Help! Pellet stove newbie with BIG problems!

[MarkInPA]

We purchased a Harman P68 pellet stove this fall, got it installed Oct 10th. I have two very significant problems we desperately want help with:

PROBLEM #1: Pellets being gobbled up at an insane rate

From the beginning, we noticed it seemed to be consuming an unusually high amount of pellets. When overnight temps dipped into the mid-20's recently, we've seen the stove gobble up about 60-70 pounds of pellets in a 24 hour period. That is terrible. What does this mean, then for the winter? I never expected this thing to use up so many pellets.

I bought some "Pennington Premium Hardwood" pellets from Lowe's before the stove was installed. Thinking that might be the problem, we purchased about 14 bags from a mill just 10 miles from home. Those pellets looked nice, light colored. Definitely from locally harvested hardwood. This made some minor difference. Seems these newer pellets burn with a lot less ash and "perhaps" a bit hotter. BUT the pellets are still being gobbled up at about the same rate.

Just today I moved the room sensor to different locations within it's silly 5 foot reach. Problem is, the stove is near windows and all exterior walls. I bought 20' of thermostat wire and moved the sensor to an interior wall in the room, about 10' from the stove. It's about 4' off the floor.

Stove settings: Room Temperature mode, set on between 72 and 75 degrees, Feeder rate set at 4. Distribution fan ("Room Temp") set at midpoint.

One thing I've noticed: When the stove hits where the room temperature should be, it tends to let the fire die out. Then, when it needs to heat up the room again, it gobbles up maybe a cup of pellets to fill the fire pot. This seems rather dumb. Why not just keep a very low fire going? Why is it letting it's fire go out so much, then wasting so many pellets to fire back up again? Then it builds a RAGING fire. Again, that seems idiotic.

It seems to "spit" alot of sparks (embers) in the combustion chamber. Is this normal?

The house is about 1600 sq feet. It's about 100 years old. Insulation is relatively poor (2 exterior walls have blown in insulation, none in the other walls). Windows are the original wooden sashes, with modern storm windows.


PROBLEM #2: It's COLD upstairs!

While it is heating the downstairs nicely, upstairs the temperature is running about 10-15 degrees colder. The style of the house is American Foursquare, each floor about 28 by 28'. Two floors. The pellet stove was installed in the dining room, in the opposite corner from the stairs. This was on the recommendation of a science teacher friend who reminded me that heat rises, therefore get the stove as far away from the stairs as possible, so it doesn't bypass the downstairs and all go upstairs. Well, that may have been a mistake.

Yesterday, in an effort to get heat upstairs from a more direct location, I cut an 8" hole through the wall in the dining room wall, opposite the stove and into a laundry chute that goes to the upstairs hall. Then I installed 8" flex duct between the floors via the laundry chute. I also placed a small fan near the duct entry point in the dining room. This has produced small improvement.

SEE ATTACHED PICTURE OF HOUSE LAYOUT.

Needless to say, I'm frustrated. At this rate, we'll consume a massive amount of pellets (and dollars!). This pellet stove was $4000, installed. Now, I'm wondering if I've made a huge mistake. I visited the home of a neighbor who has a Harman Advantage pellet stove. It's a two story, same size as mine. But it's about 15 years old with good insulation and windows. The fire was quite low when I saw his pellet stove today. Outside temp about 45. He keeps the stove set to heat at 72, uses no more than 30 - 40 pounds of pellets a day and the upstairs and downstairs are both nicely heated. The stove is actually installed in his foyer, about 10' from the stairs (his go up the middle of the house, where mine goes up the side).

Sorry for the long post, but if anybody can help -- it's the great community here on Hearth.com!

Mark in Central PA

 

[MrWinkey]

Sounds your getting quite a bit of heat loss and the stove works hard to heat up the room only to loose it. I would turn the stove on Manual mode once it starts up and see if that helps. It will keep the fire burning that way and hopefully will not keep turning on and off.

If that does not work maybe you could try stove temp mode? That should keep the stove burning at an even temp.

