Observations after burning for 2 seasons now...

[jgcable]

I have an Earth Stove pellet fireplace insert. It is sized approriate to the square footage of my house. My house is a 1923 English Tudor style. 3 floors and a walk up attic. Downstairs is living room with fireplace (thats where the insert is), dining room, small family room, kitchen. Upstairs is 4 bedrooms and a bathroom.
Walk up attic is only used for storage. Basement is finished with 2 bedrooms in it.
All together its around 2300 square feet. All brand new windows throughout entire house. House has no insulation except for the finished basement.
I have gas fired steam radiators. Thermostat is in the dining room which is around the corner from the pellet stove insert.
Outside temperature has been between 20-30 degrees and drops to the high teens at night.
Here are the temps of the different floors of my house with the pellet stove on. With the pellet stove on my primary gas fired steam radiator system doesn't turn on at all.
My insert has 5 heating settings.

Low.... this doesn't do much so I won't even count it.

Low 1..... basement 50-55 degrees. Its cold and I need to run an electric radiator.
1st floor 67 degrees. Comfortable.
2nd floor 63 degrees. Chili and not very comfortable

Medium.. basement 50-55 degrees. Its cold and I need to run an electric radiator.
1st floor 69 degrees. Comfortable.
2nd floor 64 degrees. Chili and not very comfortable

Medium 2.. basement 50-55 degrees. Its cold and I need to run an electric radiator.
1st floor 72 degrees. A little too warm.
2nd floor 64 degrees. Chili and not very comfortable

Medium 2.. basement 50-55 degrees. Its cold and I need to run an electric radiator.
1st floor 72 degrees. A little too warm.
2nd floor 64 degrees. Chili and not very comfortable


High ... basement 50-55 degrees. Its cold and I need to run an electric radiator.
1st floor 76 degrees. Entirely too hot.
2nd floor 65 degrees. Chili and not very comfortable

So what does this mean and why am I posting it??
I figured it would give people considering a pellet stove insert an idea of what they are looking at if they have an old multilevel house.
I thought I could use the insert as a primary source of heat in the winter. I was wrong. If we all lived on the first floor it would be fine but since I have a basement and a second floor thats not the case. Of course I didn't think the basement would get heat but I didn't realize how quickly the heat drops in the basement when my gas fired steam radiator system isn't turning on.
I thought the heat would rise up to the second floor because my buddy has a free standing wood burning stove in his living room of his multi level house and his second floor gets so hot he has to put the fans on and sometimes open the windows upstairs. I figured the pellet stove insert wouldn't get as hot as a wood burning stove but I thought it would get hot enough to make the upstairs comfortable. I was wrong. There just isn't enough BTU's generated even if I have it on high (which burns an entire 40lb bag of pellets in about 8 hours).

So... this is what it feels like in my house with the gas fired steam radiators...

With the steam radiators system on and the T-stat set at 67, the entire house is a very comfortable constant temp. The temps are as follows:
Basement is 69 degrees (main steam pipes run through both rooms and I have them exposed so they throw off tremendous amounts of heat).
1st floor is 67 degrees
2nd floor is 68 degrees

My conclusion is this. If everybody is on the 1st floor (which is fairly rare in my house) the pellet stove is a wonderful source of heat. It makes the 1st floor very comfortable. The rest of the house is cold however.
Basically, a pellet stove insert set in an old house like mine is nothing more than a space heater for the general area in which it resides.
I probably should have researched it a little more before I went the pellet stove route. Wood probably would have been a better choice if I wanted to heat my 1st and second floors. Keep that in mind when you are choosing an alternate heating source.

 

[jgcable]

Let me add one more thing... I am happy with the pellet stove. During the week at around 6:30pm I fire it up and heat up the 1st floor to around 70 until around 11pm and then I shut it down. It then takes about 3 hours for the house to drop back down to 65 which turns the gas fired steam radiator system on which saves me a little on gas.
On the weekend I usually fire it up on Saturday and Sunday morning and I let it run all day and shut it down around 6:00pm so that the upstairs and downstairs is comfortable at night. That saves me a fair amount of gas to.
When we have a party or company over I fire it up and let it run for the entire party because everybody is on the 1st floor.
The pellet stove gives me a fair amount of options which is nice.

