Quadrafire Mt. Vernon AE automatic mode

[gblaue]

This year we upgrade from a Castile to a Mt.Vernon AE. The stove has been great, but it does something that I wonder if anyone else has experienced. When we had our Castile, the thermostat was in the same room, which made it short cycle and not fully heat the house. We have a 2000 sq. ft colonial. If we set it to 80 at night, it would get the second floor to 69ish degrees. Now that we have bought the Mt.Vernon AE, I move the thermostat to the kitchen, which allows the stove to more evenly heat the first floor and the second floor. Here's the issue. When the stove is in automatic mode, at 7PM, I have it crank up to 80 until 7:30 AM. So at 7PM, it switches to High or medium high mode and cranks away until it gets to about 78, Then is ramps down to low mode and stays there. This would be fine, but it never lets the heat reach 80, therefore it runs continuously all night. I could switch to manual mode, but I would think that stove would be intelligent enough realize, after a while, that it's never going to reach it's shut down temp.

Anyone else notice this, or am I doing something wrong?

 

[[email protected]]

If you use auto mode set the thermostat 2 deg higher than what you need ( the factory temp differential). Many of us have found that auto is fine in spring and fall, but in really cold weather manual setting 4 or 5. It works better at those settings that is where it runs cleanest and most efficiently.

 

[vgrund]

I only use Automatic mode during shoulder seasons as described above. I otherwise operate on Med to High manual settings depending on outside temps. Automatic mode would work better if it had an adaptive model (learned from the room it is in) or had variables one could adjust such as heat loss or how fast it steps down the output as it approaches target temp. As it is, it makes static assumptions about heat loss and you are finding as most do that it is inadequate to your needs. It's still a fantastic stove. Just use manual mode when it is truly cold.

 

[[email protected]]

What the stove really needs is outside temp sensor. That would let it adjust to match deman better.

 

[eric_s]

I think I'm the exception to this as I normally use automatic when it is coldest. I like that it never hits temperature because I have no temperature fluctuation throughout my house. As for efficiency, I'd be interested to see the data. The stove uses next to no power when the ignitor is off. And the pellets used during startup and shutdown of shorter cycles may offset gains from running at a lower level.

 

[Gweeper64]

This year we upgrade from a Castile to a Mt.Vernon AE. The stove has been great, but it does something that I wonder if anyone else has experienced. When we had our Castile, the thermostat was in the same room, which made it short cycle and not fully heat the house. We have a 2000 sq. ft colonial. If we set it to 80 at night, it would get the second floor to 69ish degrees. Now that we have bought the Mt.Vernon AE, I move the thermostat to the kitchen, which allows the stove to more evenly heat the first floor and the second floor. Here's the issue. When the stove is in automatic mode, at 7PM, I have it crank up to 80 until 7:30 AM. So at 7PM, it switches to High or medium high mode and cranks away until it gets to about 78, Then is ramps down to low mode and stays there. This would be fine, but it never lets the heat reach 80, therefore it runs continuously all night. I could switch to manual mode, but I would think that stove would be intelligent enough realize, after a while, that it's never going to reach it's shut down temp.

Anyone else notice this, or am I doing something wrong?

Sounds completely normal to me. That is the way it is designed to work. As it approaches the set temp, it lowers the heat output level. If the room temp drops, it will crank it up again. Set your thermostat another degree or two higher if you need to. My norm is to set at 74-76 depending on outside temp to keep the majority of my house @ 69-70.

 

[smoke show]

I think I'm the exception to this as I normally use automatic when it is coldest. I like that it never hits temperature because I have no temperature fluctuation throughout my house. As for efficiency, I'd be interested to see the data. The stove uses next to no power when the ignitor is off. And the pellets used during startup and shutdown of shorter cycles may offset gains from running at a lower level.

same here, always use auto

 

[[email protected]]

I find if I use auto the rest of the house is conciderably cooler then the set temp. If I use manual I can use the same temp setting but keep the whole house more even.

 

[gblaue]

I agree that switching to manual mode will work better. I guess my, for a lack of better terms, gripe is that it shouldn't ramp down to low and just overshoot the set temperature. I have the differential set to 2.5 degrees. I would expect that it would go full bore until it hits the temp.

 

[sweetsncheese]

Is installing the old Castile on the second floor an option?

Is there a separate heating zone for the second floor you could use for the short time you're using it?

I personally believe these stoves are designed to cycle on and off. Anything we do to their setup that upsets this function probably isn't good for efficiency or longevity. I gave up on the automatic setting and now run in manual. I vary the heat output setting from 1-5 based on outside temperature and the fan speed from normal to quiet based on how much noise I'm comfortable with. I have no evidence to prove that running the stove continuously causes damage, it just doesn't feel right to me.

 

[gblaue]

Is installing the old Castile on the second floor an option?

Is there a separate heating zone for the second floor you could use for the short time you're using it?

