Hello, ya’ll! I’ve been a lurker since last year so please forgive me if I've forgotten something or get something wrong on the first try 
. Last year was the first year I went to the 25 pdvc Englander from a malfunctioning gas boiler that was costing $600+/month to heat with. I purchased my Englander used on CL for $700 with a brand new paint job & the extended hopper. It holds 120 lbs of pellets. Of course, I have run into some issues, which ended up being not as severe as first thought. My heat sensor for the control board was malfunctioning causing the blower to quit intermittently, leading me to believe the blower motor was junk. I searched everywhere for an affordable motor & after figuring out how to install it (counterclockwise motor), I found the issue was with the heat sensor.
Anyways, the stove is now installed and operating, but I do have some issues/questions that I feel ya’ll may be able to help me with. 1st of all, after installation (my buddy did it for me), my stove only has the exhaust going through the wall. The cold air intake ( I think that’s what it’s called) is not hooked up although I do plan on getting to it in the next week or 2. I was told by my friend that this would not matter much because I own a home that was built in 1890, has crappy insulation, and is well vented with massive cold air drafts. Is that correct? During the times the stove quit due to the heat sensor, I would get that awful sooty blow back into my home. Not only does it smell awful, but it gives me a headache and leaves a mess!
Secondly, I’ve read so many posts regarding the bottom “do not touch” buttons on my control panel. I know I need to modify mine because when I changed them, I did see a better quality fire/burn in the stove; however, I’m not exactly sure what I am doing with them other than a trial and error type thing. I do not understand the air flow/fuel feed. Can anybody explain it, even if it is an elementary explanation? I put the buttons on 6-4-1 and with the fuel on 1, it will burn for a while before it will eventually go out. It’s not feeding pellets quite fast enough to keep a fire going.
Another question I have is, is it normal to run these stoves on settings such as 3-5 like I see so many folks doing? I always run my blower on 9 regardless of where the fuel is set at because I need the heat to push out! Am I doing it all wrong?
While I own a massive 1890 built home, I have divided it into apartments so I’m currently only heating a 650 sq. ft apt. I would, however, like to extend the heat to one of my upstairs apts which is a tad smaller than my own. I would guess around 500 sq. ft. Next question is how in the world are ya’ll getting heat to the 2nd floors for those with homes that are not single level? As a trial, I did cut a hole in the living room ceiling (where my pellet stove is installed), and placed register vents in it. It is located not far from where the heater is, and the ceiling area in my own apt is quite warm. It’s almost as if there’s no heat traveling up even though heat rises. Do you install fans? Do I just need more registers in place? I currently use propane as a secondary heating source and it is so expensive here (Erie, PA) that I’d like to cut it out almost completely.
Any help/suggestions ya’ll have would be greatly appreciated! I need to figure out the best settings to get the most out of my stove before the snow flies. It won’t hold up long here, I’m sure.
Oh.. and one last question. I saw some posts regarding putting the heater into C mode rather than D mode, which Is where the stove is set after a reset. Is this something I may need to try? Should the 6-4-1 settings be adjusted if I attempt a C mode operation?
Sorry for all the questions, but this is the first pellet stove I have owned. I’m a single female trying to figure things out on my own without having to pay somebody to come help me out. I'm currently burning pellets from the local feed store ($275/ton with delivery and they stack them up for me in my house too!) which tend to leave very little ash. I burn 1 1/2-2 bags/day which seems to be a lot compared to my buddy who only burns 1 bag every 1-2 days depending on the outside temp. I do clean the burn pot daily and do a complete clean every 3 days or so. I also need some direction as to how I clean out the exhaust pipes? I've only ever cleaned my Tee.
Thanks in advance to anybody that might venture on giving advice!
. Last year was the first year I went to the 25 pdvc Englander from a malfunctioning gas boiler that was costing $600+/month to heat with. I purchased my Englander used on CL for $700 with a brand new paint job & the extended hopper. It holds 120 lbs of pellets. Of course, I have run into some issues, which ended up being not as severe as first thought. My heat sensor for the control board was malfunctioning causing the blower to quit intermittently, leading me to believe the blower motor was junk. I searched everywhere for an affordable motor & after figuring out how to install it (counterclockwise motor), I found the issue was with the heat sensor.Anyways, the stove is now installed and operating, but I do have some issues/questions that I feel ya’ll may be able to help me with. 1st of all, after installation (my buddy did it for me), my stove only has the exhaust going through the wall. The cold air intake ( I think that’s what it’s called) is not hooked up although I do plan on getting to it in the next week or 2. I was told by my friend that this would not matter much because I own a home that was built in 1890, has crappy insulation, and is well vented with massive cold air drafts. Is that correct? During the times the stove quit due to the heat sensor, I would get that awful sooty blow back into my home. Not only does it smell awful, but it gives me a headache and leaves a mess!
Secondly, I’ve read so many posts regarding the bottom “do not touch” buttons on my control panel. I know I need to modify mine because when I changed them, I did see a better quality fire/burn in the stove; however, I’m not exactly sure what I am doing with them other than a trial and error type thing. I do not understand the air flow/fuel feed. Can anybody explain it, even if it is an elementary explanation? I put the buttons on 6-4-1 and with the fuel on 1, it will burn for a while before it will eventually go out. It’s not feeding pellets quite fast enough to keep a fire going.
Another question I have is, is it normal to run these stoves on settings such as 3-5 like I see so many folks doing? I always run my blower on 9 regardless of where the fuel is set at because I need the heat to push out! Am I doing it all wrong?
While I own a massive 1890 built home, I have divided it into apartments so I’m currently only heating a 650 sq. ft apt. I would, however, like to extend the heat to one of my upstairs apts which is a tad smaller than my own. I would guess around 500 sq. ft. Next question is how in the world are ya’ll getting heat to the 2nd floors for those with homes that are not single level? As a trial, I did cut a hole in the living room ceiling (where my pellet stove is installed), and placed register vents in it. It is located not far from where the heater is, and the ceiling area in my own apt is quite warm. It’s almost as if there’s no heat traveling up even though heat rises. Do you install fans? Do I just need more registers in place? I currently use propane as a secondary heating source and it is so expensive here (Erie, PA) that I’d like to cut it out almost completely.
Any help/suggestions ya’ll have would be greatly appreciated! I need to figure out the best settings to get the most out of my stove before the snow flies. It won’t hold up long here, I’m sure.
Oh.. and one last question. I saw some posts regarding putting the heater into C mode rather than D mode, which Is where the stove is set after a reset. Is this something I may need to try? Should the 6-4-1 settings be adjusted if I attempt a C mode operation?
Sorry for all the questions, but this is the first pellet stove I have owned. I’m a single female trying to figure things out on my own without having to pay somebody to come help me out. I'm currently burning pellets from the local feed store ($275/ton with delivery and they stack them up for me in my house too!) which tend to leave very little ash. I burn 1 1/2-2 bags/day which seems to be a lot compared to my buddy who only burns 1 bag every 1-2 days depending on the outside temp. I do clean the burn pot daily and do a complete clean every 3 days or so. I also need some direction as to how I clean out the exhaust pipes? I've only ever cleaned my Tee.
Thanks in advance to anybody that might venture on giving advice!
![[Hearth.com] 25 PDVC New owner](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/167/167306-eca232144f8a6d6ce8b0db6fdb6cd6fd.jpg?hash=H3B9wlrAEx "[Hearth.com] 25 PDVC New owner")
