Room Temp max on new Harman 52i insert

[romarob]

Hi all! I've had my Harman for about two months now and absolutely love it! I've been running it 24/7 and with the extremely low temps we've had in New York lately, it's been a workhorse. I'm running it on Room Temp with the feed rate at around 3.5 to 4. My question is, am I putting too much strain on the stove by having it set to approximately 83 degrees (number 6 on the dial)? I was told by the vendor that running it at 90 (number 7), which is the highest setting, is not recommended for more than a few hours at a time. I'm hoping that I'm not cutting it to close and risking damaging the stove. I'm heating around 2500 sq ft and it's keeping the upstairs at around 73 degrees, so the 83 degree Room Temp setting is ideal, but am I pushing it?
Thanks for reading!

 

[Lake Girl]

Sorry you didn't get an answer to your question about your Harman. Not familiar with your stove but hopefully someone will chime in with advice. Is that the updated Accentra with dual blowers?

Congrats on the new stove and welcome to the forum

 

[john193]

Check out this thread...

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/how-your-harman-works-what-your-manual-doesnt-tell-you.91030/

While you may have your stove set to 7 (90) that doesn't mean the stove is always putting out max heat. Harman stoves are one of the most autonomous stoves out there. At your set point, the stove decides how much heat to put out to maintain the set temperature. Unless you are burning about 4 bags in 24 hours...you aren't maxing out the stove.

 

[Avalancheman]

I also have a new 52i and I don’t think I would run it wide open for hours on end if I were you. A short period probably would not hurt it, but several hours straight might damage something. It’s currently 15 degrees in SW Missouri and should be a lovely -8 tonight with a wind chill of -25. I am running my stove in the room temp mode with the feed rate at # 4 to 4.5. Today, I have flipped the toggle switch to the manual so the stove doesn’t go out when it reaches the preset room temp. This allows the stove to idle back but not go out and throttle back up quicker when it calls for heat.

 

[john193]

I also have a new 52i and I don’t think I would run it wide open for hours on end if I were you. A short period probably would not hurt it, but several hours straight might damage something.

How so?

 

[romarob]

Thanks for all of your replies! The stove's "intensity" does vary depending on the room temp, so I guess, technically it isn't going full throttle even though it's on 6 all of the time. Hopefully it keeps running smoothly with no issues. Just got my gas bill for the past month and already see a savings of $300-$400 from the same time last year. I know temps were probably a little different, but I know it's saving a bunch in the long run.
Looking forward to reading more on the forum and learning all about these great products.
Thanks again!

 

[Enigma869]

Interesting, I also had my dealer tell me that it wasn't a good idea to run my P68 on the highest setting (number 7 on the dial). It sounded ridiculous to me and still does. Think about it. Harman is going to have a number 7 for everyone to turn to on the dial if it causes damage to the stove? Sorry...not buying it. I actually pressed my installation guy (it was actually him who told me this) as to why turning the dial all the way up would cause damage to the stove (he never said it wasn't good idea...he actually said that it could "cause damage"), and he really didn't have an answer for me. He said nothing beyond..."it's just not a good idea". Again, the dial is there for a reason. Certainly, under normal (and I'm referring to normal for where I live) temperatures, you would never even consider turning the dial all the way up, as the heat would blast you out of the house. I can tell you that at minus 12 yesterday morning, I didn't hesitate to turn it all the way up, and oddly enough, nothing catastrophic happened.

 

[chken]

Interesting, I also had my dealer tell me that it wasn't a good idea to run my P68 on the highest setting (number 7 on the dial). It sounded ridiculous to me and still does. Think about it. Harman is going to have a number 7 for everyone to turn to on the dial if it causes damage to the stove? Sorry...not buying it. I actually pressed my installation guy (it was actually him who told me this) as to why turning the dial all the way up would cause damage to the stove (he never said it wasn't good idea...he actually said that it could "cause damage"), and he really didn't have an answer for me. He said nothing beyond..."it's just not a good idea". Again, the dial is there for a reason. Certainly, under normal (and I'm referring to normal for where I live) temperatures, you would never even consider turning the dial all the way up, as the heat would blast you out of the house. I can tell you that at minus 12 yesterday morning, I didn't hesitate to turn it all the way up, and oddly enough, nothing catastrophic happened.

