I bought a pellet stove last year that heats 2200 sq. ft. for my 1400 sq. ft. livingroom and I am finding that only half of my open room gets warm. I use my ceiling fan and tried a floor fan that blew cool air, and a door fan and it blew cold air! Also I do keep the stove on the highest setting and use low ash pellets. I can feel alittle warmth from the front of the stove, not as much as my baseboards or auto! Any ideas on a way to get the hot out of the stove and into my room?
pellet stove heating?
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kikibear said:
Kiki, first of all, welcome to the forum. As for the heat problem, I think the forum needs a little more info to be able to help....what brand & model stove, how old is it, when was the last FULL cleaning, what brand pellets, etc, etc. You could even add a pic of your install if you want.
Welcome kikibear, You have come to the right place. Like macman said. We will need more info to help with the issue your having. Also include what heat setting you have the stove set on.
One tip I have for now is, Don't try blowing the air from the stove. I use a floor fan and have it 4 to 5 feet from my stove. With the fan blowing the air at the stove. I use the lowest setting on the fan. Also try to direct the air to the convection blowers input, If possible.
Or use a ceiling fan set in the winter mode.
jay
One tip I have for now is, Don't try blowing the air from the stove. I use a floor fan and have it 4 to 5 feet from my stove. With the fan blowing the air at the stove. I use the lowest setting on the fan. Also try to direct the air to the convection blowers input, If possible.
Or use a ceiling fan set in the winter mode.
jay
While we wait for for the details about your stove, I have a question you could also include the answer to in your next post.
Did the stove perform properly with plenty of heat when it was first installed? I have noticed with my stove that when it gets dirty, the ashes form a layer on my baffles and internal parts that almost form a sort of insulation layer. This prevents the metal from heating up as much. Usually after a good cleaning all is well again.
Did the stove perform properly with plenty of heat when it was first installed? I have noticed with my stove that when it gets dirty, the ashes form a layer on my baffles and internal parts that almost form a sort of insulation layer. This prevents the metal from heating up as much. Usually after a good cleaning all is well again.
I bought an Englander 55-SHP22 last year, Sept. 2008 new from Lowes. The stove did not produce much heat that first season. And the last full cleaning was in May 2009. The stove does have a cold air intake installed through the wall.
I have swiched many kinds of pellets, always the more expensive one from both Rocky`s Stove Shop and Lowes in Augusta, Maine. I have tried several different kinds of pellets and found Lignetics is one of the best I have used. I did research in the pellets last winter to get more heat, and I noticed that better pellets are alittle warmer and longer burn!
I have swiched many kinds of pellets, always the more expensive one from both Rocky`s Stove Shop and Lowes in Augusta, Maine. I have tried several different kinds of pellets and found Lignetics is one of the best I have used. I did research in the pellets last winter to get more heat, and I noticed that better pellets are alittle warmer and longer burn!
kikibear said:
Interesting that it didn't work well. Usually, since the stove is new and perfectly clean, unless you did something unusual to the settings, or your flue pipe isn't drafting well, the new stoves will normally produce the best heat their ever going to. Yes, Lignetics is considered by most to be a better than average pellet.
Get in touch with Englander, mine had the same problem when I first started using it. The tech can walk you through reprogramming the board, mine throws a ton of heat now.
kikibear said:
Have you tried plugging it in?
Or closing the rooms windows?
You will have to share a little more info with the forum...
Never take the word that a staove can heat up to a certain square footage.
They rate them in BTU's....and that is just a figure of the amount of pellets it can burn in a certain amount of time.
There are lots of factors that they don't tell you..like building practices in your area...just to name one.
BJN644 said:
Yes, I have been intouch with them several times. They are like calling any other technical support, I need to talk to a rep that knows more than just to vaccumm the stove that didn`t preform like I have been reading when I first bought it, that is like having no assigned DNS numbers with prodigy dial up and the pervious techs told him to scan disk and defrag, hard boot, etc., yes true, that was my first call issue with prodigy! Not to be mean to techs, though I have seen alot of looking the wrong direction when I was working in teck support with pc`s. This is why I joined here, you guys and gals do know what you are talking about. Though one rep reset the low burn air to 9; factory set was on 4, he left low fuel feed is still on 6; factory set, , and air on temp is still on 1; factory set. Oh, in order to reset the control panel, the stove needs to be plugged in, SparkyDog....LOL
You should get in touch with "stoveguy2esw" on this forum, he works for Englander and I'm sure he can help.
How old is the house this room is in? That's a fairly large space for one room. How high is the ceiling and is it a cathedral ceiling? Sorry for all the questions but it almost sounds like the stove is in a place where the total cubic foot area is greater than the cubic foot output of your stove's fan can accomodate. The room could also have heat loss issues with windows, doors and insulation.
kikibear said:
Kikibear, If you are feeling only a little warmth in front of the stove there is something very wrong. Especially since you run it on it on the highest settings.
Below is the email address of the guy that I would be looking to have assist me.
mike holton
england’s stove works inc.
[email protected]
[email protected] “homework"email addy , use in summer months
I understand all the questions, I`m am glad you asked so I can respond back with the answers you are looking for.Stevekng said:
We live 10 miles from Augusta, Maine (about the middle of the state). It has been about 40 in the mornings here these past few weeks.
The house is pre 1850, though the room is an addition added about 1970ish.