I would put in a fans to blow air around the 1st level. Then a fan to help it up to the 2nd level.

Seal up the windows with the window plastic kits? Maybe blow some into the walls an attic?

Hope this helps!

 

[webbie]

Other might help you tune the stove, but the bad news (in general) is that if the stove is burning pellets, it is probably putting out the related heat. In other words, there is no where else for the heat to go. A BTU is a BTU - Certainly, you may be able to adjust some things to gain a little efficiency, but I predict that will not turn out to be the problem

As to whether you made a mistake, we have had many long discussions here about the cost of heating with Pellets and we also have a calculator where you can compare the costs of various fuels. Pellets are not cheap! Certainly for those who use one or two tons a year for semi-recreational use it may not make a difference, but if you are trying to supplement REAL heat, it takes just as much pellet heat to do so.

Let's break it down a little - if you burn 60 lbs of pellets in 24 hours, that means about 2.5 pounds of pellets per hour average. A pound of pellets produces about 6000 BTU of heat into the room, which means you are burning at an average of a little over 15,000 BTU Output. That is about the same heat you would get from 3 plug-in electric heaters....which is not enough to heat a 100 year old house in virtually any weather.

At Hearth.com, we try not to mislead anyone about these facts of Heat. Too often people "sell themselves" or "are sold" on various technologies, brands or fuels without being fully informed as to the basic science of heat.

It would be my guess that you are gonna burn a LOT of pellets to heat that house, with no two ways about it. Of course, if you use the pellet stove for occasional heat - weekends, evening, etc - you will burn much less.

Our Fuel cost calculator shows that at 225 a ton:

$1,893.35 per year for normal home for Pellets - which would mean 8 tons....at 80 lbs per day, which you will have to burn in the cold weather, that is two tons per month during the three coldest months, plus some before and after.

You will get some additional advice here, but one theme you will constantly hear is that the best money to spend in on conservation and insulation so that the house requires less heat....time to get out the caulk gun and plastic!

 

[babalu87]

Blow insulation in the other walls.
Its all about the house

 

[jtp10181]

Try turning the stove to a lower setting, it will burn longer and smaller and wont cycle as much. This may help a little. Running on the higher settings are for when you really need to heat up fast.

 

[begreen]

For an old house a bag and a half per day at 20 outside sounds about correct. You are doing all the right things except turning down the thermostat. Ours is set to 68 degrees during the day and 70 in the evenings, unless the temps drop below 30. If below 30 then we set evening temp to 68 too. In an old house, the best investment is caulking and insulation, then good windows. Until you stop heating outdoors, that's the way it is. In the interim try wool sweaters.

 

[JohnnyBravo]

get that chezzy shrink wrap for you windows. it realy helps. i know that insulating is difficult but every little bit helps. start with drafts, check electrical outlets. you can usualy pop the cover plate off and get some spray foam around and behind them. hows the attic insulation when i moved into my house there was only 3"

 

[masterswimmer]

Please don't misread this or take it wrong, but you answered your own question in your opening statement......

The house is about 1600 sq feet. It’s about 100 years old. Insulation is relatively poor (2 exterior walls have blown in insulation, none in the other walls). Windows are the original wooden sashes, with modern storm windows.

If you're heating with nat. gas, oil, electric, propane, wood, pellets, corn, or whatever, you're spending your money to heat the outdoors. Only two insulated walls and probably very little in your attic is the culprit. You've done some due diligence with the storm windows, but that's like a band aid on a broken arm.

Unfortunately, the location of your stove is not conducive to heating the upstairs IMO. If the stove could have been located in the corner where you put the duct, or on the opposing wall in the living room (near the duct) that would have been much more efficient. Yes, theoretically the heat wants to rise. However, with your uninsulated walls it wants to run out there too. Hot flows to cold, always. 20 degrees outside is sucking the heat from your home.

 

[Gooserider]

I agree with the other posters in regards to insulation, etc. Until you fix that, you are going to have a hard time getting decent heat and are going to eat pellets.

