it did happen. there are pictures.

[St_Earl]

heatilator ps50.
very much loving the heat. just installed today. it's 4" excel pipe.
we have the thermostat in the kitchen. and the heat is soooooooooo much more pleasing than forced air oil.
no more being cold between blasts from the furnace.
the dealer wanted $135 for the oak. i've decided to see how it does this winter. and if i feel we need one, i'll look for a lower cost way of doing it.
for now. i have to say it's feels stellar.
it's not fancy at all. but it looks to be a breeze to clean. and i like that their aren't so many electronics that a laptop is required to service it.
the side panels come off easily. and the convection blower is accessed for cleaning that way.
i feel very good about my choice. hopefully that feeling is permanent.

 

[mepellet]

Looking good! Last night was the first time I used my new stove for more than a couple hours and it was great! I am waiting for the dealer to switch my pad out for the correct type. My manual says it needs to be a pad with an R rating. Apparently the laws changed back in Feb. and the dealer wasn't aware of it until I brought it to his attention.

 

[DexterDay]

Looks great. Gonna be a good winter in tour home. Pellet heat warms to the bone.... Enjoy!

 

[St_Earl]

thanks to everyone who has helped share knowledge enough for me to at least make a somewhat educated choice for everything.

yep, mepellet. it's just the last two nights that it started getting cold. we felt the timing was perfect for the date we were able to schedule for the install.

we also got our new metal roof installed today. it's black and it looks totally bitchin'.

 

[mepellet]

New metal roof and a new pellet stove all in one day?!?! Sure to be a day to remember! Congrats.

 

[imacman]

Congrats on the new install....looks great!

If you decide to install the OAK later on, this is a cheaper alternative:

www.dynamitebuys.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=1453


Enjoy the heat!!

 

[jtakeman]

Congrats on the new toy!

Enjoy the warmth.

 

[doghouse]

Curious as to your exhaust set-up. Why exit the house so high up?

 

[DexterDay]

Curious as to your exhaust set-up. Why exit the house so high up?

Quad and Heatilator dont deem it a requirement like Englanded. But they do recommend a vertical rise. Of 5 ft I believe.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Looks like you'll stay warm up there in the cold country.

Happy heating.

 

[jimbom]

A warm winter for you and yours. Congratulations.

 

[St_Earl]

thanks for the well wishes, folks.
a warm winter to you all as well.

Curious as to your exhaust set-up. Why exit the house so high up?

unfortunately, there is another window behind that wall. on the enclosed front porch.
it spoiled the four foot from window clearance.
we had to go for the one foot above window spec instead.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

One other thing knowing the electrical situation in the region I hope you have a surge suppressor and are using it on the stove.

 

[St_Earl]

One other thing knowing the electrical situation in the region I hope you have a surge suppressor and are using it on the stove.

absolutely! i have a 3300 joule tripplite. thanks to all at hearth.com for that knowledge.
it never hurts to mention the surge protector though.

 

[save$]

If you have a hole cutters, you can install that OAK that imacman quoted you very easily. I bought that kit for about $30. Get some silicone caulking, You can have it done yourself in less that 30 min. I waited to do the OAK on some bad advice. Now in and very pleased with it. Any dollar you don't send out the chimney is a dollar saved. Why send your heated air outside and suck cold air inside?

 

[smwilliamson]

I'd replace that elbow with a T...long horizontal runs need more cleaning, T give you access.

 

[DexterDay]

Because Heatilator is made by Hearth & Home Tech, the designed the OAK just like the Quads. Where you must purchase there kit... It is only one extra piece that you need and its the same piece I needed.. Its a collar that goes on the back of the stove, so the flex pipe has something to connect to. Otherwise it would kinda just sit in the hole.

If you are a handy person. Making that collar would be fairly easy.. If I only knew then, what I know now.

 

[St_Earl]

wow. i'm thrilled with this thing. it has absolutely no problem heating the 925 sq. feet of our home.

honestly. at this point i'm not even worried about the oak.
i can see some of the places on the stove that i would have to seal up if i connected one.
knowing that this design isn't the most optimal for an oak, and feeling how the air flow works in this small space, it's just not essential for me in this particular case.

but if i had to take a side in the oak debate, for bigger places, or even for a layout different than mine. (i.e. a kids room in the path of a draft etc...) i would have to say i'd be in the "OAK IS A GOOD THING" camp.

frankly, this little living room gets so hot that i like the draft for if i want to sit in there.
the back bedroom of this house is out of the draft. i.e. the stove is pulling more from areas closer to the stove. and those closer rooms (where i hang out a lot) are so damn hot that i actually like the draft.

i MAY CHANGE MY MIND when it's below zero here. but for now, i'm just leaving it as is. i am very pleased with the performance of the stove.
we'll see how many ton of pellets we go through this year though.

anyone else consider using a little wire wheel on a drill to scrape the walls of their burn pots?
i have one that flares out from the head and gives great clearance from the thermocouple.
i can't imagine doing a good enough job with the scraper they gave me.

yeah. i can see how a tee at the top would make life easier.
at this point i'll have to go outside to do midwinter cleaning on the horizontal run. cest' la vie though.

