'Nother stove & placement thread, sorry :P

[alternativeheat]

Lol right. Hopefully I make my mind up by then...

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When we were looking we had several choices, some mighty pretty looking. But if you put practicality first, it really narrows the playing field. Are you trying to decide between stoves or just to do this at all ?

 

[MButkus]

How are the water pipes insulated ? They going under the unheated crawl space ?

 

[R9R]

Stoves. I already have the vent kit lol. It'll be going in the living area so should look decent at least lol. Don't particularly care for the USSC King, not sure why just not sure I want to stare at it every day. Really considering the Serenity and let the furnace run as needed. Or still kicking around the PelPro. Still like the idea of a big hopper and a few more BTUs.

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[R9R]

Water comes from well up into crawlspace. Pressure tank and line to house IN crawlspace. From there runs up to main valve in house through the insulation blanket.

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[rich2500]

Stoves. I already have the vent kit lol. It'll be going in the living area so should look decent at least lol. Don't particularly care for the USSC King, not sure why just not sure I want to stare at it every day. Really considering the Serenity and let the furnace run as needed. Or still kicking around the PelPro. Still like the idea of a big hopper and a few more BTUs.

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your gonna get the best tech support from Ardisam with the Serenity, replacement parts if needed will be cheaper for the Serenity and the Serenity will by far be the easiest to clean and there are several folks here that are pretty knowledgable on the setup and trouble shooting on the Serenity. In some cases a bigger hopper isn't always better especially here on the east coast where one day it may be 60 deg. and the next 20. As you will come to find out many pellet stove users burn what is considered shoulder pellets( pellets that put out less heat) when it's not real cold out and then find good hot burning pellets for the colder temps so the smaller hopper works better when you are flipping back and forth between shoulder pellets and non shoulder pellets. Just this week alone I switched back and forth 3 times.

 

[alternativeheat]

Stoves. I already have the vent kit lol. It'll be going in the living area so should look decent at least lol.

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It took us two months to decide LOL !

Incidentally, the King in the store looked much nicer than the half drawing half photograph at the web site. It has grill work for one thing. But it's a big stove for it's 40,000btu, mostly because of it's 2-1/2 bag pellet capacity that is all internal.

 

[R9R]

Thanks Rich! I've read nothing but awesome about the Serenity, so I think at this point it's a serious contender. Never even thought about "shoulder" or "hot" pellets. Was thinking through that when I was considering a wood stove, just never thought pellets would be the same. Makes perfect sense though lol. Thanks for that And honestly, at their price point, maybe after a trial year or two, I could always put another in on the other side of the house as suggested earlier See, you guys are the best!

 

[alternativeheat]

Thanks Rich! I've read nothing but awesome about the Serenity, so I think at this point it's a serious contender. Never even thought about "shoulder" or "hot" pellets. Was thinking through that when I was considering a wood stove, just never thought pellets would be the same. Makes perfect sense though lol. Thanks for that And honestly, at their price point, maybe after a trial year or two, I could always put another in on the other side of the house as suggested earlier See, you guys are the best!

Ya they seem to be good stoves but too, you have 2100sq ft and the Serenity is rated 1500. And that will probably do fine till the weather gets taxing, which is why I suggested this stove in pairs if two were of interest and mentioned the central heat as backup if using one.. Well, the thread has it's own history at this point I guess so no need speaking old news.

 

[R9R]

All good alternative. I was really just too lazy at the moment to find the old post lol. I really liked the pairs idea. Built in back up capabilities and use #2 if/as needed. And with the relatively inexpensive venting it may be a real option.

 

[R9R]

To add to the indecision what about a CAB50? I'm reading good things. Though I have no idea their price point. ..

 

[rich2500]

Cab50 is a good stove about 2k for the stove

 

[alternativeheat]

To add to the indecision what about a CAB50? I'm reading good things. Though I have no idea their price point. ..

