new XXV is a glutenous pig, why?

[MarkF48]

Will the brand/quality of the pellets make much difference in amount used in a given time. I recently bought some pellets that just don't seem to have the same heat output and they appear to be going through the stove quicker.

 

[TonyVideo]

You mention that you put the stove temp on medium. The low to high is the distribution blower speed. I would put it at High to get the most heat out of the unit.

 

[alternativeheat]

Will the brand/quality of the pellets make much difference in amount used in a given time. I recently bought some pellets that just don't seem to have the same heat output and they appear to be going through the stove quicker.

Yes, some pellets are hotter burning and so the stove ramp up time is shortened . Often with hotter burn too, you will ser a lower cleaner flame for a given temp setting I ser this with DF pellets and with premium hardwood in some brands.

 

[MCPO]

Interesting , but unless I missed something , you haven`t told us where-abouts you live , how many sq ft you are heating, and how well insulated your house is.
You did say you have a few drafts to fix but the above info would give us a better idea if the new stove is burning an unusual or excessive amount of pellets.
Once that is established we can try to determine if and why your old stove was burning so much less.

 

[Dougsey]

about a bag and a half

Huh?? No way. About 2/3 of a bag in a 5 gal. bucket.

 

[BGStG1aholic]

In your OP, you say you are running in auto in order to run the distribution fan on lower setting. What speed are you running the fan on given the settings you say you have?

I'm now running the fan on M as suggested by the dealer tech. when at #4 or 5.

I turn the fan down just under M when below #4

 

[BGStG1aholic]

Interesting , but unless I missed something , you haven`t told us where-abouts you live , how many sq ft you are heating, and how well insulated your house is.
You did say you have a few drafts to fix but the above info would give us a better idea if the new stove is burning an unusual or excessive amount of pellets.
Once that is established we can try to determine if and why your old stove was burning so much less.

Hello,

Maybe I did'nt clarify in the OP that this new XXV took the exact same spot as my old Avalon, same pellets(100%fir),used the exact same type and exact samelength of exhaust pipe, etc. ALL conditions are EXACTLY the same except it is about 5-10 degrees warmer outside now since I bought my new XXV and it is swallowing pellets at an alarming rate compared to the old old stove which was just replaced. My new stove eats 1 bag per 14hrs. and old relic Avalon ate 1 bag per 20 hr. average to keep it the same temp inside.the same place just a day prior to being replaced.

Did I happen to mention I am comparing the performance(or lack of) of my new stove compared to my old stove ???? Where I live, etc. has no bearing on my comparison whatsoever unless conditions have changed

My bewilderment is the comparison of an old 24 yr. old outdated stove(Avalon) to my new $4000.- state of the art Harman which is outperformed in the efficiency department by the old Avalon hands down, no comparison. It's got me really bummed out - I thought I made a smart purchase at the time, hopefully it will "break in" as the dealer mentioned may be the problem. I'm kinda wondering about that statement.

My new stove is most beautiful, puts out darn good heat, controls are nice once you figure out the Harman well kept secrets as to what each knob actually does and how to use them. I'm hoping someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong as I find it very hard to believe this new stove can be outdone by an old outdated stove from a quarter century ago.

I'm wanting to love this stove so much, please help me

 

[Ctcarl]

I think your comparing apples to oranges. Your saying your old stov gives the same amount if heat yet uses less pelletes?I think your splitting hairs.I know I got my dad his new snow blower he still says it was a waste of money and doesn't compare to his old one. Some people have a hard time going with change.Give it a month by then you should be use to it and see the good in it

 

[Oilhater]

New XXV this year as well. Here are my usual settings
Feed rate almost 4 (like 3.9)
Auto ignite
StoveTemp Setting 3

With this setting I get 14-15 hrs/bag with the better pellets...Vermont, Okie Black Hills, LaCrete, Okanagan and Cubex
12.5-13.5 hrs if I run it on 4-5 or use mid-above avg pellets.
Just my 2 cents for you to compare.

