How to get MAX heat

[geppapa]

When I went to bed last night it was 74 downstairs and 65 upstairs. I knew it was going to be single digits so I cranked our Harman p61 to 7 and full blow. Woke up this am and it was 56 upstairs and 63 downstairs. I am a noob to the whole pellet stove experience and wanted some thoughts on this. Is it just because it was a cold northern NE night or should I readjust my settings? I'd appreciate any helpful thoughts.

 

[chuckster]

When I went to bed last night it was 74 downstairs and 65 upstairs. I knew it was going to be single digits so I cranked our Harman p61 to 7 and full blow. Woke up this am and it was 56 upstairs and 63 downstairs. I am a noob to the whole pellet stove experience and wanted some thoughts on this. Is it just because it was a cold northern NE night or should I readjust my settings? I'd appreciate any helpful thoughts.

Sounds like you had it cranked up all the way. If it was really a cold night it might not be able to keep up. They do a lot but can't work miracles.
.

 

[jdempsey]

How well is your home insulated?

 

[Chain]

Were you running the P61 on stove temp. or room temp.? Also, where is your heat probe placed?

 

[kinsmanstoves]

If you live in an uninsulated house, the stove can only do so much. If you had the P61 maxed out it would have burned over 7 pounds of pellets an hour. was the hopper empty?

Eric

 

[moey]

it got down into the single digits probably around you, or close to it

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Were you running the P61 on stove temp. or room temp.? Also, where is your heat probe placed?

From what he said in his post I would say he was in Stove Temp since he referenced 7 as a setting.

 

[Chain]

From what he said in his post I would say he was in Stove Temp since he referenced 7 as a setting.

I was thinking the same but thought I'd get a clarification.....

 

[geppapa]

Sounds like you had it cranked up all the way. If it was really a cold night it might not be able to keep up. They do a lot but can't work miracles.
.

I think thats it, just an old house and our first legit wicked cold night.

 

[geppapa]

Limited insulation. Its an 1860s victorian that has had very little added help in regard to being sealed up. I guess we know how warm it can be on the coldest of nights. The room where the stove is stayed pretty warm

 

[silverfox103]

As has been said, definitely turn the feed rate up to 4.

Tom C.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

As has been said, definitely turn the feed rate up to 4.

Tom C.

Feed rate can go higher depending on pellets. The only way a Harman will put out max BTUs is to have the feed rate maxed and the temp setting maxed. For a P61 to get 61000 BTUs it will need over 7 pounds of fuel an hour. For a P-68 it will take over 8 pounds per hour.

Eric

 

[moey]

How many BTU's is your furnace/boiler that will give you a hint if it has trouble keeping up?

 

[geppapa]

As has been said, definitely turn the feed rate up to 4.

Tom C.

Ill try running the feed rate to 4. I had it at 3.5 last night. Seemed ok.

 

[geppapa]

How many BTU's is your furnace/boiler that will give you a hint if it has trouble keeping up?

I'm not sure about that. Didn't kick on last night. Will probably use it in Jan/Feb as the temps drop to supplement the pellets.

 

[Lousyweather]

when its really cold out, if you werent running in stove temp mode, switch it over......we find it seems to work better for those really cold evenings....good luck....

 

[moey]

I'm not sure about that. Didn't kick on last night. Will probably use it in Jan/Feb as the temps drop to supplement the pellets.

A lot of them have plates on them stating the max output. It would only provide a hint though. My boiler is about 75k BTU my stove max is about 45k BTU that gives me a idea when I run it on low why its does not keep up.

 

[TheMightyMoe]

Welcome geppapa,

Give your instruction manual a read through, you seem to be missing some points =) Also at the top of the pellet forum section, there is a in-depth guide to Harmans.

For starters your stove has multiple settings -

Stove temperature - The stove will output constant heat.

Room temperature - The stove will heat until the thermistor is satisfied. It will throttle up/down to meet the set temperature.

Feed rate - This is the MAXIMUM it will feed per hour.

Stove temperature mode -

If you set it to 95* but set it to feed rate 1 - The feed rate will limit how hot it gets.

If you set it to 65* but set it to feed rate 7 - The temperature will likely limit how hot it gets.

If you set it to 95* and feed rate 7 - Your stove is going to burn as hot as possible until it runs out of pellets.

Room temperature mode -

If you set it to 95* but set it to feed rate 1 - The stove will burn at a LOW fire rate until the room (Thermistor) reaches 95* (Never happen most likely)

If you set it to 65* but set it to feed rate 7 - The stove will burn as HOT as possible until the room (Thermistor) reaches 65*

If you set it to 95* and feed rate 7 - The stove will burn HOT as possible until the room (Thermistor) reaches 95*

Check out your instruction manual for setting the feed rate correctly or the Harman guide.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

I am hoping he means manual by the toggle switch for the igniter vs. automatic.