Am going to purchase a Harmen p68. I think it is the best stove I have seen for the money. Here is the question. I have a tri-level home with an insulated and finished basement. The basic layout is basement 400 sq ft, up 7 stairs to kitchen(400sg feet) up from kitchen 3 stairs is great room (400 sq feet) the great room is above the basement the kitchen to the right of the basement on a slab. Last level are bedrooms ( not worried about heating them we like cold sleep areas. So the question, will the p68 be able to heat the living areas to about 68? if in the basement? or will I be using a hugh amount of pellets. If i put it on the 1st floor the finished basement will freeze.

Thanks
Bruce

Its really hard to try and heat a downstair and upstairs with a pellet stove. You might have better luck with two stoves, or just one stove in the area that you are trying to heat.

The long answer:  Pellet stoves are space heaters and thus should be ideally placed in the space you intend to heat.  I have a P-68 in my 1100 sq ft. walk-out basement.  The walls and ceiling are insulated, but the rest of it is one big room with concrete floors.  I was using roughly 2 bags a day with the stove set at 80.  I had a Vornado fan blowing up the stairs to get heat to travel up the stairwell as it didn’t move well on its own.  A lot of people recommended having the fan blow into the stove room, but the other way seemed to work best for my application.  The upstairs was around 72 degrees with the basement at 80.  Your house also should be fairly well insulated to get it to work. 

The short answer:  It can be done, but you will burn far more pellets than if it is on the main floor.  Plus, the basement wouldn’t be very comfortable as it would be hotter than the upstairs.

bhishman - 25 March 2008 11:38 AM

Am going to purchase a Harmen p68. I think it is the best stove I have seen for the money. Here is the question. I have a tri-level home with an insulated and finished basement. The basic layout is basement 400 sq ft, up 7 stairs to kitchen(400sg feet) up from kitchen 3 stairs is great room (400 sq feet) the great room is above the basement the kitchen to the right of the basement on a slab. Last level are bedrooms ( not worried about heating them we like cold sleep areas. So the question, will the p68 be able to heat the living areas to about 68? if in the basement? or will I be using a hugh amount of pellets. If i put it on the 1st floor the finished basement will freeze.

Thanks
Bruce

i bet insulated basement wont freeze & i’m in maine.remote thermometer $20 allow u to monitor basement temps. consider pulling air from basement via room blower or combustion air intake . check all codes.