# How's your stove holding up to the frigid temps?



## bbfarm (Dec 12, 2013)

Ours is doing an ok job.  It has been well below zero with the wind chills for almost a week. 

We are running at about 70-72 degrees on level 4 when home.

The problem we are having is we have to drop the stove to level 3 while we are at work or we will run out of pellets.  Those darn hoppers only hold so many pellets.  Then it drops to 65 - 68 .


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## Vector06 (Dec 12, 2013)

Were down for parts...


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## DOLLARBILL (Dec 12, 2013)

As warm as a bug in a rug !


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## Hoot23 (Dec 12, 2013)

It's 8* right and supposed to get really cold the rest of the weekend. You wouldn't know it in here, shorts and t-shirts. 

Bbfarm- stinks you have to turn it down when ya leave. It must eat a lot of fuel to get everything back up to temp. A bag before I go to work, and a bag at night for us and no settings changed.


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## tsmith (Dec 12, 2013)

No problems here, nice and warm, 1 bag per day.


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## Jaymaine34 (Dec 12, 2013)

Toasty here ! Outside its 6 inside 75 . Did bump it up to med setting . Stove runs for about 3 hrs shuts off then comes back on in about 2 hrs ( pretty pleased with that ) about a bag a day still REAlY like the energex softies !


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## stevemartin (Dec 12, 2013)

Warm and cozy here. Using about 1.5 bags per day of Hamer's on setting 3 out of 5, which keeps us at around 72 degrees. Thermometer said 10 degrees this morning outside.


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## Bioburner (Dec 12, 2013)

About a bag and half thru the Harman and ten pounds thru the Elena as the temps never got above -6 and started out at -21 yesterday. No problems here other than its awful early to be this cold for this long. No return to normal temps for a week more.


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## bonesy (Dec 12, 2013)

Good 'ol BigE running on level 2 keeps my R13 insulated garage between 64-65 degrees consistently, current outside temp is 16.0f


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## St_Earl (Dec 12, 2013)

2 degrees last night (3 now) still barefoot 
running on high for a while before bed, then down to medium.

i have a friend in minnesota. she said it was 30 below near pine river the other day.
i love winter, but damn! so cold out there.


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## john193 (Dec 12, 2013)

Good. It's hungry.


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## iceguy4 (Dec 12, 2013)

working beyond expectations....It IS hungry though


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## joescho (Dec 12, 2013)

I can really tell the difference when it gets really cold.  Its been about 20 degrees fairly steady here for the past few days.  Normally I go through 1 bag every 3 or 4 days or so since I also have a wood stove and its constantly burning.  The past few days I've been doing a bag every 2 days.  That's also with keeping the thermostat urned down to 68 during the day while I'm at work.  The pellet usage is above what I'm used to, but it keeps the house about 70-72 degrees...


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## P38X2 (Dec 12, 2013)

Stove holding out just fine. 1 this AM, now 8. My previous stove (P38) would've been showing signs of panic last night.


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## gleblanc1783 (Dec 12, 2013)

Great! Lows of single digits, Accentra is set to 75 Room Temp/medium/2 and it's heats my 2000 square foot house to a constant 72 downstairs and 68-69 upstairs. 1 bag lasts me about 26 hours -- not bad! 

Burning Greene Supremes this year, can't be happier!!


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## dw06 (Dec 12, 2013)

Happy and warm here.  Running a bag and half a day, but nice 75 inside! Looks like more snow this weekend for us, but temps going up some.


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## Harman Lover 007 (Dec 12, 2013)

Good to go here as well. I don't even have the heat turned on in my downstairs and with this cold I'm a little over a bag a day. The two college monsters that are draining my wallet are due home for Christmas break tomorrow. I "may" have to turn on the heat in that end of the house.......


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## Jacques909 (Dec 12, 2013)

My Harman p61a keeping my 1200 sq ft. Home nice and warm. Best investment!


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## Phoenix Hatchling (Dec 12, 2013)

bbfarm said:


> Ours is doing an ok job.  It has been well below zero with the wind chills for almost a week.
> 
> We are running at about 70-72 degrees on level 4 when home.
> 
> The problem we are having is we have to drop the stove to level 3 while we are at work or we will run out of pellets.  Those darn hoppers only hold so many pellets.  Then it drops to 65 - 68 .


I guess if I had 1 bag of pellets, I would try to make it last also! Really? One Baggie? We are at around 72 degrees for a 2300 square foot house. A bit cooler around 68 on the far end of the house.


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## earl764 (Dec 12, 2013)

Our goal is 65 degrees inside. Nice and warm. Stove is on setting 4 of 6.


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## stoveguy2esw (Dec 12, 2013)

holding 75 in the house running about a half a bag more last few days per day, hitting about 55 lbs or so each 24 hours in my PAH running in high low (3 heat range 9 blower) for the high range.


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## ChandlerR (Dec 12, 2013)

Runnin' off the thermostat which is set at 70 and the stove is on high / low.  It put puts along on low and a couple of times an hour, it pops up to my setpoint of #4 for 10 minutes, then back down to low. It's not too cold here though...13 degrees.


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## Enigma869 (Dec 12, 2013)

ChandlerR said:


> It's not too cold here though...13 degrees.


 
That may not be "too cold" for Minnesota but that's about as cold as it gets in Hampton, NH!


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## ChandlerR (Dec 12, 2013)

Enigma869 said:


> That may not be "too cold" for Minnesota but that's about as cold as it gets in Hampton, NH!


Well, it's cold, but having lived in NH all my life, I've seen much worse. (although not the -40 in the upper midwestern states!)


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## Marsha Cook (Dec 12, 2013)

6 degrees on my little hill near Keene NH. Stove keeping the house at 68. Really nice.


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## bbfarm (Dec 12, 2013)

We normally put 2 bags in per day. It uses maybe 3/4 of that.

I know on Monday it was -25 with the wind chill outside and I walked in after 12.5 hours of being gone and the auger was just going to be empty with a few handfuls on the sides of the hopper that didn't slide down. That was cutting it close 

Wish I could find a hopper extension for our stove.  

