Taking the leap -Hampton GCI60

[Realtor]

My new stove is to be installed in about 10 days. I'm looking forward to it. I'm also a little anxious about the whole ordeal. I ordered 3 tons of Granules LG and half of them are tucked away in the garage. I'm still making room for the other pallet.
Thinking of getting a pallet jack to move the things around more easily.
I'm hoping that the stove works half as well as they say. Would love to see the oil man a lot less often.
House is about 3000 square feet including about 800 feet on the lower level. We have 3 fireplaces which we never use, Living room, Master Bedroom and lower level family room. The stove is going into the fireplace in the living room. We spend the most time on that level. That room opens up to the foyer and kitchen. I'm assuming heat from the foyer will rise to the second floor bedrooms.
I may try and do something with the lower level fireplace too so we can use that as well. Maybe a cheap insert? If anyone has any suggestions it would be appreciated.
I'm also trying to figure out the best thermostat for the stove(if any). The house has a hydro air system fired by oil. If the heat doesn't work it's way around the house I may try and put the air handler on a timer.
I've been reading this forum quite a lot lately and have gotten some good info.

 

[handymanCT]

you will have no problem heating your whole living area with the GCI60. In fact I doubt you will have to set it about 3 or 4 to do it. Put it on a thermostat and forget it. Great stove!

ENJOY

 

[Lake Girl]

Congrats on the new stove. Make sure it's surge protected! Hopefully you are putting in an OAK. Many threads on assisting air flow to circulate the heat ... Search and keep reading

Pics of the new install please!

 

[Realtor]

Dealer came today for the install. They didn't have the oversized flange so it currently doesn't look so great. But even more depressing than that: the stove wouldn't light. I have to wait until Monday for their repair tech. It seems that the igniter is not glowing. I don't know my way around the stove yet otherwise I'm sure i could figure it out.

 

[Cleetussnow]

Great stove. I rely on it for heat for 2000 sf and even in the brutal cold, with good pellets, the thing is a beast. 24 7 clean 1 time per week.

Not sure on the igniter. There is no fuse for it. Maybe it isnt installed to the stove correctly?

Also, make sure the installer zip ties the motherboard wire strip away from the fan motor. The factory doesnt always do that and it can cause a problem. With a 5 cent part, it will never be a problem though. mine is zipped to the framing that holds the motherboard. All good.


I suppose you could light it with a propane torch and some gel though i have never tried.

 

[Realtor]

I'll probably pull it out tomorrow and check all the wiring. Is there a trick to slide it out?

 

[Cleetussnow]

You remove the side panels...2 torx screws. Need to open the metal only front door get the them. They sort of lift off. Then you have to horse off the back panel. 4 bolts and off it comes.

Then there is are 2 clips on the lower front corners of the stove, one on each side. undo those.

$64 question is whether your hearth is elevated. If so, leave it right there. You need the slide rail kit unless you are king kong. Sucker is 300 lbs.

Otherwise you can pull it out without the kit. Basically i just open the front glass door and grab the stove from there and heave it straight out. I have a floor level hearth. I put some cardboard down etc old rug or something. Its on steel wheels and that would make a ding in a wood floor.

Getting back in just make sure those clips are locked. That means the Flu is connected and good to go. Unrepeat the above steps and you are good. You can leave the panels off though including the back if you just want to check it out.

 

[Realtor]

Update: the igniter is bad so I will need to wait a few days to replace it. I did fire the stove up a few hours ago with a torch. It seems to be running well. Waiting to see what the temperature in the house will be come morning. I'm also waiting for the cosmetic/finishing touches on the install.

 

[Realtor]

Heres a quick photo. You can see I'm waiting for the oversized trim package to arrive.

 

[Realtor]

Things are not going well thus far!!
a) the installer has yet to come back with the igniter
b) I'm not even slightly happy with amount of heat I'm getting from the stove.

On setting 3 of 5 it puts out only a fair amount of heat. I'm hoping it has to do with the adjustments. I've been trying to set it properly but of course I don't really know what a good flame should look like. It is fairly tall but does not appear to have any dark orange or black tips. The ash looks like coffee grounds - brown with a good percentage of black. I'm going through 4 pounds of pellets per hour on setting 3. Using ganules lg. On level 5 it does throw some decent heat but still not what I had expected.

 

[Cleetussnow]

I wood check your air settings. I cat tell if you are getting too mich or ot enough, but i sounds like ot enough. The air trim rod is on the left side. Piece of metal with a hole through it. Clean the stove.

Remove that side panel.

Pull the adjuster all the way out, and with the stove on 5, push it in in small increments until the black tips go away. Should not see smoke, and sold be an active looking flame. Push it in like a centimeter at a time. Give it like 30 seconds between each adjustment. Should habe a big bright flame that touvhes the heat tubes.

What pelletbtype are you on? Shold be premium.

 

[Realtor]

Ok. I‘ll give that a try tomorrow.

 

[chken]

Things are not going well thus far!!
a) the installer has yet to come back with the igniter
b) I'm not even slightly happy with amount of heat I'm getting from the stove.

On setting 3 of 5 it puts out only a fair amount of heat. I'm hoping it has to do with the adjustments. I've been trying to set it properly but of course I don't really know what a good flame should look like. It is fairly tall but does not appear to have any dark orange or black tips. The ash looks like coffee grounds - brown with a good percentage of black. I'm going through 4 pounds of pellets per hour on setting 3. Using ganules lg. On level 5 it does throw some decent heat but still not what I had expected.

4lbs/hr is a decent amount, you should be getting plenty of heat, so I'm gonna assume the air needs adjustment. I use LG and Crabbé, and the LG is an excellent high heat, low fine, low ash pellet. I don't get any brown ash. The flame should be more yellow than orange.

 

[IHATEPROPANE]

Sounds like you need more air

 

[IHATEPROPANE]

It may also be that you are losing a lot if heat up the chimney

 

[Realtor]

Im going to get some high heat insulation and insulate around the stainless liner. Right now its wide open. Im also going to add an oak at some point.

 

[Realtor]

Update; The stove has been adjusted by the installers using a magnehelic gauge. I also blocked the chimney with insulation. The performance has been better. I'm keeping the hot water bb heat working on the lower level so the stove is responsible for the main living level and 2nd floor. When outside temperatures are in the 50's the stove can easily heat the 2 floors while set at #1, When temps creep to the mid to lower 40's The stove works well at setting #2. When we see temps at mid to low 30's, like today, setting 3 is working well. Temps in the 20's and Setting 4 does pretty well. Below that the oil heat kicks in. During that very cold spell the stove was not able to keep up so I supplemented with oil heat. I kept the stove set at #4. I also ran it at #5 but didn't see a huge difference although I must admit I didn't keep it at #5 for very long.
The house is poorly insulated so I will probably try and address that issue over the next several months.
I do need to install a thermostat and experiment further with the stove.