Off Topic -Pellet Stoves

[5030]

I'm not an igniter fan myself in as much as gelled firestarter or parrafin impregnated blocks are so cheap (one bottle of gelled lasts me all season).

Probably thr biggest downfall to owning a bio-fuel appliance is the lack of maintenance on the part of the owner.

Because it's burning a solid fuel (versus a gas appliance that makes little soot), a bio fuel appliance needs regular maintenance.

As the fly ash builds up in the firebox, it insulates the heat exchanger and as it builds up, less heat is transferred from the fuel to the HX and out into the room. Ash builds up in the vennting as well.

If you don't clean it regularly, like weekly, it's not very efficient and the ash biuldup can clog the evnting. Remember, this is a negative draft burner, that is, the combustion air is drawn in and pulled through the firebox by the negative draft fan. That fan also controls the burn rate, more air in, more fuel consumed...to a point that I'm not going to get into here because that's all about fine tuning for maximum heat output.

I shut mine down weekly and vacuum out not only the firebox, but behind the firebox and heat baffles as well plus I vacuum ot the passages to the draft fan and twice yearly, I pull apart the venting (inside and outside the house) and clean it too.

My 6039 USSC has an ashpan that gets dumped monthly (or more often if necessary).

I've spent a few years fine tuning my appliance for maximum output utilizing outside air for combustion and tweaking the control board to provide the maximum output with the least amount of fuel consumed, but without regular and through cleaning, no amount of fine tuning will increase BTU output versus fuel usage.

I've been playing with these (stoves) a long time.

Fianlly, I run a remote thermostat, a LUX. I've reset the parameters on the remote to a temperature differential of +- 2 degrees. and I run a LUX Clean cycle thermostat on the central heat system so the central furnace goes into a forced air only mode every 15 minutes for 5 minutes, distributing and equalizing the air temperature throughout my home.

I can't see having one room (where the appliance is) at a sweltering temperature and the rest of our home freezing.

Like other posters, I prefer a corn/pellet mix of about 50-50, getting the better BTU per pound output from the corn, while the pellets reduce the clinkering but corn is way too high per bushel to justify burning this year, so it's Premium Hardwood Pellets for me.

All pellets aren't created equal by any means but that's another subject for another time.

Anyone thinking about purchasing an appliance should consider a multi-fuel appliance that has the capability of not only burning pellets, but any bio-fuel, including corn, wheat, rye, soybeans, cherry pits and pelletized bio-mass because they aren't that much more and they give you many options concerning fuel prices not just now, but in the future.

 

[D33r3 6r33N]

We have a Harmon 25. (50,000btu) On its 5th year I think. Other than cleaning no issues as of yet. I also buy pellets; 5 tons worth, in the summer and pay around 170$ per ton. Just stack them as high as I can in the garage to save space. We also
use a plastic deck box to store about 12 bags so that you don't have to go out to the (unattached) garage to get a bag.

 

[5030]

...and I leave mine on the skid which I convenienty place near the back deck so my wife can bring them in as needed.......:laughing: I am retired you know.......:thumbsup:

When I burn a corn pellet mix, I usually have 5 or 6 30 gallon plastic trash cans on the deck to mix corn and pellets in.

The ashes from the ashpan wind up in the garden. Potatoes like 'em.

 

[timswi]

I've had a Quadrafire for almost 4 years and love it..Use it to heat my game/media room and supplement the furnace..Works great and would recommend...

Just have to clean it with a shop-vac once a week or so. They do need some light maintenance, nothing major.

 

[5030]

...Light but regular. Like filling up your car every week. Rwice yearly it's a bit more than light. Moderate to heavy and sooty and dirty to boot.

The 'set it and forget it' syndrome is what takes ir's toll on a bio-fuel appliance.....

 

[not2clever]

I have been fortunate and bought a Whitfield Quest pellet stove in 1996 that is still my main heat source for the house. In its 15 yrs, it has gone through 2 auger motors and 1 convection motor. Blower motor may last 1 more season.

