ah! A beautiful P68, I see! Might I congratulate you on your choice of stoves?! You are obviously a man who recognizes quality when he sees it. You're probably also smart, good-looking, and fit...with a keen sense of humor! I like infrared thermometers....digital readings!
I have the infrared thermometer too. Just got it a few weeks ago, so I have not yet integrated it into my rudimentary testing methodology. All in due time.
I just like the numbers to better quantify things. As for feed rate, it shouldn't matter a whole lot what its set at for feed rate, rather, try making the comparisons with the digi thermo, and in stove mode....might be telling. The feed rate is really nothing but a maximum timing in a worst-case scenario, unlikely you'll see that in your home, especially at this time of year. Now, too low a rate isn't good, as you're limiting you're feeder "on" time, maybe leave it set from 3-1/2 to 4? Ive seen them set at 1, with the argument being its a more efficient way to run, but what is really happening is you're limiting the stove to only run at a max of 10 secs per minute.....probs not nearly enough when the season hits us. This causes the fire to burn WAY back by the auger, possibly burning off the auger tip, and maybe degrading the feeder weldment (and that's $$$$$$).....
I had an argument on the "other" site with a guy complaining his P series stove wasn't running right and he couldn't get any heat out of it. He had his feed rate on 1 and couldn't be convinced he had to turn it higher. He must have been a lawyer or something like that.
3.5 is my normal running setting. I will sometimes bump up to 4 for various reasons. On the other hand, last year when I burned DFs I was able to turn the feed rate down to 3 and still get more heat than most other pellets I've burned. It's worth stating that when I do the testing for heat output, I am doing it while the stove is running at max load. We only run the stove when we are home, so it typically runs full blast for a while working to get the room up to the configured temp setting. Basically, this time of year, we'll get home and the house will be between 61 and 65 let's say and I have the stove set at room temp mode equivalent to 72 - 73 degrees, so it runs at max configured settings for a while until it gets there. I'm heating 2500SF with this thing, so it takes some time. It's funny the differences you see with pellets when you run the stove like this. Some pellets like the chows and hardwood heats throw so much heat it's uncomfortable to stand near the stove, while other pellets like the Heat'rs (as much as I like how clean they burn) just don't put out anywhere near the same level of heat. Some pellets will produce more heat if you increase the feed rate, and others not so much. It's really interesting and eye opening to try and compare them all.
no....not Lawyer dissing?! Yea, generally one of those folks who don't read the manual and try to reason it out......generally, you wont ever win those arguments...I try to explain it, they listen, or don't.....
