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[MattyNH]

Been looking on the CB website but can't find what I'm looking for; what's the max BTU's that thing rated at and what's the max square footage it can heat?  Does anyone have any idea if that thing could keep up with the heat load of 4500sqft 1840's farmhouse?  I'm working on plugging all of the air leaks (I'm about 70% there and it's getting easier to heat and stays more comfortable for longer periods of time).  Thanks for sharing what you know about these things.  I appreciate it.  Roger

According to my bro in-law, His house  is 3300 sq feet ..His Maxim boiler is pretty much at its max for heating

[Roger2561]

MAttyNH, Thanks for the update.  I am certain that the Maxim 250 will not be big enough for my old house.  Roger   

[Big Wood]

All this feedback has been a lot of help thanks alot keep warm

[Roger2561]

All this feedback has been a lot of help thanks alot keep warm

     

[dwneast77]

I'm rather baffled by this thread.  Roger, your E1400 is has roughly a rated output of 80k to 120k btu output, which is heating your home.  I for one know how inconsistent burning my E2300 has been but I have never run out of heat.  Mine has a rating of approx. 170k btu.  There have been many times when it wasn't burning all that well and struggled and my 450 gallons of water would start losing temp.  I just found a .pdf brochure that states the M255 is rated at 165K btu.  As with wood I know there are a lot of variables with pellets, but overall should be a more consistent source of heat.  I have a friend with a forced air pellet furnace who has had a lot of trouble with it since he bought it slightly used.  Pellets make a difference for sure and he knows that.  But a simple change he made this year has turned his furnace and his opinion of his furnace around.  He replaced the agitator in the burn pot and is getting much hotter burn.  I just can't help but wonder if there is something else going on with the 250's being spoken about here.  One major difference I can note and have read a lot about is water storage.  The Maxim only holds 90 gallons of water.  Perhaps having a water storage tank would help lessen the stress under high demand times.  This is just speculation.  I'm curious to learn more about them also.

[Roger2561]

dwneast77  -  All I've got to go on is what MattyNH says; if his sisters house is 3300sqft and it's running at it's max, all I can extrapolate from that is it probably won't handle the additional 1200sqft that I'm heating.  Now, for your suggestion of water storage; you may be onto something.  Perhaps others can chime in and offer their opinions on this subject.  Please keep in mind though, I'm heating 4500sqft of an 1840's farmhouse.  If anyone else on this site (or a guest who hasn't registered) and is using the CB Maxim 250 as a heat source would offer their insight it would be most beneficial to everyone. 

BTW - My E-1400 handles the load very well.  At it's coldest this past winter (-26 -I don't know what's worse -26 with essentially no breeze or -14 with a 20mph breeze out of the north)I never had to completely fill the fire box.  I perhaps went a bit over 3/4 full but it was never stuffed full and I always had at least one or two pieces that did not burn after I checked on it 12 hours later.  I'm amazed by the thing.  At it's coldest this year even with all 4 zones calling for heat at the same time, seeing the water temp RISE when it reached the low set point always made me smile.  Roger       

[gmmaxim250]

I am just catching up, but i can answer a few questions. I have a Maxum 250.  The Maxum has two water outlets,  My first outlet heats three zones and hot water in the house.  My second outlet goes into the garage and heats a small workshop.  I have the 48 bushel hopper.  My house is 1870's era farmhouse with extensive remodeling, not by me...the insulation is suspect or of not very good quality. 

My setup for the house is run by the one pump on the furnace, and i am going to change that in a year or two, I want the water coming into a manifold and then being pumped to the different zones. 

On really cold days, my furnace will run at high or medium nonstop.  My pellet consumption depends a lot on the weather. From mid December until Mid March, I can get ten to twelve days out of a ton of pellets.  In the months before and after,  I can get up to three weeks out of a ton. 

Two things about the Maxum, I would strongly recommend the add on hopper, and make sure you have a good thermostat in the house.  The big hopper so you don't touch pellet bags every day.  A good thermostat, i found especially one that doesn't have large temperature swings, will help the furnace run much more efficiently for shorter time periods.  My original thermostat was allowing almost six degrees of swing, which made the furnace really work hard to get the water back to temp when it was really cold.  I had a new one installed, because I wanted to be able to use my propane furnace as an additional heat source, so the furnace runs much less at the high setting and stays in the medium setting a lot more.

