Researching new pellet stoves

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steve dustin

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Nov 16, 2014
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Maryland
We are researching a new pellet stove heat option. There are many stoves to choose from. The stove review thread looks pretty consistent for all stoves as far as rating. Are there any stoves to stay away from?
Are there any manufacturers whose stoves set the standard for construction, ease of use and maintenance? We have looked at Harman, Enviro, Summers, US Stove, Pleasant Hearth so far. Our heating area goal is 2200 square feet, in an old 1901 home. We have electric back up heat when our current coal stove cools down between loading.
 
Hi Steve,I just purchased a harman in the spring after comparing it to every stove available to me.after visibly looking at the harman as compared I was very impressed with the craftsmanship,looks,the parts are top notch and the ease of use.im pretty sure most stoves that are available are good, its mostly what maintence is required to keep it going.you can download the manual for each stove to see the maintenance schedule for each your interested in.if your home is poorly insulated I would get a bigger unit than your square footage calls for.
 
They all do the same thing. Some are prettier, some are uglier, it all depends on what you want and what you can afford. Me, I'm not into fancy trim and gold accents, I'm into btu output and controllability so for me, the basic electronically controlled unit is fine. I also want it to be user friendly and consumable replaceable by me, not some overpriced techinician. In my case a USSC 6039 fits that bill. I'm going on 10 years on this one with basically minor replacement issues, one door glass (because the original one cracked (though I still used the cracked one for most of a heating season) and one backer board and thats it.

I would suggest whatever unit you buy that you purchase an extra burn pot so you can have one pot soaking in a bucket of water (to loosen the carbon deposits that you will get no matter what pellets or corn you burn) and a spare agitatir/stirrer rod ( if the unit you buy has one.) and a line conditioner surge supressor.

I installed mine myself, the first one decades ago and this one. No biggie. They are all negative draft and easy to install. Been heating with a multi-fuel unit for 30 years now with no issues except of my own doing.....
 
SidecarFlip said:
They all do the same thing. Some are prettier, some are uglier, it all depends on what you want and what you can afford. Me, I'm not into fancy trim and gold accents, I'm into btu output and controllability so for me, the basic electronically controlled unit is fine. I also want it to be user friendly and consumable replaceable by me, not some overpriced techinician. In my case a USSC 6039 fits that bill. I'm going on 10 years on this one with basically minor replacement issues, one door glass (because the original one cracked (though I still used the cracked one for most of a heating season) and one backer board and thats it.

I would suggest whatever unit you buy that you purchase an extra burn pot so you can have one pot soaking in a bucket of water (to loosen the carbon deposits that you will get no matter what pellets or corn you burn) and a spare agitatir/stirrer rod ( if the unit you buy has one.) and a line conditioner surge supressor.

I installed mine myself, the first one decades ago and this one. No biggie. They are all negative draft and easy to install. Been heating with a multi-fuel unit for 30 years now with no issues except of my own doing.....[/quote

Would you hold that same opinion if burning pure corn? I'm shopping for a stove, I was given a pellet stove and not having much luck trying to burn a pellet/corn mix or pure corn. It does great with straight pellets but I have several bins of corn right outside my door so I'm gonna burn corn. Corn kernels are heavier and at some point with the mix I end up with about 90% dropping. The A-Maize-Ing Heat Corn Burning Furnaces have caught my eye. Looks like they are designed for corn first while others look like pellet stoves modified to burn corn? Looks like an agitator is key for corn?

Am I thinking correctly so far? Any others I should take a closer look at first?
Thanks
Click to expand...
 
My wife and I just did the same thing back in August/September. We did not want to spend upwards of $3-$4,000 on a stove not knowing if pellets were going to be right for us. I was a machinist/machine builder for a number of years and one thing became very clear early in the looking process. Some manufacturers use sheet metal and some use plate steel in thier stove construction, some remove burrs from metal cutting better than others and deliver what appears to be a better product. Depending on your comfort level you may or may not be able to diagnose repairs of the stove in the event of a compent failure, so tech assistance may or may not be necessary. We chose Summers Heat by England Stoves because of construction type, cost, and parts availability. I am confident in my ability to diagnose any component failure the stove may have. Oh and one more thing, we love the stove. Good luck with your stove.
 
