Ideas regarding using stove in cold weather

[Tails1]

Now the cold is upon us here I was wondering about using my stove differently. Currently it is on a low heat setting (4) and controlled with a thermostat which worked fine in mild weather. The stove cycled once or twice at night, and 3-4 times during the day. Now that is has turned cold (and going much colder) the stove now cycles more and as of today as soon as the shutdown cycle is complete it has to start right back up again.

1) Will this shorten the life of the igniter and by how much? (should I order a spare?)

2) I could switch the stove to Hi/Low mode where it only idles on setting 1 until the call for heat. I will try this but think it might overheat the house plus waste pellets.

3) I could raise the heat setting on the stove and see if the additional heat per cycle will lessen how many times the thermostat calls for heat.

4)??? What does everyone else do now that it is cold?

I do use a wood stove in the basement which is only lit if the basement is being used. When it is running the pellet stove does not come on due to that heat source taking over.I would have to shut off the pellet stove when the wood stove gets lit or it's too much heat.

Edit: I have an 800 square foot house very well insulated so I think cold snaps won't affect me that much.

 

[alternativeheat]

You might find as it gets colder and colder out the stove won't quite make it into full shutdown before it ramps back up. As far as using more pellets, you're gonna do that in colder weather too LOL ! You will just have to play with your modes of operation till you hit on your happy place with the stove.I can't tell what that might be , especially not owning that model stove.

 

[jackman]

I keep mine running around the clock this time of year. There's less temperature swing and less igniter stress.

 

[railfanron]

By running your stove in the Hi/Low mode it might appear to burn more pellets but with the warmup taking pellets with very little heat taking extra pellets might offset the Hi/Low mode in Low mode as the stove is already hot. Also with less igniter cycles you might save a little on electric. While the stove is in Low mode it also is still putting out heat which may be enough to keep the house warm with less High mode time. A Little experimenting will go a long way. I run my stove in its Hi/Low mode when it gets bitter cold and although it's burning all the time it actually uses less pellets than the automatic mode.
Ron

 

[Tails1]

By running your stove in the Hi/Low mode it might appear to burn more pellets but with the warmup taking pellets with very little heat taking extra pellets might offset the Hi/Low mode in Low mode as the stove is already hot. Also with less igniter cycles you might save a little on electric. While the stove is in Low mode it also is still putting out heat which may be enough to keep the house warm with less High mode time. A Little experimenting will go a long way. I run my stove in its Hi/Low mode when it gets bitter cold and although it's burning all the time it actually uses less pellets than the automatic mode.
Ron

It's going to get bitter cold here for the next few days, I will try that and see what happens. It already is bitter here and windy too.

 

[Luvmesomesamples]

Another option to play with is to get a programmable Tstat and use a 2 degree diff. I don't have a modulating option with my pellet boiler so when it reaches 67 degrees in the house it doesn't kick back on until it drops to 65. (65/63 when we're not home) I have cast iron radiators so 67 feels like 70 in most homes.

Saves on the short cycling and keeps me and the fam toasty!

 

[Deromax]

The Hi/Low mode will be more comfortable, likely use less pellets and save the ignitor. As another poster said, you may find that your stove stays at Low most of the time, all the while producing less noise.

 

[tlc1976]

I'm not familiar with your stove, but I think the only time to be cycling is when the lowest heat setting (that burns well) is too much heat for the house. Usually only in the shoulder seasons but it depends on your house and stove and all (like if you're using the woodstove). You'll get a feel for outside temps vs heat range. Once it gets colder and you need to bump up the heat range, I don't see a reason to cycle, just let it idle instead. As others said, save the ignitor and use less power.

 

[alternativeheat]

Once the weather gets cold enough and if I am not using a second heat source then my stove won't shut down anyway, and with my Harman it uses a few less pellets to leave it in auto than to turn it over to manual . In manual mode, rather than shut down it will go into a maintenance burn, kind of like you guys Low. In Auto the igniter is enabled, but as I said, when it's cold enough it won't ever make it to full shut down anyway and ramp back up without using the igniter. That all changes if I use a second heat source, either in the basement or the oil heat for instance. Right now, with oil prices fairly low compared with a couple of years ago, I have the stove and the oil boiler sharing duty. The oil cycles on 3-5 times in 24 hours, the stove shuts down periodically for half hour or so at a time. This mode of operation keeps all the outer rooms comfortable, since the radiators are cast iron.

