Winter Prep Already?!?!

[North Idaho Wolfman]

We gave up the pellet stove and switched to a propane-fired boiler with 2 hydronic air handlers. I wanted to put heat under the floors, but the wife didn't want to spend the money. Last year she said the floors weren't cold, but now she is admitting that they are, and we should have done it before we put the hardwood flooring down. Now it is going to be installed from underneath between the joists, not as efficient, but it should make the floors warm.

Heated floors are soooooo nice!

 

[RCW]

Can’t say I did a good job, but cleaned pellet stove tonight after work.

Looks like some Boxer spittle on outside of glass….wonder where that came from?!?!

Old Timer has had 3-4 tractor trailer loads of pellets through it and it still burns pretty well.

 

[The Evil Twin]

What's this 'winter' thing? 60's this week.....in Virginia!

 

[Biker1mike]

What's this 'winter' thing? 60's this week.....in Virginia!

Yeah. I lived in Fauguier county a while back. Got an inch of snow and the entire county stopped moving !
I knew of only two other bikers that rode 12 months a year down there. And we were all transplanted yankees.

 

[The Evil Twin]

L

Yeah. I lived in Fauguier county a while back. Got an inch of snow and the entire county stopped moving !
I knew of only two other bikers that rode 12 months a year down there. And we were all transplanted yankees.

LOL! Now just the threat of snow closes schools. Supposed to snow tomorrow? School is closed!!

 

[RCW]

Did an inventory check tonight.

Exactly 100 bags, or 2 tons of pellets left for the season.

Figure season is just about 60 more days, so we should make it. That said, I've been surprised before....

 

[Daren Todd]

Did an inventory check tonight.

Exactly 100 bags, or 2 tons of pellets left for the season.

Figure season is just about 60 more days, so we should make it. That said, I've been surprised before....

Grass is sprouting. Daffodils were blooming a couple weeks ago. Trees are budded here.

 

[RCW]

Grass is sprouting. Daffodils were blooming a couple weeks ago. Trees are budded here.

Ha! We got maybe 8” of snow over couple days. Some nearby got 20….

Next week looks almost perfect sugaring weather. Highs 45 and sunny. Lows teens and 20’s.

 

[Daren Todd]

Ha! We got maybe 8” of snow over couple days. Some nearby got 20….

Next week looks almost perfect sugaring weather. Highs 45 and sunny. Lows teens and 20’s.

It's been cold again. Drove the frogs back into hiding. 30° this morning. Then back up to mid 50's during the day. Supposed to be similar through next week.

 

[chim]

Grass is sprouting. Daffodils were blooming a couple weeks ago. Trees are budded here.

Right now it's 48° and sunny. Been dealing with a sciatic pain that's getting better. Maybe good enough to soon un-winterize the Kubota and pull the driveway markers.

 

[RCW]

Right now it's 48° and sunny. Been dealing with a sciatic pain that's getting better. Maybe good enough to soon un-winterize the Kubota and pull the driveway markers.

Yeah, if forecast looks favorable I pull snowblower off tractor around end of March.

Time to do services, etc.

Often put loader on for a few weeks if I have dirt work.

Getting closer.....

 

[RCW]

Pretty sure cleaned stove for last time this season.

Still 1.5 of 5 tons of pellets left. Might be lowest pellet consumption in our history. 4.5 was lowest. Guessing we may not get to 4 this season.

Forecast is close to 80 and sunny late next week; we’ll be out of heating mode for a while.

We have snow mid-May quite often, so we still have a way to go….

 

[Tughill Tom]

Yea bought a ton last week to finish up this year , I'll be a bit over 3 tons for the year. Prices going up so get them now.

 

[RCW]

Resurrecting an old thread.

3 tons in today. Will need one more shortly.

Holy smokes, I complained about $375 last year; $450 this year

Hardwood prices have been off since last fall. Sawmills may not be making sawdust to make pellets….just a theory.

 

[Tughill Tom]

Man that's high, I bought 3 tons in July for $325 each, I'm set for this year .

 

[RCW]

Man that's high, I bought 3 tons in July for $325 each, I'm set for this year .

Tom - damn straight that’s high.

Tractor Supply softwood blend or straight up softwood pellets are $350 now.

I never paid more than $275 until last year. Spooky where the market is going.

 

[RCW]

I'll resurrect my old thread. No need for new one.

Week or two ago @dirtydeed and I were talking about our pellet stoves. We have the same make/model.

I've replaced the circuit board twice already in the Fall of 2024?!?!?!

Started to get stove ready. It blew a fuse on the circuit board this spring - right at the tail end of heating season. Replaced fuse this spring, but didn't need heat anymore.

Last week acted like board was shot - - stove would not power up at all and fuse did not blow.

No worries - - one on the shelf since 2021. OEM and current superseded part #.

While all the components of the stove ran, NONE of the controls on that board worked right?!?!? Dipswitches were all set properly.

Also threw a code of a bad exhaust sensor probe (which probably wasn't bad - but for $12 replaced it). That sensor is a pain in the neck to get to and took some patience. That was self-inflicted - I should have left it in. Still have another on the shelf.

Got another 1-00-05886 circuit board in 2 days - also OEM. All's good so far but haven't test fired yet.

I'm reluctant to press may luck right now...but the time for heating season is drawing near.....

 

[Tughill Tom]

Just replaced the Igniter on mine, just need to replace the door Gasket once I start to run it.
Found this place for OEM parts Wood Pellet Stove Parts and Grill Replacement Parts (pellet-stove-parts-4less.com)

 

[Daylight]

The fun of electronics...

In the four years since its installation, the circuit board and several sensors on my Guntamatic pellet furnace (https://www.guntamatic.com/en/products/pellet-heating-system/biocom-304050/) have been replaced twice because of unexplainable breakdowns and error messages.

The boards and sensors are made in Austria in limited quantities, with lots of QC, so both the technician and the factory couldn't believe I kept having problems. Finally, last October, the technician spent half a day -at the factory's expense- crawling all over and under the plant, looking for the issue. Turns out that the installer had 1) not used shielded cable for the sensors (there are 16 of them IIRC) and 2) put all signal and power cables bundled in the same conduit, thus creating all kind of interferences...

I'll resurrect my old thread. No need for new one.

Week or two ago @dirtydeed and I were talking about our pellet stoves. We have the same make/model.

I've replaced the circuit board twice already in the Fall of 2024?!?!?!

Started to get stove ready. It blew a fuse on the circuit board this spring - right at the tail end of heating season. Replaced fuse this spring, but didn't need heat anymore.

Last week acted like board was shot - - stove would not power up at all and fuse did not blow.

No worries - - one on the shelf since 2021. OEM and current superseded part #.

While all the components of the stove ran, NONE of the controls on that board worked right?!?!? Dipswitches were all set properly.

Also threw a code of a bad exhaust sensor probe (which probably wasn't bad - but for $12 replaced it). That sensor is a pain in the neck to get to and took some patience. That was self-inflicted - I should have left it in. Still have another on the shelf.

Got another 1-00-05886 circuit board in 2 days - also OEM. All's good so far but haven't test fired yet.

I'm reluctant to press may luck right now...but the time for heating season is drawing near.....

 

[DustyRusty]

I had a Harman pellet stove, and I was happy the day that I bought it, and sad also. I lost my greyhound that day to her hips finally failing. The next happiest day with that pellet stove was the day that I gave it away. I can't count the number of circuit boards that I had replaced in that stove. I have no idea why the boards go bad, since the rest of the stove worked so well. Had the stove about 10 years, but with the cost of pellets getting more expensive, it made propane a better choice for heating.