The "Great Pellet Stove Rush of 2008"

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Utilitrack

Feeling the Heat
Oct 14, 2008
332
Central ME
Hi-

I bought a stove during what is referred to on this forum as the "Great Pellet Stove Rush of 2008." I am wondering if anybody that did so and still burns pellets has any regrets about their decision? Whether it is to buy a pellet stove at all or a specific pellet stove?

The stove has more than paid for itself, and then some and I expect it to provide me with heat for my house for the cost of 3-4 tons of pellets for many years to come. I have not had one mechanical issue with it, knock on wood... My only regret is that I did not do a little more research and perhaps a little more driving to check out a few more stove brands and models. I looked at the Lopi Leyden, the Harman XXV and a Kozi. The choice came down to the Leyden and the XXV, Leyden won out because my wife liked the looks better..so I guess I have one more regret, I should have left her at home... Knowing then what I know now I probably would have gone with the XXV even though slightly more expensive than the Leyden. The determining factors for me would have been that the XXV is much quieter than the Leyden as well as easier to maintain/clean.

The Leyden has been a great stove for us however and I hope for many more years of trouble free service.
 
If I recall, Harman had some real supply issues that year. One dealer in this area only sold the Harman line. That person lost their shirt when Harman failed to deliver on ANY of the prepurchased stoves. Most of the postings on here at that time would lead you to think that to own a Harman was to own a good stove. Those available in box stores were spoken of as junk, and the old, "you get what you pay for". Well, in this case a lot of folks didn't get what they had paid for. Now we know that the Harman line is indeed a good line of stoves, but not the only line, and that there are many many satisfied people out there with stoves purchased at box stores.
I got a got deal on a Napoleon. 4th year now heating my whole house and now seldom use the furnace for back up. Would I do it again. Darn straight I would! If I could, I would put in another stove upstairs. I got a really good deal on the stove, only regret was the mess up with the "professional" installation.
 
I also bought the Leyden in 08. We both loved the looks of the stove. This thing has far exceeded our expectations, we bought it to help heat the house, with the idea of it heating mainly the dinning room area. We were looking to have at least 1 warm room in our old farmhouse (burning oil for 18 years). We have not burnt 1 drop of oil since. This stove heats the whole house without any effort. I couldn't get rid of now if I wanted to. She'd kill me. I would like to have a bigger hopper but that's about it. I just got better with manipulating the programmable thermostat.
 
Utilitrack said:
Hi-

I bought a stove during what is referred to on this forum as the "Great Pellet Stove Rush of 2008." I am wondering if anybody that did so and still burns pellets has any regrets about their decision? Whether it is to buy a pellet stove at all or a specific pellet stove?

The stove has more than paid for itself, and then some and I expect it to provide me with heat for my house for the cost of 3-4 tons of pellets for many years to come. I have not had one mechanical issue with it, knock on wood... My only regret is that I did not do a little more research and perhaps a little more driving to check out a few more stove brands and models. I looked at the Lopi Leyden, the Harman XXV and a Kozi. The choice came down to the Leyden and the XXV, Leyden won out because my wife liked the looks better..so I guess I have one more regret, I should have left her at home... Knowing then what I know now I probably would have gone with the XXV even though slightly more expensive than the Leyden. The determining factors for me would have been that the XXV is much quieter than the Leyden as well as easier to maintain/clean.

The Leyden has been a great stove for us however and I hope for many more years of trouble free service.
Yup we were smack in the middle of that one!
Ordered a Harman p61 in May and also put our name in on a Napoleon.
Also had our names in 3 places for pellets.
Well the P61 showed up late August. We bought pellets from the first place that had them.
They were the infamous Athens First Year pellets. We are burning the new Athens this and last year.
Much improved!!
We are closing in on putting 14-15 tons through the stove since 2008.
Have reduced our oil consumption by half.
So we do not have any regrets.
 
