Buying used Harman pellet stove......?

[mboyer68]

Hello All,
I'm amazed at the dedication members here have, and for that, I thank you! I joined last year when shopping for a pellet stove and read as much as I could find regarding pellet stoves, their design, operation, installation, etc...but then chickened out and didn't buy, the wife wasn't thrilled. Our town invested when Westinghouse built the hydro electric station in the early 1900's on the Niagara River, and we still get electric at the cost of generation, so it's really cheap, thus the wife not happy about spending thousands to save hundreds. The problem is that I don't even have a gas main in the street so we have an electric furnace, and I only have a 4kW generator, which won't power the furnace. The generator will power the pellet stove and thus heat the house, wife/money/problem "solved."
Now to the question, I found a used P35 for sale and was wondering what to look for. It's far enough away that I need to screen this thing over the phone/thru pictures. Any thoughts? All I know is that it's 2 years old.
Thank you,
Mike
Rochester, NY

 

[smwilliamson]

it was only invented 2 years ago, buy it if you like it, Harmans are one of the few stoves I will buy sight unseen, says something about quality there.

 

[boosted3g]

I bought a used Harman and my family have been more than happy with it. 30 degrees outside and the house is 73 upstairs while the stove is as low as it will go without shutting down. You cant go wrong with a Harman and after seeing the post above me reassures my decision. Since its your first post and dont know ill point out that smwilliamson is the mac daddy of pellet stove service. If he trusts Harman i would too.

 

[Bioburner]

Both of my Harmans were used, one from a good source the other from web auction. The auction stove was good enough price I could have replaced most major parts without getting burnt. Cleaned up good and runs without a fuss. They are getting a workout now.

 

[moey]

Not trying to discourage you, butttt have you looked at a plain old wood stove. Can be a lot less pain to use in a power outage. And it sounds like you would not even be using the pellet stove except when you lost power. Your have to also consider the risks of running your pellet stove hooked up to a generator in terms of blowing something out on the electronics in the pellet stove.

 

[mboyer68]

Thank you for the replies! Seller just emailed me and said he'd take $2200 for it, so I'm pretty excited.

Moey, great point, however, I will be using the stove daily during,the coldest months. I did read about using a generator (sine, pure sine, electrical engineer stuff!) I'll get it figured out well before I need to use it with a generator, hopefully!

I better get started reading tips on installation! Thanks again!

 

[Bioburner]

Check to see if any installation items come with it like pipe, pad, wall thimble etc to sweeten the deal. Remember manufactures warranty for original owner. That usually is a sour pill for selling used. Good luck, send pics etc

 

[fmsm]

Keep in mind a new p35i with a warranty is about $3000. I would think that a 35-40% depreciation rate would be applicable. My gut says the stov is worth closer to $1800-$2000. And remember cash is king!

 

[MSmith66]

You might want to check Craig's list in the Finger Lakes area. I have seen some very nice Harmans and nice deals on there.

 

[smwilliamson]

twenty benjies oughta do it

 

[stoaf88]

If you look everyday for like 3 weeks you will find a nice Harman for a lot cheaper than 2k

Thats too much to pay

 

[Bioburner]

2 year old p38 with 40 bags of pellets for sale on CL for $1200 here in MN with all pipes etc.

 

[mboyer68]

It IS a guy in western MA, is he a scammer ? I haven't looked every week but I've looked frequently enough to determine that finding a P35i is not common. I only look on CL however. Should I keep looking?

 

[boosted3g]

If your in NY why not take a day and come into PA and get a used Harman. Just looking on craigslist currently there is a beautiful accenta with a vac for 650. The price of a new p38 around here can be had for just over 2k so you can image what used pricing is like.

 

[Bioburner]

Mboyer, I would say a road trip could save you enough to get your winter supply of pellets and a nice hearth pad ! Wish it was closer, I need a shoulder stove.

 

[mboyer68]

Well, this is why I asked! Maybe I should keep looking.

Let me start over, I have an existing useless brick fireplace so I need an insert, preferably a P35i but am up for other suggestions.
I have entertained the thought of a wood stove, as moey suggested, but I like the idea of a more precision, less messy, easier to store fuel, not to mention that wood stoves are very close in price.
My friend has an awesome coal furnace but has trouble when it's not really cold and the furnace isn't working very hard, the fire goes out. Apparently there are three styles of coal and he's stuck with the middle size due to an ash shaker plate, what I'm getting at is that I think coal is not the best choice for me either, not with what I intend to do.

Please make any suggestions or comments or advice. Thanks again!

 

[mboyer68]

http://rochester.craigslist.org/for/3394300821

Is this reasonable? From what I've read I think I want to stick with Harman but?