My pellet stove sucks.....

[glocke12]

Stove is a Napolean NPI40 insert and it does not keep the house warm enough at all, not even the main room it is in...

Basically, if it is about freezing it gets the main room to about 60-62 degrees....If it is below freezing (which it is now), it keeps the main room 55-58 degrees....

The stove was proffessionally installed and is insulated well, house is insulated, windows are double pane and are less than ten years old...

Stove is kept clean, every couple of days I shut it down and give it a good cleaning...

Any suggestions? Do I just have a crappy stove or is it possible I am doing something wrong?

 

[jtakeman]

Depends on how much sqft your trying to heat. The NPS40 is a decent "lil" stove but can be a bit pellet picky. Seeing its only 45K BTUs at its best(with a good hot pellet). I don't think you can expect to heat more than 1500 sqft comfortably. Even that might be a stretch. How big an area are you trying to heat with it?

One thing to try is a hotter pellet. When your struggling with a stove thats on the small side, You need to use the rocket fuel pellets to get the max from the stove you possibly can. What pellets are you burning now?

 

[newf lover]

There is no way that thing is working right if the room it's in only warms up to 60-62. Is this new and under warranty? I would call the dealer and have someone come out. Hopefully some Napolean owners will chime in. That's not normal for any pellet stove.

 

[St_Earl]

There is no way that thing is working right if the room it's in only warms up to 60-62. Is this new and under warranty? I would call the dealer and have someone come out. Hopefully some Napolean owners will chime in. That's not normal for any pellet stove.

yeah. something isn't right.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

how much pellets are you burning in a day?

Eric

 

[Boondoggie]

I have the same stove, and it kept my 1800sqft home around 70 last night with outside temps around 20.

What kind of pellets? Is your convection fan blowing well? What does your fire look like? Flames coming out of the burn pot, or just small 1" flames in the bottom of the burn pot? I find I get the most heat (with the feed knob at 4) and tuning the air damper until the flames are just coming out of the burn pot by 2" or so... too much air and it's just a little fire that doesn't reach the top of the burn pot, with not as much heat.

It is not a very big stove, and is undersized for my house, but my goal isn't to make the house 80*, just to make it so the furnace doesn't run.

 

[Mike D]

Do you leave it running all day or do you shut it off if you are not going to be home?

 

[glocke12]

Pellets I am burning at this moment are "premium pellets" distributed by agri recycle in bolivar MO..I pick them up at my local tractor supply.

The total house square footage is ~1500-1600 ss ft...

I am probably going through one bag of pellets every 24 hours...I keep the auger setting at about 3-4 when I am home, than turn it down 2 when i leave the house or go to bed..

The damper or whatever you call it (sliding lever at bottom right that controls air flow to burn pot), I keep all the way to the right.

Also, Ive noticed that I usually don't get a complete burn...meaning the pellets don't turn to ash, more often than not I end up what looks like charcoal..

Stove is about 4 years old, and has always functioned like this....I bought it new.

 

[glocke12]

Do you leave it running all day or do you shut it off if you are not going to be home?

i leave it running all day...i just turn the auger setting to about 2 when I leave.

 

[Mike D]

Ok, I don't know the settings on your stove...but it sounds like there may be some kind of product defect. You paid good money for the stove and the install I would be all over the dealer to help you out.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Clean the venting and baffle in the stove. Try a different brand of pellets. At a bag a day you are only turning approx 13,666 input BTUs and that equals a little over 10,000 output BTUs.

Eric

 

[Chain]

Not being too familiar with your stove, when you say you have the damper pushed all the way to the right, does that mean you have it open as far as possible or closed as much as possible? Depending upon the answer, maybe you're not getting an efficient burn due to too much or too little air. I would look at your owners manual or call your dealer and ask about this. You should certainly be able to heat the room the stove's in much higher than 60 - 62 degrees....

 

[jtakeman]

Sounds more like its closed all tha way. Pellets should burn completely or there isn't enough air to the stove. IE slow lazy burn.

 

[Chain]

Sounds more like its closed all tha way. Pellets should burn completely or there isn't enough air to the stove. IE slow lazy burn.

That's what I suspect but can't be sure given I have no idea how the damper on his stove works. I'm with you in that unburned pellets would suggest he hasn't got enough air coming into the burn pot.

 

[Bob Sorjanen]

does it have an OAK hooked up?