We bought our Englander PDV that year. We've used it to heat our entire 2500 sqft house since. One night when I was out of town, the chimney cap clogged up and caused an airflow blockage, so the pellets backed up. My wife turned off the stove and called me in a panic... "What are we going to do for heat???" I told her to turn up the furnace. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." She wouldn't let me get rid of it if I wanted to either.
 
I bought my 1st stove in 2008 and bought my 2nd stove in 2010 from a guy that bought his stove in 2008. His wife didn't like it and mine loves it. Go figure.
 
I bought my Accentra in May of 2008. Never regretted one day since. Bought 5 tons of CleanFires from pellets.com and have been buying from them year to year. Plus I grab 20 bags at a time from here and there so I always keep at least 2.5 tons in the garage after the heating season. Kind of mine own little reserve account if you will. I think pellets will always be cheaper as I can keep the house in the low-mid 70s! Try doing that with oil; even at $2.50 a gallon, never mind $3.75.

More work, oh yeah, but if you keep up with it, it's no big deal. I like being able to store a shite load of pellets when I can get them cheap enough, can't do that with oil and isn't always the case that when you don't need oil that's when it's at it's cheapest and when you need it, well you know! Funny how that works. Pellets aren't for everyone. If your one of those set and forget it kinda people or can't be lugging 40# bags here and there, then I would keep away.
 
I love my Leyden. I do wish it had a Harman sized ash pan, but really like the stoves simple design and great heat. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I wouldn't mind trying an englander at some point in time.
 
save$ said:
If I recall, Harman had some real supply issues that year. One dealer in this area only sold the Harman line. That person lost their shirt when Harman failed to deliver on ANY of the prepurchased stoves. Most of the postings on here at that time would lead you to think that to own a Harman was to own a good stove. Those available in box stores were spoken of as junk, and the old, "you get what you pay for". Well, in this case a lot of folks didn't get what they had paid for. Now we know that the Harman line is indeed a good line of stoves, but not the only line, and that there are many many satisfied people out there with stoves purchased at box stores.
I got a got deal on a Napoleon. 4th year now heating my whole house and now seldom use the furnace for back up. Would I do it again. Darn straight I would! If I could, I would put in another stove upstairs. I got a really good deal on the stove, only regret was the mess up with the "professional" installation.

Good point Save$, I do remember issues with Harman deliveries and quality during that time period.
 
Ordered P61a June 1 2008. Was told it would be in in Sept.
Stove arrived in Aug.
Pellets ordered in June, was told they would come in in Aug, arrived Nov 1.


No regrets, will have pellet stove in my house until I am unable to carry the bags.
 
I would dare say that those that bought back then and didn't continue using them won't be passing through here to reply. :smirk:

I often wonder about one stove sold that year. I was in the local stove shop when a woman from Maine demanded to be sold one of their Harman pellet stoves. They tried to talk here out of it because she would not have warranty or installation service available. She insisted and also wanted it jammed into her sister-in-laws's tiny little car. They got it stuffed half way in the car and away she went.
 
BrotherBart said:
I would dare say that those that bought back then and didn't continue using them won't be passing through here to reply. :smirk:

I often wonder about one stove sold that year. I was in the local stove shop when a woman from Maine demanded to be sold one of their Harman pellet stoves. They tried to talk here out of it because she would not have warranty or installation service available. She insisted and also wanted it jammed into her sister-in-laws's tiny little car. They got it stuffed half way in the car and away she went.

Does Harman require dealer installation for warranty?

Closest stove shop to me carries Harman and Quadrafire will only sell you a stove if they install it. Next closest also carries Harman and Quadrafire but they told me they'd sell to me if I was installing myself. But, I only talked to them about a Quad.

My dealer carries Quad, Eco-Choice, EcoTek and Hearthstone... They will also sell you a stove regardless of who is installing it.
 
The thing it seems with Harman is that only the dealer that sold it to you will provide warranty service. From most of what I have seen here over the years.
 
