Risk the Blower or Igniter

[taytowers]

Its been a COLD week up here... -27 C / -16 F night after night. - and then a strong wind chill on top of that.

Question for those Pellet Burners out there.... When running your pellet stove/insert, is it better to run the system on high with the thermostat kicking on and off...... or would it be better to simply run the blowers 24/7 and switch between a high or medium setting to govern the room temp... manual mode.

I have noticed that when the Quadrafire Castile shuts down once the thermostat reaches the set temperature, the whole on/off cycle takes about 20 minutes, and the house will cool down a full degree centigrade... It would then take at lease a full hour (or more) to recover this heat loss...

the solution is when its this cold, to burn 24/7.... But I am worried about burning out the Blower

what your experience?

 

[Johnny_Fiv3]

Run it manual. When it's that cold I set mine full throttle. Room fan on max with a raging inferno in the firebox. You have to keep dumping heat to stay ahead of the loss.

 

[taytowers]

stay ahead of the loss.

sounds right to me... wondering if the Blower life expectancy shortened with 24/7 use?

 

[Johnny_Fiv3]

Keep it clean and it will be fine. Dust and especially pet hair are what kills them.

 

[Lake Girl]

X2 - Make sure you also blow out the motor windings with compressed air too, not just cleaning the vanes of the blower. Lubricate as per manual.

How old is the Castile?

 

[taytowers]

This is the castile's first winter... I'm assuming that you only clean the blowers at the end of the season?

Good to know that they are designed to run all the time.... I have been warned about igniters failing in a few years, if they cycle on/off regularly.

 

[acammer]

I'll second all that - just run it round the clock. My PAH runs 24/7 and it's at full output for at least 18-20 of those hours. When it's real cold it's 24hrs. Either way, the convection blower always runs flat out, with the thermostat kicking the fire down to low if I get enough heat in the house. I figure I'll see a lot of life out of my ignitor this way, and I burn very little propane to supplement this $1,000 stove that's keeping my whole 2,100 sqft nice and warm. Just keep the motors clean and lubricated.

 

[Arti]

Motors are rated continuous duty that means they can run 24/7 without a problem, As far as the Ignitor if it fails you can light a fire manually until a new ignitor can be put in.

 

[Lake Girl]

Motors are rated continuous duty that means they can run 24/7 without a problem, As far as the Ignitor if it fails you can light a fire manually until a new ignitor can be put in.

For that manual start - just have to have hand sanitizer, fire starter gel for pellets, or as Mike Holton recommended Fire Starters for the wood stoves and shave them up in small pieces.

 

[bogieb]

The basement stove is currently being run room temp / manual (idles at all times that heat isn't being called for). When it is milder outside, I will switch to Auto. the upstairs stove is on a thermostat (+1 swing). When it reaches temp it idles for a while, if no call for heat while idling, it shuts down until the next call for heat.

This works well for me because the basement stove sends heat upstairs so the upstairs stove doesn't need to run all the time (except on really cold/windy days) and it also modulates the temperature until the upstairs stove gets itself going again. The upstairs stove will pretty regularly run a 1.5-2 hour On then another 1-2 hour Off cycle at single degree temps, as long as the wind isn't blowing.

 

[taytowers]

Motors are rated continuous duty

Good to know.... My Castile does not have an idle setting... either on or off (low mid high) So I will just let it run 24/7 adjusting the stove flame manually.

The basement stove is currently being run room temp

Two stove solution is probably the most efficient

hand sanitizer, fire starter

Lots of sanitizer in cold/flue season.

Thanks for the info.

 

[bags]

I seriously would not get all hyped up and worry about things failing. These stoves are designed to run and if you think about it they get half the year off of work anyway. I let mine run 24/7 during the heating season and when it's cold they go to constant burn never not having a fire and blower going. This way they maintain temps better in the cold and do not have to make up as much heat when or if they did shut down. It's not really any trade off per se. Just keep your place warm and feed it pellets. Follow your recommended cleaning schedule and you will be good to go.

I see way too many worrying about insignificant things here. Do you worry about your mower blades dulling or just get the grass cut? Use things for what and how they are designed and with any machine there are parts that require maintenance and replacement eventually. Worrying about your blower motor and igniter is like worrying about your mower blades. You're not too worried about the blades now are you? Just keep them off of downed tree branches and rocks.......

 

[acammer]

I see way too many worrying about insignificant things here.

