New Castle Serenity owner here

[Eternal10]

hello all have been a lurker on this forum for many years. Have a Harman P68 in my basement and love it. But hate having to keep the basement 90 degrees to get heat to the other two floors. So I purchased a castle serenity and put it in my family room on the first floor. Running great so far. Have an oak and adjusted the gate down to about 25%open,and my exhaust voltage set at factory settings. I still feel I'm losing some heat out the exhaust. Flame is still very lively

 

[Eternal10]

Should I try closing the gate even more??

 

[alternativeheat]

I have followed the Serenity threads though don't own one, as yet anyway. I've never seen a recommendation to close the gate past 25% . However I have seen mention of lowering combustion fan voltage.

I'm looking to do the opposite of you, to run a smaller stove in the basement just to heat the basement and the first floor floors. We have the p61 in the living room. A Serenity is one stove on my list of options. A used P43 or 38 at the right price is another. I just missed the floor model King at the local TSC but that was another.

 

[Eternal10]

I have followed the Serenity threads though don't own one, as yet anyway. I've never seen a recommendation to close the gate past 25% . However I have seen mention of lowering combustion fan voltage.

I'm looking to do the opposite of you, to run a smaller stove in the basement just to heat the basement and the first floor floors. We have the p61 in the living room. A Serenity is one stove on my list of options. A used P43 or 38 at the right price is another. I just missed the floor model King at the local TSC but that was another.

So far this little stove is awesome for the price. Highly recommend it so far.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

How did you determine that you are still loosing heat? Is the exhaust piping hot to the touch?
Your exhaust blower voltage setting in the control panel work along with the inlet air gate. You can access and change the voltages in the control panel. If your exhaust piping is very short and simple, you may wish to lower the voltages a bit to slow the fan down rather than close the air gate more. But trial and error will be the best teacher of what settings you need to end up with.

 

[Eternal10]

How did you determine that you are still loosing heat? Is the exhaust piping hot to the touch?
Your exhaust blower voltage setting in the control panel work along with the inlet air gate. You can access and change the voltages in the control panel. If your exhaust piping is very short and simple, you may wish to lower the voltages a bit to slow the fan down rather than close the air gate more. But trial and error will be the best teacher of what settings you need to end up with.

I initially turned up the exhaust voltage. But have since turned it back down. Piping is still a little hot to touch but not too bad. Actually now I think it has settled in and seems to be heating a little better.

 

[rich2500]

So far this little stove is awesome for the price. Highly recommend it so far.

wait until you go to clean it and it takes all of a minute to dump the ash pan, dump the burn pot and hit the firebox quick with a vac and done.

 

[Eternal10]

wait until you go to clean it and it takes all of a minute to dump the ash pan, dump the burn pot and hit the firebox quick with a vac and done.

I shut it down and cleaned it today. Ran about 6 bags through it. Really didn't need it but wanted to see the gate position. Super easy to clean

 

[klincker]

Also a new serenity owner here. I'm having a hard time getting it dialed in correctly. I can get it burning with a good flame but the exhaust is pretty hot. I've only run it on stall one, consistently. The stove is in my three season room at one end of my ranch home. I've burned about a half-ton so far.

My understanding-(tell me if I'm stupid and missing something)
- Since you can set the blowers to any voltage at any stall, the stalls are essentially only for adjusting the pellet feed rate?

Stall one- Exhaust at 85, air at 1/2 = lazy burn and lots of clinkers
I have to set the air to almost fully open to get to a clean burn, but my exhaust piping gets pretty hot to the touch.

My stove is set up in a corner. The pipe goes out to the right and then i have a 7ft rise to get it 2' above my soffit. I do get fly ash out the stack occasionally while burning and always when shutting down the stove.

I'm burning Lignetics hardwood pellets. They look a little darker and produce a good bit of ash.

 

[alternativeheat]

I would try bumping up the exhaust voltage and lowering the damper to 1/3 open. Your exhaust vent should be about uncomfortable to the touch but not burn you, if you are getting a lazy burn it's not enough air. So in theory ( you just have to experiment ) closing the damper more will restrict the flow through the stove and out the vent but upping the blower voltage will increase the flow at the burn pop and liven up the flame. that combo has worked for some others here.

On another note, if this is a basement install then often that requires and outside air source ( OAK) because stoves can suffer negative draft in basements. You can open a window or crack a door open if you don't have the OAK and see if your flame livens up as a test.

 

[mikkeeh]

Also a new serenity owner here. I'm having a hard time getting it dialed in correctly. I can get it burning with a good flame but the exhaust is pretty hot. I've only run it on stall one, consistently. The stove is in my three season room at one end of my ranch home. I've burned about a half-ton so far.

My understanding-(tell me if I'm stupid and missing something)
- Since you can set the blowers to any voltage at any stall, the stalls are essentially only for adjusting the pellet feed rate?

Stall one- Exhaust at 85, air at 1/2 = lazy burn and lots of clinkers
I have to set the air to almost fully open to get to a clean burn, but my exhaust piping gets pretty hot to the touch.

My stove is set up in a corner. The pipe goes out to the right and then i have a 7ft rise to get it 2' above my soffit. I do get fly ash out the stack occasionally while burning and always when shutting down the stove.

I'm burning Lignetics hardwood pellets. They look a little darker and produce a good bit of ash.

The exhaust fan adjusts the velocity of the air being drawn through the burn pot. The volume is adjusted by the air gate. This has no bearing on the auger speed ie feed rate. One stall setting for each heat level.

