Mt Vernon and BTU ratings

[Bkins]

I'm looking at the Mt Vernon AE. I need to get some clarification on what the BTU ratings are on different stoves. The broschure on the Mt V shows different ratings for different pellet types. and it staes them as IMPUT BTU'S. The Harman stoves and others state BTU ratings as OUTPUT BTU"S. What is the thinking on the stoves rated at BTU imputs?

I want to get either a Mt. Vernon, or the Harman XXV. The Harman is rated at 50,000 btu output while the Mt Vernon is rated at 60,000 btu input. Are these 2 stoves roughly the same on btu output? What am I missing here?

David

 

[eric_s]

I have the MT Vernon. It is rated as input BTU based on the maximum of 7 pounds/hour of fuel it burns.
My guess is the XXV is the same, it is actually BTUs based on the lbs/hour without considering the stove efficiency. I'd bet the XXV burns about 6 lbs/hr.

 

[rona]

One important thing to consider is how many times in a day does that AE slow down, shut off and dump then relight and get back up to speed. If the Harman is running constantly even though it may have less btus it will put out more btus in a 24 hour period because it is running constantly never shutting off.

 

[eric_s]

One important thing to consider is how many times in a day does that AE slow down, shut off and dump then relight and get back up to speed. If the Harman is running constantly even though it may have less btus it will put out more btus in a 24 hour period because it is running constantly never shutting off.

Believe mine cycles every 4 hours and takes about 15-20 minutes to get back up to burning. It still puts out heat during that period, just not as much.

My opinion is if this is a concern then you might want to look at other options. The MT Vernon will burn about 4 bags per day on high. Unless you are trying to heat an enormous space you might want to start with insulation, windows and doors.
I have 2000 sqft fairy well insulated and my MT Vernon runs on low or medium-low to keep the house warm most of the time.

 

[globewyre]

BTU depends on pellet quality to. In the fine print on the stove ads they usually state the btu rating of the pellete they base there output on. IMO pellets make the greatest impact on the stove. All prepium pellets are not the same even if they are the same manufacture. One manufacture I got 2 bags a day some others were 2 1/2 on my Mt. vernon AE .