Harman Accentra 52i TC pellet consumption

[mbroughton02]

Great forum here. I'm new to pellet stoves and we just had a Harman Accentra 52i insert installed last week. Temps here have been in the 40s so I have been running the stove in Constant Burn mode at the lowest setting, which is 1.0. The max is 7.0.

I'm a bit surprised that the stove is consuming about a bag of pellets a day at this setting. I'm using Barefoot pellets which come well recommended here. Also, the fire is not consistent. It gets bigger and smaller repeatedly. Almost like the stove is trying to compensate for something but not finding a balance.

Last night I tried turning the feed rate down from 65% (the default) to 55%. Doesn't seem to be making much difference, other than the fire is further back in the "throat" of the burn pot now, and there is somewhat less ash.

Any ideas? If this thing burns a bag a day on low, I fear what January & February will have in store. The house is comfortable (1,700 square feet on 2 floors), so at least there's that.

 

[jackman]

I don't have the exact same stove but what you describe sounds perfectly normal. You may want to run it in Room Temp Auto mode and let the stove shutdown and startup on it's own. That may save you some pellets. I keep the feed rate low and burn the pellets in the back of the pot which produces less ash and less clinkers. When the temps get really low here I can burn up to 2 bags a day. I'm heating approx 1700sqft.

 

[Mikey pellet guy]

Okay your burn rate is way to high! The defualt setting is ridiculous, set that thing at 25 to 30 percent. I used to sell these New harman digital mounted controls and our demo stoves would go through the pellets, dont know why harman defualt setting is so out of range, but my 2014 xxv defualt is 4 i leave it at 3. Your flame will drop real low at a 1 setting in constant burn.

 

[Force58]

Great forum here. I'm new to pellet stoves and we just had a Harman Accentra 52i insert installed last week. Temps here have been in the 40s so I have been running the stove in Constant Burn mode at the lowest setting, which is 1.0. The max is 7.0.

I'm a bit surprised that the stove is consuming about a bag of pellets a day at this setting. I'm using Barefoot pellets which come well recommended here. Also, the fire is not consistent. It gets bigger and smaller repeatedly. Almost like the stove is trying to compensate for something but not finding a balance.

Last night I tried turning the feed rate down from 65% (the default) to 55%. Doesn't seem to be making much difference, other than the fire is further back in the "throat" of the burn pot now, and there is somewhat less ash.

Any ideas? If this thing burns a bag a day on low, I fear what January & February will have in store. The house is comfortable (1,700 square feet on 2 floors), so at least there's that.

Hi there. I'm in the market for a new pellet stove as ours is 11 years old and starting to break down. The Harman Accentra 52i is one of 3 we've narrowed our search down to. I see you have had it for a few months now. How do you like it so far?

Anybody else have any issues with this stove?

I'm also looking at the Quadra-Fire Mt Vernon AE and E2. Any issues with those?

Cheers

 

[mbroughton02]

Hi there. I'm in the market for a new pellet stove as ours is 11 years old and starting to break down. The Harman Accentra 52i is one of 3 we've narrowed our search down to. I see you have had it for a few months now. How do you like it so far?

Anybody else have any issues with this stove?

I'm also looking at the Quadra-Fire Mt Vernon AE and E2. Any issues with those?

Cheers

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Did you buy a stove yet?

The jury is still out on this stove. I realized that the exhaust wasn't run correctly at all (see other thread here https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/harman-insert-exhaust-concerns.165098/.) The dealer came back and fixed it and it's doing better, but it still burns dirtier than I think it should. The draft, as measured with a magnehelic gauge, is not quite what Harman claims it should be, even with the combustion fan running at full speed. I mean, the stove heats the house nicely, so I'll give it that. But was it worth the premium "Harman" price? I'm not sure yet...

 

[Force58]

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Did you buy a stove yet?

The jury is still out on this stove. I realized that the exhaust wasn't run correctly at all (see other thread here https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/harman-insert-exhaust-concerns.165098/.) The dealer came back and fixed it and it's doing better, but it still burns dirtier than I think it should. The draft, as measured with a magnehelic gauge, is not quite what Harman claims it should be, even with the combustion fan running at full speed. I mean, the stove heats the house nicely, so I'll give it that. But was it worth the premium "Harman" price? I'm not sure yet...

Hi Mbroughton02 and thanks for the reply. Fortunately I did not buy a stove yet, although I'm close. I've contacted 3 pellet stove repair companies that aren't affiliated with a pellet stove manufacturer. I've compiled notes on both stoves, their pro's and con's. I have a survey scheduled for 18 Feb to potentially install the Quadra-Fire Mount Vernon E2. I've seen both of them running and tried to get a sense for noise on both while running full fan. I'm leaning seriously toward the Quadra-Fire due to what I've heard. If the survey goes well I should have the stove installed within Feb and will report back on how it goes. Thanks again for the help.

 

[newtomntliving19]

Hi Mbroughton02 and thanks for the reply. Fortunately I did not buy a stove yet, although I'm close. I've contacted 3 pellet stove repair companies that aren't affiliated with a pellet stove manufacturer. I've compiled notes on both stoves, their pro's and con's. I have a survey scheduled for 18 Feb to potentially install the Quadra-Fire Mount Vernon E2. I've seen both of them running and tried to get a sense for noise on both while running full fan. I'm leaning seriously toward the Quadra-Fire due to what I've heard. If the survey goes well I should have the stove installed within Feb and will report back on how it goes. Thanks again for the help.

Hello there, new here to this forum and I was wondering if you have any updates on how you are liking your harman accentra. I’m looking to buy one soon and want to hear from other owners who have had some experience with this stove. I’m concerned about noise? Maintenance ? Problems ? The house for which I want it is a 1,400 sq ft weekend home. Thank you for your help and feedback.