As to getting heat upstairs, your duct may work, but it is very dangerous from a safety standpoint. (actually so is a laundry chute) One of the major purposes in walls and ceilings is to act as a fire stop so as to slow and / or prevent the spread of smoke and flames and give you time to evacuate you and your family. Cutting holes in them destroy's their integrity and can cause the fire to spread far more rapidly - thus it is usually a serious code violation to do so.

I would close that duct back up w/ the proper fire retardant materials, and work on getting better heat flow in other ways. Try the earlier suggestion of a couple of fans to get an airflow circulating around the first floor from the stove room to the rest of the 1st floor - you need to get the heat to where it can go up the stairs. Also note that it is often easier and more effective to blow cold air towards the stove than it is to move hot air away from it.

Every house is different and not all factors show on the floor plans, but given your setup, I'd start by trying to blow cold air from the kitchen into the stove room (thus pushinng the air in the stove room out to the foyer and getting a circular airflow going, and maybe put a fan near the top of the stairs blowing cold air down along the steps at floor level, so the heat will go up at head level...

Gooserider

 

[webbie]

Goose, regarding the duct work, etc. - I have heard Elk speak on this, but pardon me if I am confused.

How does a stairway (open) and open hallways and lofts (in many houses) play into this? Are there particular no-nos and other "can dos", for instance it might be against code to cut holes from a basement to the first floor or from the 1st floor to the bedroom directly, but it's hard to imagine how it is dangerous to do so into a hallway (which is open anyway).....

I think we need some clarification on that whole subject.

FYI, I see clearly that you cannot have either CONCEALED holes (in walls, floors, etc.) not hole in Fire Rated assemblies. My question regards holes in open area in the living area of a 1-2 story house.

 

[JohnnyBravo]

if i can recall Elk stated that code was no return air within 10' of a fuel burning aplience. as far as strair wells and open lofts go some houses are safer from the start. fire will tear through an open floor plan much qicker than one cut up into smaller rooms with doors closed. as far as openings above woodstoves its just a great short cut for the fire path. its a balence thing, if keep your stove cooped up in room with door closed the fire will travel much slower, however so will the heat. the same is true of an open cabin with no walls, easy to heat and burn down. you have to find a happy medium. every thing is a compramise.

 

[Gooserider]

Goose, regarding the duct work, etc. - I have heard Elk speak on this, but pardon me if I am confused.

How does a stairway (open) and open hallways and lofts (in many houses) play into this? Are there particular no-nos and other "can dos", for instance it might be against code to cut holes from a basement to the first floor or from the 1st floor to the bedroom directly, but it's hard to imagine how it is dangerous to do so into a hallway (which is open anyway).....

I think we need some clarification on that whole subject.

FYI, I see clearly that you cannot have either CONCEALED holes (in walls, floors, etc.) not hole in Fire Rated assemblies. My question regards holes in open area in the living area of a 1-2 story house.

JB has it right, from a fire safety standpoint open structures aren't as good. But people do have to be able to move around so you can't do the perfect 100% closed environment, and some of us have this strange preference for open architechtures, safety be damned... However there is no sense IMHO in making gratuitous openings for fire spread with minimal advantage.

I am not the code expert that Elk is, (and I'll freely admit that of the advice I give comes from him and others here) but my understanding is that the big problem with laundry chutes and the like is that they can act like a cross between a chimney and a blowtorch in terms of being the source of focused flame spread. I would think this could be designed around, but the powers that write the codes have apparently found it simpler just to prohibit them.

Gooserider

 

[webbie]

I understand the issues - just trying to see what is code, and what is opinion......

I think we know that code calls for no opening between fire rated assemblies, and for sealing of concealed openings. I'd love to have more accuracy as to the code in other instances, specifically between floors in residential 2 story constructions (not including basements).

My guess, based on existing construction, is that you can cut holes between rooms and possibly even floors when a fire rated assembly is not present. But it obviously needs some clarification.

Just don't want to tell people something and assume it is code if it is not. If we all want to be really safe, we probably have to chuck the stoves!

 

[Gooserider]

I understand the issues - just trying to see what is code, and what is opinion......

