Need help, looking to get a pellet stove..

leff13 said:

I have a small house, around 900 square foot. will a harman p68 be too big of a stove to put in, i was looking at the 68, xxv or p43..any help will be appreciated, this is all new to me

Click to expand...

coming from a P61A , the P68 Will be overkill. [I have 1,000 sq dowstairs area..
don't think u would ever ramp up a 68 and survive the heat output with 900 sq ft home..
that said, the P43 would do the job....
that said again, My self, I would get the P61A because always good to get more than u need and u will prob never ramp it up full blast either.
may do that with a P43 On some below zero nights depending on how insulated your house is...
bOTH p 61 and 68 have xtra large ash pans and can hold 72 pounds pellets or more.. not sure if the P68 is more than 72 pounds...

I have a harman XXV heating 1000sqft. The XXV is in the living room which is kept about 74 and the bedrooms at the far end of the house come in around 62 with the doors closed. Perfect sleeping temp for me and the girl. We set the temp and forget about it. The heat distribution will vary depending on floor plan but the XXV will blast you out of well insulated 1000sgft house without much effort.

leff13 said:

my house is only has 2 rooms, i will be putting it in the living room that it will blow out towards the kitchen. upstairs has 2 rooms with a half bathroom, roughly 30 foot long, 14 wide. 2 rooms stacked on 2 rooms basically.

Click to expand...

I bought the P61 so as to push heat to 2nd floor if I wanted..... P43 might not have done that for me....decisions decisions...
either way, Harman is on the right track for many here..

leff13 said:

my house is only has 2 rooms, i will be putting it in the living room that it will blow out towards the kitchen. upstairs has 2 rooms with a half bathroom, roughly 30 foot long, 14 wide. 2 rooms stacked on 2 rooms basically.

Click to expand...

If your house is really 900 sq ft including both up and down rooms, then you don't even need a P61 and certainly not a P68. I heat 1800 sq ft with a P61. On the single digit nights it cranks up ( eats pellets too) but the central heat isn't even close to coming on. I come downstairs and the dining room ( 1 room over from the room the stove is in ) is 74 deg with the central heat set at 69. My house is insulated but it sure could be better. I bought the P61 for insurance that it would heat my area. Had you said you want it for the basement and wanted to heat the whole house including basement then ya, P61 all the way.

Incidentally, theP61 is rated for over 2400 sq ft. P43 1900-2200 and down to your sq ft. You don't need a P61 or slightly P68 unless your house is very drafty and up in Vermont or other cold place. I've seen, felt and heard a P43 run, it make great heat..

Just my opinion. Happy stove shopping !

What is 1/2 a double?

leff13 said:

a half a double is a whole house that is split down the middle essentially making 2 halfs..

Click to expand...

Like a two family?

I heat my 1900 sq ft house with my XXV without any issue. Knowing what I know now, we would have been fine with a P43. With the downstairs at 70, the upstairs stays around 68. My home is well insulated. So the insulation level of your home will certainly come into play.
I can't speak for that many levels, but our heat has no issue making it up to the second floor.

leff13 said:

not the greatest display but hopefully you can see what i mean now by half a double

Click to expand...

Got it. If you decide to join us pellet burners be sure to check your local codes on installing a pellet stove in two family dwellings. You may required to pull a permit and have it installed by a licensed contractor.

jslinger said:

I heat my 1900 sq ft house with my XXV without any issue. Knowing what I know now, we would have been fine with a P43. With the downstairs at 70, the upstairs stays around 68. My home is well insulated. So the insulation level of your home will certainly come into play.
I can't speak for that many levels, but our heat has no issue making it up to the second floor.

Click to expand...

Same here, second floor is fine. It wouldn't be if heating from the basement. However, we have a pretty straight shot from the stove to the stairwell leading upstairs too. In my house as presently insulated a P43 would struggle in single digit or below 0 weather. But it's 1800 sq ft not 900.

Something to consider between a stove like the XXV vs a P series stove is radiant heat. The P series stove radiates quite a lot of heat, almost wood stove like but not quite ( you aren't putting your hand on it and you won't find any cats on top of it in the morning !). So heat rises. Our master bedroom is over the living room, the floors are warm up there from the stove, similar to how it would be with our old coal stove actually.. Beyond that on a really cold morning you can actually smell the heat coming up the stairwell from the stove. No, if that house is insulated at all, and has decent windows I'd be surprised if a P43 would not heat it.

Also, if there are problems in a house with distribution of heat, a bigger stove doesn't really make it happen either. You need fans and such to push some air around if there are locked out areas. The key here is the 900 sq ft house and if that includes all the sq ft up and down, stair wells, bathrooms , closets etc. If you are trying to heat the other half of the house and it's split down the middle, forget it with a space heater ( what a stove is, glorified space heater). You say it's 30 ft long, I assume that's partitioned or some such thing.

leff13 said:

yeah i plan on getting the guys from where i buy it to install it, they told me 850 with the outside air kit.

Click to expand...

Ok, you have people who will install it. Do they also offer assessment for proper fit of the correct stove ? Some places do that for free, others charge a $100 fee or so but that rolls into the purchase of the stove should you buy it. Then, you get the right stove and if not you yell hey, You said this will work !!

leff13 said:

did you have to cut vents through the ceiling or did enough of the natural way heat rises heat the upstairs, my house is newly redone with new insulation, wiring, windows etc..

Click to expand...

We do not have any vents in the ceilings. But like alternativeheat, our stove points toward the foyer, which houses the stairs to the second floor. Our floor plan is pretty open, so the air is pretty free to move around. You may need fans to get the heat dispersed.
I agree that the size of the stove won't be the issue. A P43, will heat that space. You just need to get the air moving. A bigger stove would probably just make the first floor hotter.

You'd have to have SERIOUS heat loss issues for a P43 to not heat that space, IMO. A 61 would be overkill, and forget the 68.

I too am confused as to your house's layout, specifically, how many levels you have. 2 story house, correct? Basement, first floor and second floor? If I were you, I'd skip the basement install and install it on your main living floor, unless you spend a lot of time in the basement because that's your family room or something. If that's the case, any pellet stove will likely cause issues with trying to control the temps on the second floor. You may in fact need the HP of a 61 to generate enough output to reach the second floor, but in the process, your basement will be unbearably hot.

If you put it in your basement, why would you use electric heat down there?

leff13 said:

haha i had my mind set on the 68 until i seen it in person and felt the heat coming off of it set at 75. the total square foot where it will be installed at is 420 square foot. it is a 13.3 foot long by 14.3 wide living room with a partitioned wall separating the living room from the kitchen, the kitchen is 13.4 long by 11.3 wide with a staircase going to the upstairs bedrooms which is 2.7. the bedrooms are both 8.8 wide by 13.4 long with a hallway that is 2.4 wide by 18 long going into a 5.4 wide by 9 foot half bathroom. hope this helps explain how its set up..

Click to expand...

It's tricky to tell if the heat will get up that stairway with any efficiency. the way ours is setup i have a ceiling fan pushing down on the stairwell so all the heat doesn't end up up stairs. Yours has to go around corners first. . Some heat will naturally rise though.