It would have the horsepower to heat your place, you would be back to how evenly it did that since you would have the one point of distribution and a divided up layout vs open floor plan.

43,000 btu
Heats up to 2500 sq ft
Price :$1999

King pellet stove is similar looking, maybe a little longer.

40,000 btu
Heats up to 2000 sq ft
Price on sale at TSC: $879

Several people around the forum own Heatlilator stove and some specifically the Cab 50.We don't really hear a lot about them, most seem to have little trouble.

 

[rich2500]

Another option is the comfort bilt HP50, similar to the serenity in that it uses most of the same parts just has tube heat ex changers instead of plate so cleaning is not as easy as with the serenity, but for a few bucks more then a serenity you get a 55 lb. hopper vs 40 and 44000 btu vs 35000 and they come in some nice colors to match the home decor.
https://www.comfortbilt.net/product...bDanP_h1wYC-RX6Niy7Jpuabg7kffmDbfwaAt1_8P8HAQ

 

[R9R]

Now really looking at PelPro PPC90. Saw this thread and love it

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pelpro-ppc90-cast-freestanding-stove.159885/

Decent hopper, enough BTUs to have a shot at doing most of the house. If Menards extends their 11% might see if they'll price match TSC...

 

[bogieb]

My only concern would be they say on that thread it has no ash pan? That could be a pain in the patootie, vacuuming it out every couple of days (which means it has to be cold). Sure it looks nice, I wouldn't use it as a primary heater. However, you aren't me, so you may be good with it.

 

[R9R]

Yeah the more I think about it the less I want to have to shut down & cool down in the middle of winter for ash removal. I gather from other threads there's other models out there you can remove most ash while unit is running into (I assume) the ash pan/drawer. Maybe? I mean the elec. furnace is there anyhoo but the whole point is not to run it bunches lol

I'm just really liking the aesthetics of a stove like that as opposed to a cabinet style. But, in the end I think practicality is gonna win out, especially with me being gone most of the day through the week, and pretty sure the care & maint. aspect will be my job

 

[Tails1]

Yeah the more I think about it the less I want to have to shut down & cool down in the middle of winter for ash removal. I gather from other threads there's other models out there you can remove most ash while unit is running into (I assume) the ash pan/drawer. Maybe? I mean the elec. furnace is there anyhoo but the whole point is not to run it bunches lol

I'm just really liking the aesthetics of a stove like that as opposed to a cabinet style. But, in the end I think practicality is gonna win out, especially with me being gone most of the day through the week, and pretty sure the care & maint. aspect will be my job

Care and maintenance is truly a factor to be mindful of when choosing a stove. If you are having to clean it every day to avoid problems and like me work all week, that won't do. Mine gets cleaned once a week on the weekend and the ash pan dumped and so far I have been without problems. Takes about 15 minutes. My stove also does a good job dropping ash out of the air stream before it leaves the stove so my pipes are staying clean. Last week I skipped the cleaning and came home today to a cold house due to the fire not starting. (Igniter hole was blocked with a clinker) Better pellets might have avoided this, but not missing weekly cleanings I am still ok using inferior pellets which makes me happy as I can save money.

I have a woodstove in the basement that only gets used on weekends and when it is in use I don't need the pellet stove so thats a perfect time to clean it.

 

[alternativeheat]

Yeah the more I think about it the less I want to have to shut down & cool down in the middle of winter for ash removal. I gather from other threads there's other models out there you can remove most ash while unit is running into (I assume) the ash pan/drawer. Maybe? I mean the elec. furnace is there anyhoo but the whole point is not to run it bunches lol

I'm just really liking the aesthetics of a stove like that as opposed to a cabinet style. But, in the end I think practicality is gonna win out, especially with me being gone most of the day through the week, and pretty sure the care & maint. aspect will be my job