Ok, so proof positive right within this thread. Some stoves require soaking burn pots and having spares. But I can tell you first hand that some also do not. Scrape the pot now and then yes, take it and soak it no. So ya, to answer your question, if someone is telling your you need extra parts as big as a burn pot for the stove they burn I wouldn't buy that stove personally.
steve dustin said:
We are researching a new pellet stove heat option. There are many stoves to choose from. The stove review thread looks pretty consistent for all stoves as far as rating. Are there any stoves to stay away from?
Are there any manufacturers whose stoves set the standard for construction, ease of use and maintenance? We have looked at Harman, Enviro, Summers, US Stove, Pleasant Hearth so far. Our heating area goal is 2200 square feet, in an old 1901 home. We have electric back up heat when our current coal stove cools down between loading.
Click to expand...
We looked at many brands and they are built similarly but Harman stood out. Harman is probably the top brand overall and most costly overall. Some other brands have models that compete well and may cost more or less than Harman by a little bit. But locally Harman was well represented and here at the forums as well. One time shown how to clean a P series Harman compared with other brands and even other models within the Harman line and that was the clincher to the deal. Haven't looked back, no need too, very happy. And I mean no disrespect for anyone else s opinion but I seriously doubt we will ever need a spare burn pot or need to remove this one for soaking. Just scrape it now and then, done deal. Very reliable stove, burns any pellet, cleans easy, heats the whole house. But it was not the cheapest solution out there by any means.
 
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I have been heating a 2000 sf, mostly uninsulated, farmhouse in Garrett County for the last 9 winters with a Harman p61a. I run it pretty much constantly and it handles most of my heating needs. I've had a few glitches- mostly due to my own stupidity- but nothing major.

Whatever you choose, try to buy from a reputable dealer and keep it clean.
 
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Some do and some don't (carbon up). I'm only familiar with 2, the old 25PDV England unit (which I basically wore out over a number of years), and the USSC 6039, which I still have. I don't see where having an extra burn pot is a big expense in as much as a ton of pellets is 300 bucks and a pot is 150. I have two for convenience. One is soaking while one is in the stove. I get carbon, I also get clinkers when running corn. No biggie.

Anyone that thinks, assumes or is told that these appliances are turn key, hands offf is either dreaming or has been told bad information. They aren't. No solid fuel heating device is. All of them take regular maintenance and all have consumable parts. Stirrer/agitator rods are consumable as is the backer boards viewing glass and to a lesser extent, the electronic controls and drive motors. Everything wears out over time. Fans and auger drives operate in a hostile atmosphere of heat and airborne dust. They fail eventually without regular maintenance and lubrication.

I'm well over 10 consecutive years on the 6039 with just routine mainrtenance.. Thats over 50 ton of pellets and corn ran through it. That folks is a lot of bio fuel. That encompasses yearly offline cleanings and lubrication of all drives..Last thing I do in the spring is clean the unit, top to bottom , go over all the components, lubricate, pull the induced draft fan and clean the cavity and hook the leaf blower to the vent pipe and do an 'Al Jolson' impersonation...lol. Then I fog the inside of thr firebox with fogging oil and clean the outside, close the door and unplug it. It's ready to go the next fall, no issues.

I make my own agitator rods from stainless bar in the shop and probably will at some point start fabricating burn pots too. None of it is rocket science which is why I can't see dropping 4 or 5 grand on a multi-fuel appliance when you can get the same BTU output per hour from an appliance that costs less.

I keep a couple extra drives on hand at all times, ready to go, freshly lubricated and cleaned so if an online drive gets noisy or locks up, it's a simple matter of exchanging a drive, usually takes a half hour and 9 times out of 10, the failed drive can be cleraned and relubed and ready to go again.

They all operate the same way and do the same thing. Produce heat, make the wife happy and keep your buns warm......

I wonder how many people know what my avitar picture is...care to guess? Hint, it's bio-fuel too.
 
If you're familiar with burning coal and you have an older model that requires you to shut down occasionally, you will be MUCH happier replacing it with a modern stoker by Keystoker, Reading, Alaska or LeisureLine for a number of reasons. First you'll get the heat you're used to getting (in the 90,000 -120,000 btu range) instead of 30 to 50,000 btu's. Your cost per btu will at least double if you switch to pellets. Stokers are almost hands off stoves except for emptying ashes every couple of days.
Just my humble suggestion.
 
Sounds interesting. Coal isn't available here. I heated my home in Ohio years ago with a coal funrace. Nice even heat. Here it's pellets, corn, pits or soy beans.
 
SidecarFlip said:
Sounds interesting. Coal isn't available here. I heated my home in Ohio years ago with a coal funrace. Nice even heat. Here it's pellets, corn, pits or soy beans.
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Hi Sidecar, haven't seen you in ages! I forgot to mention the even heat of a coal radiant/convection stove. Yea, there is no way you can compete with one of these babies when coal is $160 a ton at the breaker. It's nuts to even try.
 
I'm still around. Decided to drop in and educate the newbies as to the in's and outs of bio-fuel appliances. Mark still has his boiler in his basement but is pulling it out and moving it to another home. We have to retube a couple water tubes before its runnable.

