Im just curious which setting is more efficient.Im running mine on manual 4 and im using about1 1/2to 2 bags a day to heat 1100 sq feet to 70 degrees.The stove isnt running constantly but im wondering if im using more pellets this way than i would on automatic.
Mt Vernon,automatic or manual
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Hey greasesleddin
Small world... I am also in Bangor, ME (well Greater Bangor area). My wife and I got our Mt Vernon on Nov 13th and love it!
We've had a few "minor" problems but those now seem to be resolved. We had what I thought was a fan wobble noise... I ended up tearing apart the stove last night and finding the problem. It was a fan wobble on the convection blower but not because the fan was bad... it was the fans mounting bracket that was wobbling (too much play), a little bit of felt padding and things are much better!
Anyways, we're running our pellet stove above 70 degrees and only use at most (at these current temps) 1 bag a day... it sounds like something is wrong! Is there any unburned pellets in the ash pan? What is you cleaning regime? What brand of pellets are you burning?
When I took apart the stove I noticed that two screw holes were present were two pieces of the metal met on the exhaust-side near the exhaust blower... I ended up adding two machines screws. We also had this weird harmonics/vibration that would shake the house. I found that was because the O2 sensor that is in aluminum case was vibrating against the burn chamber. I bent the bracket away from the burn chamber an inch or two and things are much better.
From what I have seen the Mt Vernon is a well built and well thought out stove... unfortunately I think the the rush for pellet stoves this year has caused Quadrafire's quality control to become laxed a bit and favor of quantity over quality.
If your not comfortable tearing apart the stove then I would suggest contacting the dealer.
Good luck!
Small world... I am also in Bangor, ME (well Greater Bangor area). My wife and I got our Mt Vernon on Nov 13th and love it!
We've had a few "minor" problems but those now seem to be resolved. We had what I thought was a fan wobble noise... I ended up tearing apart the stove last night and finding the problem. It was a fan wobble on the convection blower but not because the fan was bad... it was the fans mounting bracket that was wobbling (too much play), a little bit of felt padding and things are much better!
Anyways, we're running our pellet stove above 70 degrees and only use at most (at these current temps) 1 bag a day... it sounds like something is wrong! Is there any unburned pellets in the ash pan? What is you cleaning regime? What brand of pellets are you burning?
When I took apart the stove I noticed that two screw holes were present were two pieces of the metal met on the exhaust-side near the exhaust blower... I ended up adding two machines screws. We also had this weird harmonics/vibration that would shake the house. I found that was because the O2 sensor that is in aluminum case was vibrating against the burn chamber. I bent the bracket away from the burn chamber an inch or two and things are much better.
From what I have seen the Mt Vernon is a well built and well thought out stove... unfortunately I think the the rush for pellet stoves this year has caused Quadrafire's quality control to become laxed a bit and favor of quantity over quality.
If your not comfortable tearing apart the stove then I would suggest contacting the dealer.
Good luck!
I am currently using automatic set at 70 with my stove. I have a raised ranch with the unit located in a room downstairs of about 500 sqft. When it has been in the 20s and 30s outside, I find my stove runs on Low most of the time with an occassional switch to Med-Low. This keeps my family room at a nice constant temperature, my pellet consumption isn't too bad (roughly a bag a day, but we haven't had much cold weather yet) and the rest of the house stays relatively warm.
We've been using a Mount Vernon AE insert for about a year now to heat a 2900 square foot pile of stone. We easily use 2.5 bags a day this time of year to average about 67 degrees with the stove set on MH and manual. We use more on automatic. BTW, so far no problems with the stove.
Hey Mainegeek,
Your wierd house shaking harmonic vibration, did it sound like when you blow across the top of a bottle? Also are you talking about moving the vac switch assembly away from the back of the combustion chamber (vac switch is to the left of the combustion blower as your looking at it and also has a rubber hose to the auger). I've been trying to track down a similar noise when it running hot.
Ah now to the Manual vs. Auto. I received my stove on November 22nd so I'm a noob, but here are my observations. I ran the stove on Auto for a day and used probably 1 3/4 bags with the stove easily heating the house. The next day I talked to my dealer and he suggested running manual as it uses less pellets and meets temp quicker. So I've been running on Manual, Medium-High, and quiet fan setting. I now am running about a bag a day but the temeratures have been a touch warmer.
All in all this has been a very impressive piece of equipment! It totally heating 1650sq ft with vaulted ceilings to 72 during the day and 67 at night. We're happy campers even though heating oil took a massive drop.
Stay warm!
Your wierd house shaking harmonic vibration, did it sound like when you blow across the top of a bottle? Also are you talking about moving the vac switch assembly away from the back of the combustion chamber (vac switch is to the left of the combustion blower as your looking at it and also has a rubber hose to the auger). I've been trying to track down a similar noise when it running hot.
