Harman P68 Burn

[Cornman555]

Hey all, been trying to clean up a 2005 p68. New thermostat wire, esp , and igniter. Was wondering about how much time a bag lasts you. Will put new door gasket on this summer cause it looks flat. Been using a P43 for 11 years since new and love it. This 68 is chomping down the pellets. Thanks

 

[Cornman555]

Sorry should of mentioned. Let’s say stove temp on lowest setting.

 

[Dataman]

You don't give the info to solve this. What is the Temp of the Building your heating? What temp you are trying to reach. Bag a day don't sound bad, but it depends on the math. You don't give us the numbers.

 

[Cornman555]

Without getting into the whole setup and area I thought stove temp setting would be a good comparison to others that would eliminate some variables. Running this stove as low as possible it is consuming a bag in 12/14 hours. My 43 will use a bag in a day while cookin good and on low it will last a long time. Trying to figure out if this is normal for this larger stove or do I need to keep looking for something wrong. Somewhat bummed about performance so far but hopeful.

 

[Tonyray]

P68 has the largest burnpot around..I have the P61A and really cold weather 2 bags day burning 24/7.. tried burning low settings of feed rate And temp but too low and you get a dirty burn..P68 is a heat monster but will eat pellets more on Stove or constant mode... if u burn 24/7 cant see getting away with 1 bag a day with 68 or my 61 unless u have super tight house and not lot of space to heat..

 

[Washed-Up]

As said above, a P68 will easily chew through a bag in 24hrs or less on stove temp...my advice would be to put a probe on it and see how much of a difference it makes....and burning on low with any stove will dirty it up pretty good and isn’t the best for the auger tip

 

[Pete Zahria]

On constant burn, not room temp?
I've never used only 1 bag in 24 ours.
I can get 24 hours on my small Englander in the garage on lowest setting.
Not the P68.

 

[Tonyray]

as a P61A user,
i have never gotten less than bag and half on cold days running 24/7.. below 40 outside without substancial north winds..
on room auto or room manual? yes... but only due to the slowing down of feed due to temp probe use in room auto.
once spring hits or...beginning of fall my consumption is lower of course.
I gave up quite a while ago of trying to exspiriment with lower feed rate, lower temp setting and lower fan speed.
in my exspirience back then i came to conclusion that can't keep warm and save pellets at the same time.
I burn top softies and still will hit 3/half to 4 ton mark every year..
as i get older i want it warmer than when i 1st got pellet stove back in 2014 which doesn't help!!
I did burn stove or constant mode more this year than in the past and that took me to the full 4tons burned mark..
previous yrs using room auto and room manual and barely using stove mode i got away with 3/half tons.

 

[railfanron]

A p43 burning on its lowest setting will burn about a bag a day. On its highest setting it will burn 3 bags a day to achieve its 43000 btu output. Mine reflect these estimates pretty much. This is figured from the Harman website. The p68 burning on its lowest setting will burn a 1 1/2 bags a day. On its highest setting it will burn 5 bags a day to achieve its 67600 btu output. These rates were figured using the manufacturers rated outputs for each stove and 8000 btus per pound of pellets. There might be slight differences in a stoves output versus its rated out put and also slight differences in the rated btus of a given pellet but this is going to be pretty close and my p43 reflect this. You can't make heat out of nothing.
Ron

 

[Tonyray]

At least on this site no one brags and over inflates the're pellet usage..lol. I'm sure a tight insulated house and depending on floor plan( open as opposed to room,hallway, left turn,right turn etc) would figure into a better consumption of the 2 big Pseries stoves. Not great but better..My temp normally is set at 72-73 , feed rate #3, and half way fan.. 2 bags a day is most my P61A consumes in 24/7 burning. Running stove mode 24/7 would be lot more than that..

 

[Dataman]

I get about 1-2 Bags running in Room Temp Manual with my Harmon XXV (Pre TC). Days when it's above 30 it gets turned off for cleaning and turn on at night. 1/2 bag then. I burned from Sep-March. 3 Tons and 11 bags.

 

[Tonyray]

I get about 1-2 Bags running in Room Temp Manual with my Harmon XXV (Pre TC). Days when it's above 30 it gets turned off for cleaning and turn on at night. 1/2 bag then. I burned from Sep-March. 3 Tons and 11 bags.

Sounds normal.

 

[Tonyray]

Sounds normal.

