Hello Everyone,
I just bought a house in Southern New Hampshire and it has a pellet stove. This is our first house and I've only dealt with oil before.
The stove is an Englander 25-PDVC 38,000 BTU stove by England Stove Works.
I tried to start the thing up, but I had no idea what I was doing.
I have (had) a colony of yellow jackets living in the stove pipe outside. I gassed them and had cleared the pipe, but had a few stragglers trying to get in. So I had the idea to light the stove to evict them. I lit the pellets and it ran for all of three minutes before I shut it down because I realized that I was in over my head. Smoke bellowed out of the fresh air intake, which is not piped outside. Would this have happened because it was shut down cold, so the chimney pipe wasn't drafting yet? I don't want smoke in the house every time I shut down in the winter.
My next question is about the sizing of the stove. Our house is a tri-level split and the stove is on the main (middle) level in an open concept floor with vaulted ceilings. Being a split, there is a half stair case going up, and a half going down. The house is 2,500 SF of finished area of heating. Very good insulation.
I know that the Englander is rated for 1,500 SF. Is running this stove a waste of money? being that it is trying to heat too large of an area, or will it still help keep out oil cost down? I contacted the oil company and they told me that the house used very little oil for its size and location, so I figure the stove helps a good amount. We have zoned oil heating.
I have three tons of pellets on hand which were the ones which were previously used by the old owner. As I know very little about pellet stoves, I figure I will have a professional come in to service and clean the stove and teach me how to break it down. Luckily in NH, there are plenty of people who service these things.
Thank you for anyone's help with this. I'm new to pellet stoves and I'm hoping that I can learn a lot before the heating season starts up. Already had a night in the low 40s, so its close!
I just bought a house in Southern New Hampshire and it has a pellet stove. This is our first house and I've only dealt with oil before.
The stove is an Englander 25-PDVC 38,000 BTU stove by England Stove Works.
I tried to start the thing up, but I had no idea what I was doing.
I have (had) a colony of yellow jackets living in the stove pipe outside. I gassed them and had cleared the pipe, but had a few stragglers trying to get in. So I had the idea to light the stove to evict them. I lit the pellets and it ran for all of three minutes before I shut it down because I realized that I was in over my head. Smoke bellowed out of the fresh air intake, which is not piped outside. Would this have happened because it was shut down cold, so the chimney pipe wasn't drafting yet? I don't want smoke in the house every time I shut down in the winter.
My next question is about the sizing of the stove. Our house is a tri-level split and the stove is on the main (middle) level in an open concept floor with vaulted ceilings. Being a split, there is a half stair case going up, and a half going down. The house is 2,500 SF of finished area of heating. Very good insulation.
I know that the Englander is rated for 1,500 SF. Is running this stove a waste of money? being that it is trying to heat too large of an area, or will it still help keep out oil cost down? I contacted the oil company and they told me that the house used very little oil for its size and location, so I figure the stove helps a good amount. We have zoned oil heating.
I have three tons of pellets on hand which were the ones which were previously used by the old owner. As I know very little about pellet stoves, I figure I will have a professional come in to service and clean the stove and teach me how to break it down. Luckily in NH, there are plenty of people who service these things.
Thank you for anyone's help with this. I'm new to pellet stoves and I'm hoping that I can learn a lot before the heating season starts up. Already had a night in the low 40s, so its close!
