American Harvest 6500 Real World Burn Rate.

[intensedrive]

I'm curious how much fuel others are using with the 6500. I plan to burn on the lowest setting but I see the rate is 5lbs per hour, if this is correct that would be near 2 tons per month on the lowest setting. Would it be realistic to expect to burn 3 + Tons of pellets per month in a 2800SQFT Home in Michigan?

[tinman]

Hi drive welcome to the forum.
I think your pretty close with that 3 tons per month.
Below is a copy from one of my post on the subject, I have the 6300 but I'm sure its close to the same as you have.

"I have the 6300 and
these are the lbs. per day I've used this winter burning 95% corn and 5% pellets
nov-mid dec. 143 lbs. per day
mid dec- end of feb. 190 lbs. per day
march till today 114 lbs. per day
assuming 40 lbs. bags, you can do the math

I have a 2800 sq. ft ranch with 10' and 12' ceilings and it has done a good job of heating it.
I think if you get it set right it will heat your house fine, but it is set up to burn some fuel. "
_________________
"You know everybody is ignorant only on different subjects"...Will Rogers
"If life was fair Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead"....Johnny Carson
USSC 6300

[tinman]

one other note, for the last two winters I've burned 12 tons of corn and about 1 ton of pellets each year.
so your pretty close with that 3 tons per month, you may burn a little more in jan and feb but you'll burn less in the other months.
_________________
"You know everybody is ignorant only on different subjects"...Will Rogers
"If life was fair Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead"....Johnny Carson
USSC 6300

[intensedrive]

Thank you for the fast response, and the warm welcome. I'm sure I will have many other questions as I plan to fire the 6500 up this weekend after I finish the install. The manual is very vague on operation. Is my understanding correct that the 6500 has only 3 heating settings or corn and pellet Pr1 - Pr3? How do I know what my burn rate is?

Thanks Again

[bluewolf]

You might want to read up on the control panel codes.
http://forum.iburncorn.com/viewtopic.php?t=859&start=30
_________________
__________________________USSC 6039________________________

_____________
----------------------------------1/20/13 The End Of An Error!----------------------------------

[intensedrive]

When burning 12 Tons per year what are you keeping your stat on average?

[tinman]

68-69
_________________
"You know everybody is ignorant only on different subjects"...Will Rogers
"If life was fair Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead"....Johnny Carson
USSC 6300

[intensedrive]

Well I just finished the install. Not getting much airflow through the duct work. I'm still confused, I have only have 3 heating settings PR-1 - PR-3. The heat at the ducts isn't very warm. I have it cranked to PR-3 Auto.. It is having a hard time keeping the house at 65. Right now its 40 outside. How do I know what the current feed rate is? Right now the unit is pulling the air from the basement, old farm basement.. I have a cold air return register in my bedroom that feeds right to the basement, not connected to furnace reutrn .. and I opened up a cold air return so that it will feed into the basement as well. I want to make sure I'm getting plenty of new air funneling into the basement. I have admit right now I'm frustrated with the results I'm getting. Emotions are running high I guess I have committed to this unit, and I can not afford another 3k heating season with propane. Any suggestions would be very helpful as the manual is pretty crappy. I will get some pictures up here so you can look at the install

Thanks..

[bluewolf]

[SidecarFlip]

Of course the 'trick' if you will, is keeping your RH at a comfortable level. The lower the RH, the more temperature you need to 'feel' comfortable.

Heat plants without humidification dry the air and as your body attempts to stabilize, it perspires and that makes you 'feel' colder.

We've discussed RH in the past but I like my home to maintain 50% RH all winter. Water for humidification is a whole lot cheaper that fuel for the appliance.

Besides, you don't have 'sparky' animals or fried electronics and it's much easier to load cartridges when the powder flows in the charge cylinder.....
_________________
Flipmeisters Specialty Products, LLC
www.flipmeisters.com

[intensedrive]

I'm reading through the C-Codes and I see over and over reference to 5 heat range settings, Either I'm loosing my mind or the 6500 is different and only has 3. Can 6500 owners confirm this. I went out and bought a thermometer and inserted about 3-4 feet down from the heat vent, I'm getting 105 - 110 on a feed rate of 10lbs per hour. This sounds quite low to me. I have also noticed a gap between the door and the unit on the top side. I have called US Stove company 3 times and they have offered me very little help.. Half of the support staff are clueless. I'm really at a loss with this unit and getting no support.

Thanks

[SidecarFlip]

[intensedrive]

I researched the dollar bill test.. I can slide 4 pieces of paper stacked together through the top of the door without any problems when shut. The manual talks about fraying the rope seal around the door not sure if that will help much

[tinman]

AS far as the heat settings on the 6500 I don't know my 6300 has 5 settings.
we need to see some pictures of your install, actually 105-110 degree discharge temp sounds about the same that I have, its all relative if your moving a lot of air the temp will be lower.
make sure your not starving the furnace for return air.
also if you have it installed to your existing furnace and duct system make sure you have some sort of damper so the air is not short circuiting thru your existing furnace.
make sure your draft is not open too much, I think you have the same slide plate on the front as I have I usually don't have that open more than a 1/2", you don't want a blow torch type fire where all your heat is going up the chimney.
_________________
"You know everybody is ignorant only on different subjects"...Will Rogers
"If life was fair Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead"....Johnny Carson
USSC 6300

[tinman]

another thing are both of your room fans running?
you should be able to push the room fan button while its running and it will tell you how many fans are running............rf-1 or rf-2 for 2 fans
check that out also, there is a setting in the c codes that you can change to make your 2nd room fan come on sooner if its not running.
_________________
"You know everybody is ignorant only on different subjects"...Will Rogers
"If life was fair Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead"....Johnny Carson
USSC 6300