New Hudson River Stove Works, Saranac Pellet Stove

[jed12674]

Well, I got the new pellet stove in and running. It came wednesday around 3:30pm and my brother and I had it all installed and running by 9:00pm. Kind of took our time because its the first pellet stove we've ever installed and we didn't want to make any mistakes. It worked really good the first night and Thanksgiving Day. Outside Temp was high 30's low 40's. Thankgiving night got down to around 20 here, but the stove managed to keep the living room around 78, down the hall was about 68. Friday was high 20's low 30's. Friday night I noticed alot of fly ash (i assume you call it that) on the fake log and around the outside of the burn pot so I shut the stove down and waited for it to cool down and vacuumed it all out and cleaned the heat exchanger tubes. There was alot of build up in the bottom of the burn pot so I cleaned that out also. I pulled the cap off the bottom of the T in the exhaust vent at the back of the stove and cleaned some more fly ash out of that too. Checked the ash pan, wasn't even a quarter of the way full. This was after 5 bags of premium hardwood pellets, that claim low ash content (Empire pellet, Associated Harvest Co. Lafargeville, N.Y.). My vent pipe (3") comes from the back of the stove into a T and goes up 36" to a 90 degree elbow then to a 3" to 4" adaptor then to a 4" to 6" adaptor then to my 6" metalbestos T out through the wall and there is 16' of 6" metalbestos above that. I had a wood stove that I replaced with this pellet stove and the metalbestos was already there( I installed it 2 years ago) that is why I just adapted the vent pipe into it. The dealer had the display stove vent setup the same way in the store. Also my house is just shy of 1800 square foot, 2 story with no insulation on the second story. Stairway is closed off by a door with a heavy blanket behind it. Lower level ceilings have drop ceilings. I know I have alot of heat loss. I expect that till I get the second story back together. Maybe this is normal but my concern is not about the heat output but of the excessive amount of fly ash. Is this normal? After cleaning it last night and running it all night on high setting I checked again this morning and it doesn't even look like I cleaned it at all. There is alot of ash again after 1 and a half bags of pellets. Could it be the pellets, my exhaust vent, the stove? Flame looks good. Stove is rated for 50,000 btu. I did sweep the metalbestos before installing the pellet stove so it was good and clean. Sorry to be long winded but the pellet thing is new to me. Thanks, Jarrod

 

[drizler]

As long as the flame looks nice and bright, not yellowish orange or jetting in intensity you are probably fine. When you listen to the dealer and look at their displays you have to take it all with a grain of salt. The reality is that they do generate at least some ash and debris, they do dirty the window ( much much more than they will admit) and you will burn more fuel than they ever seem to admit to. It is sort of like the proud car owner gas mileage thing and I can tell you as often as not they are fulla bulla. I just had a dealer tell me that last year they heated their entire house with a Harmon last year using 2 tons of pellets. All I can say is that it must have been a mighty short season for them as it took me 4 and my place is smaller. You should be getting powdery ash and not a lot more for a residue. If its hard then its forming a clinker or clinkers which is as sign of at least somewhat incomplete combustion. Different brands of pellets may work differently in your stove too while some like mine will devour about anything . You said you had it running hard all night, I suspect thats the source of your ash problem. Really nothing at all just ash from all the pellets you burned. If you are running 30K or above you tend to go through the pellets pretty fast makin all that heat, no free lunch. You will also find that your glass will get dirty a lot faster than they say too, its probably all normal. Unless you are very anal about cleaning it your best bet is just open it and give it a wipe with a paper towel with a few ashes on it. You might be well advised to invest in some insulation soon too. Like someone on the board mentioned the other day the Federal tax credit for insulation is going to expire on Dec 31 so if you buy your insulation now at least you will get 10% back. Its not much granted but its going to keep on saving and its better than a sharp stick in the eye.
Did you say that stove is a Saranac? The only saranac I know of is beer which I have a Carmel Porter in front of me now. I have to say it doesn't heat all that well but I bet it tastes better than your stove. I lived in Saranac Lake once, froze my buns off.........................

 

[Kenny1]

Hey Jed, the new stove looks great.

Yes, there is some fly ash inside the stove (some are more prone to it than others). Windows do get dirty (mine seems worst in spring and fall, but keeps fairly clean in the heart of the winter when the stove is running constantly).

Like Driz said, as long as the flame looks OK you should be good to go!