I think we know that code calls for no opening between fire rated assemblies, and for sealing of concealed openings. I'd love to have more accuracy as to the code in other instances, specifically between floors in residential 2 story constructions (not including basements).

My guess, based on existing construction, is that you can cut holes between rooms and possibly even floors when a fire rated assembly is not present. But it obviously needs some clarification.

Just don't want to tell people something and assume it is code if it is not. If we all want to be really safe, we probably have to chuck the stoves!

I am not sure on the exact code wording, that's something you will have to ask Elk about. However I try to avoid saying stuff about code requirements as such except when I'm certain by seeing it multiple times from multiple sources, like blockoffs being required on direct connects (but not necessarily on full liners), or one appliance per flue. In cases like this, I will say something is dangerous, but won't say it's a code violation - the two are similar but not the same :-S

In terms of what current code says, I am not sure I'd agree with your guess. As pointed out in another thread, most codes are "manufacturing standards" not "recall notices" - thus a practice that used to be legit under old codes would be "grandfathered" in an existing instance, but wouldn't be OK to build today - I know that Elk has mentioned laundry chutes and dumbwaiters in this regard. Modifiying an existing "grandfathered" item presumably gets even trickier, but I don't even know where to start in that regard.

In the current case, the notion of cutting holes in a laundry chute, which I already know is a problem item, made me really cringe. I don't know if codes call for a chute to be made of fire rated material, but it would seem logical to me that they would - I know that I would want fire rated material if I were building one...

Gooserider

 

[MarkInPA]

Thanks to everyone who has replied to my questions. No doubt, there are -- and will be -- many others with similar situations. So, the forum's value is being enhanced. This is indeed a great forum with many bright people, well informed on the topic.

What about where my stove is placed? Would anyone have any ideas about a better placement to get the heat upstairs?
----------------------------

Now, I have a practical suggestion to the forum adminstrator/owner: It would be extremely helpful if there was a simple clear link on your home page that said something like this:

Thinking of Getting a Wood, Coal, Pellet or Biomass Stove? Click Here to Get Started.

Then, there needs to be a VERY FRANK article about what such an option means and does not mean. Please include:

1. The ability of a stove to heat a house, based on size, layout, insulation quality and MAYBE one other factor. Keep it simple. Work to complexity with more in-depth articles later.

2. A cost comparison calculator that would go like this: "Enter the amount of fuel you currently use to heat your house all season long". In my case, I would have entered 1000 gallons of heating oil. Then, click a Calculate button that will calculate the equivalent number of pellets, wood, coal, corn, whatever to heat the house in equivalent fashion. Along with cost. I know, I know, the purists would say there is no exact equivalency. Of course. Nonetheless, a "ballpark" lets someone know what the other solutions MAY look like. Yes, Viriginia, it can be done. I know there's a cost comparison calculator on this website. However, it lacks the ability (at least directly) to calculate that all important question, "HOW MUCH" fuel might be consumed with these other heating options.

Above all: KEEP IT SIMPLE. I spent a LOT of time searching this forum ahead of purchasing our pellet stove. While there's a LOT of info, there needs to be a much cleaner, simpler path for the person "just checking into it" to get started. Frankly, the sheer volume on this site is overwhelming and at times, bewildering.

The beauty of a site like this is its independence. This should be a site where potential and current stove owners can get the straight low down. In many ways, this happens, but you really have to dig, dig, dig for it. That should not be. Keep it simple. Keep it simple for the uninitiated to get the most basic question answered:

What are my options and how much (ball park) will these options cost to heat MY HOUSE. Then work toward more involved details/complexity.

Three or four years ago, I could have cared less about heating with a stove. Today, I own one. So, what moved me toward purchasing one? High heating oil costs. Sheer economics. Truth be told, that's why most folks have a stove to heat their home. And that's why so many are swamping stove shops and websites like this right now. But unless there's a simple way to get a ballpark, "OK, HOW MUCH will it cost to heat MY HOUSE", many will bypass this site and go elsewhere.

Hearth.com is a very good resource. I hope my suggestions can work to make it even better.