It has been below zero temps with way below zero wind chills


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## becasunshine (Dec 12, 2013)

We are burning up the last of the very ashy, clinker-producing batch of Hamer's.  Timing is a bit awkward because it looks like we'll finish up this hopper of Hamer's sometime around midnight, maybe a little after midnight.  I want to pull the stove down and vacuum out the exhaust pathways before we start on the newer pellets.  I guess we'll have to use the furnace overnight and for tomorrow morning- right in the middle of the latest cold spell, but OK.

We are burning right around 2 lbs./hour, give or take a couple of tenths of pounds.  Can somebody show me again how to do the BTU's per pound per hour calculation?

It's 30'F outside right now, 71.5'F in the stove room, 66'F in the rest of the house.

Right now is when I wish I knew then what I know now re: purchasing/sizing a stove for this house.  OK, so we typically keep the HVAC t-stat on 65'F, so the house is a degree warmer than we'd be willing to pay for furnace heat- but if I'm going to put in the effort for a wood burning device, I'D LIKE IT TO BE BALMY AND TROPICAL IN HERE.

Then again, the furnace has run 4 times since last winter.  Two of those times were during HVAC check ups.  Two times the furnace came on "by accident" and we ran to cut it off immediately.  In all four times, the furnace was on for mere moments and was turned off ASAP.  We now keep the HVAC turned off entirely, and the furnace hasn't run at all since the HVAC guy was here to check for back drafting in the water heater vent last week.

So, I suppose I shouldn't complain- but we are a cautionary tale, I think, about the optimistic "will heat up to 100,000 sq ft!" ratings for all of these space heating appliances.

EDITED:  On the other hand, I've been pressure canning and water bath canning for the better part of the day.  While I've been dumping extra heat into the house, I've also been running the exhaust fan over the stove to pull steam out of the house.  I'm sure I've been pulling stove-generated BTU's out of the house as well.  Also, The Hubs pulled out the caulk gun this evening and hit a couple more places around the back door through which we could feel leaks.

The temp in the house has risen by a degree in just the few minutes since we've turned off the exhaust fan.


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## MountainSean (Dec 12, 2013)

Nice and toasty warm. Got down to -11 and turn the stove to 2 at night then bounce between 2 and 3 for the day time. Living room where stove is runs about 77ish far end of house is 72, using a bit less than a bag a day right now.


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## becasunshine (Dec 12, 2013)

MountainSean said:


> Nice and toasty warm. Got down to -11 and turn the stove to 2 at night then bounce between 2 and 3 for the day time. Living room where stove is runs about 77ish far end of house is 72, using a bit less than a bag a day right now.



Got your magnet on our fridge!  You are our favorite source for stove parts!


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## Flammam (Dec 12, 2013)

The old integra is doing well as usual.burning about 1.5 bags now stove room temp 73 upstairs 70. Just looked at the outside temp 0. Going to be a cool one tonight


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## oliveone (Dec 12, 2013)

My Enviro Maxx stove has just been feed a few bags of Somerset’s today! I been burning timber heat until this cold weather started. Stove is on 2 out of 5 and house is 72 upstairs. It is 13 outside right now. My Maxx was a great buy would buy again, Or maybe a P68 next time.  bring on the cold


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## mithesaint (Dec 13, 2013)

Struggling a bit.  My stove is a bit undersized for my house, but does fine in all but the worst weather.  Once the windchills drop below 0 it starts to struggle, and it's been cold and windy here.  The lower side of my OAK has a nice little coating of ice.


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## CamperWill (Dec 13, 2013)

Woke up and it was a bit chilly (67), burning firesides on heat range 3


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## MikeNH (Dec 13, 2013)

4 degrees outside, 72 inside.  Working well using about 1 bag per day and no "backup" fuel


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## Fundy (Dec 13, 2013)

-17 C or 1.4 F outside and 72 F inside


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## Madcodger (Dec 13, 2013)

Keeping the house very comfortable at about 70 day / 64 night with temps 16-18 night, high 20s day.  Over 3000 SF with two stoves burning 1.73 bags/day total and almost no use of heat pump.  Came on two days when setting changed to much higher target temp, for 30/45 min only (runs 12  - 16 hours otherwise, and never really comfortable).  Just got ducts partially sealed so will be experimenting with heat distribution over next few days using HVAC fan.  Now need to install OAK on older Quest...  Fixing my stupidity there...


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## Bioburner (Dec 13, 2013)

Madcodger said:


> Keeping the house very comfortable at about 70 day / 64 night with temps 16-18 night, high 20s day.  Over 3000 SF with two stoves burning 1.73 bags/day total and almost no use of heat pump.  Came on two days when setting changed to much higher target temp, for 30/45 min only (runs 12  - 16 hours otherwise, and never really comfortable).  Just got ducts partially sealed so will be experimenting with heat distribution over next few days using HVAC fan.  Now need to install OAK on older Quest...  Fixing my stupidity there...


Better late than never.


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## Madcodger (Dec 13, 2013)

Bioburner said:


> Better late than never.


I'll even take eventually...  I still can't believe I allowed it.  Was out of town on install day and getting info relayed to me, but still...  Just stupid.


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## bill3rail (Dec 13, 2013)

Just around freezing for almost a week, and were comfortable.  My wife started it at 0400 yesterday, and I shut it down at 0930.
Last night it ran through the night, and we were quite comfortable sleeping.

Bill

P.S. Dinosaur burning monster thermostat is set to 50 degrees just in case.


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## VIBErator (Dec 13, 2013)

- 22C yesterday.  Was pretty chilly.  Cold and windy today, going to stay like that for a week or so it seems.  Stove chugging along on setting #2  24/7.   No thermostat. Approx 2 bags of cubex a day. Very comfortable in the house. 2200 sqft side split.  Stove in the basement, toasty down there.

Stay warm
H.