I personally believe these stoves are designed to cycle on and off. Anything we do to their setup that upsets this function probably isn't good for efficiency or longevity. I gave up on the automatic setting and now run in manual. I vary the heat output setting from 1-5 based on outside temperature and the fan speed from normal to quiet based on how much noise I'm comfortable with. I have no evidence to prove that running the stove continuously causes damage, it just doesn't feel right to me.

Sold it.

 

[mapezzul]

I think I'm the exception to this as I normally use automatic when it is coldest. I like that it never hits temperature because I have no temperature fluctuation throughout my house. As for efficiency, I'd be interested to see the data. The stove uses next to no power when the ignitor is off. And the pellets used during startup and shutdown of shorter cycles may offset gains from running at a lower level.

Same thing with me.

To the OP- find out the temp difference between what you set the t-stat to and the actual temperature it holds then up your t-stat to get the actual temp you desire. Running it on auto saves the ignitor from having to be turned on a lot (increasing life and lowering electric consumption).

I find that the above technique works well.

The other option is to get a booster fan to move the hotter air upstairs- HD and Lowe's have fans that mount in doorways etc. for this purpose and they really help.

best of luck,

-M

 

[gblaue]

I think I'm the exception to this as I normally use automatic when it is coldest. I like that it never hits temperature because I have no temperature fluctuation throughout my house. As for efficiency, I'd be interested to see the data. The stove uses next to no power when the ignitor is off. And the pellets used during startup and shutdown of shorter cycles may offset gains from running at a lower level.

Same thing with me.

To the OP- find out the temp difference between what you set the t-stat to and the actual temperature it holds then up your t-stat to get the actual temp you desire. Running it on auto saves the ignitor from having to be turned on a lot (increasing life and lowering electric consumption).

I find that the above technique works well.

The other option is to get a booster fan to move the hotter air upstairs- HD and Lowe's have fans that mount in doorways etc. for this purpose and they really help.

best of luck,

-M

I think manual mode is the only way to get it to work right. The problem is that it automatically goes down to low mode, which means the room temp will never rise the 2 more degrees to have the thermostat shut down.

The second floor gets to 69-72 just fine. The heat upstairs isn't the problem at all. The stove just never shuts down. Last night I went through a bag of pellets overnight alone.

 

[eric_s]

I think I'm the exception to this as I normally use automatic when it is coldest. I like that it never hits temperature because I have no temperature fluctuation throughout my house. As for efficiency, I'd be interested to see the data. The stove uses next to no power when the ignitor is off. And the pellets used during startup and shutdown of shorter cycles may offset gains from running at a lower level.

Same thing with me.

To the OP- find out the temp difference between what you set the t-stat to and the actual temperature it holds then up your t-stat to get the actual temp you desire. Running it on auto saves the ignitor from having to be turned on a lot (increasing life and lowering electric consumption).

I find that the above technique works well.

The other option is to get a booster fan to move the hotter air upstairs- HD and Lowe's have fans that mount in doorways etc. for this purpose and they really help.

best of luck,

-M

I think manual mode is the only way to get it to work right. The problem is that it automatically goes down to low mode, which means the room temp will never rise the 2 more degrees to have the thermostat shut down.

The second floor gets to 69-72 just fine. The heat upstairs isn't the problem at all. The stove just never shuts down. Last night I went through a bag of pellets overnight alone.

A bag a pellets overnight? For a 10 hour overnight you are averaging 4 lbs/hour. You're averaging a closer to a medium setting which on auto means you 4 degrees away and never getting to the 2 degree delta issue.

 

[Gweeper64]

Last night I went through a bag of pellets overnight alone.

So did I. But it was low single digits last night remember. I don't think that is unusual or not normal for the AE from my experience so far. It might have needed to kick up to ML or M to maintain temperature over night. And it probably went through at least one autoclean cycle.

 

[gblaue]

So I put it up to MH before my and I went out for the evening, 7ish. We come home around 10:30. The heat in the house is up to 80, the stove is roaring, but now something I've never seen before, the burnpot is glowing orange. I'm going to guess is running a little too hot. But the house is real cozy.

 

[vgrund]

You guys are inspiring me to experiment with auto/manual and setback programming again. My AE is nothing if not an addicting hobby.

 

[JoeS]

You guys are inspiring me to experiment with auto/manual and setback programming again. My AE is nothing if not an addicting hobby.

Yep, got me thinking too. I usually run on manual when it is cold outside but I noticed the other day that my wife had switched it to auto (didn't even know she knew how to turn the thing on). Now I need to play with it for a few weeks and see if there may be a benefit it running it that way.

 

[gblaue]

I've just finished my Lignetics left over from last year. I'm now burning blazers. I had been switching from medium during the day to medium high at night. Seemed to solve the running all night issue. I'm guessing that I may have to re-evaluate with the Blazers.