Mark and I will probably switch over to shelled corn next year if prices stay this low. I'd rather run a corn/pellet mix anyway. Better output and more BTU's per ton used.

Play'in 50 guesses with my avitar but you already know what it is. Lets just say she makes 250 horsepower at 85PSI wet and consumes about 2000 pounds an hour when shes running at capacity.... She's a dirty dog even with a bag house.
 
SidecarFlip said:
I'm still around. Decided to drop in and educate the newbies as to the in's and outs of bio-fuel appliances. Mark still has his boiler in his basement but is pulling it out and moving it to another home. We have to retube a couple water tubes before its runnable.

Mark and I will probably switch over to shelled corn next year if prices stay this low. I'd rather run a corn/pellet mix anyway. Better output and more BTU's per ton used.

Play'in 50 guesses with my avitar but you already know what it is. Lets just say she makes 250 horsepower at 85PSI wet and consumes about 2000 pounds an hour when shes running at capacity.... She's a dirty dog even with a bag house.
Click to expand...
If I haven't learned anything else in life it is that after 64 years of living and 44 years as a shop rat repairing heavy trucks and goofy cars, stationary generators, air compressors and company small equipment, welding and fabrication, body repair and painting, it is that one is never so smart, never so wise, never so educated, never so experienced that they too can't still learn something new themselves. When at my cockiest is just the time someone comes along and well, actually teaches me something I didn't know before they came along !! And so, my ears are always open. I know what I know but there is room for more. That goes for anyone living on this earth I might add. Now, I must admit the next thing I am all ears about is this avatar of yours !! I thought outside boiler at first, then a Still, outside feed stock center, but now I really have no idea.
 
The picture really isn't big enough to do it justice. It's a Hurst 250 horsepower Scotchback Bio fuel boiler. It feeds very much like a pellet stove or corn stove but on a much larger scale, a ton every half hour when demand is high. We have one, well the company I work for. www.hurstboiler.com should get you there. Lots of information on the site.... no prices however. No cheap, ours was a bit over a million five.... No pellets or corn either. Chipped wood from tree companies and municipal crews... by the dump truck load, it's a hungry beast. It's an inside boiler, very industrial. but very clean. Runs about 85 PSI wet steam. Just high enough for a high pressure license, but low enough to not be a grenade if something goes amiss. It's all computer controlled like a bio-fuel stove but this one is touch screen.

Link it, you'll enjoy the site, especially if you are into heavy fabrication.
 
While stove shopping check out the owners manuals. That way you get an idea of what the maintenance will be like for each stove your looking at. Most manuals are free downloads. Also check for parts availability and prices. If your gonna live with this stove for the next 20 years or so you wanna get it right the first time. Hope this helps and good luck.
 
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SidecarFlip said:
The picture really isn't big enough to do it justice. It's a Hurst 250 horsepower Scotchback Bio fuel boiler. It feeds very much like a pellet stove or corn stove but on a much larger scale, a ton every half hour when demand is high. We have one, well the company I work for. www.hurstboiler.com should get you there. Lots of information on the site.... no prices however. No cheap, ours was a bit over a million five.... No pellets or corn either. Chipped wood from tree companies and municipal crews... by the dump truck load, it's a hungry beast. It's an inside boiler, very industrial. but very clean. Runs about 85 PSI wet steam. Just high enough for a high pressure license, but low enough to not be a grenade if something goes amiss. It's all computer controlled like a bio-fuel stove but this one is touch screen.

Link it, you'll enjoy the site, especially if you are into heavy fabrication.
Click to expand...
Cool, I learned something new. But it makes perfect sense, I should have just gone with my first instinct even though i never would have guessed it burned wood chips.. I like it even if it is hungry !!
 
Hmmm, think I can fit that in my dining room, that should warm things up in the house a bit:cool:
 
You could heat the neighborhood too. Problem is getting clean fuel. Just because it comes out of a chipper truck don't mean it's clean. We've has everything from stopsigns to chainsaws in the chips. Everything runs through a rotary clairfier and magnetic pass through prior to inceneration. large objects don't feed well. It feeds via an auger just bigger than a home unit from the backside of the firebox.
 
SidecarFlip said:
You could heat the neighborhood too. Problem is getting clean fuel. Just because it comes out of a chipper truck don't mean it's clean. We've has everything from stopsigns to chainsaws in the chips. Everything runs through a rotary clairfier and magnetic pass through prior to inceneration. large objects don't feed well. It feeds via an auger just bigger than a home unit from the backside of the firebox.
Click to expand...
It's a crazy machine, what does it heat ? Or did you state that already ?
 
A steel pickling line and a bit of enviromental heat (warehouse space). 250 isn't really that large.
 
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