I don't think shutting down for 30 minutes once every week or two is considered running the electric bunches, it might not even come on. In normal cold I can fully clean my P61 before the oil kicks on , especially if I turn the thermostat down. But any day of the week I might scrape ash down into my ash pan, if I have ashy pellets and I see it building up I just take a scraper and scrape the ash off into the pan with the stove going. I did it this morning in fact. I've been dealing with maintaining one kind of stove or another for 40 years + , you just put a glove on is all and don't dilly dally. People like to have these love ins with their stoves when they mess with them, that's up to them. I hit and run and be done with it. I have other things to do besides screw around with a stupid stove. Ya I like the heat, I like the glow at night, cool but a task is a task as far as that part goes. Do it and be done. You can brush it down too, it's advisable not to use a nylon brush though !

 

[R9R]

See that's where being a noob comes in lol I'm thinking "stove shut down & cool" is going to take a while - like hours. If it's a 30 min thing then that's very do-able. I was figuring on running the furnace for that long (+/-) anyhoo.

+1 to do-it-and-be-done. I have plenty else to do too! Good call on no nylon brush

Boy you guys are full of things to think about, I really appreciate it!

 

[alternativeheat]

See that's where being a noob comes in lol I'm thinking "stove shut down & cool" is going to take a while - like hours. If it's a 30 min thing then that's very do-able. I was figuring on running the furnace for that long (+/-) anyhoo.

+1 to do-it-and-be-done. I have plenty else to do too! Good call on no nylon brush

Boy you guys are full of things to think about, I really appreciate it!

Nylon is fine once the stove cools off but I was speaking about a quick brush down with the stove actually running. You would do that precisely once per brush and each time have no bristles left LOL !

That said , I use a nylon brush to brush the stove down on a full cleaning. And I use a nylon bottle brush to clean my ESP which is in the exhaust pathway.

One Harman owner in the forum about 3 years ago was hot on the trail of finding a brush with brass or copper bristles.

 

[R9R]

I'm with ya lol. I think I'm about to the information overload portion of the journey lol. About need to sit back & see what the tax return says I can or cannot do. Now I found the USSC 5500M at Northern Tool for $800. I can have it shipped and still be <$1000. Analysis paralysis aaaaaaahhhhhhh

 

[alternativeheat]

Ya you better kick back and relax for a few days, you're gonna drive yourself nuts !

 

[bogieb]

See that's where being a noob comes in lol I'm thinking "stove shut down & cool" is going to take a while - like hours. If it's a 30 min thing then that's very do-able. I was figuring on running the furnace for that long (+/-) anyhoo.

+1 to do-it-and-be-done. I have plenty else to do too! Good call on no nylon brush

Boy you guys are full of things to think about, I really appreciate it!

If you have to vacuum out the stove, then shut down and cold is cold - no embers because then you'll have a ashvac fire (non of them are fire proof).

If you have an ash pan to empty, you can dump it while it is still too warm to handle (if you use gloves). Then you can dump the ashes in an ash bucket (outside, on a non flammable surface) until you are sure all embers are out. Or, if you have 10' of snow outside, just dump it out next to the mulch pile like I do. My stoves are still fairly warm when I start the cleaning.

There are a lot of stoves out there with ash pans. Some have to be dumped every week (like my previous Hastings). Others can go a month +/- (depending on quality of pellets burned).

 

[R9R]

Yeah I'm really trying to set my priorities for deciding. Ash pan is in the top 2 with BTU's to do the whole house (heat distribution issues aside). I think that's going to help, combined with the tax return $$ should narrow it down pretty good. But still at the end of the day I know you guys are here

 

[tbear853]

Mine has an ash pan inside lower door under firebox door, when I clean ashes out I just open it and pull pan and take out to my safe dump place and then back in and reset in hooks and shut door and soon, stove is going again. If mine's doors are open, flame dies, and smoke is still pulled through stove, never goes into the room.

I wasn't familiar with stoves that had to be emptied or cleaned daily until recently reading of them here. Seems like that would be a hassle?