I am making the change to a Harman P-68

Just went downstairs. Stove is set exactly same settings as yours, plus I did a quick cleaning today. I have 601 in one area of the sidewall.

Here is the kicker-it will vary as I move it up or down. The hot spot of 601 was an area that I steel wool scrubbed to get some build up off. All other areas are about 30 deg cooler. Shows that the minor looking build up is effecting heat transfer. The heat exchanger was scrubbed clean so I am good there. The whole firebox will get a solid scrubbing this summer.

 

Yes, but I have no idea if it is accurate. That thing is at least 20 years old.

 

Doesn't matter if it's accurate. It's still a good visual reference to what your stove is doing. I'm always looking at mine.

 

Do you run on temp? My fire goes briskly, then no visible fire, then fire again. Sort of like the furnace did.

 

At this time of year, I run Stove Temp / Auto. It wont shut down in stove temp when Auto is selected and will give a steady heat that is needed from the basement.

Although it does mean that you will need to manually make any changes you want for different times of day or big changes in outside temps.

 

Good, that helps me feel better. Learning curve. I'll get there, might get up and ck it it a few times tonight.

 

I run mine the same way , I prefer the steady heat

 

Depends on the weather for me. A sunny day and I run in room temp. I have a lot of west facing windows and the sun heats this place nicely. Cloudy days or real cold days I run in stove temp to get the steady heat.

 

Bah, stick the room probe in the bosses room, set the temp you want that room to be. Load the beast up and let it go in room mode, you might need a hopper extension.

Then be sure to install a lot of extra insulation in your room or wall your area off from the stove.

See no problem.

You folks make it so dammed hard .

 

Long night. I sat up with the stove until 2:30 Still not sure about that automatic mode where it shuts down, then comes back with a roaring fire that scares the heck out of me.
Wife got up this morning to the house at 66 upstairs, she said, "I'm disappointed" Down stairs where the stove is, it is 76 F and that is where the thermostat is. So, to me the stove is working as designed. My office space is about 5 degrees cooler, so that isn't so bad. It is obvious to get this to work the way the wife wants I am going to have to force better flow and mixing. Awhile back, I bought a floor grate. some 6 in ductwork, and a wall grate. My intention was to put the grate in the floor in the floor of our bed room and use an inline fan to pull the cool air off the floor and force it down to the rooms below where the warm air will then be forced up the stairwell.
I am concerned about what noise the inline fan will make. Another option I have considered is to buy one of those very quiet ceiling exhaust fans and pull the heat up through the floor to where my wife normally sits.
Any thoughts?

 

Put the igniter switch in manual. The stove won't shut down when in room temp. It will go into "maintenance burn" until heat is called for then it will ramp up. Usually not to the extreme of a startup. When in stove temp, putting the igniter in manual turns the blower off. This needs to be done only after the stove is running.

 

Ahhh, the life of a Cellah Dwellah. I have 1 floor grate and have removed my basement door as well as using several fans. You will get use to the fan noise and tune them out. Trial and error on placement is all I can advise there. Last evening outside was low teens and first floor above basement was upper 60's to almost 70. Warm enough that I had to turn the stove down from Stove Temp/Auto.Full Blower/Temp Setting 5 to half blower/Temp setting 3. Always leaving it in Stove Temp/Auto until the shoulder seasons.

Subsailor benefits immensely from those west facing windows on sunny days. Also want to reinforce that putting in manual only when using room temp. Dont use manual for stove temp.

 

Larry try Stove temp auto mode for a steady fire . Correct me if I'm wrong but the old stove wasn't on a stat, it just ran , and worked well until it got really cold it couldn't keep up . Heating from the basement I think you need to let it run all the time . Just my 2 cents

 

That will be my next step. I've read on here where those with stats did just that until the shoulder season.
My house is very comfortable tonight. It isn't so cold old. 21F now. I just put the last of bag #3 in the stove. We started it yesterday around 4 pm. So that seems to be about one and a half bags burned. I inch it up as my confidence grows.
My stove is in the basement of this house, but the house in only in the ground two and a half to three feet, with one end higher than ground level. We have a cememet wall up half way, then conventional wood framing on the rest. The downstairs is insulated all but the floor. All but the furnace and shop area is finished living space. The stove is in the center and faces toward the open split stairwell.

 

I agree with this 100%. Should make a big difference.

 

Hey Larry

Hows it been holding up?

 

Good,
When I changed over to auto stove mode, the wall near the stove was too warm to my liking. I have some fire board I'll put up until I come up with something different. The room temp setting doesn't get the wall hot, but also doesn't send out as much heat as I would like to migrate upstairs. I just bought a super quiet ceiling exhaust fan that I am planning to install in the ceiling above the stove and duct it up to a selected spot. I have all kinds of ideas. I just am not use to a pellet stove that is HOT. Big flame. I have an external magnetic thermometer on the side that goes up to about 600 F when the flame is big. And that is when I have it anywhere between 72-75 F I am going slow so I can be sure of what to anticipate from each change. All this big flame and heat makes me a bit nervous. I know that is why I got this stove, next is getting the experience to go with it.
What size flame do you settle on?

 

Whatever size gets the job done. If its as cold as it has been, them a huge flame is my best friend. Dont worry about the flame being too big.

Regarding the wall, what is your clearance and what material is the wall?

 

My wall was too hot for my looking also so I got the heat shields and now the drywall stays pretty cool. Maybe 90 deg at most? Dealer gave me the shields at no cost because the installer installed the stove 1" too close to the wall according to the install manual. Didn't ask for pics or want to come out to see it. Just ordered them for me and called me when they came in.