New to Pellets, Englander 10CPM just delivered

[ghandy131]

Been lurking for a bit and trying to educate myself to the world of pellets, been heating with propane (looking at a $6000 bill this winter, $5300 last). Decided on an Englander 10CPM. It was delivered yesterday and the installer was scheduled for Wed. Went out to buy a hearth board - two week delivery, install has been postponed :-(. Planning on a straight horizontal exhaust for astetics. The house is wired for whole house generator should we lose the grid. The installer didn't have any particular objection to the horizontal exhaust - any thoughts? Had 3 tons of Fireside Ultra delivered. Made platforms with furniture dollys underneath so I can move them around the garage. Pretty heavy but workable. Bought a stove vacuum (geez $250 for a vacuum) and plan to vacuum frequently. Any thoughts on idiosyncracies of 10CPM or things I should do to keep things rolling. I'm pretty handy with tools and do all the maintenance on my motorcycle so I'm not afraid to dive in when needed. Thanks for the help.

 

[jtakeman]

Wecome ghandy131,

imacman has had his a while and seems pleased, He will probably chime in later on. I would at least give some verticle a thought, along with the OAK. If the genny isn't a full auto, You could get some smoke.

Glad you joined us here and enjoy the stove. Pictures? we like them.

 

[Indiana]

GHANDY,

You are going to be thrilled with the 10-cpm. I have the same stove. You are going to love it. If it's installed in the right place and depending on you floor plan, this will save you tons of money in propane. I installed mine last year and have yet to turn my propane furnace on. I suggest to put it in the room used most by your family. My living room, Kitchen and Eat-in-kitchen are all part of the same room. So that was the natural spot for me. This beast of a stove heats my whole home. I would recommend at least 3-4 foot of vertical run on your venting pipe. Also, make sure it's the corn stove pipe because this is a multi-fuel unit. Consider running the vertical section inside and painting it black with stove paint. Then the out side looks more like a dryer vent. First level to 72 degrees and the 4 bedrooms to 66 degrees. This stove is a "sleeper". By this I mean it's like a nice family sedan with a vette motor in it. When needed this thing performs. Good luck. Also Pics please.

 

[imacman]

ghandy131, welcome to the forum. great choice on the stove!

I agree with Indy....you really should have at least 3-4' of vertical on the exhaust. I understand the aesthetics thing, but what's more important....nice looks, or heating the house???

Also, have the installer put the OAK in....it is required by Englander to maintain warranty.

Once you get it installed finally and fire it up, post some pics. We'll be here to answer any questions.

Oh, and don't forget to install a GOOD surge protector....something like this, which is what I have and a lot of other forum members have too:

www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-ULTRABLOK428-Protector-Direct-plug/dp/B00006B81D/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_t_1

 

[ghandy131]

Thank you all for the advise. The OAK comes with the stove and installer is aware. I'm still not clear on the advantage of a verticle run considering its a forced exhaust and a verticle run will need a 90 degree elbow. Wouldn't this actually restrict air flow?

 

[nhredbird]

Have same unit in the timber ridge, (3-weeks old) its heating my living room right now.
Sunday morning coffee and fire
I,ve only had mine lightly running for a couple of hrs at a time, for a few cold morning or nights.
Can't wait for it to get colder, so i can just let it run.
I haven't heard anything negitive about this unit.
I vented out the wall and up past the roof line with 3"ID, total vertical 12'-6" for the natural draft and away from windows.
It takes me 10-15 minutes to get the generator going.
Will want to hear more on the install and how you make out.

 

[DexterDay]

Thank you all for the advise. The OAK comes with the stove and installer is aware. I'm still not clear on the advantage of a vertical run considering its a forced exhaust and a vert run will need a 90 degree elbow. Wouldn't this actually restrict air flow?

No, it wont restrict it. It will actually help it. That, and It is required by Englander. Should be in your manual. 3-4 ft of vert will help with the draft.. kinda like a woodstove, the longer your chimney, the better the draft and the better the burn.

If its required by the Manufacturer then it must be installed. God forbid something happen and your insurance agent find out that it was not installed per Manufacturers instructions. Also is more effective at keeping smoke out of your home in the case of an outage. Smoke wont travel through a straight piece of pipe. With a little vertical, the natural draft will take it out, in most cases anyways.

I would put vert in the system. Do it inside and it still will look the same outside. Just a few feet higher than it was gonna be.

 

[krooser]

You bought a good stove... you really don't need to spend $5000.00 to keep warm.

Regarding the vertical vs. horizontal exhaust... I have a horizontal and have had zero problems. My dealer installs almost every stove they sell this way... and they are the largest retailer of pellet stoves in the US. The downside to a horizontal vent is you will get some smoke in the house if you have a power outage.

These stoves are not totally airtight so smoke will seep out of any gaps in the stove if you lose power until the fire in the burn pot goes out. My St Croix will see smoke coming from the air exchanger 'rake' rod...that's where it seems to come from when the power goes out... we seldom have power outages here in WI...the last one was about 10 years ago IIRC. But I did have a breaker trigger when a circuit was overloaded a few years ago. I simply grabbed a kitchen towel and laid it on the stove and diverted the small amount of smoke until I could hit the breaker box.

You guys back east seem to have a pretty fragile power grid compared to us Midwesterners... but you have a genset so all should be well if you have an outage, right?

 

[nhredbird]

wires above ground + trees everywhere = power outages

 

[krooser]

wires above ground + trees everywhere = power outages

Yeah we have that here, too.

Last summer the power company was trimming trees and I mentioned how bad my service line was tangled in a tree and the guy said we are only trimming trees on the other side of the street...

 

[ghandy131]

Yup on the verticle. Just read the manual again and guess it is not an option with this stove, so up we go. Decided to do the startup and first burn outside today. Geez this thing is pretty heavy. Got the baby going for an hour now and still smell the burn off. Glad I picked up this hint from this forum, sure would have stunk up the house. Thanks all for the input.

 

[DexterDay]

Yup on the verticle. Just read the manual again and guess it is not an option with this stove, so up we go. Decided to do the startup and first burn outside today. Geez this thing is pretty heavy. Got the baby going for an hour now and still smell the burn off. Glad I picked up this hint from this forum, sure would have stunk up the house. Thanks all for the input.

Yep... All Englanders need vertical and OAK. Mandatory... per Manufacturers instructions.. Better to be safe than sorry..

Welcome to the Forum. You have an awesome stove. I intend on selling my Quad at the end of this season and have either a 10-CPM or a Enviro M-55 steel. So I envy you a little bit. You and the 2 dozen other members that got one installed this year. Up till now I believe imacman and maybe one other member hsd one. After burning 59 bags of pellets, without so much as opening the door to clean the glass. Thats pretty impressive in my book.. After reading and seeing the photos in the thread last season, I was a 10-CPM believer.

 

[ghandy131]

Well, the time was at hand to purchase a hearth board. So I read the manual which described a 36 X 48" to accomodate a 6" clearance from each side and front and back. Now I'm not a math genious but the stove measures 28" deep and 28" wide. Add the 6" clearances to the front and back and 36" doesn't cut it. So I called tech support and the tech told me that 36X48 is the size. I pointed out the contradiction with the 6" surround requirement, he put me on hold. Came back and said they need to escalate the issue as it appears confusing. I'm waiting to hear back. Has anyone run into this before with the 10-CPM?