 

[Dunadan]

I spent a ton of time on this site before purchasing my insert. I did spend time researching other sites, but this one was the treasure trove. Not only did I read the articles, but I also went back and read through countless posts, even onces that didn't seem to be relevant to my search. I also spent time looking at the BTU calculator, on this site, and on other sites that can be found.

When making such a big purchase, I read everything I could find on the subject, and then some.

I think while anything can be improved, this site worked just fine for me. I don't think it needs to be any simpler or straight forward. I knew I was going to be getting a wood stove early on, as I ruled out pellets almost immediately due to the cost of pellets, and the fact that I have access to free wood (though I've not taken advantage of that yet). To be honest, I think the first thing I began researching (even before I found this site) was the difference between heating with coal, pellets, corn, and wood.

Seems to me, taking a swipe at this site's layout at this point, is a bit petty. You may not have meant to do so, but that's what you did with your last post. All the information you could want and more is here. It just takes a willingness to spend the time to find and read it all.

 

[Gooserider]

Hmmm... No swipe at Craig, but you do have a point about the volume of information. It might be nice to have a better winnowing of signal to noise, though it is a tough subject to simplify because there is a lot of subjective stuff involved.

To go to the question of where to locate the stove, I would say the front corner of the living room nearest the foyer would do better for getting heat to where it could get upstairs, but you might be trading off heat to that laundry / bath area at the back of the house. The perfect spot would be on the corresponding inside corner, but that would pose problems for venting

A stove of any sort is a space heater, not a furnace substitute, so it is always going to be a challenge to get the heat to where the stove is not - you have to decide priorities and pick the best compromise you can.

Gooserider

 

[webbie]

Good suggestions. Hopefully you saw our fuel cost comparison at:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/fuel_cost_comparison_calculator/

It is pretty close to your suggestion of one.

Our main article area also has some rough calculators for room size.
https://www.hearth.com/what/specific.php

The "pellet price" scenario has been debated here from the start, with me being perhaps the main voice of sanity - we have heard from folks that replaced 2000 gallons of oil with 4 tons of pellets (absurd, of course), and MANY of the folks debating these things have been dealers! But I have never wavered. A BTU is a BTU, and although space heat can save over central heat (in some cases), space heat with pellets has no advantage over space heat with gas, oil, wood or coal - it still comes down to the number of BTU's.

Moving a little further into the explanation, you have to keep in mind that most stove purchases between 1984 and 2004 were NOT made to save money, but for other reasons. That is 20 years, including 9 years of when this site existed! So many of the reasons behind purchasing hearth products are taken for granted (and they are not what you said - sheer economics) - people wanting a fire, a backup, sometimes even a fad. More recently a number of folks want pellets for the "green" and "local" angle. Corn, if you are relatively near the source, can also beat the heck out of LP (which is often the other option near corn fields)........

I like to think that we (at Hearth.com) can change with the times, but we certainly cannot do much against a wave of hundreds of dealers, thousands of customers (talking to their friends) and even the large media attention that pellets have received. Some stores will tell you the truth, and many (including my shop - which I sold in 1998) do not even sell Pellet stoves for reasons relating to the cost and service. But this is America, and unfortunately, that means when you go to buy ANYTHING, you must always cast a wary eye and ask yourself "why are they telling me this?" (Answer, many times, is to make money or a larger sale).

Our mission (my mission) is to educate consumers in any way possible about the various hearth fuels. It is also to promote (in general) the various fuels and appliances. We didn't hear much about Pellet stoves here from 1998 (when the first pellet "spike" died down) to about 2005 (after Katrina!).

BTW, the main "Quick Basics" on pellet stoves at:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/pellet_stoves_and_inserts/

Says "Average consumption will run from 1-2 tons for occasional use to 6+ tons for a heavy full-time user."


Thanks for your suggestions! I am not disputing them, just laying out a bit of history. Hearth.com has become the collaboration of thousands of people adding to the reviews, wiki, forums, etc. - and with that in mind, I have to act more as a "guide" than an editor. However, it is good news that the fuel cost and room BTU calculators are two of the most read documents on the site!