 

[glocke12]

That's what I suspect but can't be sure given I have no idea how the damper on his stove works. I'm with you in that unburned pellets would suggest he hasn't got enough air coming into the burn pot.

definteily open all the way..slide to the right the flames burn "faster", to the left they look like they are burning slower.

 

[glocke12]

does it have an OAK hooked up?

dont know what that is..

 

[DexterDay]

Turn feed rate up and open the air.

low air = incomplete combustion

To.get heat you need complete combustion (more air) and you need to burn pellets (more than the 1.5-1.75 lbs an hr your burning now)

A bag a day isn't gonna heat a house when its this cold out. Crank it up and get a good active and lively flame (watch for pellets dancing in the bottom of the pot) Sparks should be flying from pot and flame should he moving quickly.

 

[Bob Sorjanen]

dont know what that is..

Outside Air Kit

 

[webbie]

Eric hinted at the LACK of pellets being burned.

To that I will add the heat losses from a unit being in a (outdoor?) backed masonry fireplace.

it would probably be close to say that only 3-4,000 BTU of heat per pound of pellets is reaching the room. At 2 pounds or less of pellets per hour (a bag each 24 hours), that means only a little more heath than an electric plug in oil-filled or similar heater - which sounds exactly like what you are getting.

The key now is to be able to turn it up and burn 4+ pounds per hour. Since the heat loss of the fireplace is already made up for in the first pound or two you are burning, you may realize a bit more from a doubling of your pellet feed rate.

If, though, your stove is unable to burn double the amount of pellets easily, then it may be a draft or other related issue. Is your chimney properly lined?

 

[DexterDay]

If the air is all the way open, then check gaskets using the dollar bill test.

Also as Eric suggests, clean the venting and all ash traps and paths?

When was the last time the vent was cleaned? Do you know how the exhaust travels through the stove? When was the combustion blower pulled last?

 

[glocke12]

If the air is all the way open, then check gaskets using the dollar bill test.

Also as Eric suggests, clean the venting and all ash traps and paths?

When was the last time the vent was cleaned? Do you know how the exhaust travels through the stove? When was the combustion blower pulled last?

whats the dollar bill test?

I dont think I have an OAK.

stove was last serviced at the end of last season..they did a complete cleaning than.

I dont know how the exhaust travels through the stove, but I am assuming it is hooked up as per the manual here...

(broken link removed)

As for the combustion blower, I dont know when it was pulled last...Im not sure if that is part of the cleaning that the chimney guy does or not..

as for losing heat through the back of the fireplace, should I put insulation of some type between that and the insert the next time it is pulled out for service?

also, someone in a previous post mentioned that I should buy hotter burning pellets....any suggestions as to a brand for those? I usually just get whatever my local TSC has in stock, which seems to be different each trip.

 

[hossthehermit]

Stove is about 4 years old, and has always functioned like this....I bought it new.

And you're complaining, NOW ? Sorry, but, WHY after 4 years..............

 

[DexterDay]

Having it professionally cleaned doesnt mean they cleaned your flue, nor the ash traps within the stove.

Knowing how the air enters the stove (inlet on the back) then goes through the pot, then from there, a channel, or series of channels (passages ) that the exhaust takes before getting.to the blower.


I would find out if the liner is clean #1 (vent)
Then I myself would look in the manual and take the panels of the inside firebox and clean all hidden passages and ash traps
Then, I would check to see if there is a block off plate installed (can you see up the chimney? Or is there a plate to block your heat from rising up the chimney? And/or letting cold air down?)
Dollar bill test, is taking a dollar and opening the door, placing dollar across the gasket surface, closing door, and try to remove dollar? Does it pull out easily? Is there resistance?

You have an air.flow problem if the pellets are not burning completely. It can be an air leak or a plug within the stove (passages.i.spoke of) or the vent, or a combination of all of the above. Leaky gasket, plugged trap/passage, dirty vent, plugged termination cap (top of vent on roof)

All these things need checked and verified to be clean and free of obstruction, in order to troubleshoot. Otherwise its merely speculation that it a crappy stove.

 

[Woody1911a1]

you say it was professionally installed . did you change the damper setting after it was installed ? or did they not set it properly using a magnehelic gauge then ? fully open is not properly set .

here's the one i have (broken link removed to http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-DWYER-MAGNEHELIC-2001-PRESSURE-GAUGE-0-1-INCHES-OF-WATER-15-PSIG-MAX-/110991093789?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d795b01d) costs but a few bags of wasted pellets to know instead of guessing .