New Install - Very slow start....

[Smellsey]

Hi Everyone!

I've been lurking for a while, reading all the posts and trying to absorb as much information as possible. My husband and I finally jumped in and bought a pellet stove. We went back and forth on wood verses pellet, and eventually pellets won out for various reasons. We live in a farmhouse that was built in 1870 and has electric baseboard heat. After 5 years of being cold and still paying $600 a month to the power company, we're picking a different heating option.

We purchased a US Stove 5660, the bay window stove, from Tractor Supply about a month ago. Our house is 1300 square feet so I'm hoping this stove does the trick. It's rated for up to 1750 square feet according to the manual. We're moving pretty slow on the install, but yesterday's low temps really got us moving.

I've attached a photo of the platform that we have built in our dining room. We're using this project as an excuse to finally remodel the ugliest room in the house. Not very exciting so far but I'll post more photos as we move along. We installed the cement board last night and we're hoping to get the 6x6 slate tiles in over the weekend.

I'm sure I'll have questions and would love any input if you see that we're doing something wrong. But I wanted to start a post now so everyone could see our progress from start to finish.

Thanks!

 

[PJPellet]

Looks good so far! This will be our first full season with a pellet stove too. We bought a Harman P43 back in February and used it into early June. We kept the house warmer and still saved money!

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Welcome to the forum. You will really like the convenience of wood pellet over firewood! No fuss no mess so you made a good choice!!

I am with you, we took our time in setting up our stove also. 3.5 months as a matter of fact! We bought the stove on sale in April and started working on the hearth in June and finished in late Sept!

Somehow we also knew it was the right choice and went all out with the raised hearth like yours and a tiled back with a tiled mantle!

Thanks for the pics we love to see the progress pics that show your good ole Hard Work! Then it makes it all worth it seeing the reduced electric bill!

I put an Electric Heater as a backup in my hearth and then made a special channel in an overhang for Rope Light!

Click on pics to enlarge.

 

[ablejoy]

Welcome to the forum looks good you will love the heat the stove puts out we are looking forward to firing ours off this winter. I like don"s setup with the electric heater.
Hope to see more pictures

 

[Smellsey]

Thanks for the encouragement so far! We're trying to get everyone complete by the end of October. That's when we usually fire up the baseboard heaters. I'm excited to be warm this winter for the first time in this house. We worked on the hearth over the weekend. We'd never tiled before so that was a new experience. We've finished the top and we're going to do the front this week. That should probably only take an hour or so. This is the first project we've done since having our daughter, working on the house with the 2 year old is proving to be an interesting experience. I've included some pictures of the tile. It's 6x6 slate, which looks great so far. Thank you for including photos of your install! I love the raised hearth. I think it really makes the stove a focal point in the room!

I'm also ordering pellets this week. I've been calling around looking for someone that delivers in Western Maryland, if you have any suggestions, they would be much appreciated.

 

[imacman]

Just curious about the house....being that old, has it been upgraded with more insulation? If it's very leaky, the pellet stove doesn't blast heat like a woodstove.

As for the pellets, you need to do some calling to places that sell them and get a list of brands & prices before we can comment. Places to check are Lowes, Home Dep., Tractor Supply, hardware stores, garden centers, etc, etc.

 

[lessoil]

Welcome!!
I couldn't tell from the photos. Did you use cement board on the hearth?
Enjoy your new stove.

 

[Smellsey]

Just curious about the house....being that old, has it been upgraded with more insulation? If it's very leaky, the pellet stove doesn't blast heat like a woodstove.

As for the pellets, you need to do some calling to places that sell them and get a list of brands & prices before we can comment. Places to check are Lowes, Home Dep., Tractor Supply, hardware stores, garden centers, etc, etc.

When we bought our house it had been insulated downstairs but not upstairs or in the attic. We've spent the last 5 years ripping down gross wood paneling and insulating everything possible, then installing drywall. It's certainly warmer than in years past now that we've added insulation, and now new windows in the attic. We had new windows through out the rest of the house when we bought it. I think our last step is getting a new front door which will have to wait until spring. Until then we've got some VERY PRETTY weather stripping filling the cracks!

I called around yesterday to a few places. Lowe's couldn't tell me the brand that they had. The person I spoke to said it was "a mix" so I'm not really sure about that. Southern States has Hammer brand, but they were significantly more expensive. Tractor Supply doesn't deliver to my area. Home Depot says they have a brand called American Wood Fibers. Lowe's and Home Depot's pricing are exactly the same, including their delivery price. Any input on brands would be much appreciated.

 

[Smellsey]

Welcome!!
I couldn't tell from the photos. Did you use cement board on the hearth?
Enjoy your new stove.

We built a frame out of 2x4 and plywood. Then we covered the entire thing in 1/2" cement board. We finished placing the tile last night. Now we're waiting for the thin set to cure before we seal and grout. Once that it done my husband is going to place the stove and start that phase of installation.

We also ordered new flooring for the room, we're trying that Allure TrafficMaster "wood" flooring. I'll be sure to post more pictures as we go.

 

[GrahamInVa]

Hearth looks VERY Nice!

As far a pellets go, this will be my first year burning but I've been reading here all summer about what I should buy. The best thing you can do is go to each store and get 4-5 bags of different brands and try them.

Or if you can find a good deal on some and the pellet pigs confirm maybe get some delivered...

From what I have read, the Southern states brand and TSC brand are the same (Hardwood Heat) which are made by Hammers. Hammers seem to have a good reputation and I haven't heard anything bad. American wood fibers seem to be good as well.

I have burned about a 1/2 bag of hardwood heat and it seemed fine. But I don't know what I'm looking at either and it wasn't that cold when I had the stove on.