Internet forums tend to collect that sort of thinking - it's a safe place to ask a bunch of questions that have always been nagging at your mind, but you don't have other people in your normal circles that either know anything about your specific question, or just don't care. It can be tedious to sift through posts all the time of seemingly simple questions - but most of them are questions I had at one point in my pellet stove career and somebody had to tell me.

 

[Johnny_Fiv3]

Run it, feed it, clean it. Then once spring comes deep clean, lubricate, and give it a hug.

 

[bags]

Internet forums tend to collect that sort of thinking - it's a safe place to ask a bunch of questions that have always been nagging at your mind, but you don't have other people in your normal circles that either know anything about your specific question, or just don't care. It can be tedious to sift through posts all the time of seemingly simple questions - but most of them are questions I had at one point in my pellet stove career and somebody had to tell me.

I fully agree and did the same thing. The only other pellet burners I know are the ones here. I do not know of anyone close by. Doug Doty here is about the closest to me at about an hour away over in Indiana. He's a new guy also. I'll admit my head was spinning a bit and I had questions and some unnecessary concerns. Over a little time they dissipated. POOF! Gone.

Many of these concerns came from reading others concerns here or thinking too hard. All I am getting at is read up and decipher it all. Once the newbie (myself) gets the hang of what it really is then the what if's disappear. A meteor could fall from the sky at noon today. Am I worried about that? Nope. Pellet stoves are not the delicate little Tiffany stain glass lamps they are portrayed as at times.

I just like to try to put them at ease when what they are worrying about in the big scheme of pellet heating is irrelevant. I was letting the OP know it is something not to be much worried about. It's good they ask and that is why we are all here. I am still learning tons of great info. Another issue with the internet in general is all of the misinformation one can read. Thankfully when it appears here it gets corrected quickly even if it is only slightly off which is great. Granted some worry much more about anything more so than others.

 

[bags]

Then once spring comes deep clean, lubricate, and give it a hug.

Just learned something new there Johnny! Now I know why I was born in January. Momma must have been a pellet stove

 

[Tonyray]

Just learned something new there Johnny! Now I know why I was born in January. Momma must have been a pellet stove

Into my 2nd yr now, last yr was my 1st with a pellet stove if my math is correct.
anyways, I;m like a bloodhound and research to death anything that I'm going to buy no matter of size or price... thanks to the Internet.
I think I read damn near every post here going back to years and years over the summer before we finally settled on getting a stove last winter.
Last winter was tinker time or as someone here said the Wife called it "messin around" time for me.. playing with the feed rate, blower speed, room mode, stove mode, Auto, Manual etc with the Harman P61A. Note:Stove Mode or Constant mode just eats my pellets faster so I use room mode/Manual 40 degrees or below which took a while of experimenting before staying with Room mode. 'For my situation anyways.'.
let's just say I made all my novice mistakes last yr including shutting the stove off late at night to save pellets then burning for 3 hours on high next morning Just to bring the downstairs
back up to 72 from low 60's..This year we burn 24/7 and prob will use much more than last year. Figure we had it off approx 7 hrs at night and that's not a deal breaker at all since we had to re-Warm the furniture, drapes and everything that absorbes cold or heat thus running as I said on high for hours to catch back up. I'm figuring about 3-4 hrs more normal burntime than last year. [we have Oil backup system]..
have no idea where I am going with this but all my Knowledge now and cleaning tips and whatever Exclusivly came from this forum and NOT my Dealer. as I also have no one I know personally that own a Harman Let alone a Pellet stove.. Actually gave my dealer a few tips to pass on to customers like the Leaf blower attack..[ Iike that better than Trick]..
. Said it before: All Pellet stoves need to have WWW.hearth.com Stenciled on the inside of all Hopper Lids.

 

[Ranger72]

Run it like a rental, maintenance it like a race car.

 

[kappel15]

Let it run. I burn a mix in my Sante Fe as it won't ignite just corn. But when the weather is cold enough that the stove is pretty much running nonstop, I can run just corn in it by throwing a handful of pellets in the pot before starting. Then just shut it off to clean the pot, and do it again. My Sante Fe is an 05 model and still has all original parts except I replaced the igniter once, and the door gasket. kap

 

[Big papa]

Just learned something new there Johnny! Now I know why I was born in January. Momma must have been a pellet stove

Happy late b day and give momma my condolences

 

[bags]

Happy late b day and give momma my condolences

Yeah! Ha haha ahha! She just wanted a hug and got stuck with Mr. Special here.... I am creeping into the age where birthdays no longer count Whad ya get me?