 

[MCPO]

I think you have realized that a pellet stove is a space heater. Of course some folks have better heating layouts than you and I have and get better results .
My advice is to look at it as a secondary or supplemental heating source and leave it at that.
Nothing is going to compare with the reliability, comfort , and capability of a good modern central heating system installed in a well insulated home.

 

[maglite67]

My stove is rated for 3600 sq ft i'm heating 1800 sq ft. My basement which is only storage and laundry room is at 59 degrees. I set my T-stat across the room and around the corner for my pellet stove. My living room is 72 degrees the next room is the kitchen is at 72 the dining room is at 70 the front living room with the stair case upstairs is at 65. Upstairs is also 65 there must be alot of air blending between the upstairs and downstairs or there would be a huge difference from upstairs and downstairs. it's been in the single digits at night here and mid teens during the day. when it gets to be upper 20ies and 30ies front room and upstairs is 67 - 69.

 

[jgcable]

I think you have realized that a pellet stove is a space heater. Of course some folks have better heating layouts than you and I have and get better results .
My advice is to look at it as a secondary or supplemental heating source and leave it at that.
Nothing is going to compare with the reliability, comfort , and capability of a good modern central heating system installed in a well insulated home.

Yes, I do realize that and I am ok with it. I figured that I would provide this post because I would guess there are alot of people with old non insulated multi-level houses like mine that are contemplating a pellet stove and thinking that they will be able to save a ton on their gas or oil heating bill.
In my situation, thats not the case. It is a great secondary heating source for those times when we are all hanging out on the first floor where the stove is located. Its great to crank up when we are watching a movie or a football game. My 2 chihuahua's love it too. They camp out in front of it as soon as its lit.

 

[checkthisout]

I think you have realized that a pellet stove is a space heater. Of course some folks have better heating layouts than you and I have and get better results .
My advice is to look at it as a secondary or supplemental heating source and leave it at that.
Nothing is going to compare with the reliability, comfort , and capability of a good modern central heating system installed in a well insulated home.

Yes, I do realize that and I am ok with it. I figured that I would provide this post because I would guess there are alot of people with old non insulated multi-level houses like mine that are contemplating a pellet stove and thinking that they will be able to save a ton on their gas or oil heating bill.
In my situation, thats not the case. It is a great secondary heating source for those times when we are all hanging out on the first floor where the stove is located. Its great to crank up when we are watching a movie or a football game. My 2 chihuahua's love it too. They camp out in front of it as soon as its lit.

Your house is uninsulated??? I mean nothing between you and mother nature's horrid, winter temperature gradient other than siding and plaster??

Isn't the government giving people checks to take care of problems like that?

 

[jgcable]

I think you have realized that a pellet stove is a space heater. Of course some folks have better heating layouts than you and I have and get better results .
My advice is to look at it as a secondary or supplemental heating source and leave it at that.
Nothing is going to compare with the reliability, comfort , and capability of a good modern central heating system installed in a well insulated home.

Yes, I do realize that and I am ok with it. I figured that I would provide this post because I would guess there are alot of people with old non insulated multi-level houses like mine that are contemplating a pellet stove and thinking that they will be able to save a ton on their gas or oil heating bill.
In my situation, thats not the case. It is a great secondary heating source for those times when we are all hanging out on the first floor where the stove is located. Its great to crank up when we are watching a movie or a football game. My 2 chihuahua's love it too. They camp out in front of it as soon as its lit.

Your house is uninsulated??? I mean nothing between you and mother nature's horrid, winter temperature gradient other than siding and plaster??

Isn't the government giving people checks to take care of problems like that?

