Pellet stove recomendation, Looking for certain features.

[Joe.G]

Hi, I currently have a Volgerzang 5790 stove, I am burning about 1.5 to 2 bag's a day. My Home is about 2,600 sq ft and is 2 stories stove is on 1 st floor and in the center of the home. This stove heats my home without issue even on the coldest day's. This year I did have my roof decking spray foamed and now The stove actually heats to much.

I am looking for a stove that will shut off and turn off by itself and work off of a thermostat. I know Harmons have this feature Just the price tag is a bit shocking. I do know in the long haul the Harmon probably would save me money. I do need a stove that could go 12 to 14 Hrs with out a refill. Thanks

 

[tlc1976]

If you like the 5790 and are already familiar with it and its quirks, there's always its little sibling the 5770 which is the same guts in a smaller case. On low, mine will go 35-40 hours on a hopper.

But if my budget allowed for a Harman, I'd probably be steered that way too.

 

[zrock]

The built in T-Stat mode not working? You could also try finding a control board that will work with your stove with the t-stat hook up line. My stove will ether shut off or go to a lower heat setting if/when i hook up the t-stat

Interesting that stove is made by Breckwell or vise versa. Identical parts as my big e other that control board..

 

[Joe.G]

I really do like this stove, but even kicking it down to low with it's built in T stat the stove will make the house 80 and then it'll trip the safety. I find myself just shutting the stove down before bed a lot or opening the wiondow's upstairs. Before the spray foam this wasn't really a issue.

Id keep this stove if I could make it shut down and start up on it's own. But I also may want a different stove.

 

[begreen]

The venerable Quadrafire CB1200 has the option for a remote thermostat. Works great with a digital thermostat for nighttime setback temp.

 

[Ssyko]

Yeah you could get a big-e control board and wire harness and convert it to an on-off, hi-low. But now that breckwell is owned buy USSC. most everything is China made and quality has taken a dive. If on-off is a requirement take a look at the Quad cb1200 good heat(about the same as the breckwell) total thermostat controlled (shuts off and turns on buy tstat)

 

[zrock]

Burn cheap pellets.. lol...

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[Joe.G]

The Quad looks like a nice stove. Do you guys have links to what I would need to convert my current stove? I wouldn't mind giving that a try first. I am burning Barefoot at the moment, I have tried others and they do burn cooler but they are dirtier.

 

[Ssyko]

Google breckwell big-e control board and wire harness.

 

[rona]

Buy a used Harman PC45. It will start on and off via thermostat and if you burn pellets you can buy a kit to increase the btu to 50,000.. Buying used will save you a lot of money and you can rebuild them pretty reasonable if you have too.

 

[Joe.G]

So I could install a Breckwell Big E control board and harness? and that would make my stove shut all the way off and turn back on by a thermostat automatically? The parts are not cheap.

 

[Ssyko]

Joe i just went through the 5790 wire diagram and you can’t use the breckwell board and harness. The older ussc stoves are a spin off the breckwell. Breckwell does not use a thermister. So its back to looking for a stove

 

[Joe.G]

Gotcha Thank you

 

[bags]

Joe,
The Harman P Series are great stoves but a bit spendy new. They throw a lot of heat from the blowers and also some very nice radiant heat like a wood stove. They will run like you want and are very, very easy to clean and maintain.

I liked Rona's suggestion too. This would apply to any used P Series as well. It all depends on what you are wanting to deal with. I was hesitant throwing out Harman $$$ at buy in but that is soon forgotten as soon as you start them and see how well you are treated by said stove.

Depending on budget the Castle Serenity is also a cult status stove for cheap seat prices. Once dialed in they seem to be loved and simple to operate and maintain as well although not fully auto On / Off etc like a Harman. The St Croix stoves are good also. Tough decisions and much really boils down to budget, availability, along with what may pop up on the radar.

I'd try to exhaust any possibility to keep the old one running until it turned into a frustrating problem. I tend to try to get every mile out of my old work trucks for overall payback before they are sent out to pasture. That said, once I start pissing up a rope they "get gone" quickly because it becomes more frustration and inconvenience than squeaking out more return on investment. More like shooting them vs. turning out to pasture. The best deals on stoves are found at the end of the season or in the off season also but then again sometimes great deals are found at any moment because not many like a big heavy stove sitting around.

Good Luck!

 

[Joe.G]

So, I changed my auger motor today as I heard this could cause a overfeeding issue if it goes bad, I timed the auger and no matter what setting I had it set on it was at about the 3 settings timing. This would explain why my stove would over heat and the flame would stay the same even though the room fan would kick down to low. All is good in the world again. Before I tried the Auger. I never would have thought of that, I figured the auger either worked or it didn't. The stove kicks down to low now and the fire goes to a very low burn.