Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
Well, the guys came over yesterday to install the new St. Croix Prescott EXL pellet stove. As you might recall, our previous pellet stove was a Harman P38. I was a little nervous about switching brands because I had gotten used to Harman. Also, Harman has very good reviews. The reason I couldn’t get a Harman this time is because they are all backed up and we may not have even gotten one this season.
It took the installers about 3 hours to finish the installation. When everything was in, they fired it up to make sure everything was working properly. One of the installers noticed one issue…the auger wasn’t turning, so no pellets were falling into the burn pot. the auger motor was working fine, just not the auger itself. We made an appointment for the service guy to come out today. By the way, I could have fixed this. It was easy. I actually was almost done fixing it when the doorbell rang. That’s me beating my chest.
Today, the repair guy came out and fixed the auger issue. The small set screw on the auger shaft wasn’t tightened properly, so it wasn’t catching on the auger motor.
I must say, this unit is very nice. It has auto-light, which was very important. I am going to hook up a thermostat, so the pellet stove can shut down and start up on its own. Also, the auger and fan is much quieter than the Harman. The whole system just seems to be more elegant. For a few hundred bucks more, I am happy that I went with this model.
Here are some photos…
What’s nice is that the outside venting is under the porch. The necessary clearances are 24″ away from the porch and 12″ off the ground. Also, since we used the fresh air kit, the clearances from windows and doors is only 9″. I would say that’s one of the huge benefits of pellet stoves.
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Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
Last Saturday, the pellet stove installer came out for a site visit. He checked out the location of the installation and took a few pictures for the file. It’s good to have a site visit, just to make sure everything will be OK for the installation.
He gave me some papers to bring down to the town office for the permit application. Things are a little different here in CT than in NY. Here, you have to fill out the permit information and then, the project needs to be approved by the inspector. This took a few days, because I am sure this fellow is out inspecting all these new pellet stoves people are putting in. In NY, I think I remember just handing the guy the paperwork and him looking at it and giving me the green light. Back in the old town, you could pretty much put up a housing project on your front lawn and get it approved.
Oh yeah, permits here go by the cost of the project. The more expensive the project, the more you are going to pay for a permit. It might be that way in NY…I don’t remember.
By Thursday, the permit was approved by the inspector. I gave the pellet stove company a call to set up an install date. We settled on this Monday coming up, which isn’t bad. I just want this thing in so I can stop thinking about it. I also ordered four tons of pellets. Boy, those pictures are going to be fun.
This blog post is over. At this point, I have nothing else to add.
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Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
The installer arrived this morning at about 8:30. I was very pleased to greet him in the driveway holding the plans in my hand. I felt like a puppy looking out the window.
It is extremely nice to see this thing being put together. There are already some things that I would’ve had trouble with, but he seems to be banging away in there like it’s nobody’s business.
Here are a few photos that I snuck. He is installing the base cabinets first, and then I guess the wall cabinets. I just hope he gets the majority of it done today with just the trim to complete for tomorrow.
These two photos below were taken at about noon. The majority of base cabinets are installed and he is now working on the wall cabinets.
Ok, these next photos below were taken at about 3PM. Most of the base cabinets are installed and the wall cabinets are almost done. There are a few hiccups that he had to fix up, but nothing huge.
I took these photos below at about 5PM, right after the skilled installer left. Man, he measured a lot of stuff and did a better job than I would’ve. Anyway, here they are…
The counter top for that small base cabinet directly above is too long. I think they forgot about that one being more shallow than the rest. I guess we have to get a new one of them. Tomorrow, he is coming back to do the crown moulding, the kick plates and all the spacer wood. Then, we will put the counter top on and cut the hole for the sink. After that, he is done and I will do the plumbing for the sink and purchase and install the dishwasher.
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