Off Topic -Pellet Stoves

[JimP]

We added a Harman Accentra fireplace pellet insert about 5 years ago. It heats most of the living area. We use less oil and the heat is more consistent.

It needs to be shutdown and cleaned about every 2 weeks (cleaning time about 1 hour) and the flue cleaned once a season. We buy pellets late summer/early fall when they go on sale. Be careful, not all "premium" pellets are the same - or even good.

 

[whistlepig]

I have a Whitfield pellet stove that came with my house. Recently it started acting up. Instead of feeding pellets in at continuous intervals, it waits until the fire is almost out and then dumps in way too many, so that a lot spill over the sides. Then it stops and won't feed again until the fire is almost out again. It does this two or three times and then goes into fault. Any ideas? I don't know where this thing came from as it came with the house. I have a PDF owner's manual but that's it. I did clean it all out already.

I have a 1999 Whitfield. Built back in the day when Whitfield was the best of all pellet stoves. This was before Lennox bought Whitfield out and the quality went down the tube. I am by no means an expert on pellet stoves. My Whitfield is my first and only experience with pellet stoves. The pellet stove came along with my house that was built in 1999. Along with this pellet stove the previous owner left 8 bags of cheap pellets. The first thing I figured out on the Whitfield is that the auger system is precise and delicate. I tried using these cheap pellets. Too many fines (dust I call it). The cheap pellets clogged the auger with fines. After I started using premium pellets I had no problems. There are other issues with cheap pellets. They take a set in my hopper. They burn dirty and clog my firebox. They burn dusty. If you buy a premium pellet stove and then use cheap pellets you are going to get a very bad opinion about pellet stoves.

 

[204saskman]

I will chime in here. I own 2 Harman PC-45 Corn/pellet stoves. I have had minimal isues with them the past 3 years. One stove it an older one(8 years old) and i bought a new one 3 years ago too. I have burned anything from corn, canola(rap seed), Canary seed,barley,oats,wheat,rye,wood pellets,bio mass pellets,Ag pellets. I have been very pleased with these stoves, they push enough heat to do out whole house(1050 per floor). I find you have to find a dealer that has good customer service. I just sold one of my harmans to a guy and am replacing it with a Enviro(Enviro - Quality Fireplaces, Freestanding Stoves and Fireplace Inserts in Gas, Wood and Pellet) Maxx M. This stove is rated at 70,000 btu and able to heat 2700 Sq/ft. Just want to try a bigger one. Next year i plan on installing a Grain/pellet boiler system to heat my other buildings and my house also but well see once i get there. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[soulasphil]

Very nice setup! Do you worry at all about moisture getting to your pellets from the concrete floor and walls?

I am a bit worried about that, but no moisture so far. The walls are thick (granit on the outside and cinderblocks on the inside), the floor is isolated from the ground and the pellets rest on wooden slopes. I keep my fingers crossed. The only incidents I've heard about concerned metal silos.

 

[5030]

L<ets see, besides being a moderator on a bio fuel forum, I've been heating with a solid fuel appliance (more than one, I've worn a few out) for about 18 years now, before they were popular, because I've always been cheap....

At present I have a USSC 6039 Multifuel stand alone in the great room that heats the entire house, all winter, on 150 bushel of corn or 5 ton of pellets, this year it's pellets because the price per bushel of corn (12% RM) is too high so it's pellets.

I like having the option of any bio-mass fuel and the USSC has a computer controlled burn plus manual settings so it combusts anything that can be pelletized or whole grains and cherry pits.

Plus, ir's basically less thyan 2 grand installed with venting.

Its running right now. 32 outside, 70 inside. You'll need to keep the interior air moist however. The stove/appliance will dry thr interior air and make it 'feel' colder plus everything will dry out, including your nose.

I use a pair of Honeywell 'Whole House' stand alone humidifiers that run 24 hours on one filling. I try to keep the inside air at least at 50% RM.

 

[Willl]

I had a pellet heating installed last summer

Wow, yes, very nice setup.

How does it feed pellets from storage cell to stove ?

 

[Car Doc]

I have a multi-fuel American Harvest free standing pellet stove and wood pellets are the cheapest this year again compared to corn.

We have a 48 bushel grain cart to bring bulk corn home from the coop or the field but corn is so high again we wont be using any for the 3rd year in a row which sucks I like using it makes lots of heat and its real handy to bring in from the cart in 5 gal buckets.

Corn and wood mix is the best of both worlds we have found, corn makes the most heat but it needs to be throttled up whereas a 30/70 etc mix burns hot and can be run on low/med.

 

[Kep]

I have a Breckwell Multi-fuel now on it's 4th year. It pays to buy most of my pellets in Aug. (170.00 a ton from Menards) Oil was getting way to expensive years ago and the fill I got last week Cost me $3.49 a gallon for 171 gallons. I keep close taps on engergy prices with a spread sheet.

Fuel oil $31.45 per Million BTU's 80% efficiency
Pellets $12.93 per million 82%
propane $25.83 92%
wood $16.53 65%
electric $26.02 98%
Geo heat pump $7.73 330%
Coal $10.67 75%

 

[ddb123]

Sounds like the auger feed control is gone. If it's anything like my Harman then both the blower and auger are variable knobs on a circuit board and subject to fail. The replacement board with both controls for mine is about $150. It looks like yours may be a little more: Replacement parts for Whitfield Pellet Stoves

I love this forum.

Turned it on today and it only blew cold air!

 

[Willl]

Pellet heat is our only heat and we used a old manual ignite Whitfield Advantage for about 5 years and never had a problem with it.

About 7 years ago I upgraded to a Breckwell with auto ignite and hooked it up to a fancy thermostat.
In those 7 years, I've had to replace igniters (X4), room air blowers (X2.5) and 1 control board.

The igniters were kinda my fault. When we first got it, I had the thermostat controlling stop-start. Problem was thermostats dead zone was at a nonadjustable .5 degree diff. Stove was stop/starting 48 times a day !
Now run it at the high/low setting and haven't bought a igniter since.

The blower motors I now rebuild myself. Bearings are the same size as rollerskate bearings. I'm on my first set.