Losing My Mind-What Pellet Stove to Buy??

[terryjd98]

Hi Everybody
I am new here, lots of great information. I live in Ontario Canada so cold winters. Due to illness I have only been able to work part-time for the past couple of years. Like for everybody else this year was a killer, oil heat $3,500.00 for the season. After shopping around for a wood pellet stove and all the reading I have done on here I think my mind is getting is getting over loaded.
I would like your opions on what stove to buy. Here is what my house is, I have a story and a half house with a 5 ft high basement, that part built in the 1920s, not much insulation, about 1100 sq feet. About 10 years ago added a 900 sq ft addition, story and a half, 6ft 8 inch high basement. Basement and all addition very well insulated, 6 inches in the walls from basement up. So have about 2000 sq feet total house size.
I have narrowed it do to the Harman P61A- $3,550.00 taxes included.
Breckwell Big E - $3,050.00 taxes included.
Breckwell P24 -$2,500.00 taxes included ( stove is on sale). Installation $1000.00 extra on all stoves, prices from 3 different stores.
I have a friend who swears by the Harman. He says if had to do it again though would buy the Harman Pellet PF-100 hot air furnace. I have not been able to get a price on that yet.
What I would like to be able to do is put the Stove in the new basement and run fans or whatever I have to, to be able to heat the house and be able to use as little oil as possable. One idea I was told by a dealer was to run a couple of new ductwork runs with fans in them from the new basement to the very upstairs.
So I will need a stove I can afford which these 3 I can. A stove that might be able to heat the whole house, know might need to use some oil when it hits -20.
Have read a lot of good about the Big E and P61A but the P61A is higher BTU so that might be an advantage. My friends house is 3000 sq ft and the P61A kept it warm all winter on 3 ton of pellets, though his house is newer and well insulated. I do like the large hopper size on the Big E though.
Would there be any chance of me being able to get by on 3 or 4 tons of pellets? Here Pellets are running $255.00 a ton for hardwood.
Any comments good or bad or ideas what to do would be much appericated. I have to do something no way am I going to be able to afford Oil next year.
Thanks for your time
Terry

 

[cncpro]

One thing I would consider is....

Of the choices you narrowed it down to, are any available immediately ? That would be a big factor this year.

I ordered a new Quadra-Fire pellet stove in early June and my dealer is still taking orders but doesn't have high expectations of actually being able to get them all filled... I am glad I ordered when I did. He says I should have mine in mid-July hopefully...

My house is 24 x 30. 2 story. Unfinished basement. I bought 4 tons after speaking with every experienced person I could find. I would think you'd need significantly more than me...

I am still very new at this so you might be wise to ignore everything I said... LOL

 

[compressedwoodsupplier]

Wow that seems really high for a breckwell im selling my breckwell big e for $1953.00

 

[jimcooncat]

$1,000 seems huge for installation too. I'd imagine that would include $300 worth of venting. My hardware salesman moonlights installs for an extra $200, and I bet it's only taking him a few hours per install.

Of course, you might have an awkward situation to deal with. If you're having to use the chimney as an exhaust I could see $1000 -- specs I've seen show Canadian code requires a run all the way up the chimney. But if you can pipe through a cellar window, then it seems way too much. Just go high enough so the snow doesn't cover up the top! And if your eaves don't extend very far, you might think about a small ice dam on the roof so a big snow drop doesn't wipe out your stack. If you vent out the end of the house rather than the sides you'd have less problems, of course.

The upstairs ductwork sounds like a good idea -- but it really needs to be adjustable or too much heat could end up upstairs.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

$3,500 for heat isn't too bad...... I mean that's like $1,750 in American dollars..........Back in the 1990's that is.......

 

[terryjd98]

Hi Firestarter You could be right I might need 8 ton of pellets instead of 4, I really have no idea just what I have been told by the "experts around here. There are none available right now except the Harmon P24 which I am not really sure about, don't think its a high enough btu stove. The other stoves the dealers say they will have them in for sure by the end of August and just need a deposit to hold a stove for me.
Really Hot- Wish I lived closer to you, if could buy a Big E for $2,000.00 it really would be easier to decide. From the reading I have done all the pellet stoves are cheaper in the U.S.A then in Canada. Seems all the good stoves are comming from the US. There are a couple of Canadian made but are not cheap and not a proven track record like the ones from the USA. I do like buying Canadian but for that big money I will buy USA made first. One thing I won't do is buy any of them cheap ones from say a Home Depot or China made ones, can imagine how cheaply made they are. I am not sure what the laws are about importing a stove to Canada from the USA or I would be thinking about taking a drive to the USA and bringing a stove back with me. I am right along the border with NY state.
Also installation is pretty simple from what I can see, Just need to go up about 6 feet from the stove, cut a hole through my poured foundation, put the through the wall kit on, then put the outside end on. I have all the clearnces, outside I would be 20 inches above gound which is code. With the angle of the roof I have about a 18 inch overhang on the eves so no chance of ice falling on the pipe. Seems the pipe is the expensive part, at least half the cost. Am tempted to try the install myself, I am pretty handy with my hands, built most of the addition with my dads help and did all the duct work by myself in the new addition. Cutting a 4 inch hole through that poured foundation would be the hardest part.
Hey Chuck your right that would have been a great price in the 1990s. I never heard of a wood pellet stove till 2 years ago when my friend bought one then my sister inlaw bought a used one.
Thanks for the replys
Terry

 

[packerfan]

Hi Firestarter You could be right I might need 8 ton of pellets instead of 4, I really have no idea just what I have been told by the "experts around here. There are none available right now except the Harmon P24 which I am not really sure about, don't think its a high enough btu stove. The other stoves the dealers say they will have them in for sure by the end of August and just need a deposit to hold a stove for me.
Really Hot- Wish I lived closer to you, if could buy a Big E for $2,000.00 it really would be easier to decide. From the reading I have done all the pellet stoves are cheaper in the U.S.A then in Canada. Seems all the good stoves are comming from the US. There are a couple of Canadian made but are not cheap and not a proven track record like the ones from the USA. I do like buying Canadian but for that big money I will buy USA made first. One thing I won't do is buy any of them cheap ones from say a Home Depot or China made ones, can imagine how cheaply made they are. I am not sure what the laws are about importing a stove to Canada from the USA or I would be thinking about taking a drive to the USA and bringing a stove back with me. I am right along the border with NY state.
Also installation is pretty simple from what I can see, Just need to go up about 6 feet from the stove, cut a hole through my poured foundation, put the through the wall kit on, then put the outside end on. I have all the clearnces, outside I would be 20 inches above gound which is code. With the angle of the roof I have about a 18 inch overhang on the eves so no chance of ice falling on the pipe. Seems the pipe is the expensive part, at least half the cost. Am tempted to try the install myself, I am pretty handy with my hands, built most of the addition with my dads help and did all the duct work by myself in the new addition. Cutting a 4 inch hole through that poured foundation would be the hardest part.
Hey Chuck your right that would have been a great price in the 1990s. I never heard of a wood pellet stove till 2 years ago when my friend bought one then my sister inlaw bought a used one.
Thanks for the replys
Terry

Cheap ones from home depot? I got mine there, and ya it was cheap when compared to others. I got it for half price, about $900 in the spring of 2007 when they were getting rid of there stock at the end of the heating season. Am I happy with my purchase? Darn right I am, the Englander I purchased seems to be a pretty good product to me. The folks at Englands Stove Works are also top notch in my opinion when it comes to customer support. I even think it looks better than some other stoves that are out there that cost $1000's more than I paid. Check out the link in my signature for the pellet stove review I wrote to see what my experience with my pellet stove has been.