 

[webbie]

Hmmm... No swipe at Craig, but you do have a point about the volume of information. It might be nice to have a better winnowing of signal to noise, though it is a tough subject to simplify because there is a lot of subjective stuff involved.
Gooserider

One persons signal is another persons noise!
We would not want google to do the same thing, rather we rely on our own powers of reason (and searching ability) to sort out the mess. Speaking of that, I think the new google site search should help folks find quicker answers...let me try a "live" seach:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/sitesearch/
compare cost of fuels (search term)

Wow, that brought up a LOT of hearth.com links, with the calculator first!

Cost of Pellets vs Oil (search)
Again, a lot of relevant articles and threads.

So my advice to newbies is to use the site search whenever possible. For that reason I have placed a link on the front page of the site as well as on the top of every forum page. I'll add it to other places if folks use it.

 

[MrWinkey]

What about where my stove is placed? Would anyone have any ideas about a better placement to get the heat upstairs?

Untill you do something to help with the heat loss my guess is not much else will help. You could move the stove closer to the stairs but that would probably cost a bit of $$....new permit...new install etc. My guess is it would be nearly as cost effective to just have the other 2 downstairs walls insulated w/ some blow in insulation.

Do you know how much is in the roof of the house? You may be loosing alot of heat through the roof and that could be why the upstairs is so cold. It's not that the heat is not going up there it's that is is going up and out the roof

Now, I have a practical suggestion to the forum adminstrator/owner: It would be extremely helpful if there was a simple clear link on your home page that said something like this:

Thinking of Getting a Wood, Coal, Pellet or Biomass Stove? Click Here to Get Started.

If you look at the top of the web page there is the Hearth Wiki and on the front page of the site there is many other tools to help. The fuel calc is all about that. It tells you how many tons of pellets you will need to heat your house as it allows you to compare BTU's from various fuels. If you know how many BTU's 1 gallon of fuel oil provides @ the % of efficency in your furnace you can then figure out how many tons of pellets you will use. It will then help you with prices of the fuels to help make your decsion.

I will let some of the other guys answer the other questions as I'm still a rookie and a hired geek by trade not a Stove Guy.

EDIT: Ooops looks like Craig already got there.......I'm just too slow on the keys...must be the cold!

 

[MarkInPA]

Thank you everyone for your insights. There's a LOT of excellent ideas you have shared. You all have been a tremendous help -- and this proves that Hearth.com is one fantastic site!

--Mark

 

[mkmh]

I have a Harman P61 that I am getting used to. I am finding that the "Stove temp" setting works a lot better for me than the "Room temp" mode. As you pointed out Mark, relying on the room sensor will cause the stove to cycle on and off more than what would seem to be sensible. In addition to losing some efficiency during this cycle, you're also wasting some electricity by invoking the igniter. If the stove is going through this cycle several times per day then I think it is safe to say that you are not using it in the most economically practical way.

The way i've been using my stove is to run it around 85 degrees in stove temp mode, distribution blower on high....feed rate right around 2, until the room temperature is up to where I like it (70ish). At that point I roll back the feed rate to one and put the distribution blower on medium. Though i'm still learing the stove, I find that i'm able to maintain the temperature pretty evenly burning with this etting...which seems to consume just over 1 pound of pellets per hour.
My next step is to install a programmable thermostat in series with the room sensor. This will allow me automatially shut off the stove from 10 PM to 4 AM...letting the house temperature fall to as low as 58 while we're sleeping.

Having said all that...I would tend to agree with other posters that your number one issue is insulation. Not even sure you'd be able to get away with shutting the stove down for 6 hours, but in my house this seems to work well. I did this last year with my other stove (Hastings St Croix) and I believe it cut down on my overall pellet usage by 25% or so.
If your bedrooms get too cold with the pellet stove off, then you might consider using 1500 watt electric heaters. In most areas on the US, wood pellets provide more BTUs per dollar, but in your situation it may be more economical to just focus on heating the occupied rooms. You mentioned in your post that your stove is running through nearly 3 pounds per hour. So if you can keep the stove off for a little over 6 hours at night then this would save you about $2.50 (assuming 5 bucks per bag) in pellets....and whatever electric the stove would use in that time. Obviously you'll have to blast the stove a bit in the morning to get the heat back up to where you like it, but it sounds like you are not getting tremendous benefit from the stove during the sleeping hours anyways. Add on the programmable thermostat and you could probably get the temp back up to 70 degrees between 4 and 6 AM.
No right answer. good luck!

