This is my first post here, though I have been slowly reading through and following along for a couple weeks now.
I am in the process of searching for my first pellet stove.
A little background first. We recently bought a home that was built in 2003. It is a very tight home; spray-foam insulation in all the walls and roof, all Andersen low-E thermo-pane windows and all new (2010) Therma-Tru doors on the first floor. We had to replace the boiler for the FHW heating system as the previous one burst while the home was unoccupied. We put in a new Smith Cast Iron oil boiler that is rated at 85% efficiency. The problem is that the main floor of our 2600 sqft house is VERY open concept with a 3 story stairwell that goes from the main level up to the third floor. Very grand yes, but not very inefficient for keeping heat on the main floor of a home in central NH. We have subsequently gone through a fair amount of oil just trying to keep the first floor warm. We have walled off the third floor, installed a door and insulated the wall, which has helped, but its still not enough...
So we decided on a pellet stove to provide us with some supplemental zone heating on the 980 sqft first floor. I have been looking for a couple weeks now, played with a few of them and talked to a lot people and got even more opinions. I decided that I really like Harmans (though I don't think its final yet....) but am still very open to suggestions and other options.
First, How big should I go? I have no misconception, plan or desire to heat my entire house with it, but to provide some more comfort with some cost savings. Now, our living room is in the northeastern corner of the house and our bedroom is directly above the living room. The only feasible place to install the stove on the first floor is in the southwest corner. Like I said, its pretty open so I'm not too worried about the heat moving through the first floor, but I know its not ideal. I could put the stioe in the basement under the northeast side though I know that isn't ideal either and I definitely don;t need or want to heat the basement.... From what I understand, its better for a stove to run intermittently on high than continuously on low. So should I get a smaller stove (Harman P43) and let her crank or should I get a larger model (P61 or P68) and let it run a little less often or maybe not so hot also keeping in mind that I am going to loose some efficiency by not having it centrally located. While money is a substantial factor, it is less important than getting the right stove.
Next, is it possible to attach a pellet stove to a programable thermostat? This may be a terrible noob question, but search "pellet+thermostat" and see if you can make any sense of the results..... Ideally what I would like to do is use the oil to maintain the house durring the day at a low-comfortable temperature and then have the pellet stove automatically kick on just before my wife gets home from work and stay operable until bedtime and do the same again right before she wakes up and goes to work. I'm either away for long periods of time or working from home so besides filling the hopper, I need it to be a no-brainer for her. I am home frequently enough to properly clean it and take care of it, but I need it to actually run when its needed so I can save on my oil bill. What are my options here?
I look forward to learning and more so getting a new stove!
Thanks,
Kevin
I am in the process of searching for my first pellet stove.
A little background first. We recently bought a home that was built in 2003. It is a very tight home; spray-foam insulation in all the walls and roof, all Andersen low-E thermo-pane windows and all new (2010) Therma-Tru doors on the first floor. We had to replace the boiler for the FHW heating system as the previous one burst while the home was unoccupied. We put in a new Smith Cast Iron oil boiler that is rated at 85% efficiency. The problem is that the main floor of our 2600 sqft house is VERY open concept with a 3 story stairwell that goes from the main level up to the third floor. Very grand yes, but not very inefficient for keeping heat on the main floor of a home in central NH. We have subsequently gone through a fair amount of oil just trying to keep the first floor warm. We have walled off the third floor, installed a door and insulated the wall, which has helped, but its still not enough...
So we decided on a pellet stove to provide us with some supplemental zone heating on the 980 sqft first floor. I have been looking for a couple weeks now, played with a few of them and talked to a lot people and got even more opinions. I decided that I really like Harmans (though I don't think its final yet....) but am still very open to suggestions and other options.
First, How big should I go? I have no misconception, plan or desire to heat my entire house with it, but to provide some more comfort with some cost savings. Now, our living room is in the northeastern corner of the house and our bedroom is directly above the living room. The only feasible place to install the stove on the first floor is in the southwest corner. Like I said, its pretty open so I'm not too worried about the heat moving through the first floor, but I know its not ideal. I could put the stioe in the basement under the northeast side though I know that isn't ideal either and I definitely don;t need or want to heat the basement.... From what I understand, its better for a stove to run intermittently on high than continuously on low. So should I get a smaller stove (Harman P43) and let her crank or should I get a larger model (P61 or P68) and let it run a little less often or maybe not so hot also keeping in mind that I am going to loose some efficiency by not having it centrally located. While money is a substantial factor, it is less important than getting the right stove.
Next, is it possible to attach a pellet stove to a programable thermostat? This may be a terrible noob question, but search "pellet+thermostat" and see if you can make any sense of the results..... Ideally what I would like to do is use the oil to maintain the house durring the day at a low-comfortable temperature and then have the pellet stove automatically kick on just before my wife gets home from work and stay operable until bedtime and do the same again right before she wakes up and goes to work. I'm either away for long periods of time or working from home so besides filling the hopper, I need it to be a no-brainer for her. I am home frequently enough to properly clean it and take care of it, but I need it to actually run when its needed so I can save on my oil bill. What are my options here?
I look forward to learning and more so getting a new stove!
Thanks,
Kevin