How high are you running your pellet stove in this frigid weather

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ekehoe said:
Part of the reason she hasn't had a good cleaning is the cold...I didn't want to lose all the warmth we've built up. When it's -10 overnight, you get a little worried. Should be warm enough today to clean it out, and I'm going to take a couple hours to do it. Yeah, I know we'll lose power, we do every storm and get it back kinda late too...island has a lot of trees that are fond of power lines. I have no backup heat, and the generator isn't working, so we're gonna be chilly.
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Kerosene, the convection heaters make no smell at all except on shut down and not a lot then, just make sure you get enough air, keep it out of your bedroom. I have a Dynaglo RMC 95 c6. 23,000 btu is way better than none. The new c8 suffix one is 23,800 btu. HD used to sell them, I ordered mine from Amazon.

We are getting that storm here, talking about 65-70 MPH winds. I hate that crap and we have a working generator. My gen runs a good part of the house to include the oil heat and gas hot water heater. Ya we have a fun two days coming up in this NE area. Re check the snow blower today, get some extra gas for the gen and blower, kerosene for basement heat, chainsaw gas.
 
Doesn't take long to clean mine. Half hour maybe. I have an exhaust override switch, so I open the exhaust damper full and keep the blower running full speed. Cools it off much faster especially the burn pot. Also sucks most of the ash and dust outside rather than billowing into the house. I can remove the pot and scrape it while the door glass, other parts, and ash finish cooling. Then do the door glass and vacuum. Then vacuum under the side covers if needed, those take just a few minutes. If needed, now the outside pipe is just lukewarm, and is actually kind of nice brushing it while the blower kicks out warm air on my hands, it also blows out the ash I knock loose. Then restart the stove while putting things away. I try to time everything to get done as fast as possible. Afterwards take a snow shovel and push the pile of ash elsewhere. Done.

I don't lose any temps I can't recover. Even a refrigerator has to periodically run a heater on the coils to keep them from icing up.
 
To me what's the big deal if it takes two hours ( can't imagine what someone is doing to take that long but still if) and the central heat comes on for half hour. I can clean my P61 in about ten-fifteen minutes, I never wait for full shut down to get started either. They are very easy stoves to clean. I clean the venting twice a season, beginning and mid way through,that takes 20-30 minutes and I do it as a separate operation from regular cleanings.
 
There has been a run on pellets in the HDs around me because they are all sold out.
 
EnglanderandHunstman said:
same in RI. tried to pick up some fireside ultra but theyre out for now. went to lowes to get the green supreme stuff. ive noticed that green supreme burns cooler than the fireside ultra. both produce a ton of ash
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Same here - I got 2 tons of Green Supremes, 1 ton of Green Teams, and 54 bags of shoulder pellet Stove Chows. They are all ashy, but the Chows and Green Teams make some nice heat. Clinkers galore.
 
EnglanderandHunstman said:
do you notice any difference from the green supremes and the green teams?
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I think the Green Teams burn cleaner but I haven't burnt them much yet. They are more expensive and give decent heat. Put comparing price and heat output, I would go with the Chows; they burn dirtier but have nice heat.
 
I buy my pellets in April when the box stores want to unload them. Usually can get them for 180-190 a ton. I buy 4-6 ton and stack in basement. So far this season I have burnt 1 ton since Nov and I run 24/7 with my new ravelli rv100c. I think it burns less pellets then my precious stoves because when it reaches thermostat 72 it atomically goes to it's lowest setting. I find the fireside pellets to be ashy. Bus I refuse to pay 250-260 a ton just to maybe get lower ash. Only have to clean stove every 3-5 days. Depends on my mood.
 
EnglanderandHunstman said:
how do you find the pellets do after sitting in a basement through the summer? im assuming they suck up some humidity
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I have a damp basement and damp garage where I store pellets. I don't have any problems with them sucking up any humidity. I keep them on a pallet and have a piece of plywood (or the waxed heavy paper that the supplier puts between the pallet and the bags) on top of that before stacking the bags.
 
bogieb said:
I have a damp basement and damp garage where I store pellets. I don't have any problems with them sucking up any humidity. I keep them on a pallet and have a piece of plywood (or the waxed heavy paper that the supplier puts between the pallet and the bags) on top of that before stacking the bags.
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same here..
keep at least 4 tons on pallets and covered with same plastic.
buythem in the spring..Also damp but here we call it a cellar if it's just a storage area..>>
 
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Terrible winds here and very cold, pellet stove earning it's keep this year plus using wood stove much more. Today I have both going as with this wind I was using more pellets.
 
thanks for the info on keeping them dry. i think ill do the same this spring and load up.....blizzard conditions in Rhode Island right now, wood stove is going in the basement but mainly as a back up if we lose power. new pellet stove is earning its keep already on the main level keeping us at a tick under 70 on a mid level setting
 
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EnglanderandHunstman said:
thanks for the info on keeping them dry. i think ill do the same this spring and load up.....blizzard conditions in Rhode Island right now, wood stove is going in the basement but mainly as a back up if we lose power. new pellet stove is earning its keep already on the main level keeping us at a tick under 70 on a mid level setting
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You might want to look closer at that wood stove idea and see what the venting is going to cost you. For me ya buy a TSC air tight pellet stove on sale cheap enough but the venting to go up as high as I need to clear everything needed would be over $2000. So I'll stick with my little kerosene heater in the basement for now. I'm pretty sure my generator will run a pellet stove though, I just havn't tried it since the central oil heat is on the generator anyway.
 
Us Stove 8500, running a thermostat keeping the house at 78, setting 1 feed rate with a 1.5 inch damper is .25lb and hour, settings for feed rate 5 is 2.4lb per hour keeps a 1800sqf ranch nice and toasty
 
EnglanderandHunstman said:
You lost me on that post. I have a wood burning stove that is flued into my masonry chimney in my basement. I also have a pellet stove flued out my living room wall via pellet pipe.
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Yes I read your post to quickly and didn't realize you had the wood stove already but thought you were considering one. Sorry for the confusion !
 
Been keeping the house warm easily at level 3 of 5 burning Stove Chows. This afternoon I threw in a bag of Green Supremes and the house slowly cooled on level 3. Had to bump it up to level 4.
 
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