 

[Michael6268]

IMHO $ should have been spent on insulating etc. Two or more bags a day given a "normal winter" if there is such a thing anymore, is probably going to be reality. As for this forum not warning people of such things, anyone who reads this forum knows that pellets are not cheap. In many cases they are more expensive to use than peoples existing systems. The fact is a lot of people don't listen, and a lot of dealers are telling people anything to get them to buy one. Theres a lot of money to be made in stove sale, installation, maintenance, future parts, and pellets. I have seen dealers tell people "just put this in your basement and it will heat your whole house". A friend of mine is a dealer. Sells all types of stoves. Tells a lot of people "there is a better cheaper way to heat your home", only to be told- "we heard this is the way to go, so we'll take the pellet stove". At that point he says all he can do is open up his wallet! You will notice that the majority of "stove problems" on this site are pellet stoves, yet tomorrow there will be twenty more posts asking "what is the best pellet stove"? As for getting heat upstairs. You could try several strategically places fans near the stairs, but it might be a losing battle. A lot of people find out that heat does not rise upstairs as easily as one would think. Myself included. Years ago had a stove on main floor. Tried to get heat upstairs. Downstairs was at 90+ and the upstairs wouldn't budge from 65! With any luck the fans may help and insulating the best you can surely will help too. Good luck.

 

[MarkInPA]

I have now seen significant heat distribution and pellet use improvement -- thanks to all of your extremely helpful replies -- by doing two things:

1. I extended the room sensor so that it is now located at an ideal position (interior wall, about 10' from the stove and near the archway between the living room and dining room (stove location). I can't tell you what a HUGE difference this has made. The stove is humming along at a very consistent rate. None of this cycle on and cycle off stuff. I have a digital room thermometer that records max and min room temperatures and I am impressed that the variation is a mere 3 degrees! This has translated into great improvement in pellet consumption.

2. Several here recommended an improvement in moving cold (return) air to the downstairs. I placed an 8" fan at the top of the stairs, attached about 5' of 8" flexible duct to it and let it point down the steps. Sort of a snorkel effect. The difference in heat distribution is definitely noticeable.

Beyond this, I agree with everyone on improving heat loss. I will be going around with caulking gun and window plastic where needed. Also, looking very seriously into blown in insulation. Improved energy efficiency makes us all a winner (take THAT big oil!).

I have a question about the blown in insulation: since this is a 100 year old house, I'm pretty sure that the wall studs use "balloon framing" -- i.e., one solid 20' stud that goes from first to second story. I'm pretty sure that this construction has no between floor stops, as in newer houses. I'm thinking that insulation blown in from the second story would go all the way straight down to the first story since the wall studs are open between first and second floors. This could cut the time drilling (and number of) holes as blow-in insertion points. Opinions? Thanks.

--Mark in beautiful Central PA

 

[Jabberwocky]

I'd have to kinda agree with Craig's numbers ... with a big, poorly insulated house ... >1.5 bags/day is a definite possibility in even moderate winter weather (i.e 40 degrees). Mix that in with pellets not purchased in the spring and a less than top of the line stove ... and you're not saving a dime.

I'm on my second pellet stove in my second house but both places could be counted as insulated to the maxx! There was nowhere else to go with $$$ besides swapping out Keyspan Natural Gas co and swapping in New England Wood Pellets. I still temperature off-set at night by a few degrees and that has been keeping me at <1 bag/day so far.

The problem in other BtU conversations is that one needs to look at real, live Natural Gas bills ... you're paying for a hell of a lot more than therms/BtUs .. that's only 50% of the bill.