Newbie in need of help .......

[alternativeheat]

My vent is 26ft vertical if you include the cleanout T and the extension piece out the top of the chimney. We have a P61A Harman. I started out cleaning this vertical liner ( winter of 2012-13) after each ton and wasn't getting much ash, so extended that to two tons two years ago. Last winter we only burned two tons ( plus some oil) so I never did a mid winter cleaning. The stove gets a quick scrape and brush out weekly but I only clean it deeper once the ash pan fills, which is after maybe a ton of decent pellets. Ashy pellets might not make the month, pure white pine or douglas fir will go 5-6 weeks sometimes . As I stated before, I clean the vertical vent from the bottom up and that might take me 20 minutes or so with the getting the cap off and all. I have the stove cleaning down to about 10 minutes, I don't even let it cool all the way down, I just sweep the glowing embers of pellets off into the ash pan while the combustion blower is still running and start brushing down the fire box. That way the ash never enters the room ( wear decent gloves is all). By the time I do that I can scrape the pot, maybe the fines box, and then the blower shuts down and I can do teh horizontal. On a Harman P stove you don't have to disconnect any pipes etc to clean, it's got be among the easiest if not the easist stoves out there to clean. Thus the 10 minute cleaning more or less.

I know for a factor, at least based on the installers at the shop where we bought the stove from, that you can run up 40 ft with a Harman using 4" liner. Cleaning this stove was basically a non issue last winter even after a Dec knee surgery. I did let the fines box go longer than usual.

 

[Mainely Saws]

Thanks NY BURNER. I think I will checks costs for running the exhaust up the tall chimney to see what I'm up against . Also ,if I could make that 15 horizontal run for the incoming air I may go that route .
Thanks again to everyone for all the help ........

Bob

 

[Mainely Saws]

Alternative heat, that's good info & I will definitely be looking at used Harmon stoves . They cost a bit more up front but may be a better buy over the long haul . Thanks again for your help .

 

[alternativeheat]

Thanks NY BURNER. I think I will checks costs for running the exhaust up the tall chimney to see what I'm up against . Also ,if I could make that 15 horizontal run for the incoming air I may go that route .
Thanks again to everyone for all the help ........

Bob

I never addressed the OAK (outside air kit). Mine runs about a foot above the block off to my fireplace up into the chimney. That's it done deal, works great.. So about 5-6ft of aluminum dryer vent is what I used.

 

[Mainely Saws]

I never addressed the OAK (outside air kit). Mine runs about a foot above the block off to my fireplace up into the chimney. That's it done deal, works great.. So about 5-6ft of aluminum dryer vent is what I used.

So , your OAK runs about 5ft vertical next to the exhaust pipe inside the chimney &draws air from inside the chimney ? Does your chimney have a cap on top that allows intake air into the chimney ? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding ........

 

[alternativeheat]

So , your OAK runs about 5ft vertical next to the exhaust pipe inside the chimney &draws air from inside the chimney ? Does your chimney have a cap on top that allows intake air into the chimney ? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding ........

It's OK, you are understanding fine. We had a guy in the forum here who installed stoves this way and he said there isn't a chimney made that doesn't leak enough air to feed a pellet stove. While the stove has a 2-3/4" or so inlet, it can draw what it needs from about a 1" hole ( Harmans are auto baffled but many are manual, and in about all cases those baffles are almost completely shut, ask anyone who has set up a St Croix for instance, the baffle is only open in the intake about an 1/8". But this guy who we had in the forum said that in the unlikely case your stove should starve for air just drill a couple of 1/2" holes in the cap or the mortar someplace outside the house. I must have an inch worth of loose mortar over all the joins 23 ft tall because what he said works just fine and I didn't drill anything. Well in fact my cap is two piece , the seam between the two pieces probably leaks that much air. So think about it, I remember old Chevy engines that had this big carburetor and big air cleaner but the snout on the air cleaner was just small and they ran fine. They didn't run fine when the element got dirty but yet breathed through that little snorkel intake fine..

So to answer your question, my stove breaths fine and if it would make you feel better put on a cap with an intake hole in it. Mine doesn't. Hey, I had to try it, my chimney is all outside so if it didn't work I was ready to drill a discrete couple of holes. Didn't need to. But if you do put in a cap with a hole up top and maybe secondary little cap you don't need to run a pipe all that way up, now that would or could be restrictive. And the way I'm doing it the stove intakes warm air, no condensation or freezing up issues like some folks get with a short intake pipe exiting outside