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Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: K Frame on February 11, 2019, 09:07:38 AM

Title: I have created fire!
Post by: K Frame on February 11, 2019, 09:07:38 AM
After freaking years of talking about them, researching them, wanting them, and always seeming to get kicked back for one reason or another, my pellet stove is finally in and running!

My contractor and I put it in place and installed the venting yesterday morning. Sealed everything up, and I gave it a couple of hours for the sealant to dry before I finally kicked it over around 5 p.m.

It stank for a bit, which is expected, as the manufacturing oils burn off, the sealant hardens and cures, and the paint outgasses, so I spent part of the time with the patio door open and a fan in the upstairs bedroom window pulling air out.

I ran it for about 4 hours on settings 1 and 2 (lowest) and it did a fantastic job of pumping heat into the house.


(http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL856/932748/20286314/414134856.jpg)
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: makattak on February 11, 2019, 01:59:36 PM
As I can't see from the picture, how is it vented? Just straight through the wall behind?
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: K Frame on February 11, 2019, 02:18:36 PM
Yes, straight out the wall and then up on the outside.

If you look at the left side of the stove you'll see sort of a black "tab" on the back edge.

That's actually the wall thimble.
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: freakazoid on February 11, 2019, 06:17:53 PM
Don't really know anything about these. What's the benefit?
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: K Frame on February 11, 2019, 07:10:50 PM
Don't really know anything about these. What's the benefit?

Warm heat instead of tepid heat.

I have a heat pump, which really isn't warm heat. It also sucks up the electric. The colder it is the more the electric resistance heating strips kick in to make up for the heat it can't scavenge out of the air.

They don't require elaborate masonry chimneys. The fuel comes in 40 pound bags that are easier to store if you don't have room for cord wood.

I've always wanted a fireplace, but have never had a place with one. This gives me a more efficient version of a fireplace. No, it's not as soothing or as pretty as a wood fire in a fireplace, but it's a LOT more efficient.
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: Larry Ashcraft on February 11, 2019, 07:36:28 PM
Don't really know anything about these. What's the benefit?
Radiant heat.  It heats objects instead of air, much like the sun.  Nothing else quite like it, even if it doesn't save you money, which it usually does.
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: RoadKingLarry on February 11, 2019, 07:51:56 PM
Pretty good looking little stove.

Pellet stoves are darned convenient as long as you have a ready source of fuel. There are some that will even burn corn. I considered one when I put in my wood stove in 2011. Only two drawbacks for me, runs on electricity to feed the pellets and I can't drive down the hill and saw up a pickup load of pellets.
How much of a generator will it take to run that thing if the power goes out?
As others said radiant heat heats the house not just the air. Even after my wood stove has long since burned down to coals the house itself is still warm.
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: K Frame on February 11, 2019, 08:18:15 PM
Actually pellet stoves aren't so much radiant heat. There is some element of that, but they use an electric blower to move air across heat exchangers to pull heat out of the firebox.

What's sent out the exhaust on this one right now is about 120 deg. F. I'm going to up the voltage on the heat exchange motor to move more heat out of the unit.


"How much of a generator will it take to run that thing if the power goes out?"

Not much. 477 watts during automatic ignition, 77 watts to run the blowers after the ignition phase is completed.

But, in the 25 years I've been in my house I've lost power in the winter for less than 5 minutes, even during the biggest snow or wind storms.

I have lost power several times for multiple days in the summer due to either hurricanes or the Derecho a few years ago, which caused massive outages across the region.


I'd love to be able to run down the hill and cut my own firewood. Except I live in a heavily suburban area and I have virtually no area in which to store wood, where as I can get a ton of pellets on a standard pallet.

Pellets also have higher BTU density than cord wood because they have far less moisture due to the manufacturing process.

Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: K Frame on February 11, 2019, 08:22:33 PM
I got home and cranked it up around 3:30.

I've had it running on the lowest setting since then. The design of the house is helping circulate the warm air very nice.

I'm pretty darned happy with this thing so far.

Yesterday when I turned it up to the second setting it pretty well baked me out of the living room.
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: BobR on February 11, 2019, 09:04:10 PM
Now you need one of these things to put on top of it.

https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Steamer-Enamel-Finish-Resistant/dp/B009YZ4AV2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1549936915&sr=8-5&keywords=cast+iron+humidifier+for+pellet+stove''


bob
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: Triphammer on February 11, 2019, 09:04:35 PM
As to a gen for outages, the pellet feed motors are the draw. Mine  uses two @ 3 amps apiece. The fans don't take much as you said but even at that a 1kW gen can run it.
The pellets provide about 8000 Btu per pound for 11 cents, a little cheaper than Propane an way less than the $11 a  gallon kerosene goes for here.  
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: K Frame on February 12, 2019, 07:32:20 AM
I'm paying right around $5 a bag for pellets right now. I don't know what that will be when I start ordering by the ton next year.

I realize that I may well not save much, if any, money with this pellet stove.

I don't care about that.

Last evening was one of the first times I've truly been comfortable in my house in 25 years in the winter. I didn't want to crawl under a blanket, I didn't want to get an electric radiant heater, I didn't want to build a fire in a bum barrel in the middle of my living room.

Regarding the steamer, I may put a kettle or a pot on top of the stove. After a couple of hours it does get hot enough to keep something warm very nicely, but I have a console humidifier when the house needs a boost.
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: Fly320s on February 12, 2019, 08:34:01 AM
I'm loving my pellet stove.


http://imgur.com/a/Ap6446b (http://imgur.com/a/Ap6446b)
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: K Frame on February 12, 2019, 08:50:21 AM
What brand is that?
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: Fly320s on February 12, 2019, 09:00:01 AM
What brand is that?

Harman P43.
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: Fly320s on February 12, 2019, 09:09:28 AM
Don't really know anything about these. What's the benefit?

Very efficient and compact.  Direct vent through the wall.  Doesn't suck air/heat out of the house like a fireplace.  Easy to install/remove as needed.  Less mess/ash to clean up compared to a wood-burning stove or fireplace.  Some models are fully programmable with a thermostat.  Self-lighting and shutdown.
Title: Re: I have created fire!
Post by: K Frame on February 12, 2019, 07:52:52 PM
Mine's fully programmable with the thermostat!

So far it's running great.

I've been running it primarily on low (not that terribly cold out) and it's doing great. I still have about 1/3rd of a bag of pellets left from the original bag. It's heating the living room very nicely, and it's warming the upstairs slowly. Overall I'm pretty ecstatic with this thing.

We're looking at cold weather this weekend, so I'm sure my pellet consumption will go up.