Just installed 55-shp10, low heat output

[pberardi]

Just installed this stove last night. I was excited for the output of this stove vs. my current forced hot air gas furnace. I grew up on a farm and had a wood stove that made out house extremely comfortable during the winter. Ive had the pellet stove on since this morning around 9AM. Right now the downstairs of the 1800's victorian is about 65 degrees. The walls are three layers of salmon brick with stucco covered exterior. The attic has plenty of insulation. I know the house isn't insulated as much as a new construction house but i figured the house would still be around the 70 degree mark if its been running that long. I have it on 9 fuel 9 fan setting. I thought i had the impingement plate installed incorrectly since it was leaning forward over the fire. I noticed there was a welded tab on the back that is mean to be hooked to the stove.

I guess my questions is what am i missing....

 

[BUBIBEAR]

I think the tab on the plate should face toward the front of the stove. The plate should sit in the two tabs on the burn pot, and lean forward toward the door.

 

[pberardi]

thats how it was originally installed. i wish they did a better job of explaining some of this stuff. I'm more worried about the output right now...room holding at 64 still but i was expecting it to be much higher

 

[Pete Zahria]

That's a pretty small stove, I hope you were not expecting it to be like a wood stove......
It takes a long time for a stove like that to heat a big area..

Dan

 

[pberardi]

dan -

my house is only ~ 1500 sq ft. would you recommend bigger?

 

[Bkins]

What temp do you normally set your gas furnace on? Try getting the house up to a higher temp using the gas and see what the stove does then. You have a lot of stone which can take a while to heat up to the temp you are looking for.

 

[Pete Zahria]

dan -

my house is only ~ 1500 sq ft. would you recommend bigger?

I'm not recommending anything.. without knowing a lot more about your situation,
it's tough for anyone to make a recommendation.

I'm just saying that that is a pretty small stove. I have one in my shop.
It throws out steady heat, that may be able to maintain a desired temp, but may take a while
to get there.. Tough comparing a wood stove to a pellet stove. I used to have a woodstove
in the shop, and it would blow the doors off the pellet stove.
Two different animals.

If you need more heat out of it, which it sounds like you do,
I would try changing the heat mode from "D" to "C"...
That info has been posted here a lot, just do a search for it....

I think Cladmaster has it so he just cuts and pastes it here.. maybe he will chime in for you..

Dan

 

[woodmakesheat]

Two different animals.

Tortoise vs. Hare. Wood stove can heat the house up fast, leave me freezing in morning. Pellet stove takes a long time to raise temperatures, but maintains temps very well.

 

[Michael6268]

When you say the impingment plate is "leaning" towards the door, you mean the bent part is towards the door, right? The main part of the plate hangs off the lip at the top of rear wall and should be tight/flat against back wall.

 

[pberardi]

Michael - Yes i was confused. Its a shame the directions are not completely clear. I was able to google and look at everyone else pictures. it now hangs on the back.

Dan - I just spend the past hour or two reading one here. I was able to change the setting from d--->c. I also read that the LPF defaults to auto when the stove is above the 3 feed setting. The house is now 70 degrees and 61 up stairs. Its around 50 degrees outside. I have the unit on 6 and blower on 9. Im guessing its always good to put the blower on high to get the most heat off of it you can.. I was ready to list this thing on craigslist and buy a bigger stove. I am excited to see what it will do tonight when the temps drop down to the teens.

Im not sure if i should create a new post or not. But i was looking to see what you guys thought about this. My upstairs is around 61 right now. Granted its pretty warm out. I have a feeling it will be the same as last night if i don't use my furnace. last night it was 65ish downstairs and 56 up stairs. not the best for sleeping. I was thinking, if i put a thermostat on the first floor to control the pellet stove, and a thermostat on the second floor bed room to control the furnace. I would block off all the registers on the fist floor so only the second would get the heat. That way the bedrooms are warmer.

The only other thing i though of was to cut through the ceiling on the first floor and put a floor grate on the second. This way the hot air would rise. I was just worried about people talking on the first and being too loud on the second...any thoughts?

 

[ohbix]

I do something similar. Ran thermostat upstairs for oil furnace. Stove downstairs. Partially closed dampers in the ducts serving first floor; opened dampers fully to the second floor. I would not cut holes in the floor. Also, according to the HVAC guy who serviced my furnace, you might choke down the furnace too much if you are able to completely shut down the first floor ducts. Usually you'll have some leakage around the dampers.

 

[Pete Zahria]

.... I have the unit on 6 and blower on 9. Im guessing its always good to put the blower on high to get the most heat off of it you can......

Well this is just my opinion... someone smarter can offer more.
I think there is a point, where if your blower is set too high,
it can reduce the amount of heat your exchanger captures.
In other words, you are cooling off your stove more than you should.
The 6/9 setting is probly okay, but I don't usually run more than
2-3 setting split. But yes, always more blower than heat is a way to
get the heat moving more. The blower isn't making heat,
it's moving heat.

 

[bugman31964]

Not sure on your model, I have the 55-shp-22 and changed the mode from "d" to "c" or "c" to "d" mode and it made a big difference. You will have to search the mode change in the threads, I don't remember the exact procedure.

 

[Bkins]

Michael -

The only other thing i though of was to cut through the ceiling on the first floor and put a floor grate on the second. This way the hot air would rise. I was just worried about people talking on the first and being too loud on the second...any thoughts?

This is not at all a good thing to do. As tempting as it is it creates a fire chase if there ever was a fire and its against code in just about all places. Your insurance can void your policy if they find out you have done this. They always look for a way to get out of paying and this could give them their out.

Sorry I can not help you with your stove questions.

 

[SKOAL MAN]

Well this is just my opinion... someone smarter can offer more.
I think there is a point, where if your blower is set too high,
it can reduce the amount of heat your exchanger captures.
In other words, you are cooling off your stove more than you should.
The 6/9 setting is probly okay, but I don't usually run more than
2-3 setting split. But yes, always more blower than heat is a way to
get the heat moving more. The blower isn't making heat,
it's moving heat.

If you're not blowing the heat off the stove it's going up the chimney! That's how I see it anyway.

 

[doghouse]

This is not at all a good thing to do. As tempting as it is it creates a fire chase if there ever was a fire and its against code in just about all places. Your insurance can void your policy if they find out you have done this. They always look for a way to get out of paying and this could give them their out.

Sorry I can not help you with your stove questions.

There are registers that close tight when a certain temperature is reached. They are available, just a little pricy.

 

[adam6979]

I'm not saying this is right or wrong but just my experience. I also thought running the blower too fast would take away the useful heat, so I run the heat on 3 and the blower on 4. However I recently put some reasoning behind my thought and proved myself wrong. At least on my 55TRPAH there is a snap disc or heat switch. When the stove it too cold the room blower stays off after it builds heat it turns on. Well that same function will work to your advantage. I now about a week ago started running the blower on 9 (highest) all the time. I run the stove heat on 3 almost all the time. Now what happens is that the room blower turns on for about five minutes and then off for about 3 minutes and continues cycling. Now instead of it being 70 right behind the stove and 65 at the other end of the house I now have 68 at the stove and 67 at the other end. It certainly seems to heat much more efficient and if I remember right the forced air furnace I had many years ago did the same thing when first starting.... I am now sold on keeping the room blower on high all the time provided your stove has the same temp snap disc.