Forgot to ask if u use more on manual than room auto...i use bit more on manual mode when i use it.. throws in a few pellets during simmer time every minute but non the less never stops feeding like auto mode.

 

[Cornman555]

Thanks for all the good info. I guess it really depends on placement. The
P68 is placed in a basement in a second home. Was hoping it would crank heat in the basement and rise upstairs. It is just not liked I hoped. My P43 at home is in the living room and heats the 1st well and upstairs ok. Comparing the two for a bit now it seems like the P 43 gives equal heat for way less pellet consumption. I know this is initial thoughts since I am somewhat new to the P68. Just trying to make heat as efficiently as possible.

 

[Tonyray]

Thanks for all the good info. I guess it really depends on placement. The
P68 is placed in a basement in a second home. Was hoping it would crank heat in the basement and rise upstairs. It is just not liked I hoped. My P43 at home is in the living room and heats the 1st well and upstairs ok. Comparing the two for a bit now it seems like the P 43 gives equal heat for way less pellet consumption. I know this is initial thoughts since I am somewhat new to the P68. Just trying to make heat as efficiently as possible.

Decided against putting our P61A in the basement as we thought it had to heat a Big area 1st before it gets to heat above to main living area.. our basement is not a finished area so concrete walls would absorb lot of the heat before even getting upstairs which means lot more pellets burned before rising..Maybe....

 

[Pete Zahria]

Decided against putting our P61A in the basement

I did put mine in the basement. For a few reasons.
It is where I store all of my pellets.
It is quieter in the living area.
Helps keep some of the dust down.
I have a hood over the stove, that funnels the blower air
to a grate in the middle of the house.
The radiant heat, from the stove, heats the basement,
The blower heat does the living area.

Dan

 

[Tonyray]

I did put mine in the basement. For a few reasons.
It is where I store all of my pellets.
It is quieter in the living area.
Helps keep some of the dust down.
I have a hood over the stove, that funnels the blower air
to a grate in the middle of the house.
The radiant heat, from the stove, heats the basement,
The blower heat does the living area.

Dan

Homemade thing.. good idea.. didnt have any exit from the basement other than leaving door open..didnt concider cutting any floor venting as i needed to heat 1st floor living area and up steps to 2nd floor bedrooms as priorities which the P61 does very well.

 

[bogieb]

Placing the stove in the basement already is causing it to be "less efficient" than you P43 by reason that the smaller stove is heating the living area first as opposed to as an afterthought. Yes, many people do get good heat to rise, but that didn't work out for me just as it didn't work out for your second home.

The P61a would go thru a lot of pellets (up to 3 bags/day) and have to burn on constant. I'd have the basement in the high 80's while the living area was in the low to mid 60's and the bedrooms and bathroom were in the low 50's so I had to still use the propane boiler for the FHW to run. That was before I insulated the foundation walls and covered the concrete floor, but I'm pretty darn sure that temp-wise, it wouldn't be much better now just because the I can't get the air currents to do what I need them to do (with the basement it is only 1600 sq/ft total).

With the P43 on the main floor, I now go thru about an equal amount of pellets between the two stoves thru the season; the P61a uses more in the deep of winter and the P43 goes thru more during spring and fall. But, my basement is now heated, both stoves are on thermostats 90-95% of the time and I can keep my floors warm if I want, or let the basement cool off in the spring. right now that thermostat is at 63* while the main floor is 69*.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Boy am I glad I heat with free corn...lol I never worry about how much I use, just keep shoveling it in.... Just brought down an additional 6 ton from up the road for next winter.

 

[Cornman555]

Boy am I glad I heat with free corn...lol I never worry about how much I use, just keep shoveling it in.... Just brought down an additional 6 ton from up the road for next winter.

Lucky you. Don’t get me going on pellet prices now.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I bet TSC will lower pellet prices this summer in as much as my local store is flush with them, stacked 4 high and 10 deep in the outlot. I'm all about 'negotiating' with the manager about August for a couple pallets.

 

[ABusWrench]

Noticed Menards upped their prices from $250 a ton to $265 ton.

 

[SidecarFlip]

.... Just think, when I first started buying pellets they were $100 bucks a ton and I thought that was high...

 

[SidecarFlip]

Lucky you. Don’t get me going on pellet prices now.

Now is a BAD time to even consider buying pellets. Wait until it's 80 outside and then shop and barter.

 

[Pete Zahria]

Now is a BAD time to even consider buying pellets. Wait until it's 80 outside and then shop and barter.

Good luck with that...

Dan