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## David Holmes (Dec 13, 2013)

Minus 3 deg F here no wind, setting no 4 of 5, about a bag and one half per day now. Furnace comes on periodically at night, not during the day. Cosy upstairs, 65 deg F downstairs where I work. The stove is setup to blow the air directly up the stairway, works great.


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## VIBErator (Dec 13, 2013)

David Holmes said:


> Minus 3 deg F here no wind, setting no 4 of 5, about a bag and one half per day now. Furnace comes on periodically at night, not during the day. Cosy upstairs, 65 deg F downstairs where I work. The stove is setup to blow the air directly up the stairway, works great.


 

I hear from family you guys had some good Aurora Borealis showings the other night. Wish we got more down here.   -3F just doesn't sound as cold as -19.

H.


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## David Holmes (Dec 13, 2013)

I got up about 2:30 AM to drain the rad and noticed them, sort of phasing out. Back in 1996 we had a spectacular display that filled the whole sky, too big to take a picture, just couldn't get it all in. I see you have a Drolet 65, my daughter just bought a used one from a friend so must go out and check it out, clean it etc.


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## yooper81 (Dec 13, 2013)

Quad holding up well.... Very long extended cold spell and things are going well. Had my first "clinker" with the somersets and it was a beauty! Knew right away when I saw that lazy slow flame.  It actually re-ignited a few times after I shut off the stove feed. Unusual for the somerset. Every stove is different and I have found that by setting the fan speed on low, auger speed on medium, then 30 min or so after moving fan to high and getting lower level into the 70's, turning ceiling fan on to push warm air upstairs and then running fan and auger on low 24/7 keeps my 2400 sq ft bi-level a steady comfortable 68'-70'..... just started on my second ton.


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## briansol (Dec 13, 2013)

Honestly, not good.   it's struggling to keep the house at 62.   I've had to run the oil pig a few times to help it out.
This is with the barefoots in too and running on setting 4/5.  setting 5 just doesn't work....  it goes sooty and lazy within a half hour.

If I decide to stay here in this house, which I'm not planning to do, i'm going to get a 2nd stove for my family room on the other end of the house and down 6 open stairs.  a big free stander like a p61.


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## GuitsBoy (Dec 13, 2013)

Its been dipping down into the high teens and low 20s here.  Going through a bag to bag and a half a day, set to 4/9 auger and 6/9 fan.  The downstairs ranges from 74 to 68 depending on where you are, but the upstairs oil heat zone kicks on a handful of times a night, set at 65.  Still, for every bag I dump in, I know that's 2.5 gallons of oil I'm saving.


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## bostonfan49 (Dec 13, 2013)

TOASTY, 72 with our humidifier running, heat level 4, pellet feed 3 for early AM then 3/3 for the day....beats the 68/69F when we were on oil all the time!  Bill


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## earl764 (Dec 13, 2013)

I had to bump it up to setting 5 of 6 last night. 

Went below 18 degrees.


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## Augmister (Dec 13, 2013)

10 degrees last night and have tapped the Barefoots.  Keeping it around 75 indoors.  Need to move the low on my thermostat up from 65 to 68.   Burning close to a bag a day at these temps.  Stacked enough bags of Barefoots for the weekend mess.
Going down to 13 tonight and looking at 6-10" of the whiteness, beginning around noon tomorrow.   Coldest I have every experienced was in Madison WI, straight temp - 45 and the windchill that night was -72.   Hell, when it gets below zero, I can't tell the difference.   Around here, single digits to -5 is about as cold as it gets.   Should see some of this later this winter if the Farmer's Almanac is right.


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## Indiana (Dec 13, 2013)

It's been in the mid teens at night for a few days.  Day temps in the mid 20's. My CPM is eating 2 bags a day on heat level 8 at night and 6 during the day. Nice and toasty 70 degrees.


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## brokenknee (Dec 13, 2013)

Had a -27 on my vehicle the other day, heard the wind-chill was a minus 50 in a town about 20 miles west of me. The Harman is keeping up but going through 2 bags a day, at $4 a bag it is really more than I want to spend. I really need to get my wood stove installed. I thought I would have it in by now but wasn't able to find anyone to do the taping on my addition. I have done some, so I am in the process of doing it. I just have a few spots to touch up and then paint. I have the wood ready to go as I have been using wood as my main source of heat for the last two years. I bought the pellet stove for the shoulder seasons.

It warmed up to above 0 yesterday, but the high today was a minus 2. Heard we are in for a heat wave next week (20) but then they are talking another winter storm coming in.


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## iceguy4 (Dec 13, 2013)

I warm, but I'm burning some pellets!!  Its hard to estimate how many bags are burned with a bulk hopper but I'd say I got very close to 2 1/2 tons burned. I'll know better this weekend when I clean and move some pellets.. We keep the house a lot warmer then we did burning fuel oil.


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## tumbles (Dec 13, 2013)

9 here!.  Running the stove on low medium and the House is  78.  The dog and I are good and toasty.  Lopi Leyden and Vermont wood pellets are keeping us warm!  The Vermont's are great, low ash and high heat? Biggest complaint from family is the house is too warm!   Have to keep the bedroom doors closed s it gets too hot!   Son doesn't want to go to friends house as they keep the oil heat at 62.  Loving the pellet heat!


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## Hoot23 (Dec 13, 2013)

Nice in here.


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## bollyRZ500 (Dec 14, 2013)

-26C or -15F currently brrrr!

had to adjust feed to 4, heat to 4, blower to 5


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## PoolGuyinCT (Dec 14, 2013)

bollyRZ500 said:


> -26C or -15F currently brrrr!
> 
> had to adjust feed to 4, heat to 4, blower to 5




That makes me feel weak,,,


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## boomhour (Dec 14, 2013)

PoolGuyinCT said:


> That makes me feel weak,,,



Me to, was -28 
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
 things are looking up .