 

[Eternal10]

Also a new serenity owner here. I'm having a hard time getting it dialed in correctly. I can get it burning with a good flame but the exhaust is pretty hot. I've only run it on stall one, consistently. The stove is in my three season room at one end of my ranch home. I've burned about a half-ton so far.

My understanding-(tell me if I'm stupid and missing something)
- Since you can set the blowers to any voltage at any stall, the stalls are essentially only for adjusting the pellet feed rate?

Stall one- Exhaust at 85, air at 1/2 = lazy burn and lots of clinkers
I have to set the air to almost fully open to get to a clean burn, but my exhaust piping gets pretty hot to the touch.

My stove is set up in a corner. The pipe goes out to the right and then i have a 7ft rise to get it 2' above my soffit. I do get fly ash out the stack occasionally while burning and always when shutting down the stove.

I'm burning Lignetics hardwood pellets. They look a little darker and produce a good bit of ash.

If you have 7' of rise and are in a corner install. You may be over 15' total length including all your elbows and T. Assuming your using 3" pipe

 

[bags]

It is good to hear how well the Serenity is liked and easy to clean coming from another P Series owner. It is hard to beat a Harman P Series so anything that gets a positive review when being compared is a good sign. My only experience is with a P68 and PC45. Prior to that nada, zero knowledge of pellet stoves or pellet burning. If I would have gotten a PITA picky stove from the get go I can imagine how frustrated I would have possibly been. The Serenity seems to be another no nonsense unit.

Like Alternative, I have had one on my radar for some time now and if I get or need another pellet stove this will likely be the one. Seems to be hard to beat this little gem. Price, performance, ease of use, etc; Once dialed in and figured out everyone seems to be pleased. Then maybe a wrench in the spokes when you get a bum supply of pellets but I have experienced that here in the P68 using the coveted brand Somerset.

Luckily I'm back into some good Sets and things are normal again. It wouldn't have been as big of an issue if I had thrown in another brand and gotten the insane amounts of ash. No more insane ash now and still running Sets. Maybe It was a ton made from their thorough clean down there and I was burning floor grime in that ton. Enjoy that Serenity and stay warm. I can definitely see where a more finicky burning stove can get all jacked up when running crappy pellets. The Serenity seems to motor on well with an array of pellets too where some can not handle them at all.

 

[klincker]

I would try bumping up the exhaust voltage and lowering the damper to 1/3 open. Your exhaust vent should be about uncomfortable to the touch but not burn you, if you are getting a lazy burn it's not enough air. So in theory ( you just have to experiment ) closing the damper more will restrict the flow through the stove and out the vent but upping the blower voltage will increase the flow at the burn pop and liven up the flame. that combo has worked for some others here.

On another note, if this is a basement install then often that requires and outside air source ( OAK) because stoves can suffer negative draft in basements. You can open a window or crack a door open if you don't have the OAK and see if your flame livens up as a test.

So, its not in a basement, and I did not do an oak. It's in a drafty room and has no issue with pulling air in. I will bump the exhaust up when I get home and play with the damper. I need to put a rod on that gate. More air flow at the pot should help with build up as well.

My only concern with increasing the exhaust is the fly ash out of the stack. I'm around 10' of total pipe with a rain cap on top. I did this because I wanted the exhaust to clear my soffit and figured a horizontal exit was pointless above the roof line.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

So, its not in a basement, and I did not do an oak. It's in a drafty room and has no issue with pulling air in. I will bump the exhaust up when I get home and play with the damper. I need to put a rod on that gate. More air flow at the pot should help with build up as well.

My only concern with increasing the exhaust is the fly ash out of the stack. I'm around 10' of total pipe with a rain cap on top. I did this because I wanted the exhaust to clear my soffit and figured a horizontal exit was pointless above the roof line.

IMO, unless it looks like it is snowing about the rain cap area, ash out the exhaust is not a bad thing as long as no glowing embers accompany it.

My interpretation of the console settings:
heat 1 through 5 are pellet feed rates and perimeters are not adjustable. (that I know of anyway)
Blower stall voltages are room fan speeds to get the heat away from the stove and into your house. No other aspects impact this setting.
Exhaust blower stall voltages work in tandem with the inlet air gate to regulate the burn in accordance with the pellet feed rate and type, and exhaust piping design. Open air gate increases volume and reduces velocity. Higher exhaust blower voltage increase the vacuum against the air gate, and will magnify the air gate's adjustment effectiveness. But the exhaust piping will also dictate the exhaust blower voltage setting, then adjust air gate to match. Typically a longer piping will require higher exhaust blower voltages.

 

[klincker]

IMO, unless it looks like it is snowing about the rain cap area, ash out the exhaust is not a bad thing as long as no glowing embers accompany it.

My interpretation of the console settings:
heat 1 through 5 are pellet feed rates and perimeters are not adjustable. (that I know of anyway)
Blower stall voltages are room fan speeds to get the heat away from the stove and into your house. No other aspects impact this setting.
Exhaust blower stall voltages work in tandem with the inlet air gate to regulate the burn in accordance with the pellet feed rate and type, and exhaust piping design. Open air gate increases volume and reduces velocity. Higher exhaust blower voltage increase the vacuum against the air gate, and will magnify the air gate's adjustment effectiveness. But the exhaust piping will also dictate the exhaust blower voltage setting, then adjust air gate to match. Typically a longer piping will require higher exhaust blower voltages.

On shut down i do get some glowing embers.

Gave the serenity a good cleaning when I got home.

With the exhaust set to 85 i had to have the damper fully open to burn well.

I was able to get it burning well with the exhaust at 90 and the damper about 1/3 open. Hope I'm not sending too much heat out the pipe