As previous posters have noted, pellet stoves require maintenance and directly impacts the units longevity. I burn approximately 3 tons of pellets a year and have been using Blazers from Home Depot.

Dave

 

[Combustix]

Switched over from propane which was way to expensive to a Lopi pioneer pellet stove. I burn just about a ton/year which runs me 210-230 as I use bear mtn pellets, which are good hardwood pellets, and burn pretty clean. Have had the stove 4 years now hooked to a thermostat and have had zero issues. I do a thorough cleaning before the season and once about mid season when the weather is nice as I don't have a hepa vac and use my shop vac on the outside with a long hose. I am looking at getting a pellet furnace for the other side of the house as that is still heated by propane.

 

[5030]

Switched over from propane which was way to expensive to a Lopi pioneer pellet stove. I burn just about a ton/year which runs me 210-230 as I use bear mtn pellets, which are good hardwood pellets, and burn pretty clean. Have had the stove 4 years now hooked to a thermostat and have had zero issues. I do a thorough cleaning before the season and once about mid season when the weather is nice as I don't have a hepa vac and use my shop vac on the outside with a long hose. I am looking at getting a pellet furnace for the other side of the house as that is still heated by propane.

You really don't need a HEPA vacuum. Go get yourself a package of 'Drywall Rated' bags/liners for your shop vacuum. They are yellow, not white and a drywall rated primary filter. I use my shop vacuum in the house for appliance cleanout and have been for years using the drywall bags. Actually, I use them for all dry pickup... Not that much more expensive.

 

[5030]

I have been fortunate and bought a Whitfield Quest pellet stove in 1996 that is still my main heat source for the house. In its 15 yrs, it has gone through 2 auger motors and 1 convection motor. Blower motor may last 1 more season.

As previous posters have noted, pellet stoves require maintenance and directly impacts the units longevity. I burn approximately 3 tons of pellets a year and have been using Blazers from Home Depot.

Dave

I buy pellets directly from the manufacturer or in a large quantity if I can find them as follows...

Most important... They need to be PFI (Pellet Fuel Institute) rated as premium hardwood pellets, however, that don't mean that they will be suitable for your application as all pellets that are certified aren't creared equal (as I've found out over the years).

It still takes some experimentation to determine what burns best, with the least amount of ash, in your particular unit, because, while all units combust and extract heat, they all do it in different ways, utilizing different methods.

I've even seen pellets that burn good one winter, burn like crap the next because the material content changed at the mill. Remember pelletized wood fibre is a waste product, hammermilled and extruded wood fibers so it all depends on the material content prior to hammermilling, as to what the end product will burn like.

Pellet manufacturers can be looked at like a scrap yard for wood. The pellet manufacturer takes in wood scrap whether its saw log parts, scrap wood skids, scrap flooring from a flooring mill or scrap dimensional lumber from a manufacturer and processes it into pellets, bags them, skids them and sells them to stores (and you if you can buy a large enough quantity).

Because my neighbors all have bio-fuel appliances and I own a fork lift and have unloading capabilities, I try to buy quantity, direct from the pellet manufacturer. Most times, that entails a truckload, 22 skids at 2,000 pounds a skid but the price is apppreciably less, even factoring in transportation.

I can typically negotitate a per skid price 25-30 percent lower than any sale price on full skids, plus the manufacturer likes truckload sales because there is less handling for them.

 

[Luremaker]

You really don't need a HEPA vacuum. Go get yourself a package of 'Drywall Rated' bags/liners for your shop vacuum. They are yellow, not white and a drywall rated primary filter. I use my shop vacuum in the house for appliance cleanout and have been for years using the drywall bags. Actually, I use them for all dry pickup... Not that much more expensive.

I use the same yellow bags in my shop vac for the past few years. I go through two or three bags a season. Pick them up when they are on sale. In early summer after the heating season I take my stove outside and clean it out using my air compressor. You would not believe how much soot and ash is still in the stove after you vacuumed it out.