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[ntrnfmr]

I just had an Elite xt100 installed.  I havent been too impressed with its burn times.  I am getting about 8 hours max out of a load of wood most of the time about 6 hours though.  I am heating a 2750 square foot house and have a side arm on a 50 gallon hot water tank.  My house has vaulted ceilings in the main living area.  I was told this was on the high end of the limits for the stove but i still should get atleast an 8 hour burn no problem.  I am still learning the stove and think i have some areas where i can make some improvements in my operation of the unit.  I also have noticed that my house is not very tight even though it is not super old, the heat kicks on often.  I am working on tightening the house.  Do you think this unit is undersized for this application?

[Sprinter]

Wood moisture content is usually the biggest factor, and second would be how many GPM you are flowing.
It claims 125kbtu max output
Then 6hr burn @ 66kbtu
   8hr burn @ 45kbtu
On a design temp of 0 degrees 45kbtu could cover it, if the house is good to very good insulated. And that's even if your getting the claimed output. This is where high moisture from a single piece can kill a burn output cycle.
The other thing is if your pulling more than 5gpm at 180degrees (5gpm=50,000btu) during a call. Your pump is only doing one speed, so when the weather changes to anything other than the design temp, it either flows too much or not enough.  A perfect application for a delta T circulator that would match the flow to the outdoor temp.
The 100 only holds 60 gallons , so on a heat call at 5gpm it would do a full water exchange in 12 minutes, causing the boiler to fire every call most likely.
I've read several owners say they get better performance from smaller loads, not packed full. Also prevents the bridging they get.

[Sprinter]

There is an owner here that is getting long burn times but he is heating a 1500 sqft, ranch with the 200 model. Little more than double the water volume at a rated 225kbtu.
You might consider an inside storage tank, but still have to burn the wood. These units are only efficient in gas mode.

[ecc_33]

There is an owner here that is getting long burn times but he is heating a 1500 sqft, ranch with the 200 model. Little more than double the water volume at a rated 225kbtu.
You might consider an inside storage tank, but still have to burn the wood. These units are only efficient in gas mode.

Possibly me? I Have a pro series 200. I went 11.5 hours today and the high was 11* The fire box was half full still and I could only stuff 3 pieces of split wood in it. I also have vaulted ceilings. Something doesn't sound right. What kind of pex line do you have? I have a full walkout basement that has 9 ft ceilings also heated. So kinda could say im closer to heating 3,000sq ft. I wish I could email pics to someone that knows how to post them. I have pics of the house and my full setup.

[Sprinter]

Now figure in his basement. Seems like he might have bought the stove based on the 125 Knut output for safety. But it states 8 hour burn time is only 45. Yours is almost double, and you have double the storage plus some. That alone is a lot of stored btu.  By the way it sounds your unit should give him 8 safe hours , maybe on some cold days too.

[ntrnfmr]

I got up under the house and found that the installer had placed the heat exchanger at the end of my supply plenum which bypassed a major leg of my ducting.  This explains some of the rooms being cooler than normal.  I swapped locations of the HX and the duct that was being bypassed.  The house is much more evenly heated and I am hoping the overall net efficiency will go up.  I know I am passing more flow across the HX but I'm also not sending in cooled off air into my home.  I have a package unit so every time the heat is off that mass of metal cools off requiring extra btu's to heat it back up on a call for heat.  I didnt get a good burn time last night.  The fire box was still very full but had bridged out sometime in the early morning.  We are having some cold weather so I will get a good test tonight if I can load this thing right.  I love that this unit only uses slightly more wood than my wood stove to heat my whole house, i just wish i didnt have to fill it up just as often.

[martyinmi]

I'm not sure you'll ever be totally happy with your boiler selection-not the brand, but the size.
I had the Pro Series 100 from Empyre for one winter. I loved the way the little thing functioned, but the firebox on it was just too small to heat my home and DHW without stuffing it to the gills 2-3 times a day. I think it only held 5.5 cu/ft of wood, and by the time you took into account the left over coals/ash while reloading, as well as when filling you will never fill every square inch(pieces too short and irregular shapes), I always figured I was lucky to get 3.5 to 4 cu/ft stuffed into it. When it was below 20* I almost always had to plan on a 10 o clock visit to the boiler to get me by until 6 in the morning.
You are heating about a thousand sq/ft more than me, and your boiler only holds .5 cu/ft more wood than my old boiler. Unless you are able to super insulate your home and control a few zones when not in use, I can't imagine that unit being big enough.
Size sometimes definitely matters. To put primary burn chambers in to perspective, Central boiler's smallest E-Classic, the 1400, has a burn chamber that holds about 14.5 cu/ft. Realistically, we can expect to be able to stuff them to about 70% of their total capacity. CB's baby boiler at 70% will hold more than 10 cu/ft of fuel. At 70% with yours(6 cu/ft), you'll only be able to jam in about 4 cu/ft. That, my friend, is a huge difference!
I wish you the  best of luck! If you continue to have issues with burn times, I'd bet that your dealer could convince the powers to be at Pro Fab to swap your unit out with the next size larger unit. I'm sure you'd have to spend a few grand more to do the swap, but you'd have a lot less frustration and more peace of mind.
Your dealer should have never encouraged you to install a unit that small for a home your size. I just googled Harrison Arkansas(don't know where you are at). It's 10 degrees there right now! That's 3* colder than it is in central Michigan where I am.

