I hate my pellet stove.

[littlesmokey]

Did we just get a drive-by blast from an outsider? Anyone here from the OP. I'd call it a cheap shot, but it's more a whiney weinie.

 

[webbie]

I guess it gets cold in Maine....
Which is probably why the OP took part in a bunch of earlier discussions here about moving heat around the house, into the bedrooms, using electric blankets and what happens with the basement....

Burst pipes is a hard lesson to learn, but hopefully others will learn from this thread...so we appreciate the sharing.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

It was below zero in Buxton on two nights a short time ago.

 

[littlesmokey]

I was away for two weeks from my shop and did not heat it. During that time the temp was in the single digits and low twenties. When I got back the inside temp was at about freezing. I figured five bucks worth of water was not as expensive as re-plumbing. My water comes from pipes a supply about 6 feet down, straight through the slab and into the bath. around the exterior wall about fifteen feet and to the sink shower and water heaters. The heaters are on demand electrics. They are switched off. The water set to drizzle (both hot and cold) and a single 150 watt spot on the valve and the riser through the slab. muni water is about 42-54 degrees and when flowing did not cool too much. The light heated the valve which was the only chock point. When it is in the twenties I don't worry, below I get concerned.

 

[teetah222]

Heat tape and insulate the pipes to keepfrom freezing....seems pretty simple

This the most reasonable solution if the only wish is to keep the pipes from freezing. I have pipes that run across my attic space because my house has a concrete slab foundation; so everything goes through the walls or over the top; so I have heat tape on the pipes. If they want to warm the area enough to use it as living space, then they should go for the extra heater in the basement, or the vent in the floor.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

wonder if the stove was upstairs and pulling "outside air" from the basement , a mistake ive counciled many customers against, pulling basement air for combustion magnifies negative pressure in the basement and could literally make the basement much colder as if you pull air from there it leaks in more rapidly and below the heat source. it can cause major problems in cold climates.

lesson is "outside air " means "outside" air.

 

[freebird77]

Weve lived in trailers heated with wood stoves, and always had to leave the water running a trickle to keep from freezing. We do the same now with our pellet stove. We have a double wide now, but no foundation so same as a trailer.
It may not be the best way, but if you are carefull and keep an eye on it, you dont have to run it too much and running water wont freeze. Sorry to hear about your troubles. Good luck.

 

[MCPO]

Romy, you're expecting too much from your stove. It's a SPACE heater and not a primary heating source. It SUPPLEMENTS your main system. Depending on it to keep your pipes from freezing is the WRONG type of expectation you want from the stove.

many people think that a pellet stove will heat the whole house, it wont.

i had the same thing happen to me last yr, live and learn. ask more questions when you make a substantial investment as well.

I disagree, I live in northern canada, and am heating about 1300 square feet in the basement and 1300 square feet main floor, with a quad sante fe in the basement. Running on medium, the upstairs was 72 degree's. Burning 2 bags a day. In -50 Celcius with windchill weather.

I dont have holes cut in my floor, the stove is almost at the far wall with stairs on the opposite wall, the heat has to rise up the stairway and make its way into the main floor.... seems to work good no fans used either.

Insulate your house, and you shouldnt have any problems.

Lets see now, stove in cellar, 2600 ft (2 floors) , 72 degrees upstairs, no holes cut in floor for circulation, northern Canada, running on medium, no fans, and at -50C . All this with a stove rated at 3500 BTU and rated for 1500sq ft.
This is probably the most unbelieveable claim I`ve ever read. Will these wild exaggerations never end?.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Romy, you're expecting too much from your stove. It's a SPACE heater and not a primary heating source. It SUPPLEMENTS your main system. Depending on it to keep your pipes from freezing is the WRONG type of expectation you want from the stove.

many people think that a pellet stove will heat the whole house, it wont.

i had the same thing happen to me last yr, live and learn. ask more questions when you make a substantial investment as well.

I disagree, I live in northern canada, and am heating about 1300 square feet in the basement and 1300 square feet main floor, with a quad sante fe in the basement. Running on medium, the upstairs was 72 degree's. Burning 2 bags a day. In -50 Celcius with windchill weather.

I dont have holes cut in my floor, the stove is almost at the far wall with stairs on the opposite wall, the heat has to rise up the stairway and make its way into the main floor.... seems to work good no fans used either.

Insulate your house, and you shouldnt have any problems.

Lets see now, stove in cellar, 2600 ft (2 floors) , 72 degrees upstairs, no holes cut in floor for circulation, northern Canada, running on medium, no fans, and at -50C .
This is probably the most unbelieveable claim I`ve ever read. Will these wild exaggerations never end?.

It is doable Gio.

You just have to have a well insulated house.

Your BTU need is strictly determined by the heat loss of your house.

Get a heat loss calculator and do the flippen math before you choke inserting your toed appendages into your mouth.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Here is a link to one such heat loss calculator.

http://www.builditsolar.com/References/Calculators/HeatLoss/HeatLoss.htm

 

[Sawduster]

Romy Seriously, think about installing a floor grate/vent with a fan mounted under it to blow air down into the basement and warm it. Put the vent near the stove, You say you have a 900 sf ranch so that Harmon should be quite capable of pumping some heat down to the basement.
I have thought of doing this myself and do not see why it won't work.

I recently did just that, and knock on wood. It seems to be doing the job nicely. It was minus 8 degrees here a few days ago, and my pipes that rest against the basement sill did not go below 40 degrees. The rest of the basement was around 50 degrees. Last year I used a thermostaticly controlled electric heater, but it used far too much electricity to want to continue paying for it.

 

[MCPO]

Romy, you're expecting too much from your stove. It's a SPACE heater and not a primary heating source. It SUPPLEMENTS your main system. Depending on it to keep your pipes from freezing is the WRONG type of expectation you want from the stove.

many people think that a pellet stove will heat the whole house, it wont.

i had the same thing happen to me last yr, live and learn. ask more questions when you make a substantial investment as well.

I disagree, I live in northern canada, and am heating about 1300 square feet in the basement and 1300 square feet main floor, with a quad sante fe in the basement. Running on medium, the upstairs was 72 degree's. Burning 2 bags a day. In -50 Celcius with windchill weather.

I dont have holes cut in my floor, the stove is almost at the far wall with stairs on the opposite wall, the heat has to rise up the stairway and make its way into the main floor.... seems to work good no fans used either.

Insulate your house, and you shouldnt have any problems.

Lets see now, stove in cellar, 2600 ft (2 floors) , 72 degrees upstairs, no holes cut in floor for circulation, northern Canada, running on medium, no fans, and at -50C .
This is probably the most unbelieveable claim I`ve ever read. Will these wild exaggerations never end?.

It is doable Gio.

You just have to have a well insulated house.

Your BTU need is strictly determined by the heat loss of your house.

Get a heat loss calculator and do the flippen math before you choke inserting your toed appendages into your mouth.

Smokey, I think the onus is on him to do the math and clarify his claims. I never said it is impossible but that I don`t believe it at face value. It leaves too much to assume. I`m sure he`s personally able and willing to defend and attempt to qualify what I called him on . What I will do is punch holes in those claims .
His stove is only rated at 35K BTU and yet it heats 2600 sq ft to 72 degrees when it`s -50C outside and he does this running it on medium setting? Supposedly it`s only rated to heat 1500 sq ft and we all know thats the manufacturer`s claim at optimum conditions , using optimum quality fuel under optimum conditions and I doubt very much it was tested at -50 C

Obviously 72 degrees + in an insulated basement is rather easy but the 72 degree temps implied upstairs 1300 sq ft and yet with no fans or floor vents to circulate the heat is a stretch . If you choose to believe all this at face value you`re probably one of those guys PT Barnum talked about.

 

[poconoman]

I think havlat24 has some other heat running along with the pellet stove.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Romy, you're expecting too much from your stove. It's a SPACE heater and not a primary heating source. It SUPPLEMENTS your main system. Depending on it to keep your pipes from freezing is the WRONG type of expectation you want from the stove.

many people think that a pellet stove will heat the whole house, it wont.

i had the same thing happen to me last yr, live and learn. ask more questions when you make a substantial investment as well.

I disagree, I live in northern canada, and am heating about 1300 square feet in the basement and 1300 square feet main floor, with a quad sante fe in the basement. Running on medium, the upstairs was 72 degree's. Burning 2 bags a day. In -50 Celcius with windchill weather.

I dont have holes cut in my floor, the stove is almost at the far wall with stairs on the opposite wall, the heat has to rise up the stairway and make its way into the main floor.... seems to work good no fans used either.

Insulate your house, and you shouldnt have any problems.

Lets see now, stove in cellar, 2600 ft (2 floors) , 72 degrees upstairs, no holes cut in floor for circulation, northern Canada, running on medium, no fans, and at -50C .
This is probably the most unbelieveable claim I`ve ever read. Will these wild exaggerations never end?.

It is doable Gio.

You just have to have a well insulated house.

Your BTU need is strictly determined by the heat loss of your house.

Get a heat loss calculator and do the flippen math before you choke inserting your toed appendages into your mouth.

Smokey, I think the onus is on him to do the math and clarify his claims. I never said it is impossible but that I don`t believe it a face value. It leaves too much to assume. I`m sure he`s personally able and willing to defend and attempt to qualify what I called him on . What I will do is punch holes in those claims .
His stove is only rated at 35K BTU and yet it heats 2600 sq ft to 72 degrees when it`s -50C outside and he does this running it on medium setting? Supposedly it`s only rated to heat 1500 sq ft and we all know thats the manufacturer`s claim at optimum conditions , using optimum quality fuel under optimum conditions and I doubt very much it was tested at -50 C

Obviously 72 degrees + in an insulated basement is rather easy but the 72 degree temps implied upstairs 1300 sq ft and yet with no fans or floor vents to circulate the heat is a stretch . If you choose to believe all this at face value you`re probably one of those guys PT Barnum talked about.

He didn't say the temperature was -50C outside he said the wind chill temperature was -50C, that is a huge difference, no I have a lot more on the ball than to fall for crazy claims, but then I don't go around in effect calling someone a liar. A BTU is a BTU and what is required to heat any structure depends on the heat loss of that structure.

 

[Havlat24]

My house is insulated.

I have 3 feet of cellulose blow in insulation in the attic. My house is 2x6 construction with and added 2" of exterior sheating insulation. My foundation is PWF, with just a concrete floor, walls are foundation grade treated 2x6 and 1.25" treated plywood for sheating. My windows and doors are sealed and do not produce drafts. Basement is 100% finished.


My house is about 1300 square feet upstairs, and 1300 in the basement.

Believe what you want, but my furnace has run a total of 30 minutes since Last april.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

That is like R108+ for a cap and on a 1300 square foot cap is a heat loss through the cap of 13 Btus/hour per degree F temperature differential.

 

[littlesmokey]

Gio, I'm not defending the rather extreme claims, but I do know some are able to get excellent service from a rather plain stove. Years ago friends were custom builders in Greeley, Colorado. They built several "rammed earth" homes with tramm walls for heating. They were fitted with wood stoves for supplemental heating. Small Jotuls or Morsos. Average home was well over 4,000 sf, but super insulated and at the time state of the art. Penny still lives in hers and is very happy with the efficiency even after 15 years. It can be done, and if you live in an extreme environment such as the Northwest Territories, you would include the extreme conditions in the building design and construction.

There's a fellow in Eastern Idaho that builds all season cabins for use in the mountains. They are modular, super insulated (walls are r31 and roof is r70. The door has an unusual feature, a oneway valve that allows the pressure to equalize while openning the door. All appliances are OAK equipped including the gas range. Heat is electic baseboard, but stoves wood/pellet are available. Average is 600 to 900sf, so finding a small stove is very tough. They recommend a boat stove (?) I am not familiar with.

So, it can be done, put takes a lot of thought.

 

[imacman]

He didn't say the temperature was -50C outside he said the wind chill temperature was -50C,...... I have a lot more on the ball than to fall for crazy claims, but then I don't go around in effect calling someone a liar........

Nope, sorry to have to correct you Smokey, but his EXACT statement was "In -50 Celcius with windchill weather". That implies the temp was -50 °C , plus there was windchill winds. He didn't say 'in -50 °C windchill weather'....that would be different.

Unless Havlat corrects that statement, you're wrong.

 

[poconoman]

My house is insulated.

I have 3 feet of cellulose blow in insulation in the attic. My house is 2x6 construction with and added 2" of exterior sheating insulation. My foundation is PWF, with just a concrete floor, walls are foundation grade treated 2x6 and 1.25" treated plywood for sheating. My windows and doors are sealed and do not produce drafts. Basement is 100% finished.


My house is about 1300 square feet upstairs, and 1300 in the basement.

Believe what you want, but my furnace has run a total of 30 minutes since Last april.

Hmmmm.....your house size and build is very close to mine. My PC45 heats the upstairs 1300sqft very well. I wonder if it can heat EVERYTHING by having it downstairs. Nah, I won't do that. I may put another stove downstairs instead.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

He didn't say the temperature was -50C outside he said the wind chill temperature was -50C,...... I have a lot more on the ball than to fall for crazy claims, but then I don't go around in effect calling someone a liar........

Nope, sorry to have to correct you Smokey, but his EXACT statement was "In -50 Celcius with windchill weather". That implies the temp was -50 °C , plus there was windchill winds. He didn't say 'in -50 °C windchill weather'....that would be different.

Unless Havlat corrects that statement, you're wrong.

If I had an exact date and location I could check that out however it really makes no difference to the issue at hand. I don't think they are quite at the -50C mark on absolute temperature yet but could be.

He has already responded with details about his house and you should be so lucky it is one that was designed to be easy to heat in extreme cold conditions.

 

[imacman]

If I had an exact date and location I could check that out however it really makes no difference to the issue at hand. I don't think they are quite at the -50C mark on absolute temperature yet but could be.

He has already responded with details about his house and you should be so lucky it is one that was designed to be easy to heat in extreme cold conditions.

I have "no dog in this fight", so I don't care one way or the other, but he lives in Northern Alberta....VERY possible that he had -16 °F temps considering that it was well below zero in VERMONT recently.

 

[MCPO]

My house is insulated.

I have 3 feet of cellulose blow in insulation in the attic. My house is 2x6 construction with and added 2" of exterior sheating insulation. My foundation is PWF, with just a concrete floor, walls are foundation grade treated 2x6 and 1.25" treated plywood for sheating. My windows and doors are sealed and do not produce drafts. Basement is 100% finished.


My house is about 1300 square feet upstairs, and 1300 in the basement.

Believe what you want, but my furnace has run a total of 30 minutes since Last april.

OK, Thanks for getting back to us havlat . Your house appears to be super insulated. Obviously thats a big plus.
I just found an early October post of yours (below) that did shed some light on the topic. In that post I see even you didn`t think it would be possible to heat the entire house when the temps dropped to -4--40F. That will go a long way to lift the guilt I feel for questioning your claims. Of course -50 C is even colder than you anticipated so that`s another reason you can smile.
Regardless, you are somehow accomplishing what so many others can`t and you should be congratulated.
The end. (for me) I should apologise for hijacking the thead.



"I put a sante fe in my basement, and my stairs are located on the opposite far side wall. I turned my furnace off, and set the pellet stove to turn on at 75. Its been keeping the upstairs at about 72. Burning a bag every 1.5 to 2 days or so. (House is 1300 square feet in the basement and 1300 square feet upstairs, insulated for Northern Canadian winters)

I have a ceiling fan in the far side bedroom across the house constantly running. The outside temperature here has been 14-41F. I imagine when it gets to -4 to -40 It wont heat the whole place, (Maybe running constantly on medium or high) but its doing a good job right now, and I’m guessing my furnace will run 50-60% less this winter. "

 

[Havlat24]

My house is insulated.

I have 3 feet of cellulose blow in insulation in the attic. My house is 2x6 construction with and added 2" of exterior sheating insulation. My foundation is PWF, with just a concrete floor, walls are foundation grade treated 2x6 and 1.25" treated plywood for sheating. My windows and doors are sealed and do not produce drafts. Basement is 100% finished.


