Harman "Stove Temp" results

[Tonyray]

I also didn't like that I was heating the outdoors at times so did some experimenting and found what works best for me. I normally let the stove run off the thermostat, but there are times that is inefficient and makes room temps fluctuate wildly.

I can keep the rooms at a constant temp during really cold days/nights (when the stove starts back up just at the end of the shut down) by using the feed dial instead of temp setting. I use stove temp / auto mode, with the temp dial at 6. I don't need big heat when the house is at temp, just constant heat and a feed rate anywhere between 0.5 and 1.5 usually does the trick. Using this method, the living room will stay about 73-74, the office (middle of house) at 69-70, and the bedrooms 66-68.

I find the flame is further forward in the pot as opposed to the deep throat burn of a maintenance mode when using room temp / manual. So, my thought is it would be more likely to cause a problem with the auger the other way. But, what do I know? I'm just guessing and really, that isn't any part of the equation when I burn this way.

I may try that. " renegade mode" if i remember back a few yrs. Controlling the heat via feed rate.

 

[Tonyray]

For the last few years I have been running mine in Room Temp, Manual using a skytech remote stat. I have the feed set around 3, my distribution blower only comes on when the the stat turns the stove up.
I may not be understanding you, but can I set it some how so the distribution blower comes on occasionally when in the maintenance burn?

In room manual the blower Will come on in maint mode at times... unless i dont understand your aim here..

 

[Tonyray]

I also didn't like that I was heating the outdoors at times so did some experimenting and found what works best for me. I normally let the stove run off the thermostat, but there are times that is inefficient and makes room temps fluctuate wildly.

I can keep the rooms at a constant temp during really cold days/nights (when the stove starts back up just at the end of the shut down) by using the feed dial instead of temp setting. I use stove temp / auto mode, with the temp dial at 6. I don't need big heat when the house is at temp, just constant heat and a feed rate anywhere between 0.5 and 1.5 usually does the trick. Using this method, the living room will stay about 73-74, the office (middle of house) at 69-70, and the bedrooms 66-68.

I find the flame is further forward in the pot as opposed to the deep throat burn of a maintenance mode when using room temp / manual. So, my thought is it would be more likely to cause a problem with the auger the other way. But, what do I know? I'm just guessing and really, that isn't any part of the equation when I burn this way.

What fan speed??

 

[bogieb]

What fan speed??

The fan speed is always on Hi. Even with the middling pellets I use, the air coming out of the distribution is just above 150* (by the oven thermometer I place there to get an idea). I'm guessing that is probably somewhere around the temp a forced air furnace would blow,

 

[Tonyray]

The fan speed is always on Hi. Even with the middling pellets I use, the air coming out of the distribution is just above 150* (by the oven thermometer I place there to get an idea). I'm guessing that is probably somewhere around the temp a forced air furnace would blow,

I tried your way last night.. worked pretty darn well. Pellet consumption was lot less than running normal stove mode settings. Kept house pretty warm.. dropped few degrees when we got up this am but my fan speed was very low as it was like 75 when went to bed.. i will bump it up some although i assume that higher fan will Not increase pellet consumption since it is on feed rate you have indicated on your stove.. would that be correct or will higher fan speed be less heat eventually since feed is so low?? Either way i am impressed with output since sat evening when i set stove same as yours. As a side issue the glass was still clean 16hrs later which never happens.prob from no start and stop of room auto mode.

 

[shtrdave]

My distribution blower never comes on in Room Temp Manual while in maintenance burn.

 

[Tonyray]

My distribution blower never comes on in Room Temp Manual while in maintenance burn.

So where does the heat go all that down time?? It goes outside.. its why i dont use it.

 

[Tonyray]

I may have to try this. I have never ran mine in stove temp mode. But a nice constant flow of warm air circulating at times would be very nice to have.

With my room stat set at 74 it drops to 72 and then shuts off around 77.

My place is insulated well but I seem to feel a draft. I have borrowed a friend thermal imaging camera and found a couple spots where I was getting cold air coming in and fixed them. but it still persists.