I'm with you. Seems nonsensical to give users a dial with a choice, and then tell people not to use that choice?!? Makes me think the max setting is only for marketing purposes so that they can rate their stove as putting out a certain number of BTUs when in fact, they don't recommend it.

 

[lbcynya]

I'm with you. Seems nonsensical to give users a dial with a choice, and then tell people not to use that choice?!? Makes me think the max setting is only for marketing purposes so that they can rate their stove as putting out a certain number of BTUs when in fact, they don't recommend it.

Especially since Harman's are regulated by an ESP (max ESP temp is 500, I believe - maybe one of the pro's can chime in), I can't see any reason why running on high for extended periods would be hard on the stove. One could argue heat soak, but, for the most part, my XXV stays cool in the need to be cool spots and hot in the need to be hot spots... Plus, running hot keeps certain things a bit "cleaner" anyway.

Logically, the maximum efficiency range for the stove is probably not when it's wide open, so you might not get the most miles out of your pellets, but that's likely not enough to justify being uncomfortable.

 

[Proud Sub Vet]

I'm new to all this too - Just had my Harman 52i installed when it was 50 degress out (now it will be about -3 tonight) and this stove is really kicking out a bunch of heat! (it's heating my entire 2,300 sq. ft. house with ease). Ok, it may be 70/72 in the family room where the stove is... 67/68 on the other side of the house... and 62/63 upstairs, but to me that's heating the enitre house For having this stove for less than 2 weeks in REALLY COLD WEATHER, I am more impressed than I expected to be!
ANYWAY – when the installers came, they recommended putting the stove on STOVE TEMP mode and the FEED RATE at 3 (although most else I’ve read suggested a feed rate of 4)
I’ve burned it for a week on 3 and turned it up to 4 a few days ago…. I’m not sure what the burn pot is supposed to look like (I’m burning barefoot pellets), but I THINK the stove is happier on 4!?!?!?!

 

[Harman Lover 007]

I'm with you. Seems nonsensical to give users a dial with a choice, and then tell people not to use that choice?!? Makes me think the max setting is only for marketing purposes so that they can rate their stove as putting out a certain number of BTUs when in fact, they don't recommend it.

So here's an analogy for you guys......my car has an accelerator pedal. I take the car out on the highway and (if I could) press the accelerator all the way to the floor and hold it there for... lets say...an hour or two. What could possibly go wrong?????

Relax, my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek with the above but I'm not sure running any stove wide open for an extended period of time is wise. JMHO

 

[Mt Bob]

I'll help out 007.Are you guys going to buy a truck to tow 10,000 lbs with a 6 cylinder engine and run it to the floor to keep it moving,or get the big block or diesel and run at half throttle?

 

[romarob]

Well, not too sure about that analogy Bob, as I bought the largest stove that would fit, but 007, I can see your point. I was thinking along the same lines, which is why I was concerned to begin with. I'm easing up on it a little and bringing it down to 75 degrees, but thankfully on Room Temp, it seems to simmer down every 15 minutes or so. Hopefully this will protect the stove from any damage. It would be great if Harman could reply to my inquiries, given that they should know the answer better than anyone. No luck with that so far. Thank goodness this forum exists!

 

[chken]

So here's an analogy for you guys......my car has an accelerator pedal. I take the car out on the highway and (if I could) press the accelerator all the way to the floor and hold it there for... lets say...an hour or two. What could possibly go wrong?????

Relax, my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek with the above but I'm not sure running any stove wide open for an extended period of time is wise. JMHO

Hahaha! I love car analogies! However, I always thought of it this way: A pellet stove is like a car on cruise control and you've got only a few feed rate settings. My stove has 5. Setting 1 is like 10mph, setting 2 is 20mph, etc… My feeling is that at my stove's maximum feed rate setting of 5, it's like being on cruise control at 50mph. Should be a breeze to run on max!