I took the pellet plunge in '92 and have never looked back. I could not even buy one here in Pennsylvania at the time. All I kept hearing from local stove shops was "you're in a coal state". So I trucked one up from a store in Seaford Long Island, NY ironically named "CoalRite". :lol:
 
Bought mine about 6 months before the Great Pellet Stove Rush of 2008. One of my few experiences of luck. I figure if oil prices could skyrocket once they could do it again. Especially with the world-wide demand increasing from the emerging economies like China. So the pellet burner may not be saving as much now but it's good insurance for the future. It will still pay for itself and save on heating fuel in the future.
 
I bought my Harman P68 right in the middle of the great pellet stove rush when there were none to be found. When I want something I am determined to get it. I started call all around and nobody had what I wanted in Maine so I started calling NH and Massachusetts stove shops. Luck would have it that I called the right store at the right time. A lady ordered a stove and I guess she didn't have the money to pay for it. I had cash and drove over two hours to get my stove. I new they were not going to come to my house in Maine to fix any warranty issues because we talked about that up front. They would however give me parts under warranty to make any repairs that were needed. I had one problem with a faulty weld, had at welder repar the faulty plug weld after getting permission from the dealer and they cut me a check for the welding charges. I have not used oil for heat since the P68 has been in the house and I saved big bucks compared to what I would have paid for oil. Just this year I picked up 4 tons of green team from Lowes with free delivery for less than $200 per ton. I love my pellet stove!
 
I purchased mine in December 2007 prior to my second winter in this house when propane was my only source for heat. Since then I found out that natural gas was out in front of the house the whole time!

I have tapped into the NG and what a savings it is over propane. For that matter it is a savings over pellets.

If I knew all along that NG was available I probably would not have purchased a pellet stove.

That being said I run the stove daily and doubt that I would ever get rid of it.

Guess I'm hooked!
 
I bought in 2008, but I did not realize it was the "Great Pellet Stove Rush" year. My regret was not finding this forum for one!! and also for not doing better research. It was October I believe and I had to make a last minute decision. I bought a crappy stove it turned out, waste lost of money. For the amount I paid on that stove, I could have and should have installed a forced air furnace or something, which I still want to do.
 
I was building my addition on my house and had planned on buying a pellet stove. I was not planning on installing any heat in the 24X24 room and the stove was to be my only source of heat. Had my heart set on a P-38. I didn't know about the rush so I didn't plan ahead. I was told that I might see my stove by August...and this was September, the year before! I did the route checking every dealer for any stove. Nothing on the floor for me. My only choices were Englander and Magnum. The only reason I bought the Magnum was it's size. I'm not sad I did, but I think I might have enjoyed the flexibility of the Englander.

Chan
 
I bought my pellet boiler in '08 when oil was approaching $5 / gal. I remember saying, "Watch oil go down to $2 / gal", and sure enough it did. I have no regrets on my decision ~ though I wish I had the choices one has today for pellet boilers. Back then the only boiler with a track record was my Pinnacle PB150. Harman had a year under their belt with the 105, TARM just started theirs, and MESys had just started their business. I look now and there are at least a dozen choices.
 
2008 was nuts for us - we couldn't keep a pellet stove in stock if we tried... I remember doing 170k worth of sales on a single Saturday in June that year..... then we started to run into shortages of stoves, pellets... We never had a slow season that year. went right from the busy season of '07 into being uncontroably busy through the entirety of 2008-spring 2009. Then oil dropped and everyone figured it would stay at $2 a gallon forever... how quickly we forget.
 
Even if oil went back to $2 a gallon, and I don't really see that happening, I would still keep the pellet stove. Pellets provide another alternative should oil spike. It isn't all dollars and sense with pellets. While $ is important, the ability to be free from the grip of a slime bag cartel and the ability to use a renewable resource as well as keep local loggers and mills at work is worth a few more pennies to me. Not sure about the whole global warming thing, still not sure I completely buy it. But if it's true; then another good reason to go green.

If you only have once resource for anything, then you are at the mercy of that one vendor, that's my gripe with have one source of heat.
 
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