 

[jed12674]

Thanks guys. Thats kinda what I was hoping for for an answer. As long as it is normal I can deal with cleaning it. I was more worried about if I might have done something wrong installing it or if my vent was not right, but I rechecked the manual and it says it is ok to vent into an existing metal chimney but to install a liner if the chimney is more than 6" diameter which mine is 6" so I should be ok. I am going to try different pellets though to see if I can minimize the ash. It is all just light ash. Eventually the 6" metalbestos is coming down and I plan to vent through the wall. Thanks again.

 

[MrWinkey]

Nice setup!

I clean my stove about every 3 days.....so depending on the brand of pellets that dosent seem unreasonable. I can go a week or longer but I like to clean it as it seems to help it burn less pellets.

You might try to adjust your combustion motor air if your stove has the adjustment.....I would talk with the dealer agian and see if they have a magnahelic (draft check gauge) you can borrow.

The glass does get dirty after a few days.....

 

[jed12674]

Thanks MrW, I cleaned the stove all out saturday and I plan on cleaning out again tonight. I'll take a pic of the ash build up and post it so you guys can see. From what you all have been telling me and what other people i've talked to say, it is normal. Pellet stove is a new thing to me and I just wanted to be sure. I thank you all for your input.

 

[lass442]

jed and MrWinkey, don't know if you caught this idea in another thread, but someone suggested using crumpled up newspaper to clean the glass. I've been using a dry microfiber cloth to clean the glass and it's works nicely, but I'm going to try the newspaper idea next time I clean. I want to see if the glass stays cleaner for longer with it.

 

[Doocrew]

Well, I got the new pellet stove in and running. It came wednesday around 3:30pm and my brother and I had it all installed and running by 9:00pm. Kind of took our time because its the first pellet stove we've ever installed and we didn't want to make any mistakes. It worked really good the first night and Thanksgiving Day. Outside Temp was high 30's low 40's. Thankgiving night got down to around 20 here, but the stove managed to keep the living room around 78, down the hall was about 68. Friday was high 20's low 30's. Friday night I noticed alot of fly ash (i assume you call it that) on the fake log and around the outside of the burn pot so I shut the stove down and waited for it to cool down and vacuumed it all out and cleaned the heat exchanger tubes. There was alot of build up in the bottom of the burn pot so I cleaned that out also. I pulled the cap off the bottom of the T in the exhaust vent at the back of the stove and cleaned some more fly ash out of that too. Checked the ash pan, wasn't even a quarter of the way full. This was after 5 bags of premium hardwood pellets, that claim low ash content (Empire pellet, Associated Harvest Co. Lafargeville, N.Y.). My vent pipe (3") comes from the back of the stove into a T and goes up 36" to a 90 degree elbow then to a 3" to 4" adaptor then to a 4" to 6" adaptor then to my 6" metalbestos T out through the wall and there is 16' of 6" metalbestos above that. I had a wood stove that I replaced with this pellet stove and the metalbestos was already there( I installed it 2 years ago) that is why I just adapted the vent pipe into it. The dealer had the display stove vent setup the same way in the store. Also my house is just shy of 1800 square foot, 2 story with no insulation on the second story. Stairway is closed off by a door with a heavy blanket behind it. Lower level ceilings have drop ceilings. I know I have alot of heat loss. I expect that till I get the second story back together. Maybe this is normal but my concern is not about the heat output but of the excessive amount of fly ash. Is this normal? After cleaning it last night and running it all night on high setting I checked again this morning and it doesn't even look like I cleaned it at all. There is alot of ash again after 1 and a half bags of pellets. Could it be the pellets, my exhaust vent, the stove? Flame looks good. Stove is rated for 50,000 btu. I did sweep the metalbestos before installing the pellet stove so it was good and clean. Sorry to be long winded but the pellet thing is new to me. Thanks, Jarrod

Jarrod-

Take the fake log out. I used mine for about a week and got sick of having to shut the stove down every couple of days to do a complete cleaning because of the buildup on the log. Without the log the ash tends to fall into the ash pan and it stays cleaner for a few extra days. I shut down about every 48 hours and empty the ash pan but do not open the door to the unit. Once a week I do a complete cleaning. If you keep the ash pan empty you can go a lot longer between complete cleanings. Also, two tricks to cleaning the glass- 1) use a magic eraser, it works great! 2-Dip a wet paper towel into the cold ash and scrub-works just as well. Either way, clean the glass afterward with a little windex sprayed on a dry paper towel. Good luck with your stove.