Try the method used by bogieb on stove temp auto/ #6 feed rate 1 or below that.. i used it overnite and it works great. Steady 75 degrees and less pellet usage..

 

[Mt Bob]

So where does the heat go all that down time?? It goes outside.. its why i dont use it.

No,as most Harman's are also designed to be convection output heaters also. I consider it another feature, or could be like some stove owners, especially wood stoves, where in certain weather they have to open a window because they want to keep the stove going.

 

[Mt Bob]

My distribution blower never comes on in Room Temp Manual while in maintenance burn.

Can be normal.

 

[Tonyray]

Can be normal.

if you mean heat radiating from the stove walls yes. some heat is generated but most of the inside heat coming from pellets burning in maint mode are deffinitly going out the exhaust pipe, how could it not?

 

[SciGuy]

Try the method used by bogieb on stove temp auto/ #6 feed rate 1 or below that.. i used it overnite and it works great. Steady 75 degrees and less pellet usage..

When I ran a P43 in this choked down manner I ended up with creosote production and eventually a very scary chimney fire.

YMMV,

Hugh

 

[Tonyray]

When I ran a P43 in this choked down manner I ended up with creosote production and eventually a very scary chimney fire.

YMMV,

Hugh

Damn.. not good.. burning douglas firs here. I usually burn good softwoods regardless which get pretty damn hot.. so its not for you for whatever reasons.. can i ask what pellets you were burning,?? Last time i had any creosote was from box store hardwoods yrs ago plus i was also burning too low for at least those pellets..

 

[SciGuy]

Damn.. not good.. burning douglas firs here. I usually burn good softwoods regardless which get pretty damn hot.. so its not for you for whatever reasons.. can i ask what pellets you were burning,?? Last time i had any creosote was from box store hardwoods yrs ago plus i was also burning too low for at least those pellets..

IIRC I was running Curran Hardwood Softwood blend. I have seen creosote form with straight softwoods run in a very cool stove.

 

[Mt Bob]

When I ran a P43 in this choked down manner I ended up with creosote production and eventually a very scary chimney fire.

YMMV,

Hugh

Yep there are reasons stove manufacturers recommend ranges to run a stove in, but the 2 biggest are safety and emissions. Which is why a lot of cheaper stoves only have basic control.

 

[bogieb]

I tried your way last night.. worked pretty darn well. Pellet consumption was lot less than running normal stove mode settings. Kept house pretty warm.. dropped few degrees when we got up this am but my fan speed was very low as it was like 75 when went to bed.. i will bump it up some although i assume that higher fan will Not increase pellet consumption since it is on feed rate you have indicated on your stove.. would that be correct or will higher fan speed be less heat eventually since feed is so low?? Either way i am impressed with output since sat evening when i set stove same as yours. As a side issue the glass was still clean 16hrs later which never happens.prob from no start and stop of room auto mode.

I really have no idea. I have never used a low fan speed either of my stoves.

When I ran a P43 in this choked down manner I ended up with creosote production and eventually a very scary chimney fire.

YMMV,

Hugh

The only creosote I've seen is when I've run really good pellets in the P61a on a thermostat (it is in a small space). The run time was so short that the inside of the stove gunked up. Once I changed baqck to middling pellets, all was right with its world.

If using the feed rate as the control 24/7, you would probably need to crank that baby up at least once a day for 1/2 or so just as you would if it idled a lot. Once again I don't know because I don't usually run like that continuously - only when the stove starts cycling back on right after it shut down or in the process of shutting down. That means usually it is late afternoon (or even evening) until some time in the morning. In fact this morning I just changed to that mode at 3am this morning (when I woe up). the feed rate is adjusted for conditions, it may be up to 2 if it is really cold and windy out - when the house is losing more of its heat. I know it is time to turn it back over to thermostat control once the office gets to 71* with the feed rate turned down to 0.5.

 

[Tonyray]

I really have no idea. I have never used a low fan speed either of my stoves.



The only creosote I've seen is when I've run really good pellets in the P61a on a thermostat (it is in a small space). The run time was so short that the inside of the stove gunked up. Once I changed baqck to middling pellets, all was right with its world.

