire, but not from a wood fire? From a practical POV, is a flame going to shoot through 10 feet of duct? 20 feet of duct? Is a pellet or wood stove with enough length of duct leading to a floor vent within code in regards to that floor vent?

 

[Jigger]

Nice gift you were given. Englanders are nice stoves and very easy to work on by yourself. You'll feel the difference and the ease of feeding it. Total different animal then a wood stove. Just remember never ever use a home vacuum or shop vac to clean it out. There are special vacuums for this purpose. If you use a home vac or shop vac you will have one heck of a mess to clean up.