Any Harmies changed to Stove temp?

[jp99]

Actually, there is no Optimal setting for stove temp that I have heard off..
the trick is that as long as you are at a good feed rate , the heat will flow steady. no high flame/ low flame/no flame. therefore the stove, even if you have it on feed rate #5, it will only cycle the auger maybe 20-30 seconds to keep that steady flow going.. that uses less pellets in the long run but as always, mileage will vary.

And it depends on the your biofuel too. Burning 80+% corn, my feed rate is only 1.5 unless I want to set the stove temp fairly high. My stove temp setting is typically 2 to 2.5 in this weather, and under 2 if the day is over 30F. I have taken the stove temp up to 3 - 3.5 for the really cold days when I didn't want to use my furnace as auxiliary heat, and the feed rate has to bump to about 2 for that setting.

 

[mikesj]

Sounds like me. 1920's farmhouse. New windows but not much insulation. We are supposed to be in the negative teens tonight, not including windchill.

When it's this cold, consistent heat is better for me. When we get back to the 20's I'll switch back to room temp.

 

[yrock87]

I have found that room temp auto works best for me. That is every temp down to - 40. I also have a very open floor plan to allow heat to circulate. I

I ran room temp manual before I installed the oak because I liked the constant heat on maintenence burn. but switched to auto because the - 20 or colder air coming in from outside would cause me to burn up pellets just to keep the fire lit. Belive it or not, my stove shuts off for 30 min to a hour at a time when the sun shines, even at - 20. Too bad for us we don't get any sun in December and January. Stove ran nonstop for those two months.

 

[alternativeheat]

Not true. I frequently run the furnace at times to bring raise the temperature in the house when the outside temps get very low. The furnace does not cause my Accentra to cycle off. It does help that the furnace's thermostat is in a different room than the insert.

I have old cast iron radiators in the house. The nearest to the oil burner is the hottest on start up of the central system and is also closest to the heat probe to my stove. That radiator gets almost as hot as the radiant heat portion of my p61 and effects the probe. So this is conditional, house to house. In my house it is true that the central heat affects the probe. When I supplement with oil as I have been this week I switch to Stove temp mode, 4-4.5, feed rate 4.5 and all is well. In 0 deg weather the heat will cycle on about 3-4 times in 24 hours and my pellet use is frozen at around 1-3/4 bags a day.. room Temp Mode with the central heat running is a bust, the stove just shuts down or goes to maintenance burn. We can't really make a blanket statement of settings that fits all houses.

 

[F4jock]

I have found that room temp auto works best for me. That is every temp down to - 40. I also have a very open floor plan to allow heat to circulate. I

I ran room temp manual before I installed the oak because I liked the constant heat on maintenence burn. but switched to auto because the - 20 or colder air coming in from outside would cause me to burn up pellets just to keep the fire lit. Belive it or not, my stove shuts off for 30 min to a hour at a time when the sun shines, even at - 20. Too bad for us we don't get any sun in December and January. Stove ran nonstop for those two months.

Mine will do that too on a sunny day. -12 this morning and a nice 70f inside, just where we have it set. Running room temp auto, feed 4, fan / heat on high. No reason to mess with it, another reason we went with a Harman. Once you find the sweet spot it's set it and forget it.

 

[mmj]

My basement never got cold enough even last year during the Polar vortex to freeze pipes.
I have them all wrapped and the lowest I ever saw it down there was 38 degrees.. usually stays at 50 in winter 60 in summer.
that said, I saved soooooooo much on Oil last 2 yrs that when it get's below zero with windchills even lower like tonite,
, I sleep better and don't mind using few gallons oil just to be sure...
..Be.keeping the downstairs wall thermostat couple degrees above the stoves output so it kicks on few times After midnite till morning...

We learned a good lesson. Tuesday we discovered that the pipes behind the downstairs toilet had frozen. My husband bored small holes in the wall behind the toilet, placed the tip of a hair dryer inside the hole and let it run for 2 hours. We then pumped up the furnace to 75 closed the door and let the furnace on all night. The next morning the pipe had thawed and the toilet flushed.
We are down in pellets, and no one seems to have any. We run the stove during the day with the bathroom door open, and run the furnace at night on 69 degrees. So furnace at night until the temps go above 50 degrees, which according to accuweather this will happen the first week in march.

 

[twodogs02]

Once temps drop, stove temp, manual. Stove gets shut down for 45 minutes every 2 weeks for cleaning

 

[F4jock]

We learned a good lesson. Tuesday we discovered that the pipes behind the downstairs toilet had frozen. My husband bored small holes in the wall behind the toilet, placed the tip of a hair dryer inside the hole and let it run for 2 hours. We then pumped up the furnace to 75 closed the door and let the furnace on all night. The next morning the pipe had thawed and the toilet flushed.
We are down in pellets, and no one seems to have any. We run the stove during the day with the bathroom door open, and run the furnace at night on 69 degrees. So furnace at night until the temps go above 50 degrees, which according to accuweather this will happen the first week in march.

TSC equine bedding pellets but just get the light colored ones. Burn like best softies. Don't tell them tho.

 

[Tonyray]

As long as two automatic control systems are separated so they don't affect each other much, you can do this. If the heat sources and thermostats are close to each other the two will bounce off each other and not work together, but overcorrect for the other system. Control theory 101.

same as I stated but yours sounds more technically gooder..

 

[jp99]

same as I stated but yours sounds more technically gooder..

LOL! I took control theory in college, and it wasn't my favorite subject. But I got this much out of it.

 

[Ctcarl]

In the cold .the teens keep stove temp.on warmer days use room to save on pellets and not feel like Africa .

 

[derbydude]

Man I feel sorry for you who have basement freezing problems. No matter how cold it has been mine hasn't in 26 years.

Why would it? The ground should keep it warm around 55 degrees - you never have to worry about basement below grade.
I had my whole house insulated - and that was the advice from all the pros.

 

[Tonyray]

Why would it? The ground should keep it warm around 55 degrees - you never have to worry about basement below grade.
I had my whole house insulated - and that was the advice from all the pros.

my Basement? [ here in Pa if it's not finished & used for living space] but used instead for storage umm like 5/half tons of pellets plus the usual stuff u see in people's garages.
then it's called a Cellar...... mine also is below grade.. stays 60 degrees in the spring/summer..
usually around 55 in the winter but this zero degree cold wave and the Polar Vortex last year,
I actually saw it drop to upper 30's lat year with the wind and below zero.
this past week or so it has been a solid 48 degrees but I still run some oil couple nights to keep the pipes attention..

 

[alternativeheat]

Why would it? The ground should keep it warm around 55 degrees - you never have to worry about basement below grade.
I had my whole house insulated - and that was the advice from all the pros.

Some houses are built into banking's and so a whole wall may not be below grade. And there are air leaks sometimes with a near by pipe. Often we hear of people who have a pipe or two that leaves the basement proper and runs out through a crawl space or what not. Generally exceptions to the standard of below grade basement, true but it seems to get included in the forums.

 

[F4jock]

Why would it? The ground should keep it warm around 55 degrees - you never have to worry about basement below grade.
I had my whole house insulated - and that was the advice from all the pros.

Because people say it does?