New Castle Serenity Pellet Stove

[Blacknight318]

Just got a Castle Serenity stove installed 2 weeks ago, boy does that thing cook. We've got a house with boiler heat so we're trying to figure out setting up air flow to move the heat around, also trying to figure out how to dial in the stove just a tad cooler. Right now we're having to shut it down about every 6 hours to keep that corner from really getting hot. Any suggestions or experience would be great as this is the first pellet stove I've owned.

 

[Bioburner]

Could try and PM rich2500 as they got one this season, one of two members that I recall having one. Still a new stove line. Replaced the Castle that had some back exhaust path issues. Welcome

 

[Lake Girl]

Congrats on the new stove - we like pictures

Hopefully other Castle owners will chime in...

 

[rich2500]

Congrats on the serenity,love mine.To help move the heat around I have a small fan that I sit on top of the hopper lid that I run on low blowing straight out from the stove and that does a good job for me moving the heat to other rooms.What voltages are you running your combustion and convection fans at.I also made my intake air gate adjustable on the fly.

 

[Blacknight318]

I'll post a pic shortly. rich2500, I haven't messed with the voltages at all so they're stock. Did a clean sweep and vac out this morning before firing it up, seemed to run steady around 88 in the corner today, and just a hair under 80 in the whole room. Wind must have been bad today though as the rest of the house had trouble holding on to much heat, boiler would kick on every so often and it's set at 65.

 

[Blacknight318]

Not sure why the second image turned sideways but there it is. No OAK, just pulls cold air from the room for now. Got a second screen to go all the way around the stove, and have a cooling rack with a cake pan of water on top to add a little humidity, might replace that with a catch pan and a sourdough starter(to keep it warm).

 

[rich2500]

looks really good. might wanna get yourself a surge protector though,and get your oak hooked up, since everything is still set at stock best thing to do is try different fan placements,I run a fan sitting on the hopper lid and the furthest room from my stove is 3 deg. cooler . others have had good luck with pushing the cooler air towards the stove.These little stoves really kick out the heat, right now it is 23 deg. outside and it is 78 deg. just outside my bedroom which is the furthest room from my stove, all settings on lowest settings.I have been playing with adjusting the intake air gate(currently 3/4 closed) trying to get my temps down but it don't seem to mean much.I have only had my stove a month and half(been burning pellets for 10 yrs.) so I'm still learning it also.these stoves are so easy to clean, no passages anywhere except the exhaust under the ashpan and that I can get my shop vac hose in all the way up to the fan .

 

[Lake Girl]

Nice stove - you'll have to figure out the best way to move air in your house. Depends on the lay-out - lots of threads to search on the forum... May have to take a good look at your insulation to keep that warmth in.

Where's the thermostat for the furnace? Where's the cold air return?

 

[Blacknight318]

Thermostat is in the next room over. I've got a propane boiler rather than a forced air furnace so no cold air return, and the house is 160+ years old in the oldest part, most of the cold air seeps in around the foundation.

 

[Lake Girl]

Spray foam will seal a lot of the air leaks around the foundation - judging it is field stone of some kind with air spaces between it and sill plates. Seal up around those floor joists too...

Edit: Make sure you wear respiratory protection when you do

 

[Blacknight318]

Looking into a rodent repellent foam top diary in this summer. The foundation is hand cut sandstone block with heavy red oak beams on it, original house was log.

 

[Arti]

Nice looking stove and install. I would like a follow up after a months use, this is one of the stoves that I have considered purchasing, sort of curious of what you like about the stove and what you don't like.

 

[rich2500]

I have had my serenity going on 2 months
Pros.
Throws great heat
Controller is nice,use the timer feature all the time.
Ashpan is inside the stove(no extra gasket to leak or replace)
Very simple to clean
It's quiet(atleast on heat setting 1 all I use)
Replacement parts very reasonably priced(for example combustion blower is $ 69.00)
Cons.
Intake air gate is adjustable but need to remove side panel to adjust it(put a rod on mine that comes out the side of the stove now I don't have to remove the side panel.
Glass gets dirty quick(not to the point you can't see through but hazy)

 

[Blacknight318]

I noticed that with the glass too, I just wipe it down each day before I fire it up. rich2500 would like to see how you added rod, might have to see about adding something like that.

 

[rich2500]

Here is the rod out the side.will have to get a pic of how I hooked it up to the gate

 

[rich2500]

here is the glass after 12hrs. of burn time, I burn 80/20 corn blend so mine might be worse then burning straight pellets

 

[derbydude]

Was it easy to install this? Is it a DIY job for a novice?
BTW, how does this stove compare to the better known brands. Its less than half the cost and that atrracts me but also scares me.

 

[Blacknight318]

I had mine professionally installed, seemed to go fairly smooth.

 

[rich2500]

difficulty of install depends on what material you will be going through with the exhaust, if your handy with tools you should have no problems. As for the stove I only installed mine mid last winter so I have no longevity to report but I'm very happy with the stove so far.Before buying my stove I called Ardisam and spoke with customer service and a tech. guy and I was very pleased with them so I,m not concerned about their customer service.

 

[dakjd03]

Hi, I just came across this stove online and was very interested, since I'm looking to replace the wood burning insert I just got last year I was attracted by the price and reviews. just Wondering. How it's been working for you. And how many Sq ft are you heating with it? And what's your average burn time on a hopperful?

 

[rich2500]

Stove is doing awesome for me, have not had a single problem so far and so incredibly easy to clean. I'm heating 1200sq. ft. and have never had to run the stove above heat level 1 to keep it at atleast 72 in the house,on heat level 1 i'm getting 16-18 hrs on a hopper, depends on the pellet I'm burning and what I have the draft set at. If you decide to get the stove and get it through Ace Hardware use promo code winter and it brings the price down to $ 850.00 if you pick up at a store,great stove for that price.

 

[Lake Girl]

Great price! Member Don2222 worked on one of the first generation Castles that Bioburner referred to earlier. Issue with access to internal smoke pathway that was clogging with fly ash. They redesigned this so no longer an issue?

 

[dakjd03]

Thanks I appreciate the quick reply, i checked out some more reviews online and read the owners manual, I'm leaning towards this one . now to figure out if i can swing it before the price goes up

 

[rich2500]

Last week Ace had the stove on sale for $899 plus the promo code brought the price down to $765, that was a killer deal, it's unfortunate your a week late

 

[dakjd03]

Oh wow, that would've been nice! Unfortunately it looks like I'll have to put it off for a while