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## iceguy4 (Dec 14, 2013)

tumbles said:


> keep the oil heat at 62


 Yes yes...we use to keep it at that and below (set back).
                    Those were the "old days"   we keep it closer to 72° now   ... and our set back temp still 55°  Its kinda funny...62° is fine in the summer and unacceptable in the winter
   It was close to zero this morning


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## briansol (Dec 15, 2013)

reading all of these temps way colder than mine and inside way hotter than mine make me hate my stove.

i'm struggling to keep my 1400 sq ft house built in 1997 with modern windows/etc  at 62 with the thing cranked burning barefoots.

wtf.  lennox sucks.


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## boomhour (Dec 16, 2013)

boomhour said:


> Me to, was -28
> 
> 
> 
> ...



well they were


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## moey (Dec 16, 2013)

briansol said:


> reading all of these temps way colder than mine and inside way hotter than mine make me hate my stove.
> 
> i'm struggling to keep my 1400 sq ft house built in 1997 with modern windows/etc  at 62 with the thing cranked burning barefoots.
> 
> wtf.  lennox sucks.



People put there thermostats in different locations. I used to run mine up to 78 doesn't mean the majority of my house was that warm not anywhere near there.


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## briansol (Dec 16, 2013)

I gauge by my oil  pig wall mounted Taco thermostat.  Not the pellet stove.


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## AGPNY (Dec 16, 2013)

nice and warm here in upstate ny my agp stove is doing a good job  its about 75 in my house and 13 out side i'm only going throw a bag and half  i'm happy with that  right now i'm burning  some stove chaw


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## Threerun (Dec 16, 2013)

We've got down to −20 to −25 last week, not including wind chill. Now we're in a warm spell. It was 45deg today!  Makes ice fishing tough when you get 12" good ice, melt off and refreezing. I just wish it would stay COLD!

We actually shut down our stove over the past few days. Got a good cleaning in while it was not needed. Temps look to fall again at mid-week to single digit lows. Our M55 freestanding does a great job in our home. Nice and toasty, 1 bag per day.


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## Kherr (Dec 16, 2013)

11 below here last week in the mornings.  Warmed up to upper 20's, but now foggy due to inversion.  P43 has been purring along keeping us nice and warm.  Fog today caused OAK vent to freeze over.  That caused some ugly black crap in the stove due to lack of air.  Oops!  That was new one.  Gonna have to keep the vent clear.


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## Big E (Dec 16, 2013)

My Big E has 140#  hopper. 1 bag in the morning and 1 bag in the evening, just to keep her full. 7 Degrees F outside as I type this, 65 degrees inside. Heat setting on 3. Haven't had to go to heat setting 4 yet...


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## jimfrompa (Dec 17, 2013)

Nights in the teens to middle 20's.  Using about one half a bag more than when the temps stay in the low 30's at night.  House nice and warm except in rooms furthest from the stove - they are 68 to 70.  Rest of the house is 71 - 73.  Stove runs about 25 minutes every hour with heat output set to medium high.  Furnace set to come on at 66 but has yet to kick on this winter.  My oil supplier is wondering what the hell is going on.


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## MikeNH (Dec 17, 2013)

These are the types of mornings I'm glad I bought the next size up from what my math said I needed.


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## Hoot23 (Dec 17, 2013)

Had to bump it up a little.


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## St_Earl (Dec 17, 2013)

^we had temps like that called for up here too.
only hit  -8 though. so far.
stove is doing well. getting more heat from the new pellets.


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## kenstogie (Dec 17, 2013)

-1 right now ranges from 60 to 70 depending on what i have the feed rate at.  1-2 bags per day..... glad i have a bigger hopper.


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## VIBErator (Dec 17, 2013)

Was


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## Augmister (Dec 17, 2013)

VIBErator said:


> Was



BUT your air quality is GOOD!


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## VIBErator (Dec 17, 2013)

Augmister said:


> BUT your air quality is GOOD!


Yes if you took little baby breaths.


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## Danny9909 (Dec 17, 2013)

8 degrees last night burn on low on my Lopi Yankee Bay insert .  Kept my the house at 70 degrees. Burning Barefoot pellets


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## boomhour (Dec 18, 2013)

Augmister said:


> BUT your air quality is GOOD!



No.  There is always smog in Ottawa or is that up at the Senate?


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## VIBErator (Dec 18, 2013)

boomhour said:


> No.  There is always smog in Ottawa or is that up at the Senate?



That whole 4 square city blocks is just a cesspool.


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## Pellet-King (Dec 18, 2013)

bollyRZ500 said:


> -26C or -15F currently brrrr!
> 
> had to adjust feed to 4, heat to 4, blower to 5


 -20 here back the '80's here remember getting on my snowmobile, rode it 20 feet and said F This!!


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## Elle (Dec 18, 2013)

Actually quite cold but t hat probably has more to do with a leaky house and not great wood.  The house is sealed MUCH better than it was two years ago but still no tight.  46 was the lowest it's been when I get up in the morning and I have a hard time getting above 65 in the day. I also work 8 to 10 hours a day which I'm sure makes a difference. If someone was here to stoke the fire all day I might be quite cozy.  Blaze king next year lol


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## Elle (Dec 18, 2013)

Whoops just saw this was the pellets place ll


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## boomhour (Dec 18, 2013)

Pellet-King said:


> -20 here back the '80's here remember getting on my snowmobile, rode it 20 feet and said F This!!



Yearly ride up in Rouyn-Noranda in Quebec and the worst we had was minus 48 with a wind chill much lower than that.  Coming out of New Liskeard, Ontario we lost one sled to the cold.  We doubled up and left it.  We said the same thing you did!  But we still went back the next year!!


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## St_Earl (Dec 19, 2013)

HEAT WAVE OVER HERE!
it's after dark and it's 24f (-4.4c)
stove is off for a while.


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## Threerun (Dec 20, 2013)

-3F tonight.


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## Phil Do's fire. (Dec 20, 2013)

Once I got the crappy Currans out of my stove and put in the Cleanfire Pacifics, all is well. My Italian stallion pumped out the heat.