 

[MCPO]

Hello,

Maybe I did'nt clarify in the OP that this new XXV took the exact same spot as my old Avalon, same pellets(100%fir),used the exact same type and exact samelength of exhaust pipe, etc. ALL conditions are EXACTLY the same except it is about 5-10 degrees warmer outside now since I bought my new XXV and it is swallowing pellets at an alarming rate compared to the old old stove which was just replaced. My new stove eats 1 bag per 14hrs. and old relic Avalon ate 1 bag per 20 hr. average to keep it the same temp inside.the same place just a day prior to being replaced.

Did I happen to mention I am comparing the performance(or lack of) of my new stove compared to my old stove ???? Where I live, etc. has no bearing on my comparison whatsoever unless conditions have changed

My bewilderment is the comparison of an old 24 yr. old outdated stove(Avalon) to my new $4000.- state of the art Harman which is outperformed in the efficiency department by the old Avalon hands down, no comparison. It's got me really bummed out - I thought I made a smart purchase at the time, hopefully it will "break in" as the dealer mentioned may be the problem. I'm kinda wondering about that statement.

My new stove is most beautiful, puts out darn good heat, controls are nice once you figure out the Harman well kept secrets as to what each knob actually does and how to use them. I'm hoping someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong as I find it very hard to believe this new stove can be outdone by an old outdated stove from a quarter century ago.

I'm wanting to love this stove so much, please help me

Evidently you have already decided the Avalon is more efficient than the new Harman. The question that remains now is why?
You managed to repeat what you already told us instead of taking that time to tell us what state/country you live in, how much sq ft you are heating , or how well your house is insulated.
So far we have no supporting information whatsoever to aid us in determining if the Harman XXV is running normal and using what some here would say is average amount for your situation or not.
Maybe all the new improvements Harman made to meet emissions standards results in a less efficient burn?

 

[chken]

quite strange indeed I also thought...

environmental conditions - It's actually a bit warmer outside now(about 5 degrees) running my new XXV than when I ran my Avalon.

stove adjustments - adjusted it to how dealer advised and got no improvement in efficiency AT ALL. Stove seems to be burning cleanly as the exhaust smells clean, looks clean(no smoke outside), inside stove is not creosoted whatsoever. Ash production seems to be the same as my Avalon which was minimal.

heat coming out vent pipe you ask? - YES! - The exhaust pipe(same size) on the Harman seems to get hotter than the exhaust pipe on the Avalon used to get.


I'm feeling like the guy who picked up the most beautiful girl at the dance, spent a buttload of money on her and well ... you know the rest

I hope my relationship with my new woman improves as I'm now thinking I should have bought the big ugly stove that really puts out rather than this beautiful one that just looks pretty sitting in the corner.

Kinda getting bummed out as it's been a few days now and have tried different settings to no avail. I did my research(I thought) before buying this stove and was in the belief this is one of the VERY best stoves available. Did I just get a lemon or does it get better as it's used a bit????

Okay, so you've narrowed the problem down to too much of that heat produced being sent out the vent pipe. I don't have a Harman, but on my stove, I'd consider doing two things, first, I'd up the room blower, and two, I'd consider lowering the combustion air so that less of the heat gets blown out, but one has to be careful not to lower combustion efficiency.

 

[Tonyray]

did I miss anywhere where u stated[or not] the max BTU output each stove is 'supposed' to produce?

 

[SwineFlue]

Just a thought: is that Avalon a pre-EPA stove? It may be pulling a much lower amount of air (and heat) out the vent pipe, prioritizing room heat over clean air.

 

[john193]

How are you measuring the temp in the room to determine that in fact both stoves are equal? You may be heating more with the harman simply because your Avalon may not have had an accurate temp gauge.

Have you read the harman sticky in here?

 

[john193]

Okay, so you've narrowed the problem down to too much of that heat produced being sent out the vent pipe. I don't have a Harman, but on my stove, I'd consider doing two things, first, I'd up the room blower, and two, I'd consider lowering the combustion air so that less of the heat gets blown out, but one has to be careful not to lower combustion efficiency.

Harmans have no combustion fan speed control.