I live live about ten miles from a pellet mile, so i am a great customer of the mill.  I haven't bought more than 5 tons at once, but i want to change that.  I do know that i burn between 16 and 18 tons a year.  I should also mention that I burn year round to heat my hot water. 

I hope this helps guys, I will be glad to answer anymore questions if I can.

[Roger2561]

I am just catching up, but i can answer a few questions. I have a Maxum 250.  The Maxum has two water outlets,  My first outlet heats three zones and hot water in the house.  My second outlet goes into the garage and heats a small workshop.  I have the 48 bushel hopper.  My house is 1870's era farmhouse with extensive remodeling, not by me...the insulation is suspect or of not very good quality. 

My setup for the house is run by the one pump on the furnace, and i am going to change that in a year or two, I want the water coming into a manifold and then being pumped to the different zones. 

On really cold days, my furnace will run at high or medium nonstop.  My pellet consumption depends a lot on the weather. From mid December until Mid March, I can get ten to twelve days out of a ton of pellets.  In the months before and after,  I can get up to three weeks out of a ton. 

Two things about the Maxum, I would strongly recommend the add on hopper, and make sure you have a good thermostat in the house.  The big hopper so you don't touch pellet bags every day.  A good thermostat, i found especially one that doesn't have large temperature swings, will help the furnace run much more efficiently for shorter time periods.  My original thermostat was allowing almost six degrees of swing, which made the furnace really work hard to get the water back to temp when it was really cold.  I had a new one installed, because I wanted to be able to use my propane furnace as an additional heat source, so the furnace runs much less at the high setting and stays in the medium setting a lot more.

I live live about ten miles from a pellet mile, so i am a great customer of the mill.  I haven't bought more than 5 tons at once, but i want to change that.  I do know that i burn between 16 and 18 tons a year.  I should also mention that I burn year round to heat my hot water. 

I hope this helps guys, I will be glad to answer anymore questions if I can.

Thanks for the info.  That's most helpful. 

Just a few questions;
 
1st, How much would you burn if you didn't heat your DHW in the summer time with the 250? 
2nd, how many square feet are you heating in your home? 
3rd, how much are you paying per ton for the pellets? 
4th, do get the pellets in the bags or bulk delivery?

Thanks,  Roger   

[Big Wood]

Great questions Roger .  I would like to add one more type of pellets. Hard wood, soft wood or a blend of both thanks for the info

[gmmaxim250]

1st, How much would you burn if you didn't heat your DHW in the summer time with the 250? 
2nd, how many square feet are you heating in your home? 
3rd, how much are you paying per ton for the pellets? 
4th, do get the pellets in the bags or bulk delivery?

Hi Big Wood and others. 
Good questions all.
1: Starting in late May, early June i shut off the heat and just heat dhw, My pellet consumption drops to 1 ton for six weeks...basically i burn two tons from June through September
2: I am heating dhw, 2700 sq ft in house (3 different zones=water air exchanger in furnace plenum, radiant floor in bathroom, and three radiators in bedroom wing), and another 200 sq ft in workshop..
3:  I am paying 255 per ton, for premium hard wood pellets.
4:  50 bags per ton, and boy are my arms in great shape now.  No bulk deliver is available in the area.

I will be glad to answer any questions you can think up...

[Jcl]

I bought a maxim 255 last oct.  installed in middle of November.   from Nov  to beginning of Jan I was using under 2 bags a day with factory settings.   when to cold hit Jan - March I had to raise the feed rate and blower speed 1 setting up to keep water at 175 degrees .  Making it use 3 bags a day. Seemed below 20 degrees I had to raise setting but that's what their for I guess.

I used clean fire pellets very little ash only cleaned stove Beverly 10 days in April I ran out of pellets and bought some Maine choice pellets and had to clean every 3 days 

Over all my wood boiler was more efficient used 6 cords for 5 years switched to pellet shove and used 8 tons!!  Girlfriend didn't like filling wood boiler stove when I was gone.  Maxim could run for 4-5 days depending on outside temp.
I always kept it full  when it got low on pellets you could feel  heat in the pellet bin so I felt if it was full it would keep the heat in the water tank better? My thought

[Big Wood]

A BIG THANK YOU for all the input it's all very helpful