Installing a New Harman P68

[Adam Neithercut]

Hello All,
I've been lurking around this forum for a while, but this is my first post. I'm also brand new to pellet stoves and bought a new Harman P68 by the endless recommendations on this forum, and by my FIL's experience with Harman pellet stoves. I've been heating primarily with wood for the last six years, but my family situation no longer allows me the time to cut, split and stack 8-10 cords per year. It was a valiant effort, but alas, the rest of my life just took over and have decided that a pellet stove was the way to go.

Alright, enough rambling and to the point. I'm planning to install this stove myself and have most of the parts and pieces that I need to do it, but am wondering about the best (meaning easiest) and most accurate way to go out through the wall of the house. I'm putting the stove in the corner and have bought the custom corner kit for the stove and the wall pass through unit is a square shaped box that requires a 7.25 - 7.5" square penetration through the wall to the outside. How do you recommend doing this? Also, the manual recommends that I check the low end of the draft through the stove with a draft meter and adjust as necessary. Do you call someone to do this or have you bought your own draft meters? Any suggestions that you have on this or any other facet of pellet stove ownership will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for the help,
Adam.

 

[Bioburner]

Not much draft change available on the p series. You can make a home made manometer-water column one very easy though. Google it. I wouldn't worry about it unless having smoke issues or a lot of bends in the venting. Welcome and good luck

 

[Delta-T]

no need to adjust draft in 98% of cases, no worries. to cut hole, drill small pilot to make sure you don't have power conduit, central vac line, water pipe, meth lab, hidden in the wall then make slightly too large hole with sawz-all and/or rotozip type tool. Wall passthrough cover ugly part of hole...none the wiser. good luck

 

[krooser]

Buy an electricians drill bit… usually about 18" long. You can find 'em in a kit at Horrible Freight, McMaster-Carr, Grainger's, etc. Drill the pilot hole on the inside of the wall and go straight thru to the outside. The use a pie tin, sauce pan lid or any round object of the correct size, draw a circle and cut the hole. Once you do it you'll wonder why you ever had any concerns...

 

[P38X2]

First off, make sure there's not a stud where you wanna make the hole. As already suggested, definitely check to see what's behind your drywall. Mark out the center of your intended hole on the interior wall and run a pilot hole through to the outside. When making the pilot hole, ONLY drill through your drywall/plaster and PUSH the bit through to your sheathing with the drill OFF. Make sure there's no resistance in there. You should just feel insulation and then the sheathing. If you feel the bit hit something, you may wanna make a bigger hole in the drywall and see what it is. If you're around 24"(IIRC) from the floor, you may have Romex running across the stud bay. If there's not enough slack in it, you'll have to go higher or lower with your hole. If its all clear, continue drilling your pilot hole to the outside. If you have vinyl siding, keep in mind if it's cold out or your siding is old, it can become brittle and VERY susceptible to cracking when using a recip saw, jigsaw, etc. A good method to use is to mark out the corners of your square on the interior wall and make pilots to the outside on those corners. Now, go back outside and with a sharp utility knife, CAREFULLY "connect the dots". Once the vinyl is outta there, connect the dots with the recip saw in the sheathing. Once your hole is cut, and before you place the thimble in there, it's a good idea to make sure your insulation hasn't become overly displaced. You don't wanna have a void in there.

 

[Bioburner]

Buy an electricians drill bit… usually about 18" long. You can find 'em in a kit at Horrible Freight, McMaster-Carr, Grainger's, etc. Drill the pilot hole on the inside of the wall and go straight thru to the outside. The use a pie tin, sauce pan lid or any round object of the correct size, draw a circle and cut the hole. Once you do it you'll wonder why you ever had any concerns...

Start with a smaller hole to check for wires etc . Those electric wires are every where.

 

[Adam Neithercut]

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated!