Congrats on the Avalon Astoria
I did some research and in Southern NH it was a good choice for me also. I had it for one season already and found it took only 3 tons to heat my house for the entire winter. So I just bought 3 tons of Logik-e premium hardwood pellets made in Canada for the next year.
The tough part was figuring out what fan speed and heat settings to use so I made a chart from my experience. Hope this helps in making your own chart
The following chart is a guide for heating the whole house (Split Entry) with the stove installed in the center of the basement with 2 registers with a convection fan and a doorway fan in the doorway to the basement.
Pellet Stove Heat Setting, with the Air Restrictor on 2 and the Convection Fan on 6 (Highest)
Wind Speed +or-5 MPH
5 10 20
Outside Temp +or-5 Degrees
v
v Astoria Heat Setting (1-6) Astoria Heat Setting (1-6) Astoria Heat Setting (1-6)
0 4 5 6
10 3 4 5
20 2 3 4
30 1 2 3
Example1: Early Saturday morning on 01-30-2010, The wind speed was 20 MPH and outside temperature was 4 degrees. the chart says 6 for the heat setting. At that time, we had it set to 5 when we were asleep and 6 when we woke up for more warmth and comfort!!
Example2:
02-07-2010 at 2 pm, the temperature was 27 degrees F, and the Wind Speed was 9 MPH. Therefore, the chart above puts the heat setting between 3 and 2 (slightly closer to 2) We have it set to 3 for comfort although 2 would be adaquate!!
Here is more info I compiled about the Astoria on my computer
http://24.34.84.89:8080/trhproj.nsf...42e1a03a71224912852575f4000e74cb?OpenDocument
Good Luck
Don
A little Rope Light and Candles make a real nice effect at night!!