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## rich2500 (Dec 20, 2013)

toasty mid 70's  burning cheat rivers and chow


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## Bioburner (Dec 20, 2013)

Harman chewing though a fair amount pellets and the Ecoteck happily using horse bedding pellets for a AM and PM hour bump. 5 below zero this morning with a fresh 3 inch snowfall. Glad I got the snowblower patched up.


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## kenstogie (Dec 20, 2013)

Would it be a buzz kill to mention that since its cold and we are rippjng through pellets our exhaust vents may be getting dirty and need to be cleaned.  Of course that would never ever happen to me as I clean mine on a very strict schedule at exactly the right time and yea that's all BS my pipes were very dirty.


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## ScotL (Dec 20, 2013)

My PB105 seems to work a lot better now that it's running hard. When we had that -25F night it really ate through the pellets but it's been running great even though I haven't cleaned it for 2 weeks. I better clean it out really well this weekend.


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## Danny9909 (Dec 20, 2013)

Where getting a heat wave thru the weekend going to get into the 50's going to burn MWP instead of  My barefoot and heartland.


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## briansol (Dec 20, 2013)

yup, I can't wait to get rid of more dry creeks.  they should keep the house 65 when its 50 out.  lol


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## Danny9909 (Dec 20, 2013)

briansol said:


> yup, I can't wait to get rid of more dry creeks.  they should keep the house 65 when its 50 out.  lol


Dry creeks are bad.? Thought they were a decent pellet.


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## boomhour (Dec 21, 2013)

This is what we were looking at on are way to Florida, 34 hour drive, phone would not post


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## Augmister (Dec 22, 2013)

Danny9909 said:


> Where getting a heat wave thru the weekend going to get into the 50's going to burn MWP instead of  My barefoot and heartland.



Exackerly.  Loaded up the stove today, with MWP and put 10 bags of Somersets on the porch for later in the week.   How warm was it?  My honeybees were out flying this afternoon.


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## Danny9909 (Dec 22, 2013)

Warm enough that I'm about to turn on my stove now for the first time today. Burning MWP


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## boomhour (Dec 25, 2013)

Nice to know that it was -32 last night at home, as we are in sunny Florida,  neighbour is keeping the stove up an running for us


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## farmboy57 (Dec 25, 2013)

3 above this X-MASS morning the vistaflame 170 running smoothly.78 in were the stove is, 72 in the livingroom only on setting 3 best thing i ever bought


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## St_Earl (Dec 31, 2013)

NOAA called for 0f tonight here. it's already -9 at 10pm.
i wonder if tomorrow night's forecast of -19 is similarly underestimated.

still wearing t-shirt and shorts. 

*eta - they just updated to -11 for tonight. they're sticking w/ -19 for tomorrow night as of now.


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## Big E (Dec 31, 2013)

Kept the Big E on 3 all day, got up to 24 here today, currently 15 F outside, 71 inside...using 2 bags of Barefoot's a day


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## tfdchief (Dec 31, 2013)

I used to fight it a little when it got really cold, but not anymore.  Having 2 stoves makes it a lot easier.


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## chken (Dec 31, 2013)

Below zero here on New Year's Eve, in mid-Maine. Stove on 3, burned 2 bags today. I expect to burn 2.5 bags/day for these real cold days thru Saturday. Interestingly, 2.5bags is roughly equal to 6 gallons of heating oil, which is what I used to burn on really cold days pre-stove.


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## Vinelife (Dec 31, 2013)

Toasty ..


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## Danny9909 (Jan 1, 2014)

Big E said:


> Kept the Big E on 3 all day, got up to 24 here today, currently 15 F outside, 71 inside...using 2 bags of Barefoot's a day


How are the barefoots working for you.


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## Phil Do's fire. (Jan 1, 2014)

chken said:


> Below zero here on New Year's Eve, in mid-Maine. Stove on 3, burned 2 bags today. I expect to burn 2.5 bags/day for these real cold days thru Saturday. Interestingly, 2.5bags is roughly equal to 6 gallons of heating oil, which is what I used to burn on really cold days pre-stove.


Wow you burn that much on a cold day? What power setting are you using and how many square feet are you trying to heat? My Palazzetti heating 1450 square foot 2X4 wall cape cod home, on auto power level 3 and has never used more than a bag a day.


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## seacarlson (Jan 1, 2014)

Negitive 10 degree in central Maine today, Harman Accnetra insert with wireless therm installed.  I have the therm set with a 2 deg swing set at 73.  Kicks on for about 10min, and off for about 8, always on maint burn.  VERY pleased with this work horse.  Will burn just under 1 and 1/2 bags today im sure.  Happy New Year


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## chken (Jan 1, 2014)

Phil Do's fire. said:


> Wow you burn that much on a cold day? What power setting are you using and how many square feet are you trying to heat? My Palazzetti heating 1450 square foot 2X4 wall cape cod home, on auto power level 3 and has never used more than a bag a day.


Haha, for my stove to burn 1 bag a day, that bag would have to be 100 pounds! Anyhow, I've got 1700 sq ft of open floor space, but it's all vaulted, with the great room 26 ft high, so it's a lot of volume. Factoring the open loft, it'd be equivalent to well over 2800 sq ft lofted. Even where there are ceilings, like in the dining area, we're talking 10 ft high.


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## VIBErator (Jan 1, 2014)

Happy New Year!        Been pretty chilly here, below -20C not including wind chill factor. Supposed to be -38C tonight with wind. Using about 2 to 2.5 full bags a day on setting two on Eco-65, no thermostat. Hasn't let us down. The electric bboards would have a hard time keeping up and it just wouldn't be warm in here. Ran on setting three the other day and Mr. VIBErator made me turn it down. Stay warm!


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## Courtney (Jan 1, 2014)

2 quadrafire Santa Fe's  in my small rancher, one in the finished basement, one first floor. 1 bag a day keeps it 68, bedrooms colder at 63 - which is good. Have not run my heat pump at all, and hope to remain off the grid this winter. burned over a ton so far. THis weekend projected to be 0-5degrees at night, I'm ready!