 

[BGStG1aholic]

I'm still hoping someone may know the solution to my problem, I find it very hard to believe my 24yr. old stove is more efficient on pellets than my new Harman while putting out the same heat-



I was just posting my problems here I've encountered with my new baby with high hopes someone could tell me it is me screwing up on my adjustments. I've tried most everything suggested by those here and by my dealers tech. I'm trying to learn how to run my new stove efficiently but it's not really working out for me. It seems as though maybe the old stoves just plain old outperform the new ones efficiency wise on pellet consumpsion, I had no idea Is it even possible???? I thought the new technology was the way to go?

eta - I am actually considering firing up my old Avalon for my primary heat source and letting my new XXV just sit there and look pretty if it does'nt come around in a few days, such a shame - I'm in disbelief

 

[john193]

I'm still looking for someone who may know the solution to my problem, I find it very hard to believe my 24yr. old stove is more efficient on pellets than my new Harman -



I was just posting my problems here I've encountered with my new baby with high hopes someone could tell me it is me screwing up on my adjustments. I've tried most everything suggested by those here and by my dealers tech. I'm trying to learn how to run my new stove efficiently but it's not really working out. It seems as though maybe the old stoves just plain old outperform the new ones efficiency wise on pellet consumpsion, I had no idea Is it even possible???? I thought the new technology was the ship

This is a difficult thing to diagnose because you don't have facts to backup your issue. People have tired to give you an answer and it sounds like we are trying to diagnose your perception.

Again, how are you measuring the temp in the house to determine that both stoves are maintaining the same ambient temp?

Speed up your distribution fan to high and go back to room temp. Where is your room temp sensor located?

 

[Harman Lover 007]

If you want to know what the stove is capable of you are going to have to turn the fan to high. Once you blow the heat off the stove and into the house you may actually be able to turn down your setting and save on pellets.

 

[IHATEPROPANE]

Its quite possible the old stove is more efficient. And better at heating. By what you wrote it certainly seems the case.
I would try turning the room blower up, that will aid in removing heat from the stove and will help circulating that heat. If after that you still using more pellets to keep your house at the exact same temperature all day as the Avalon then you will have your answer.

 

[newf lover]

I don't know where you live, but if it's as cold as it's been in CT, there is no way I'd get 20 hours of burn out of 1 bag of pellets. There's not a lot to control on these Harmans, so it is possible that your old Avalon is better than your new XXV. Maybe some old timers can chime in comparing if their old relics were better than their new ones. SwineFlue had a thought about it being a pre-EPA stove and maybe that has something to do with it?

 

[DOLLARBILL]

How is that possible? Premium pellets are about 40 - 45 lb/cubic foot which would mean that a 5 gal bucket would only hold 27 - 30 lbs.

Sorry a bag and a half for two Buckets !

 

[maple1]

Random thoughts from a pellet non-user.

Seems that if the new one is burning through more fuel but not putting out as much heat, it must be sending more heat out the vent pipe.

That would lead me to question either the blower speed or airflow in that circuit (not moving enough air to scrub enough heat off the stove before it hits the vent pipe), or the venting itself. Maybe using the same venting setup as the old one is somehow costing you in lost heat out the pipe? Is the old venting setup up to what the new stove specs? Maybe a less restrictive venting was more optimally matched to the old one than the new one?

 

[john193]

The OP has already stated he uses the distributor fan on low. Again, this just sounds like a perception issue combined with possible operator error.

 

[maple1]

One more suggestion - since the old stove is supposedly all hooked up & ready to go in another location, get them both fired up & running, and do some actual temp measuring of certain things with an IR gun. Like vent output temps, and maybe distributor fan outlet temps, and whatever else you can measure for comparison purposes. And measure those things on the Harman & how they change with changing settings.

Is it possible that using the same venting on both stoves could negatively impact one of them as far as heat going out the pipe? Are all stoves pretty well the same in their venting specs?

 

[HarmanManP43]

Draft test. Draft test. Draft test.

When the stove was installed was the low and high draft set correctly? Too high and your pumping heat out the back.

They can be picked up up for 30 bucks everyone should have one.