Each house, each stove and each combined situation is different.

 

[Tonyray]

And keep in mind that in Manual mode,
lot of wasted heat goes right out the exhaust for a while as the distribution blower shuts off.. Although,
I have noticed that 75 degrees on the dial seems to be the sweet spot whereas the blower seems to not cut out as much or as long.. [my not well Insulated dwelling anyways..]..

 

[Tails1]

Well so far the stove is idling about 90% of the time and it is keeping the house at 74. The thermostat called for heat only twice today, and I suspect it will again in the night as it is getting really cold here.

I noticed that when the stove idles the fire barely burns and the exhaust blower spools down quite low. Also does not burn as clean as well.

Can someone tell me from experience what to expect by letting the stove idle for long periods, will this cause problems?

 

[Tonyray]

Well so far the stove is idling about 90% of the time and it is keeping the house at 74. The thermostat called for heat only twice today, and I suspect it will again in the night as it is getting really cold here.

I noticed that when the stove idles the fire barely burns and the exhaust blower spools down quite low. Also does not burn as clean as well.

Can someone tell me from experience what to expect by letting the stove idle for long periods, will this cause problems?

Well, don't know your stove but with my Harman, the Idle is called Maint burn..
the stove will drop a few pellets every so often so as to keep the flame alive..
this helps so that when there is a call for more heat, the flame is already there and ramp up is lots sooner as pellets start feeding.
From not getting or having a REALLY HOT FLAME as opposed to so much idle time, it is prob why your getting a bit of dirty burn.. not hot enough consistantly to burn the heck out of the fuel..
I can pretty much say that any pellet stove will not suffer any harm being in idle or maint burn mode..
It sounds like you have a pretty tight house if at idle it is keeping you at those temperatures..

 

[Tails1]

Well, don't know your stove but with my Harman, the Idle is called Maint burn..
the stove will drop a few pellets every so often so as to keep the flame alive..
this helps so that when there is a call for more heat, the flame is already there and ramp up is lots sooner as pellets start feeding.
From not getting or having a REALLY HOT FLAME as opposed to so much idle time, it is prob why your getting a bit of dirty burn.. not hot enough consistantly to burn the heck out of the fuel..
I can pretty much say that any pellet stove will not suffer any harm being in idle or maint burn mode..
It sounds like you have a pretty tight house if at idle it is keeping you at those temperatures..

It is, its currently -15c (8F) here and idle is keeping it at 74/75. If it gets windy again that might change. So only in really cold weather will high/low work for me. If it gets mild again I will have to go back to on/off mode. Interesting however that at idle the stove uses very little pellets. I just wish the glass would stay clean . With normal running it does.

 

[Tails1]

By running your stove in the Hi/Low mode it might appear to burn more pellets but with the warmup taking pellets with very little heat taking extra pellets might offset the Hi/Low mode in Low mode as the stove is already hot. Also with less igniter cycles you might save a little on electric. While the stove is in Low mode it also is still putting out heat which may be enough to keep the house warm with less High mode time. A Little experimenting will go a long way. I run my stove in its Hi/Low mode when it gets bitter cold and although it's burning all the time it actually uses less pellets than the automatic mode.
Ron

A little experimenting does go a long way, last night I set the thermostat back before bed and the stove idled all night. This morning it was 71 in here so I raised the thermostat and cranked the stove to 9 for a hour. The resulting hot fire completely cleaned the glass and got rid of the burn pot buildup also. Normally I never have to run the stove above 4. Pellet usage seems to be less then when I was using the stove in ON/OFF.

I am going to program the thermostat for 74 during the day, 71 at night then back to 80 for an hour first thing in the morning then back to 74. I will keep the stove set on 8 heat level. When the thermostat calls for heat I will get a shorter hot fire that will clean the buildup in the stove. It will be interesting if my weekly cleaning will still be enough, I think it will.

 

[Tails1]

My above plan seems to be working, I trimmed the low air burn up one number and now my idle burn is cleaner. Also since today was mild and even with the stove idling it got too hot, so I just shut it off. Also was a good time for weekly cleaning. I might leave it off until morning.