[ntrnfmr]

The weather here is the coldest I can ever remember.  It was 4 when I left for work this morning, not to mention the wind is so strong it blew some sheet metal off my barn.  The only thing worse than the weather is my satisfaction with my boiler.  I cant go anywhere for any great length of time with out having to have someone put wood in it.  Also I stay up late to fill the thing up(hope it doesnt bridge out) and then wake up again in the middle of the night to fill it again.  When i leave for work I top it off.  My mother or my wife keep it going until i get home.  I am ready for warmer weather.  I am upset that this is the unit my installer recomended for my house.  He says he is committed to my satisfaction but says he cant swap me units without me taking a hit due to the fact my week old boiler is used.  I specifically asked him about the burn times and also he told me i would have nearly unlimited hot water.  Both of these have been no where close to the truth.  This might be the worst investment I have ever made.  My installer has offered me some (a fraction) of my money back to "wash his hands of this and be done".  What is worse is that I really like this guy and think he really didnt know and made a mistake himself by recommending this unit to my application.  He certianly didnt make any money off of my install.  I am catching some major crap from the wife, this may be worse than the finiacial aspect of the whole thing.  On a postive note, the boiler does a lot of heating from a minimal amount of wood and makes very little ash.

[ecc_33]

Is your supplier of your stove a member here? I would be sick if I was in the same boat as you. Truley sorry to hear this.

[Sprinter]

so it was your installer himself that chose the size. this is what i am refering too about installers not doing heatloss calculations and you need that just to do a proper design. Circs, air handlers, exchangers, flow rates all need to be close or accurate to make any stove work. Usually its an oversized boiler and wrong circ or flow. We still need more info to give you good help.
Are you willing to pay the extra diffference ( cost of the larger boiler only) if they will do a swap. can you post pics of your system? If you dont mind, what did it cost? No problem if you dont.
Money back to get rid of the screw up he caused, wow , thats desperate. is he even a dealer?
Ive seen several empyre problem threads and usually their offer is to upgrade not replace. anything to get more money from you, but this may work for you.
Or put it up for sale, free delivery, list the paper work and be honest. Its not big enough for your needs or future needs. $1000 off of a 1 week ok unit is pretty good. Heck there is someone here I think selling theirs after a season of use this spring. 

[Scott7m]

Your way undersized

if you have 2800 feet of space with vaulted ceilings that could easily really be the equivalent of 3500 sq ft

I ran one all winter last year and was heating 2200 sq ft, thats about all it wanted.  If never reccomend a 100 for more than 2400 sq ft of well insulated space

The fire box is just to small, 5 cubic feet isnt much space

Where r u located

[ntrnfmr]

I am located in Northwest Arkansas.  My elevation is around 1850 feet.  It is much cooler at my house than down in the river valley.  The local distributor is trying to figure this out too.  He swears he has these heating 3500 square feet with vaulted ceilings and still getting 8 plus hour burn times.  I dont know what to believe.  I tend to believe what Scott7m is saying about the top end being somewhere around 2400 square foot. 

[Scott7m]

I am located in Northwest Arkansas.  My elevation is around 1850 feet.  It is much cooler at my house than down in the river valley.  The local distributor is trying to figure this out too.  He swears he has these heating 3500 square feet with vaulted ceilings and still getting 8 plus hour burn times.  I dont know what to believe.  I tend to believe what Scott7m is saying about the top end being somewhere around 2400 square foot.

3500 sq ft, thats funny.    Im in ky and thats not even remotely possible down here at 1200 feet, never less you up there in Alaska.  With your ceiling height etc, his way of calculating footage will not and can not work.  There is nothing for him to figure out besides your undersized by quite a bit