Pelpro Home heater deluxe review after first ton

[bondo]

I am close to the first ton mark on my stove and figured I would throw up a quick review so far. I already went into why I choose this stove so now it is time to dissect it a little. I don't see a lot of info on these stoves so figure I would throw some out there.

Overall I have been very happy with it. I heat an 1800 sq ft 2 story home with it. It was built in 1900, has pretty good insulation and most of the windows are newer. With the stove heating the room it is in to about 79-80 it keeps the entire house at about 69-72. I would not mind keeping it a little cooler but the wife likes it warmer. It has had no problem keeping up on the colder days. Since I have had it we have had lows of -20+ a few times and highs in the negative single digits and it has kept up just fine. It has 4 settings for the auger speed. It only gets put on 4 at start up and maybe an hour here and there when it is really cold and then goes back to 3. The wife has been through 2 house fires in her life so is still a little leery about it running when we sleep so it gets shutdown when she goes to bed. About 1:30 a.m. and gets fired up when I go to work about 4:30 a.m. So it runs about 21 hours a day. I clean it on Wednesdays and Sundays. Although I could easily clean it once a week or less but figure I can keep it more efficient if I clean it more often. Also I am burning Indeck pellets which I really like but do kick out some ash. It never needs to be scraped. The 2 corners of the burn pot get a little ash in them but that is about it. I usually just hit that quick in the morning with my cleaning paint brush and it is all clean. This is a no thrills machine. Everything needs to be done manually but once I got everything setup good I touch nothing other then the auger speed. I keep the convection fan wide open at all times. You can hook a thermostat up to it though and I think I will in the future. It has done nothing weird and has not had an issues to date. It does have a few cons though. I would prefer it to be a little quieter. It isn't super loud and it is basically background noise but it is about as loud as a box fan. Also it has a scraper for the heat tubes built in. Just pull it and it knocks the ash off. When it knocks the ash off though it drops it all in the burn pot and covers the igniter. Also not a big deal the vacuum sucks it out easy enough or the pot comes out easy for the brush to clean it off. The hopper is suppose to hold 120 lbs but actually only holds about 100 but again not a big issue. I probably average about 60 lbs a day so far. So far I would highly recommend this stove but I haven't had it that long yet so we shall see what happens in the future.

 

[Polar Bear]

Good review. My buddy is looking into a stove for essentially the same house set up as yours so it's pretty beneficial to him.

 

[CaptSpiff]

I am close to the first ton mark on my stove and figured I would throw up a quick review so far.....
<snip>
it runs about 21 hours a day. I clean it on Wednesdays and Sundays. Although I could easily clean it once a week or less but figure I can keep it more efficient if I clean it more often. Also I am burning Indeck pellets which I really like but do kick out some ash. It never needs to be scraped. The 2 corners of the burn pot get a little ash in them but that is about it. I usually just hit that quick in the morning with my cleaning paint brush and it is all clean....
<snip>
I keep the convection fan wide open at all times. You can hook a thermostat up to it though and I think I will in the future. It has done nothing weird and has not had an issues to date....

Thanks for that update on your recent PelPro 120 install. Is that the HHPP2 model?

Do your twice weekly cleanings involve an ash vac, or do you just brush & scoop clean?

Have you had to scrape many clinkers from the burn grate?

Do you need to lift the burn grate and clean the square burn pot area as part of your twice weekly? Could you get into the burn pot area below the grate without a vac?

Did you try cleaning the 2 Ash Traps yet? Let us know when you've done the 1 ton cleanout.

I'm thinking about recommending this model to a distant friend, but I've never been up close & personal with the PelPro, and I'm partial to ash drawers. Keep us informed.

 

[CaptSpiff]

I am close to the first ton mark on my stove and figured I would throw up a quick review so far.

..... Everything needs to be done manually but once I got everything setup good I touch nothing other then the auger speed. I keep the convection fan wide open at all times.

I forgot to ask 2 more questions:
Dose the noticable fan noise go down significantly if you were to reduce your Convection fan speed from hi, and does that noticably affect heat out?

What did you settle on for the "input air damper" setting? Do you find that you need to adjust it for different pellet brands?

 

[bondo]

Thanks for that update on your recent PelPro 120 install. Is that the HHPP2 model?

Do your twice weekly cleanings involve an ash vac, or do you just brush & scoop clean?

Have you had to scrape many clinkers from the burn grate?

Do you need to lift the burn grate and clean the square burn pot area as part of your twice weekly? Could you get into the burn pot area below the grate without a vac?

Did you try cleaning the 2 Ash Traps yet? Let us know when you've done the 1 ton cleanout.

I'm thinking about recommending this model to a distant friend, but I've never been up close & personal with the PelPro, and I'm partial to ash drawers. Keep us informed.

Yes it is the HHPP2BD

Yes I use an ash vacuum. It only takes a few minutes to clean. It usually takes about 3 weeks worth of cleaning to fill the vacuum.

I have not scraped anything to date. Like I said earlier I just get a little ash in the corners where there is no hole below the area.

Yes I lift the grate out. It comes right out with no tools. There usually isn't much ash under there but I still give it a quick vacuuming. You could get in the burn pot area without a vacuum I suppose but a vacuum is so much more convenient. The vacuum makes the whole job very clean. The ash vacuum cost me like $65 and was worth every penny.

Yes I have cleaned the ash trap area. I was doing it once a week but that doesn't seem necessary there isn't much back there so I have let it go for a couple weeks now. It has 3 bolts holding it on and they are easy to get to though.

I really like the fact it has no ash drawer myself. Just suck it out with the vacuum, no mess pulling it out and the seal shouldn't go bad for a very long time because I don't take the cover off. I did the first time and put it right back on. I figured it would make a big mess trying to scoop the ash out.

 

[bondo]

I forgot to ask 2 more questions:
Dose the noticable fan noise go down significantly if you were to reduce your Convection fan speed from hi, and does that noticably affect heat out?

What did you settle on for the "input air damper" setting? Do you find that you need to adjust it for different pellet brands?

The sound does not go down a lot and I just run it wide open so I am unsure on the heat output.

I have the damper a little less then a 1/2" open. I have only ran 2 different types of pellets through it. I did a lot of tweaking with the one brand but just discovered they plain sucked lol. I couldn't get any additional heat out of them. I set it back to where I had it originally and it did just as well no matter where I had it. The combustion fan also has the ability to be fine tuned.

 

[bondo]

I have had this stove for like 11 months now and figured I would do another quick update. Read my first update made and that is it. No issues whatsoever with the stove. I could not be happier with the purchase I made. I still do not sift pellets or try to keep the dust in the bag. I pour it all in and it eats everything up. I got some lumberjacks last year that had pellets that were anywhere from dust to 2" long. There were also a bunch of wood chips in them and 3 cups of dust left over in the bags. I figured if it wouldn't jam with those it would never jam and so far that has held true. My buddy got one also after I raved about mine. He has only had it for a few months but has also been happy so far.