If using the feed rate as the control 24/7, you would probably need to crank that baby up at least once a day for 1/2 or so just as you would if it idled a lot. Once again I don't know because I don't usually run like that continuously - only when the stove starts cycling back on right after it shut down or in the process of shutting down. That means usually it is late afternoon (or even evening) until some time in the morning. In fact this morning I just changed to that mode at 3am this morning (when I woe up). the feed rate is adjusted for conditions, it may be up to 2 if it is really cold and windy out - when the house is losing more of its heat. I know it is time to turn it back over to thermostat control once the office gets to 71* with the feed rate turned down to 0.5.

Agree.. i needed to bump up the feed after i dropped couple degrees overnite due to high cold north winds towards my open area house. Has been a constand 72 till last nite then dropped to 69 due to conditions i mentioned. For the most part i am seeing significant drop in pellet consumption on stove mode which is great..

 

[ChandlerR]

I don't measure the exhaust, I measure the "stove temp", in stove mode.
I have one spot on the right side of the stove that i measure with a temp gun.
Mostly, it tells me when the stove is not running as well as it should.
I know what temp, when it is clean.. and compare that to whatever I read later.
Also I know how high it gets on ramp up... I can compare that as well..

Dan

Dan, I use an old digital temperature control with a type J thermocouple. It senses the air temp coming out of the stove. You can see the wire at the top right of the stove. It's kinda useless but I like information. In the picture, the stove has just started. I'm on room temp auto, feed at #3 and set at 67 degrees. The air temp runs from 120 degrees up to 275 depending on demand. I played around with the feed rate and it was very easy to get 350 degrees air coming out. Of course fan speed plays a huge difference in the temp.

 

[shtrdave]

That looks interesting, I think I have one around here some where. I may try this just for reference if I change some settings.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

For the last few years I have been running mine in Room Temp, Manual using a skytech remote stat. I have the feed set around 3, my distribution blower only comes on when the the stat turns the stove up.
I may not be understanding you, but can I set it some how so the distribution blower comes on occasionally when in the maintenance burn?

When you run a Harman stove in Room Temp mode, your pellet feed setting is irrelevant because the stove automatically adjusts the pellet feed. If you want to adjust the pellet feed, then run the stove in Stove temp mode.

 

[SciGuy]

When you run a Harman stove in Room Temp mode, your pellet feed setting is irrelevant because the stove automatically adjusts the pellet feed. If you want to adjust the pellet feed, then run the stove in Stove temp mode.

It's not totally irrelevant as it limits the maximum burn the stove will initiate when heat is called for in room temperature mode. If feed rate is set at say 1.5 you'll have a much smaller fire when heat is called for than if its set at 5.

YMMV,

Hugh

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

It's not totally irrelevant as it limits the maximum burn the stove will initiate when heat is called for in room temperature mode. If feed rate is set at say 1.5 you'll have a much smaller fire when heat is called for than if its set at 5.

YMMV,

Hugh

I stand corrected!

 

[bogieb]

As long as the temp is high enough so the stove is always calling for heat, the distribution fan will always push out warm air because there is no chance of it ever reaching the set temp when the feed rate is low.

I could probably use room temp instead, but then I would have to fiddle with the external manual thermostat that is in another room, to up the temp to something the stove can't achieve. Then go to another room to fiddle with the feed rate. I achieve a couple of things by going to stove temp mode

• I bypass the fiddling with the thermostat part by changing over to stove temp
• All adjustments are in one place (related to the first bullet, but also different with my memory )
• The stove is never tempted to let the fire die as it would in room temp if I forgot to reset the external thermostat.
  • BTW, With the thermostat set up, my stove will not act as it would if I used the room probe.

 

[scajjr2]

I may try that. " renegade mode" if i remember back a few yrs. Controlling the heat via feed rate.

Yeah there were a couple different threads on that.

Something I think we all need to remember is everyone's situation and conditions are different. How well the house is insulated, air flow in the house, area one lives in, condition of stove, brand of pellets, the weather that day. Those all effect how the stove runs and how many pellets you use.

sam