Harman Oakwood Questions

[macdaddy42]

I really Like this stove and thinking about buying a new one to replace my 2 yr old stove I bought a Lowes.

My questions are does any other brand offer the grill in the top like the Oakwood? And how well built is this stove?, I have been hearing of certain parts needing replaced every year at the cost of 300 plus.

Thanks
Mike

 

[jotulguy]

most dealers i know love the look and performance of that stove. however...... the back burn chamber does need to be replaced more often then in a traditional non-cat clean burn stove. the $300 price you have there is in the ball park of what i have been told it costs also. the grill on top feature is to the best of my knowledge only offered by harman.

 

[branchburner]

Hi Mike - the Oakwood is a solid, well-built stove, and the only one I know of with a grill (besides Harman's steel stove). But jotulguy is correct, the afterburner requires some maintenance. You need to vacuum it from the front periodically during the season, which is easy enough. But it will still build up some ash that may eventually cause problems, so you may need to remove the piece from the back of the stove every other year (maybe more, maybe less) to address that. At some point the part will likely need to be replaced, but I can't say for sure if that will be in two years or ten years (mine was damaged by the previous owner). Cost for me was $270, but someone else paid around $150, I think.

Other points to consider: the stove needs a good draft and a 6" flue to perform well, and it is best suited to long burns of dry hardwood. The secondary burn chamber is in the rear of the stove, so it throws a lot of heat from the back, and maybe sends a bit more up the flue than some other stoves. It is trickier to learn than many stoves because you need a coal bed that is hot and deep enough to allow you to close the bypass, so a bit of patience is required to perfect your technique. Not great for short, small, occasional fires (if you use it like this I recommend a pipe damper), but it really cranks out the BTUs and is a great heater in the dead of winter. I didn't burn a drop of oil last year.

How many sq ft are you heating, and what is your current flue setup?

 

[macdaddy42]

Thanks guys.

I will be heating 1200 sq ft and we light ours in the fall and let it go out in the spring, so no short burns.

My current set up is a 6 inch pipe run up to a chimney and then through the roof (if this makes any since). We also have a damper in the pipe, so I think from what branchburner said it should work fine.

I really am looking forward to getting this stove, but on the other hand was hoping that some other brands had the grill option also, mainly so I could have a little broader choice.

 

[summit]

TL300 Offers the grill, has a more generous firebox and ashpan.

 

[branchburner]

The TL300 is Harman's steel stove, but you will not need the bigger firebox - the smaller Oakwood will be more than enough for 1200 sf