PE Alderlea T5 install with pics

[dispatcher101]

Hello all,

I would like to start off by saying thanks to everyone for all of their great advice. I have been meaning to get these pics up for a while but haven't had the time.

The stove has been in since Thanksgiving and I couldn't be happier. Thanks to all who suggested going with the bigger T5 instead of the T4. The extra couple of bucks is definitely worth it. The thing that I love most about this stove is that it is so easy to operate, get it up near 500 degrees, shut the air down and don't mess with it for atleast 4 hours...no smoke...clean glass...great heat. It will sit at 625-650 for the next few hours without any fiddling. I am burning primarily beetle kill lodgepole pine that has been seasoned for a little over a year - that measures between 10-15% on my cheapo harbor freight moisture meter. Just did my first pipe cleaning a little over a week ago, and the pipe was totally clean with the exception of the last 1-2 feet which had minimal buildup ( am running metal-fab double wall pipe ) I was a little worried about the secondary air hole configuration on the baffle...just didn't seem like there were enough, but to my surprise the stove performs flawlessly.
The stove is located on the middle floor of my 1500 sq ft tri-level here in Colorado, and it keeps the main floor a toasty 73-80 degrees, the upstairs about 68-70, I am however struggling to move the heat down to the sunken living room, but that will have to wait for another post. I am very happy with the mellow heat provided by the cast iron, I don't have the blower kit on it...and frankly don't really need it except for the sub zero nights.
I didn't think that the ash door would be of much use, but I am pleasantly surprised. At the end of a burn cycle I scrape the fine ash near the door down the chute, rake the coals forward and you are ready to go, really helps to cut down on the mess.
The install went ok...I had to travel to Denver to find a PE dealer that gave a crap. I gave them a call and told them what I was looking for, they told me they had a T5 in the warehouse that I could look at. I made it up there 3 hours later and to my surprise they had unpacked it and had just started its first burn there on the showroom floor (FREAKIN AWESOME) All the dealers down here in Colorado Springs with the exception of the Lopi dealer offered less than impressive service and most notably a severe lack of knowledge about their stoves. The install guys were a little off, they didn't have a battery for their motorized dolly (lots of stairs...hence them installing it) and they forgot the offset. But 6 hours later they had it in.
I decided to build my own hearth. I started with by framing it out on 2x3's added a layer of good plywood and covered that with a layer of dura-rock (see pics). The angles on the tiles were well...harder than I had anticipated, good thing i had plenty extras. But in the end I am very pleased with the outcome.

Link for pics below (click on the thumbnail to see album)

http://dispatcher101.jalbum.net/

Thanks again

 

[snowtime]

Looks good. I love how the PE stoves have close clearances. If you find some cold night you need more heat they can be driven to pretty high temps.

 

[Pagey]

That's a damned fine looking stove! Congrats on the install.

 

[madison]

You are one of the few to give a positive remark on the ash chute. When I am at my friends cabin in west yell. and burn his lodgepole in his quad, the ash is always really fine and almost nonexistent the next morning, and thought that the ash chute on my t6 would possibly get used if I was burning pine. The ash and clinkers of coal from hard wood jammed up my chute the few times I tried it.

FYI, make sure that chute trap door completely closes after cleaning, it will create an overburn situation if it is not completely closed and sealed. Maybe leave enough ash in the stove to refill the depression over the trap to help seal it off.

I do think the fan is helpful if you do get to wishing for more heat...

thanks for the pics and good job.

 

[dispatcher101]

You are one of the few to give a positive remark on the ash chute. When I am at my friends cabin in west yell. and burn his lodgepole in his quad, the ash is always really fine and almost nonexistent the next morning, and thought that the ash chute on my t6 would possibly get used if I was burning pine. The ash and clinkers of coal from hard wood jammed up my chute the few times I tried it.

FYI, make sure that chute trap door completely closes after cleaning, it will create an overburn situation if it is not completely closed and sealed. Maybe leave enough ash in the stove to refill the depression over the trap to help seal it off.

I did struggle with the ash chute initially. I only scrape in the very fine ash closest to the door, you can get some of the larger bits in though, if you do get the opening clogged it is usually because the ash has built up in the pan underneath, a quick shake of the pan usually sucks everything down.

You are correct in making sure that you make sure the door is completely closed. You can ensure this by not overloading the ash pan, and making sure that you pack the recess left by the door very thoroughly. I can definitely see how it could cause an overfire if you don't seal it correctly. I make sure to check the stove after 3-4 minutes of shutting the air off. It is blatantly obvious when you are leaking air because their is a huge fireball coming from the area of the chute door.

 

[summit]

I think their ashpan is quite handy, and wish I had put it on mine... the pan on the summit classic at the shop is a better system than I woulda thought, nice for cleaning off the day to day ash, but a bucket and shovel should be on hand for the more thorough weekly sunday morning ash removal... anyway, i agree with the earlier post on getting the fan. Especially with all that cast thermal mass around the stove, I think you'll find you'll use even less wood with this unit w/ the fan attached. Good install, overall... nice work on the hearthpad.

 

[Bobbin]

I can see why you're pleased! The installation looks great, the stove is not only nice looking but it's doing everything it's supposed to do, too. Don't you love it when a plan comes together?