Here is some background history. I first met the owner around 2014 in Smithsburg at either, The Steam and Craft show or Smithsburg Pride Days. He had his really nice trailer with a variety of Stoves and outdoor heating units on display. Me, My grandfather, and him talked for a while and compared the differences between Wood Pellet Stoves, Coal Pellet Stoves, Propane heaters etc. He was VERY friendly. I talked to him also about getting a cheap Pellet Stove unit or used unit for my Electronics Shed that i was planning on starting to heat.
A few weeks later a friend of a friend posted a OLD partial Cast iron St Croix pellet stove on Facebook. He was having problems with it running properly and it was a older unit that was all analog, and needed to be manually ignited. I purchased it for like $150 and diagnosed the issue as a bad Control Board. The control board was quite expensive. But I later found a Retrofit kit that Earth Sense sold. It contained a Newer Digital Control Board, all new wiring, a Distributor, and a high limit sensor and Low limit Sensor. I purchased them a igniter and standard thermostat for the pellet stove as the new control board gave me the option to add these items. All in all it cost me like $400 to fix the pellet stove.
Over the first and second season I burned Pellets from Lowes, Walmart, Sams Club and Tractor Supplies. While Tractor Supplies seemed to burn pretty good, and usually ignited pretty well. None of them seemed to do as good as Mace Energys Hammer Hot Ones Pellets. They were a little pricier, But I had less pellet shoot jams, and more consistent successful ignitions and getting to the operating temperatures quicker.
Ever since I have used Hammer Pellets, and they seems to be the BEST. This brings you up to 2020
October 2020 – I got the idea I wanted to put a smart thermostat on my pellet stove so I can control the Temperature of my shed when I use it the most. So I purchased a Google Nest Learning Smart Thermostat. I didn’t do any research and figured id get it working. I later found out the Nest Thermostat could not be used, According to company, and online blogs. Well I figured out how to use it. I purchase a 24V AC Transformer and plugged it into the C (Common) of the Nest unit, and the RC (Cooing) of the Nest. This got power to the Nest unit, as my pellet stove only has 2 wires that has 4 volts in the lines. The 2 pellet stoves wires I plugged into W1 of the Nest, and RH (Heat) of the Nest. My ST Corix retro fit board now has a switch with selections of Manual, TSTAT, or SmartStat. Previously with my old Thermostat I was using TSTAT. The difference between TSTAT is the pellet stove immediately shuts down as soon as the Thermostat stops calling for heat. The Smartstat mode will turn on and run, and when the thermostat stops calling for heat. The pellet stove goes to low and remains on for 1 hour. If the thermostat doesn’t call for more heat within 1 hour then the Pellet stove turns off. So with the Smartthermostat I needed use SmartStat so I don’t wear out my Pellet stove components. I found out I Could have used the Ecobee 3 lite Smart Thermostat and had more control over my pellet stove, and left my pellet stove in regular TSTAT mode. As Ecobee has more advanced settings available in the app. The pellet stove had been running great this entire time since installing the NEST Thermostat
December 1, 2020 – I woke up to a alert that my shed was below my Temperature setting. I figured it just happened to not ignite. I went out cleared the unburned pellets from the burn basket, and then pressed the power button. Within about 10 mins the Pellet stove ignited and seemed to be running perfectly fine Latter I turned around cause I heard the pellet stove go to shut down mode with a Nice big flame in the burn area. I walked over pressed the power to command it to remain on. That’s when I noticed my Room air fan never turned on, and my pellet stove was very hot. Much hot than normal. I shut down the pellet stove, removed power and let it cool. I checked the wiring and all looked good. I removed the Low limit Switch and checked for continuity and there was none. Which was expected since it was under 120 degrees then. I took the low limit switch to the kitchen and place it into a pot with a multimeter attached to it for continuity testing. The stove got to 140 degree and the sensor got to 120 and it closed circuit as it should. So I went back out. Checked my wires for any breaks. Tested continuity between the wires from the sensors to the board and all was good. I reassembled everything and fired it up again. Same result, Pellet stove wanted to shut down as if it didn’t detect a fire. Even though there was a fire. This time I did not wait for the pellet stove to cool and I immediately move the pellet and checked the control board to see if continue was there from the sensor and there was not. So I knew the sensor was not working as it should. It was already 3:30pm roughly so I wanted to find someplace to get the sensor now. I took the sensor out and went to Mace Energy. There were 2 ladies there that helped me out. They talked to the Owner that I met in 2014 and they advised me that they did not have a part that work. They pulled out the case to show me. And I decided against their judgment to pick a 110F sensor that was similar in design as to what I had. I went home installed the sensor and its now working as it should. Thanks again for letting me look through your parts and saving the day when the temperatures were in the 30s
Summary
Mace Energy while I have had limited experience with them. They have been one of the best Supply companies to get parts from, even when they don’t service your brand. And they actually have them in stock.