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## DOLLARBILL (Jan 1, 2014)

well the Harman XXV is hardly breathing and my LogHome is soooo warm ! pellet consumption is up this year but still much cheaper than oil !


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## GeHmTS (Jan 1, 2014)

DOLLARBILL said:


> As warm as a bug in a rug !



As warm as bats sleeping in the attic.


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## Flammam (Jan 1, 2014)

Been around 5-10 at night and high teens low 20s during the day. running about 1-1 /2 bags a day house at 72. The real test is this weekend projected to be -15 to -20.


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## Tony garofalo (Jan 1, 2014)

My Harman does not care how cold it is outside, It keeps us at 76 all day long on less then a half a bag of hamers hot ones LIFES GOOD///////


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## IHATEPROPANE (Jan 1, 2014)

Tony garofalo said:


> My Harman does not care how cold it is outside, It keeps us at 76 all day long on less then a half a bag of hamers hot ones LIFES GOOD///////



Do you live in a shed?


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## Tony garofalo (Jan 1, 2014)

IHATEPROPANE said:


> Do you live in a shed?


Yes, Please, Stop buy and check it out, Ha ha .


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## IHATEPROPANE (Jan 1, 2014)

Tony garofalo said:


> Yes, Please, Stop buy and check it out, Ha ha .


Lol,  I will bring the beers


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## Tony garofalo (Jan 1, 2014)

Great, we love beer. PS, We have heat..


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## Enigma869 (Jan 1, 2014)

At least none of us lives here


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## Lumberjack (Jan 1, 2014)

I need a bigger hopper!!

On a setting of 7 or 8 this stove really eats pellets.


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## Phil Do's fire. (Jan 2, 2014)

chken said:


> Haha, for my stove to burn 1 bag a day, that bag would have to be 100 pounds! Anyhow, I've got 1700 sq ft of open floor space, but it's all vaulted, with the great room 26 ft high, so it's a lot of volume. Factoring the open loft, it'd be equivalent to well over 2800 sq ft lofted. Even where there are ceilings, like in the dining area, we're talking 10 ft high.


That's a lot of space for one stove to heat, now I see why you are going through more than two bags a day. How many BTU's is the Piazzetta putting out? Do you run in auto or a specific power level?


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## IHATEPROPANE (Jan 2, 2014)

Phil Do's fire. said:


> That's a lot of space for one stove to heat, now I see why you are going through more than two bags a day. How many BTU's is the Piazzetta putting out? Do you run in auto or a specific power level?


Edit:  bad math the first time lol
Your Piazzetta is putting out less than 15000, btus an hour on average....his would be more than double that.

You are doing awesome and he is doing probably about what the average user would burn


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## slheinlein (Jan 2, 2014)

I'm burning about 2.5 bags per day, home is about 68 which is good for us.  Its going to get even colder the next few days in NH so keeping it cranked up.  Its great having a fire constantly burning on a cold, snowy day.


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## ScotL (Jan 2, 2014)

I filled up my PB105 this morning and heard a noise from inside the boiler. It was the water boiling. The water temp was 190 but apparently hotter right near the flame. I had to turn it down just a little.


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## chken (Jan 2, 2014)

Phil Do's fire. said:


> That's a lot of space for one stove to heat, now I see why you are going through more than two bags a day. How many BTU's is the Piazzetta putting out? Do you run in auto or a specific power level?


Right now, it's below zero this morning, and the stove is running on Power5, which means about 5.7lbs/hr, or 47k btus. The stove initially only burned about 5lbs/hr, but small tweaks have upped the feed rate to its rated capacity. The stove has a thermostat, with what seems like a 2 degree swing. Once it gets to the set temp, the Power level drops to Power1, which is about 1.3lbs/hr. I used to run it on an energy saving mode, which would shut the stove down under certain conditions, but lately because of the cold, there's no energy saving mode possible!


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## guitarjamman (Jan 2, 2014)

2000 Enviro EF-4 insert, no thermostat.  Burning Barefoots and keeping the house around 70° with 1.75 bags a day.

These next couple of cold days will really test this beast out.  Haven't touched the oil yet and plan to keep it that way.  Will still need another ton to get through February but it seems a total of 4 tons will get me through the winters without needing oil.


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## moey (Jan 2, 2014)

I gave in my geothermal system is close to losing ground with these temps ( by design ) I fired up the pellet stove this morning I will probably run it until I go to bed. Rather do that then have the electric coil come on. Locked out the higher stage of the geothermal system so it basically puts out ~30btu and then add in the pellet stove running on low.


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## VIBErator (Jan 2, 2014)

It's pretty cold here -42c with wind chill. I just turned Eco-65 stove up to setting 4 of 6. Wondering if its "safe" to run on this setting for an extended period. I'm guessing it must be. Both hot and cold water pipes were frozen this morning even though I left the cupboard doors open.


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## Enigma869 (Jan 2, 2014)

I suspect that I'm going to have to actually turn my furnace on for the next 24 hours.  It's been hovering around 8 degrees all day here, so I can't imagine what it's going to be like over night.  Right now, I have my P68 maxed out, and it's only 67 degrees on the main floor and 69 degrees on the second floor.  It's amazing what temperatures begin to feel "cold", after getting used to a pellet stove.  Hopefully, these really cold temperatures tell people to always buy a bigger stove than they think they need.  I suspect that if I was still in my old house with my Accentra Insert, I would be lucky to be around 62 degrees.

John


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## chken (Jan 2, 2014)

Enigma869 said:


> I suspect that I'm going to have to actually turn my furnace on for the next 24 hours.  It's been hovering around 8 degrees all day here, so I can't imagine what it's going to be like over night.  Right now, I have my P68 maxed out, and it's only 67 degrees on the main floor and 69 degrees on the second floor.  It's amazing what temperatures begin to feel "cold", after getting used to a pellet stove.  Hopefully, these really cold temperatures tell people to always buy a bigger stove than they think they need.  I suspect that if I was still in my old house with my Accentra Insert, I would be lucky to be around 62 degrees.
> 
> John


I just started a poll in another thread to find out what the most bags people will burn in a day on the coldest days of the year. Interestingly, with over 30 responses, only 2 have answered 3 bags or more. To burn 3 bags, or 120lbs, or 5lbs/hr, you only need a stove rated for just over 40k btus. I'm a little surprised so far, but it seems that many folks can get by with a smaller stove than I would have guessed.


