I know there are many out there and I spent a good portion of this morning reading through them - one thing that seems obvious is that everyone's stove is different.
I have noticed pellet consumption has steadily increased as the season has progressed. We are currently burning through a full hopper (approx 37lbs) in 8-9 hours. A full 40 lb. bags yields approx 9-12 hours depending on fuel type. Our stove runs on a setting of (1-3) all the time. We never adjust the setting as the stove provides ambient heat for our addition and is not a main heat source for the house. I have never adjusted the preset factory LFF/LFA settings on the stove which were 5-4-1, until today.
This burn rate seems really high to me. Last season the somersets would burn 16-18 hours and that has decreased this season. We are also noticing that the burn pot will have unburned pellets instead of ash for the daily cleaning which raises my concern level as well. I'm assuming the LFF is set to high and the stove isn't burning pellets efficiently enough.
Today I changed the bottom settings to 4-3-1 and have already noticed a change in feed rate which is good news. The heat output has decreased about 50 degrees but I'm not concerned about that really. My concern now is that the flame is very inconsistent - it goes from a big roaring flame back to a very small flame and continues on that cycle as the bottom auger delivers fuel. I'm hoping the pellet fuel is completely burned however and will report back after cleaning in the morning.
I have an OAK installed and a through the wall exhaust piping that extends vertically approx 4 feet. The stove is cleaned and swept out with an ash vac daily.
The only thing I can think of is that the monthly cleaning is due. I plan on doing it this week when I return home from a business trip. I don't think that alone would account for my issues though. The stove is pampered daily and I gave it a good monthly cleaning after Christmas. Just wondering if anyone has any other comments or suggestions for me while I observe the setting changes.
I appreciate your help and feedback.
I have noticed pellet consumption has steadily increased as the season has progressed. We are currently burning through a full hopper (approx 37lbs) in 8-9 hours. A full 40 lb. bags yields approx 9-12 hours depending on fuel type. Our stove runs on a setting of (1-3) all the time. We never adjust the setting as the stove provides ambient heat for our addition and is not a main heat source for the house. I have never adjusted the preset factory LFF/LFA settings on the stove which were 5-4-1, until today.
This burn rate seems really high to me. Last season the somersets would burn 16-18 hours and that has decreased this season. We are also noticing that the burn pot will have unburned pellets instead of ash for the daily cleaning which raises my concern level as well. I'm assuming the LFF is set to high and the stove isn't burning pellets efficiently enough.
Today I changed the bottom settings to 4-3-1 and have already noticed a change in feed rate which is good news. The heat output has decreased about 50 degrees but I'm not concerned about that really. My concern now is that the flame is very inconsistent - it goes from a big roaring flame back to a very small flame and continues on that cycle as the bottom auger delivers fuel. I'm hoping the pellet fuel is completely burned however and will report back after cleaning in the morning.
I have an OAK installed and a through the wall exhaust piping that extends vertically approx 4 feet. The stove is cleaned and swept out with an ash vac daily.
The only thing I can think of is that the monthly cleaning is due. I plan on doing it this week when I return home from a business trip. I don't think that alone would account for my issues though. The stove is pampered daily and I gave it a good monthly cleaning after Christmas. Just wondering if anyone has any other comments or suggestions for me while I observe the setting changes.
I appreciate your help and feedback.
