Harman After First Year

[derbydude]

Thanks for all the info here.
My first year with the Harman insert has been good so far.
I had a few questions:
Do you get the annual cleaning done by the dealer or can any stove/chimney cleaning company do it?
I did buy the rails so I can do some basic cleaning myself. But I figured its worth getting the whole thing incl. chimney done at once.
Whats the best time to stock up on pellets for next year? Now? Or over the summer? Most shops are closed during summer I thought.

 

[alternativeheat]

Most of us here do it ourselves. A few use dealers, probably the least used is a chimney cleaning service. They don't known anything about the stove really.

 

[HP52NOVA]

Being a new owner myself, I second that. if you can physically do it yourself and know how, I would say just do it. No one will clean it better then you. Just make sure to educate yourself, read the guides, this forum, watch video's, etc. When I had a service guy over, I ended up helping him

on inventory - this can vary dramatically between areas. I would start pinging your local stores in April and see when you can find a good deal. last year, I got my Pellets in august.

 

[MuchoBueno]

my first year also. Saved some real money on oil. $100 oil fill that didn't even need to get done. The stove runs like new and I'm just so fortunate to have had the info and a local dealer that trully loves Harmans like I do now.

 

[Peterfield]

I figured I'd have the dealer tech clean it the first time and watch him closely. I've saved hundreds of dollars leaving the oil burner off so short money to see how it's done. After the warranty has expired, I plan on doing it myself.

 

[jdogg]

That sounds like a good idea except I'd prob write it down so I don't forget the steps ha ha.

 

[HOGG0494]

This is my second year with my harman xxv.i watched a couple you tube videos and read the manual.very easy to do.just be sure to clean the fines box(didnt see any video about this but its in the manual).best time to get pellets here in n.y. Is in may when they start selling them.they start going up $10 a ton in july and can be harder to get premium pellets delivered as sept/oct roll around

 

[HOGG0494]

By oct. $40 a ton more.which adds up quickly

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Thanks for all the info here.
My first year with the Harman insert has been good so far.
I had a few questions:
Do you get the annual cleaning done by the dealer or can any stove/chimney cleaning company do it?
I did buy the rails so I can do some basic cleaning myself. But I figured its worth getting the whole thing incl. chimney done at once.
Whats the best time to stock up on pellets for next year? Now? Or over the summer? Most shops are closed during summer I thought.

I would ask specifically what the dealer cleans on the stove. The reason why is the dealer here in metro Cincinnati will only do a very basic cleaning. They will run a brush up the two inside chambers of the Harman insert and vacuum the inside of the stove including the stove pipe. What they DON'T do is clean your ESP, fines box, and the fan motors. I asked why they dont do that and the onwer said it takes too long. Also, when this dealer cleans the stove pipe, they do it from the back of the stove. They do not clean the top of the stove pipe cap.

 

[Bioburner]

I would ask specifically what the dealer cleans on the stove. The reason why is the dealer here in metro Cincinnati will only do a very basic cleaning. They will run a brush up the two inside chambers of the Harman insert and vacuum the inside of the stove including the stove pipe. What they DON'T do is clean your ESP, fines box, and the fan motors. I asked why they dont do that and the onwer said it takes too long. Also, when this dealer cleans the stove pipe, they do it from the back of the stove. They do not clean the top of the stove pipe cap.

I want to know how much they are charging for this basic cleaning or if its by the hour etc. Most stoves can be properly cleaned including the motors etc in under an hour. When I was asked to service Countryside stoves I said there wasn't a repair-replacement that couldn't be done in an hour and included a good cleaning. Makes no sense to me to repair and tune a dirty stove.

 

[thundercracker]

for all you insert users, how do you clean the chimney part?

 

[MuchoBueno]

for all you insert users, how do you clean the chimney part?

I bought the sooteater I think it's called from Amazon and ran it up from the bottom. Will do it once more at the end of the season whenever that may be

 

[Defiant]

for all you insert users, how do you clean the chimney part?

When you pull the insert out on the rails, run a brush (with vacuum running to eliminate dust & ash under pipe ) on flexible chimney rods all the way up the liner pipe a few times. Also on the stove clean out by removing combustion blower all areas around including where the ESP probe is and wipe down the probe with a damp paper towel.