I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in soon..

 

[Smellsey]

Well it's been a while since I posted an update but we are moving right along. We finished the hearth completely. It's grouted, sealed, and ready for the stove to be set up. We also pulled all of the old peel and stick tile that was in the room and replaced it with a peel and stick wood floor that actually matches the original wood floors of the house very well. Tonight we'll be putting the stove on the hearth and getting to installing the element that started this entire project. FINALLY!

We've also got 2 tons of pellets in the basement. They are sitting on pallets with a tarp separating the pallet from the bags. We've also got the dehumidifier on just in case. We'll be picking up more and more pellets as we get closer to cold weather. It's actually been nice here so far. We've been turning the AC units off during the night and enjoying the cooler air. I know cold nights are just around the corner so we're making sure we stay on track.

I've included 2 new pictures, one of the hearth completed and another of the flooring we installed. The steps are real wood and the landing is the peel and stick. So far, I like it. I'll post more pictures soon. Thanks!

 

[Smellsey]

So we finally have the stove on the new hearth, a hole in the wall to the outside, and JUST OUR LUCK, we're missing something.

We ordered:

http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-77406.html

and

http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-2534-3gaelb.html to accommodate for the way our stove is in line with the wall.

We realized over the weekend that we need an additional length of pipe to go through the wall. I THINK?

My husband sent me this link : http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-77382.html saying that I need to order this. I want to make sure that I'm ordering the right thing since we obviously aren't the most educated on this subject.

Thank you in advance.

 

[smoke show]

depends how much you need to get thru the thimble.

that dura vent piece you ordered won't work with the selkirk.

you need to stay with same brand and type as the interlock differently.

 

[Smellsey]

depends how much you need to get thru the thimble.

that dura vent piece you ordered won't work with the selkirk.

you need to stay with same brands as the interlock differently.

We need about 7-8 inches to get through the thimble.

So that 45 wont work! AHH! We were having such a hard time finding a 45 in the Selkirk brand.

 

[smoke show]

http://www.sdsmarket.com/SC_Elbows_s/619.htm

http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-7738-dtbelbow.html

 

[Smellsey]

http://www.sdsmarket.com/SC_Elbows_s/619.htm

http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-7738-dtbelbow.html

So these are compatible with the Selkirk system we have? Hopefully I can return that other 45 part.

 

[smoke show]

are you using 3" or 4" ?

 

[smoke show]

lotsa good literature here

http://www.selkirkcorp.com/metalbest/Product.aspx?id=7390

 

[Smellsey]

are you using 3" or 4" ?

This is the part where I'm confused. We have 3" coming out of the stove, but it looks like the wall thimble is 4". I'm not 100% about that though.

 

[smoke show]

the link you provided states its 4" http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-77406.html

•For use with Direct-Temp pipes with a 4" inner diameter and a 6 5/8" outer diameter

this 45 should work, its painted black if it matters http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-7738-dtbelbow.html

 

[Smellsey]

the link you provided states its 4" http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-77406.html

•For use with Direct-Temp pipes with a 4" inner diameter and a 6 5/8" outer diameter

this 45 should work, its painted black if it matters http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-7738-dtbelbow.html

So since what we have is 4" and the stove have a 3" coming off, do we need a converter or should I return what we have and get a 3" kit?

 

[smoke show]

your links states it comes with a 3 to 4" increaser

http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-77406.html

â—¦One (1) 3" pipe connector
â—¦One (1) 3" to 4" increaser
â—¦One (1) pellet stove adaptor
â—¦One (1) wall thimble
â—¦One (1) pellet stove termination adaptor
â—¦One (1) decorative cone cap
â—¦3' x 3" aluminum flex pipe
â—¦One (1) hose clamp

 

[Smellsey]

your links states it comes with a 3 to 4" increaser

http://www.efireplacestore.com/cpf-77406.html

â—¦One (1) 3" pipe connector
â—¦One (1) 3" to 4" increaser
â—¦One (1) pellet stove adaptor
â—¦One (1) wall thimble
â—¦One (1) pellet stove termination adaptor
â—¦One (1) decorative cone cap
â—¦3' x 3" aluminum flex pipe
â—¦One (1) hose clamp

Ah that makes sense. I'm struggling a little with this project because my husband has done most of the shopping so I'm not completely in the loop, even though this whole thing was brought on by me.

So we're going to need a different 45, and I actually like that black one better, it will look a lot nicer. Then we also need a straight pipe to go through the wall thimble. I'm going to need to make some phone calls to see if I can return my existing 45 and also order those 2 new parts. Hopefully those work. It's so frustrating that these things aren't in the stores.

 

[smoke show]

my dealer stocks selkirk direct temp, it's nice to swing by and grab what you need

its a quality product, you'll be glad you used it.

 

[Smellsey]

Well we're finally done! We finished the install on Saturday afternoon. After having to return some chimney pipe and buy some new pieces that would work, we're up and running. This photo is from the test run we did on Saturday afternoon. It was only on for about 15 minutes and was already making the house HOT! It wasn't exactly cold outside but I couldn't wait to fire it up when the install was done. We had no issues with smoke, a weird smell, nothing to note at all. Which is shocking, we're usually the project people that do all the work, and plug something in, and it doesn't turn on...

We went out and got a fireplace screen to put in front of it on Sunday. Our 2 year old was a little too interested in trying to blow out the flame.

Sunday morning we got to use the stove for a few hours while the house was still chilly. I love how this stove heats! It's so nice to not be waiting for the baseboard heat to get working and know that you're racking up a $300 power bill! We had the stove on for those 3 hours and barely noticed a dent in the pellets that were loaded, so it seems to be burning the American Hardwood pellets pretty efficiently.