Ah now to the Manual vs. Auto. I received my stove on November 22nd so I'm a noob, but here are my observations. I ran the stove on Auto for a day and used probably 1 3/4 bags with the stove easily heating the house. The next day I talked to my dealer and he suggested running manual as it uses less pellets and meets temp quicker. So I've been running on Manual, Medium-High, and quiet fan setting. I now am running about a bag a day but the temeratures have been a touch warmer.
All in all this has been a very impressive piece of equipment! It totally heating 1650sq ft with vaulted ceilings to 72 during the day and 67 at night. We're happy campers even though heating oil took a massive drop.
Stay warm!
mainegeek said:Hey greasesleddin
Small world... I am also in Bangor, ME (well Greater Bangor area). My wife and I got our Mt Vernon on Nov 13th and love it!
We've had a few "minor" problems but those now seem to be resolved. We had what I thought was a fan wobble noise... I ended up tearing apart the stove last night and finding the problem. It was a fan wobble on the convection blower but not because the fan was bad... it was the fans mounting bracket that was wobbling (too much play), a little bit of felt padding and things are much better!
Anyways, we're running our pellet stove above 70 degrees and only use at most (at these current temps) 1 bag a day... it sounds like something is wrong! Is there any unburned pellets in the ash pan? What is you cleaning regime? What brand of pellets are you burning?
When I took apart the stove I noticed that two screw holes were present were two pieces of the metal met on the exhaust-side near the exhaust blower... I ended up adding two machines screws. We also had this weird harmonics/vibration that would shake the house. I found that was because the O2 sensor that is in aluminum case was vibrating against the burn chamber. I bent the bracket away from the burn chamber an inch or two and things are much better.
From what I have seen the Mt Vernon is a well built and well thought out stove... unfortunately I think the the rush for pellet stoves this year has caused Quadrafire's quality control to become laxed a bit and favor of quantity over quality.
If your not comfortable tearing apart the stove then I would suggest contacting the dealer.
Good luck!
maineheat said:Hey Mainegeek,
Your wierd house shaking harmonic vibration, did it sound like when you blow across the top of a bottle? Also are you talking about moving the vac switch assembly away from the back of the combustion chamber (vac switch is to the left of the combustion blower as your looking at it and also has a rubber hose to the auger). I've been trying to track down a similar noise when it running hot.
Ah now to the Manual vs. Auto. I received my stove on November 22nd so I'm a noob, but here are my observations. I ran the stove on Auto for a day and used probably 1 3/4 bags with the stove easily heating the house. The next day I talked to my dealer and he suggested running manual as it uses less pellets and meets temp quicker. So I've been running on Manual, Medium-High, and quiet fan setting. I now am running about a bag a day but the temeratures have been a touch warmer.
All in all this has been a very impressive piece of equipment! It totally heating 1650sq ft with vaulted ceilings to 72 during the day and 67 at night. We're happy campers even though heating oil took a massive drop.
Stay warm!
Yes, your correct it is a vacuum switch. I thought the rubber tube to the cold air-intake. I didn't take the time to look at the exploded view in the manual for the part.
I would suggest, if your comfortable doing it, taking both side panels off and turning the stove on manual/high and set the thermostat 10-15 degrees above current temp. That way you can really look in there and find out what the noise is.
It didn't really sound like blowing into a bottle. More like harmonics throughout the house. We were hearing the noise loud and clear up stairs at the oppposite end of house from the stove. I'm not sure what the fix to that noise was. It could have been the vacuum switch was vibrating against the burn chamber or maybe even the missing machine screws. In any case, a bit of felt paper, a few machines screws, and some gentle bending the metal bracket seems to have resolved both the fan noise and the harmonics noise.
Good luck!
I had that same noise in mine after i cleaned it the first time.All i did to cure it was center the heat exchanger cover.I must have had it to one side.I havent had aproblen since.
Brilliant
That certainly fixed it. I've had both sides off with my ear to the damn thing. It's funny how sometimes you miss the obvious. Thanks for the tip! This forum is amazing.
That certainly fixed it. I've had both sides off with my ear to the damn thing. It's funny how sometimes you miss the obvious. Thanks for the tip! This forum is amazing.greasesleddin said:
Funny this was posted. I've burning my stove for about 3 weeks now. First week I had it on Automatic, then second week I had it on Manual, now it's on Automatic again. However, what I've noticed, this past weekend the temp dropped pretty much, although not like it has been much, much warmer. Anyway, seems like the stove couldn't keep up on Auto. I'm going to put it back to Manual this evening to try that out. From what I've noticed though as far as pellets it seems that they use about the same. I'm going through 7-9 bags a week. The house downstairs is 72 during the day, between 5 and 11 p.m. I turn it up to 75 to get some heat up in the bedrooms. This has been working well as my bedroom most days is around 69, the one day it was 71... ??? My house is 4 years old, 2X4 construction with R-13 insulation, about 2400 sqr ft. I haven't had my oil heat on since I've started burning pellets...
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