The ceiling is sheetrock, 8 ft. But I was wrong on guessing the sq. ft.! I just measured this room, it is 56x20=1120 sq. ft. It is all open, besides a closet (4x12) I want to put stairs to that basement, we use as a divider between the livingroom (36x20) and the dinningroom (20x20). So having a room (now) at 1100 sq.ft. we didn`t buy the 1500 sq. ft. pellet stove, we bought the 2200 sq. ft. We put the stove on the far end of the room (a south 20 ft. wall with no windows) to throw the heat twards the kitchen (you walk through to get to the dinningroom and then livingroom).
Now, I was thinking about the windows (they are draft free) and insultation (inspector said it`s find upon buying the house 2 yrs. ago), but why can the hot water baseboards keep the room warm? We go through only 50 gal. of oil a month in the winter heating this room.
I`ll post some pics. Yeah, tell me for those who don`t believe this girl!....JJ
Gio said:
Thank you Mike. I`m gonna email him durring baby`s nap time.
I do appreciate all the help you all are providing me!
Hi Kiki,
Eight ft high ceilings and an open 1100 sq ft should not be difficult to heat with that stove.
After a year on this forum reading (exaggerated claims ?) from some folks who say they heat their 2400 (2 floors) sq ft home comfortably I think your room should be a breeze.
My neighbor has the same stove you have and I am familiar with it`s output . It throws very hot air and is absolutely capable of heating an open 1100 sq ft room and would not require it to be on the highest setting either.
Eight ft high ceilings and an open 1100 sq ft should not be difficult to heat with that stove.
After a year on this forum reading (exaggerated claims ?) from some folks who say they heat their 2400 (2 floors) sq ft home comfortably I think your room should be a breeze.
My neighbor has the same stove you have and I am familiar with it`s output . It throws very hot air and is absolutely capable of heating an open 1100 sq ft room and would not require it to be on the highest setting either.
kikibear said:
Something definately wrong wiht this stove. I heat my entire 1800' house (some 10' ceiling, some 8') with my St. Croix York and I have a pellet stove in my shop - insulated 1800' also with 15' ceiling and it warms it up nicely.
The stove you have should take care of the room you have it in. The trouble with buying a stove from a big box store is that you don't get the service. It's hard for someone who's not a pellet stove tech to diagnose and repair or even match the stove to the environment it's being put into.
On top of that most stove installers won't help you if they didn't install the unit. Everyone I know that has had issues with their stove is in that situation, except for the folks that get stuck with a lousy dealer. That was the case with me, I bought a great stove from a dealer in Skowhegan Maine ( an Enviro VistaFlame VF 100) and the guy he had install it did a lousy job installing it and blew the control board by not putting a surge protector on it, after I requested it.
I forced the dealer to repair the installation and have been trouble free for 3 winters. My other two stove were installed by dealers who knew and cared what they were doing and my experi ence was excellent.
On top of that most stove installers won't help you if they didn't install the unit. Everyone I know that has had issues with their stove is in that situation, except for the folks that get stuck with a lousy dealer. That was the case with me, I bought a great stove from a dealer in Skowhegan Maine ( an Enviro VistaFlame VF 100) and the guy he had install it did a lousy job installing it and blew the control board by not putting a surge protector on it, after I requested it.
I forced the dealer to repair the installation and have been trouble free for 3 winters. My other two stove were installed by dealers who knew and cared what they were doing and my experi ence was excellent.
Stevekng said:
I understand that one! We installed the stove ourselves, because we didn`t want a sombody doing it. As it was one of the two men sent to deliver had a hard time carring it, so my boyfriend took over his side!
Now I`ve been talking to a few people, and I have heard that it is either the north or south wall that the stove does not work better on, though nobody recalls which wall that is. I can`t find the answer so far, but still searching. I could move the stove, only IF needed.
Moving the stove is not the answer if the room is wide open. It doesn't surprise me that you have temp variations within a 1100+ sq ft room, but the stove should keep that area warm overall if funtioning properly. It sounds to me like the stove is not funtioning correctly. I'd start by calling Englander, their tech line is very helpful.
My question is WHERE 'S THE HEAT GOING ? It is either going outside or in the room , heat can't hide . I f the room is not getting warm , then its going outside . Does this make sense ?
buildingmaint said:
I know it...the snow didn`t melt on that side of the house last winter! I wonder why the pstove is keeping most of it LOL. Englander had me reset the air flow from 4 to 9. Now this morning, from 4 am to 8 am (with the ceiling fan on) the temp got up to a whopping 68....4 hours later! I also the the blower is not working properly either. It`ll be on the highest setting (9) and I can feel alittle heat (about 70 degrees) about 5 or 6 inches away. You bring your hand 12 in. away and you cannot feel the air blowing! This is my first stove, I have always heated hot water baseboard, and I thought this was the way they worked, until I found this website!
Kiki ! The lightbulb just went off.
Last year I noticed my neighbors stove (same as yours) was doing the same thing. The flame looked very good and the stove got hot but it wasn`t throwing much heat. It took me a while but I eventually diagnosed the problem. The distribution fan wasn`t running. Sounds absurd I know but he ran it for a week (never knew) before I arrived and noticed the problem.
I removed the motor from the stove manually turned it and it came alive. Been running good ever since and pouring out the heat.
Englander sent him a new fan assembly and now he has a spare.
Great company IMO.
Check that out and let us know. We care.
Last year I noticed my neighbors stove (same as yours) was doing the same thing. The flame looked very good and the stove got hot but it wasn`t throwing much heat. It took me a while but I eventually diagnosed the problem. The distribution fan wasn`t running. Sounds absurd I know but he ran it for a week (never knew) before I arrived and noticed the problem.
I removed the motor from the stove manually turned it and it came alive. Been running good ever since and pouring out the heat.
Englander sent him a new fan assembly and now he has a spare.
Great company IMO.
Check that out and let us know. We care.
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