My house is about 1300 square feet upstairs, and 1300 in the basement.

Believe what you want, but my furnace has run a total of 30 minutes since Last april.

OK, Thanks for getting back to us havlat . Your house appears to be super insulated. Obviously thats a big plus.
I just found an early October post of yours (below) that did shed some light on the topic. In that post I see even you didn`t think it would be possible to heat the entire house when the temps dropped to -4--40F. That will go a long way to lift the guilt I feel for questioning your claims. Of course -50 C is even colder than you anticipated so that`s another reason you can smile.
Regardless, you are somehow accomplishing what so many others can`t and you should be congratulated.
The end. (for me) I should apologise for hijacking the thead.



"I put a sante fe in my basement, and my stairs are located on the opposite far side wall. I turned my furnace off, and set the pellet stove to turn on at 75. Its been keeping the upstairs at about 72. Burning a bag every 1.5 to 2 days or so. (House is 1300 square feet in the basement and 1300 square feet upstairs, insulated for Northern Canadian winters)

I have a ceiling fan in the far side bedroom across the house constantly running. The outside temperature here has been 14-41F. I imagine when it gets to -4 to -40 It wont heat the whole place, (Maybe running constantly on medium or high) but its doing a good job right now, and I’m guessing my furnace will run 50-60% less this winter. "

I know im surprised by the little unit. Havent even ran it on high at all. It was brutally cold here last week. Calgary and Edmonton had record low temps. We were about -30 celcius with an extreme windchill warning. It equaled out to about -52 Celcius with the wind. Sure eating through the pellets... 1.5 to 2 bags per day.

Maybe its just a misunderstanding in how we use the term "with windchill". Up here we always use the coldest temp and say "with the windchill"

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

My house is insulated.

I have 3 feet of cellulose blow in insulation in the attic. My house is 2x6 construction with and added 2" of exterior sheating insulation. My foundation is PWF, with just a concrete floor, walls are foundation grade treated 2x6 and 1.25" treated plywood for sheating. My windows and doors are sealed and do not produce drafts. Basement is 100% finished.


My house is about 1300 square feet upstairs, and 1300 in the basement.

Believe what you want, but my furnace has run a total of 30 minutes since Last april.

OK, Thanks for getting back to us havlat . Your house appears to be super insulated. Obviously thats a big plus.
I just found an early October post of yours (below) that did shed some light on the topic. In that post I see even you didn`t think it would be possible to heat the entire house when the temps dropped to -4--40F. That will go a long way to lift the guilt I feel for questioning your claims. Of course -50 C is even colder than you anticipated so that`s another reason you can smile.
Regardless, you are somehow accomplishing what so many others can`t and you should be congratulated.
The end. (for me) I should apologise for hijacking the thead.



"I put a sante fe in my basement, and my stairs are located on the opposite far side wall. I turned my furnace off, and set the pellet stove to turn on at 75. Its been keeping the upstairs at about 72. Burning a bag every 1.5 to 2 days or so. (House is 1300 square feet in the basement and 1300 square feet upstairs, insulated for Northern Canadian winters)

I have a ceiling fan in the far side bedroom across the house constantly running. The outside temperature here has been 14-41F. I imagine when it gets to -4 to -40 It wont heat the whole place, (Maybe running constantly on medium or high) but its doing a good job right now, and I’m guessing my furnace will run 50-60% less this winter. "

I know im surprised by the little unit. Havent even ran it on high at all. It was brutally cold here last week. Calgary and Edmonton had record low temps. We were about -30 celcius with an extreme windchill warning. It equaled out to about -52 Celcius with the wind. Sure eating through the pellets... 1.5 to 2 bags per day.

Maybe its just a misunderstanding in how we use the term "with windchill". Up here we always use the coldest temp and say "with the windchill"

Maybe I should now divulge the fact that I have tons of folks who are friends on the Canadian side of the border and not exactly a small number of relatives still there.

 

[Havlat24]

(broken link removed)

December 12th and 13th, -30 Celcius with 35km/h winds. Brrrrrrr