The government isn't giving out checks unless you mean the $1500.00 tax credit for energy efficient upgrades in 2010. I had all new windows installed so that took care of that. I live in Connecticut and most of the houses (if not all of them) that have plaster and latte walls (1940's and older) have no insulation between the inside and the outside walls. I don't even think insulation was invented back then. I know that sheetrock wasn't invented yet. I have rockwool in my attic floor but I am not sure if thats even original.
I looked into blown in insulation and they can do the entire house for about $3000.00 but I have a friend who had it done to his house and he hasn't really noticed much difference. I noticed a huge difference when the new windows were installed. My house has over 30 windows!!

 

[checkthisout]

I think you have realized that a pellet stove is a space heater. Of course some folks have better heating layouts than you and I have and get better results .
My advice is to look at it as a secondary or supplemental heating source and leave it at that.
Nothing is going to compare with the reliability, comfort , and capability of a good modern central heating system installed in a well insulated home.

Yes, I do realize that and I am ok with it. I figured that I would provide this post because I would guess there are alot of people with old non insulated multi-level houses like mine that are contemplating a pellet stove and thinking that they will be able to save a ton on their gas or oil heating bill.
In my situation, thats not the case. It is a great secondary heating source for those times when we are all hanging out on the first floor where the stove is located. Its great to crank up when we are watching a movie or a football game. My 2 chihuahua's love it too. They camp out in front of it as soon as its lit.

Your house is uninsulated??? I mean nothing between you and mother nature's horrid, winter temperature gradient other than siding and plaster??

Isn't the government giving people checks to take care of problems like that?

The government isn't giving out checks unless you mean the $1500.00 tax credit for energy efficient upgrades in 2010. I had all new windows installed so that took care of that. I live in Connecticut and most of the houses (if not all of them) that have plaster and latte walls (1940's and older) have no insulation between the inside and the outside walls. I don't even think insulation was invented back then. I know that sheetrock wasn't invented yet. I have rockwool in my attic floor but I am not sure if thats even original.
I looked into blown in insulation and they can do the entire house for about $3000.00 but I have a friend who had it done to his house and he hasn't really noticed much difference. I noticed a huge difference when the new windows were installed. My house has over 30 windows!!

Weird. They say there is a 30% difference in heating costs between 2 x 4 and 2 x 6 walls.

 

[LI-Mini-Owner]

Wood probably would have been a better choice if I wanted to heat my 1st and second floors. Keep that in mind when you are choosing an alternate heating source.

The output of a wood stove would do a better job of making it more comfortable on the 2nd floor, but wouldn't it be way to hot then on the 1st floor?

 

[ironpony]

have you tried a floor fan blowing down the steps??
it will circulate cold air down and the warm will rise
i tried it and had a three degree rise in temp

dont try and blow hot air up it wont work
blow the cool air down

then again 65 is warm to me

 

[EZsteve]

The low fan trick works for me. I have a one floor rancher with a addition, which is the master bedroom. It has 12 ft Ceilings and would stay 7-8 degrees cooler than the rest of the house and that was with the Ceiling fan moving the air. Than I read about the low fan trick and it works like a champ. With in 1-2 degrees of the rest of the house now, and it didn't even drop the temp in the house. Another great tip from here. Just a little desktop fan.

 

[shelbylul]

What do you mean abou.t the "low fan trick"? could you use a ceiling fan, or would a floor fan work better. I have a split colonial and getting the heat upstairs is an ongoing problem


Thanks, Bill







harman accentra insert 8/09 install

 

[FordMastertech]

What do you mean abou.t the "low fan trick"? could you use a ceiling fan, or would a floor fan work better. I have a split colonial and getting the heat upstairs is an ongoing problem


Thanks, Bill
harman accentra insert 8/09 install

Cold air moves easier than warm so a fan on the floor moving the cold air to the stove will help in heating the rest of the house, low fan trick.
I cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling and put in a thermostatic controlled dual window fan that blows the warm air into the floor joist space and have floor vents in the 2 bedrooms that are above. It really helped in getting the upper level warmed up.
A trick I used to find the way the air currents moved in the house was to use a stick of burning incense and watched which way the smoke was moving, the wife thought I lost it when she saw me doing that.