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## bdaoust (Jan 2, 2014)

Enigma869 said:


> I suspect that I'm going to have to actually turn my furnace on for the next 24 hours.  It's been hovering around 8 degrees all day here, so I can't imagine what it's going to be like over night.  Right now, I have my P68 maxed out, and it's only 67 degrees on the main floor and 69 degrees on the second floor.  It's amazing what temperatures begin to feel "cold", after getting used to a pellet stove.  Hopefully, these really cold temperatures tell people to always buy a bigger stove than they think they need.  I suspect that if I was still in my old house with my Accentra Insert, I would be lucky to be around 62 degrees.
> 
> John



Maxed out?  What feed rate and temp are you running?  Stove or Room Temp mode?  Is your stove in the basement?  How many sqft you heating?  

Temps here are around 11 at night and my P68 is in the basement.  I run it at feed 4, room temp at 68-70.  Probe is on second floor in living room and it does a fairly decent job. A thermometer in the living room will say 68-70 - although its a cool 68-70.   I'm burning about 2 bags a day.


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## Enigma869 (Jan 2, 2014)

chken said:


> I just started a poll in another thread to find out what the most bags people will burn in a day on the coldest days of the year. Interestingly, with over 30 responses, only 2 have answered 3 bags or more. To burn 3 bags, or 120lbs, or 5lbs/hr, you only need a stove rated for just over 40k btus. I'm a little surprised so far, but it seems that many folks can get by with a smaller stove than I would have guessed.


 
They must live in a much smaller house than I live in.  I don't really track pellet usage, beyond what I buy per season.  That said, I suspect that the P68 would probably easily chew through at least 3 bags of pellets in a 24 hour period, when it's in the single digits, or colder.


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## bdaoust (Jan 2, 2014)

If I only looked at your avatar pic - I would have answered my question if it's in a basement =)


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## AndrewChurchill (Jan 2, 2014)

chken said:


> I just started a poll in another thread to find out what the most bags people will burn in a day on the coldest days of the year. Interestingly, with over 30 responses, only 2 have answered 3 bags or more. To burn 3 bags, or 120lbs, or 5lbs/hr, you only need a stove rated for just over 40k btus. I'm a little surprised so far, but it seems that many folks can get by with a smaller stove than I would have guessed.



I'm one of the people who burn about 3 bags a say, but I'm not using a stove.  I'm using a Pellergy conversion kit on a Buderus boiler.  I'm heating a 2200 sq/ft house and a 850 sq/ft apartment and DHW for both.


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## Enigma869 (Jan 2, 2014)

bdaoust said:


> Maxed out?  What feed rate and temp are you running?  Stove or Room Temp mode?  Is your stove in the basement?  How many sqft you heating?
> 
> Temps here are around 11 at night and my P68 is in the basement.  I run it at feed 4, room temp at 68-70.  Probe is on second floor in living room and it does a fairly decent job. A thermometer in the living room will say 68-70 - although its a cool 68-70.   I'm burning about 2 bags a day.


 
Feed rate is at 3.5.  I just switched from stove temp to room temp mode (I have the dial jacked up to 80 degrees), and it seems to be getting it a bit warmer in here.  My house is about 3200 square feet, and the stove is in the corner of my family room, on the main living level.  After living with two pellet stoves, installing one in the basement would simply never be an option for me.  I want the stove (and the heat) in the room that my family and I are in, most of the time.  It's all of 5 degrees at my house right now, so we're definitely giving the P68 a workout.  I suspect that I'm going to go through a whole lot of pellets over the next 48 hours.


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## CEC2STA18 (Jan 2, 2014)

Enigma869 said:


> Feed rate is at 3.5.  I just switched from stove temp to room temp mode (I have the dial jacked up to 80 degrees), and it seems to be getting it a bit warmer in here.  My house is about 3200 square feet, and the stove is in the corner of my family room, on the main living level.  After living with two pellet stoves, installing one in the basement would simply never be an option for me.  I want the stove (and the heat) in the room that my family and I are in, most of the time.  It's all of 5 degrees at my house right now, so we're definitely giving the P68 a workout.  I suspect that I'm going to go through a whole lot of pellets over the next 48 hours.


I usually burn about 4 bags per day in my PB105. I am having an issue with the boiler heating the water up very slowly. The boiler is basically running constantly and is never reaching max temp. I have had this boiler for many years an never had this issue. I have cleaned everything in the boiler and still the same problem. Any ideas?


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## IHATEPROPANE (Jan 2, 2014)

Enigma869 said:


> I suspect that I'm going to have to actually turn my furnace on for the next 24 hours.  It's been hovering around 8 degrees all day here, so I can't imagine what it's going to be like over night.  Right now, I have my P68 maxed out, and it's only 67 degrees on the main floor and 69 degrees on the second floor.  It's amazing what temperatures begin to feel "cold", after getting used to a pellet stove.  Hopefully, these really cold temperatures tell people to always buy a bigger stove than they think they need.  I suspect that if I was still in my old house with my Accentra Insert, I would be lucky to be around 62 degrees.
> 
> John



When you say maxes out is that feed rate 5 temp knob as high as it goes?

Are you using 5 bags a day right now?


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## IHATEPROPANE (Jan 2, 2014)

Enigma869 said:


> Feed rate is at 3.5.  I just switched from stove temp to room temp mode (I have the dial jacked up to 80 degrees), and it seems to be getting it a bit warmer in here.  My house is about 3200 square feet, and the stove is in the corner of my family room, on the main living level.  After living with two pellet stoves, installing one in the basement would simply never be an option for me.  I want the stove (and the heat) in the room that my family and I are in, most of the time.  It's all of 5 degrees at my house right now, so we're definitely giving the P68 a workout.  I suspect that I'm going to go through a whole lot of pellets over the next 48 hours.