And the next thing I highly recommend them for is they have absolutely the BEST wood pellets to burn. They also sell Coal in several different sizes. They are also very friendly people, and very knowledgeable with Harman pellet stove, as that is what they specialize in. Highly recommended company.
– Andrew L, Newly Loyal Customer of Mace Energy
A few weeks later a friend of a friend posted a OLD partial Cast iron St Croix pellet stove on Facebook. He was having problems with it running properly and it was a older unit that was all analog, and needed to be manually ignited. I purchased it for like $150 and diagnosed the issue as a bad Control Board. The control board was quite expensive. But I later found a Retrofit kit that Earth Sense sold. It contained a Newer Digital Control Board, all new wiring, a Distributor, and a high limit sensor and Low limit Sensor. I purchased them a igniter and standard thermostat for the pellet stove as the new control board gave me the option to add these items. All in all it cost me like $400 to fix the pellet stove.
Over the first and second season I burned Pellets from Lowes, Walmart, Sams Club and Tractor Supplies. While Tractor Supplies seemed to burn pretty good, and usually ignited pretty well. None of them seemed to do as good as Mace Energys Hammer Hot Ones Pellets. They were a little pricier, But I had less pellet shoot jams, and more consistent successful ignitions and getting to the operating temperatures quicker.
Ever since I have used Hammer Pellets, and they seems to be the BEST. This brings you up to 2020
October 2020 – I got the idea I wanted to put a smart thermostat on my pellet stove so I can control the Temperature of my shed when I use it the most. So I purchased a Google Nest Learning Smart Thermostat. I didn’t do any research and figured id get it working. I later found out the Nest Thermostat could not be used, According to company, and online blogs. Well I figured out how to use it. I purchase a 24V AC Transformer and plugged it into the C (Common) of the Nest unit, and the RC (Cooing) of the Nest. This got power to the Nest unit, as my pellet stove only has 2 wires that has 4 volts in the lines. The 2 pellet stoves wires I plugged into W1 of the Nest, and RH (Heat) of the Nest. My ST Corix retro fit board now has a switch with selections of Manual, TSTAT, or SmartStat. Previously with my old Thermostat I was using TSTAT. The difference between TSTAT is the pellet stove immediately shuts down as soon as the Thermostat stops calling for heat. The Smartstat mode will turn on and run, and when the thermostat stops calling for heat. The pellet stove goes to low and remains on for 1 hour. If the thermostat doesn’t call for more heat within 1 hour then the Pellet stove turns off. So with the Smartthermostat I needed use SmartStat so I don’t wear out my Pellet stove components. I found out I Could have used the Ecobee 3 lite Smart Thermostat and had more control over my pellet stove, and left my pellet stove in regular TSTAT mode. As Ecobee has more advanced settings available in the app. The pellet stove had been running great this entire time since installing the NEST Thermostat
December 1, 2020 – I woke up to a alert that my shed was below my Temperature setting. I figured it just happened to not ignite. I went out cleared the unburned pellets from the burn basket, and then pressed the power button. Within about 10 mins the Pellet stove ignited and seemed to be running perfectly fine Latter I turned around cause I heard the pellet stove go to shut down mode with a Nice big flame in the burn area. I walked over pressed the power to command it to remain on. That’s when I noticed my Room air fan never turned on, and my pellet stove was very hot. Much hot than normal. I shut down the pellet stove, removed power and let it cool. I checked the wiring and all looked good. I removed the Low limit Switch and checked for continuity and there was none. Which was expected since it was under 120 degrees then. I took the low limit switch to the kitchen and place it into a pot with a multimeter attached to it for continuity testing. The stove got to 140 degree and the sensor got to 120 and it closed circuit as it should. So I went back out. Checked my wires for any breaks. Tested continuity between the wires from the sensors to the board and all was good. I reassembled everything and fired it up again. Same result, Pellet stove wanted to shut down as if it didn’t detect a fire. Even though there was a fire. This time I did not wait for the pellet stove to cool and I immediately move the pellet and checked the control board to see if continue was there from the sensor and there was not. So I knew the sensor was not working as it should. It was already 3:30pm roughly so I wanted to find someplace to get the sensor now. I took the sensor out and went to Mace Energy. There were 2 ladies there that helped me out. They talked to the Owner that I met in 2014 and they advised me that they did not have a part that work. They pulled out the case to show me. And I decided against their judgment to pick a 110F sensor that was similar in design as to what I had. I went home installed the sensor and its now working as it should. Thanks again for letting me look through your parts and saving the day when the temperatures were in the 30s
Summary
Mace Energy while I have had limited experience with them. They have been one of the best Supply companies to get parts from, even when they don’t service your brand. And they actually have them in stock.
And the next thing I highly recommend them for is they have absolutely the BEST wood pellets to burn. They also sell Coal in several different sizes. They are also very friendly people, and very knowledgeable with Harman pellet stove, as that is what they specialize in. Highly recommended company.
– Andrew L, Newly Loyal Customer of Mace Energy