 

[tinkabranc]

Congrats on your new stove - Enjoy!

 

[St_Earl]

damn! i regret letting the installer talk me out of the oak.

but we have a major shop just blocks away here in millinocket.
http://www.mainealternativeheat.com/index.html
i'm going to order it there and do the install myself.

 

[DexterDay]

damn! i regret letting the installer talk me out of the oak.

but we have a major shop just blocks away here in millinocket.
http://www.mainealternativeheat.com/index.html
i'm going to order it there and do the install myself.

Changed your mind pretty quick....... Did you get cold last night?

That PS-50 should crank it out. Why the change of heart? If I might ask? (Not that I would advise against it, I always say OAK) just wondering why?

 

[St_Earl]

damn! i regret letting the installer talk me out of the oak.

but we have a major shop just blocks away here in millinocket.
http://www.mainealternativeheat.com/index.html
i'm going to order it there and do the install myself.

Changed your mind pretty quick....... Did you get cold last night?

That PS-50 should crank it out. Why the change of heart? If I might ask? (Not that I would advise against it, I always say OAK) just wondering why?

i'll have to observe how things go tonight. i just finished putting shrink plastic on all the windows in the back bedroom.
my g/f loves to keep the drapes open as long as possible. by the time we turned the stove on yesterday, she was chilled.
once that happens, it doesn't matter how warm it is. she's just that way.
but the drapes w/o good windows, or the shrink plastic i just put on, do not stop drafts very well when there is active suction in the house.

the house has a linear layout. and is only 925 sq. feet
the ps50 has more than enough capacity to heat the place
but the stove is in the living room and there is a regular sized doorway.
the venturi effect is very pronounced at that point.

i'm covering two more windows tonight.
both are in the middle of the house. outside the living room and the aforementioned doorway.

we have a draft stopper on the basement door (it's in the kitchen too)
so the last major leak before the living room doorway is the kitchen sink cupboards.

i have a good feeling about these measures so far.
i'm thinking the two bedrooms on this end of the house(off the side of the living room) will be drawn upon more heavily now with the other end buttoned up better.
but as it gets to be zero or lower at night, that could be a different story.

and that's fine. as this end is more than hot enough.

next year we are getting inert gas filled double paned windows in the back bedroom.


if these steps help enough, i may still go w/o the oak. but i'm at least 80% sure i'll be getting it.
it's hard to beat positive pressure for preventing drafts.

i'm still not thrilled that i will have to seal the stove up to prevent leaks from the oak.
but i'm prepared.
it's been a long year so far. and we've moved 4 times in 6 months.
i just want it to be done and work. lol. cest' la vie.


*EDIT- WOW! i just checked the draft and the velocity is dramatically reduced. i still have two windows to seal.
i may get away with this yet.

 

[DexterDay]

I have a newer home and new windows and I still pit the plastic up. The kits are cheap. The only other thing I do to modify them. Is I buy a small roll of double sided tape and add another row of tape. The second row being about 1" away from the first (factory tape). I had problems the 1st yr I used them, with the plastic peeling on the corners after a month or so..

There have been several things I have done over the last few years that enabled me to only run on Low. It wasnt always this way. Lots of trial and error. Lots of insulation. Lots of caulking and Great Stuff (foam in the basement/sill). Lots of time with an IR gun in hand. But after successfully heating the house last yr on Low (unless around 10* with wind or 0* without) I have found that I used about the same amount of pellets. We just get more and more comfortable every year. With the addition of the Fahrenheit Furance this yr. We should be very warm all the time. The house has 2 duct runs. One for each side of the house. I am only installing it into the side that will heat the 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, and 2 registers in the kitchen.
The other side of the house, the living room, the family room and the dining room (Quad is in th dining room and the other rooms are in between it) will not have air coming from the Fahrenheit (or our Master bath, but the Master bedroom has 2 registers that will have air).

Looking forward to more from you on this stove as there are only a couple here. They are a newer unit and not many people know about them. But being Quad internals, its a damn good unit. And dont look as bad as all the Big Black Boxes.

Seal the house up tight (and get an OAK if you find you nee!d it) and you will be much more comfortable because of it. Congrats again and enjoy the heat.