With your feed rate at 3.5 you are no where near maxed out


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## CEC2STA18 (Jan 2, 2014)

IHATEPROPANE said:


> When you say maxes out is that feed rate 5 temp knob as high as it goes?
> 
> Are you using 5 bags a day right now?


No. I usually run feed rate at 3 with max temp 180 min temp 165. the way it stands now the boiler just runs and runs while feeding pellets but the water temp struggles to get to 150. Not sure why this is happening as the boiler has never struggled to heat the water to 180 in the past.


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## AndrewChurchill (Jan 2, 2014)

CEC2STA18 said:


> No. I usually run feed rate at 3 with max temp 180 min temp 165. the way it stands now the boiler just runs and runs while feeding pellets but the water temp struggles to get to 150. Not sure why this is happening as the boiler has never struggled to heat the water to 180 in the past.


Crank up the feed rate. Keep turning it up until the ash starts accumulating 1 inch from the lip of the burn pot. That's  how the feed rate is supposed to be set.  If unburned pellets start to fall into the ash pan back the fed rate off.


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## Big E (Jan 2, 2014)

Danny9909 said:


> How are the barefoots working for you



Awesome


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## Enigma869 (Jan 2, 2014)

IHATEPROPANE said:


> When you say maxes out is that feed rate 5 temp knob as high as it goes?
> 
> Are you using 5 bags a day right now?


 
When I said "maxed out", I was referring to the blower cranked all the way up and the temperature dial (running in room temp right now) all the way up.  Honestly, I've never touched the feed rate.  I've owned two different Harman stoves from two completely different dealers and they both led me to believe that the feed rate was a "Set it and forget it" sort of a deal, and that there wasn't much of a need to ever adjust it, so I've never done anything with it.  As for pellet usage, I tend to scoop pellets in from my pellet bucket every couple of hours (it's just easier that way), so I don't know exactly how many bags I'm using.  That said, it's all of 1 degree here (which is about as cold as it gets around these parts), and that's not counting the wind whipping around.  Because it's so ridiculously cold right now, I suspect I'm probably chewing through 3 full bags (if not slightly more) a day with that P68 being run like I'm being forced to run it.  Not a huge deal, beyond the fact that the 5 ton I bought probably aren't going to quite cut it.  I'll probably see how the stash looks at the end of January and grab one more ton to ensure that I can get through the entire season.


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## Caribfan (Jan 3, 2014)

With these temps I had to turn the MVAE up to medium-high and it is 69-70 inside and -5 outside.


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## Hoot23 (Jan 3, 2014)

Like a champ


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## IHATEPROPANE (Jan 3, 2014)

Enigma869 said:


> When I said "maxed out", I was referring to the blower cranked all the way up and the temperature dial (running in room temp right now) all the way up.  Honestly, I've never touched the feed rate.  I've owned two different Harman stoves from two completely different dealers and they both led me to believe that the feed rate was a "Set it and forget it" sort of a deal, and that there wasn't much of a need to ever adjust it, so I've never done anything with it.  As for pellet usage, I tend to scoop pellets in from my pellet bucket every couple of hours (it's just easier that way), so I don't know exactly how many bags I'm using.  That said, it's all of 1 degree here (which is about as cold as it gets around these parts), and that's not counting the wind whipping around.  Because it's so ridiculously cold right now, I suspect I'm probably chewing through 3 full bags (if not slightly more) a day with that P68 being run like I'm being forced to run it.  Not a huge deal, beyond the fact that the 5 ton I bought probably aren't going to quite cut it.  I'll probably see how the stash looks at the end of January and grab one more ton to ensure that I can get through the entire season.



The dealers advice is a little off.  The Harman feed rate should be set as high as it can to still get the 1" of ash.  Usually around 4.

It is a set it and forget it once you have it right and the pellets do not change.


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## chrisasst (Jan 3, 2014)

-7 here now.. I have two stoves. Using North American pellets. Currently 73 degrees in my open, old house.  Not too bad.


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## AndrewChurchill (Jan 3, 2014)

This is how I set the feed rate on the PB105 I had in my previous house.  I turned the hot water on in one of the tubs and let it run.  Then I turned the feed rate up to 6 and I sat by the boiler and watched the burn pot.

Eventually unburned pellets started to fall into the ash pan.  I then turned the feed rate down to 5 1/2 and watched again.  Unburned pellets stopped falling into the burn pot but they were still pretty close to the lip.  I backed it off to 5 1/4 and that turned out to be the perfect setting for those pellets.

Obviously turning the tub on for a pellet stove won't work, but you can crank the thermostat all the way up and follow the same procedure.  Once you have determined the proper feed rate for your pellets leave the feed rate alone until you change to a different brand of pellets.


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## RKS130 (Jan 3, 2014)

bbfarm said:


> Ours is doing an ok job.  It has been well below zero with the wind chills for almost a week.
> 
> We are running at about 70-72 degrees on level 4 when home.
> 
> The problem we are having is we have to drop the stove to level 3 while we are at work or we will run out of pellets.  Those darn hoppers only hold so many pellets.  Then it drops to 65 - 68 .



Snug and happy ay 12 degrees outside.


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## Lumberjack (Jan 3, 2014)

VIBErator said:


> It's pretty cold here -42c with wind chill. I just turned Eco-65 stove up to setting 4 of 6. Wondering if its "safe" to run on this setting for an extended period. I'm guessing it must be. Both hot and cold water pipes were frozen this morning even though I left the cupboard doors open.


wow....glad they didn't burst!


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## VIBErator (Jan 3, 2014)

Lumberjack said:


> wow....glad they didn't burst!


Me too. We've always had issues with that outside wall and east winds when it dips past -20c. Tearing the kitchen apart in the spring to insulate, vapour barrier and move water to an island.


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