Most reliable stove

[goducks]

It seems I started a my stove is better than your stove war of words. I wonder if the problems people have with their stoves (any brand) are from neglect or abuse. It seems like all brands have problems and people have different problems with their stoves. If every stove was built exactly the same and every component was built the same, then the stoves would have the same problems. So it would seem likely that owners are involved in some problems. Are there Harmon owners out there that have very little problems? I bought my Harmon because it was the #1 rated stove. Whether it really is only time will tell. And which stove is the most reliable? I had a Breckwell before I bought a Harmon, and while it was fine for the 1st 7-8 yrs, it started to nickle and dime me latter on. I also noticed that other Breckwell owners were having different problems than me. Leading me to believe that owners were partialy to blame. Or that all parts are not created the same and not all stoves are built the same.

 

[hearthtools]

I have been working on Pellet stoves for 20 years.
and yes most of the time the problems are Neglect.
but all mechanical things have break downs
Some stoves have better engineering to make it much easier to keep clean and to work on that others.
Some stoves are just made for cost cuts and you get what you pay for.
It cost more to add Bells and whistles
Some stove designers just did not think about the little things and it makes it hard to work on or to clean out all the traps.

As time goes on stoves get better and better

 

[Havlat24]

I have experience with Harmon, Kozi, and now I have a Quadra-Fire.


The Harmon was a beast of a heater... my family had 2 of them. This thing blasted us out the house, we only used pinnacle pellets. We put one in a 2x4 studded garage we turned into an office...and it ran on low and you were still too hot, and this was in Northern Ontario.


The Kozi seemed to suck.... no matter what pellets we put in that thing it seemed like it wasn't putting out anything for heat.


The Quadra Fire Sante Fe we put in this fall, is heating our whole house... burning a bag and a half of arguably the best softwood pellets you can get out of Western Canada (Spruce Pointe). I would have bought a Harmon, but the extra 1.5-2000 was outside my budget. Woulda loved the XXV though.... Having control over the fan speed and feed rate would be nice...as its 3 settings and thats it for the Quad. Probably would burn less fuel with the harmon as well.

 

[Mr Whitfield]

I would have to say Whitfield Advantage II-T 1994 to 1998, Insert or Freestanding, I've had mine for years, very reliable. ( What stove would you think I would say)

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Yes, I have to agree with older Whitfield stoves be very reliable. I've got a 1996 Advantage Plus insert. The only problem I had with it was the auger went bad last year.

 

[Lousyweather]

boy, wouldnt MTBF ratings be nice for these things?!

 

[schmeg]

I can't directly comment on Rika (Austroflamm), for I have only had mine for a week, but one of the reasons I bought it was for the
reliability others have experienced with it. Its been a plug and play experience so far for me.

 

[Marbleguy]

Second season with my Quad CB 1200 Insert and I have had to do nothing to it except feed it and clean it. Kind of like a baby. Keep it fed and clean and it doesn't make a lot noise. Very happy so far. Only burning premium hardwood pellets from "The Wood Pellet Co."

 

[kinglew]

breckwell 2700 only an igniter 4 years going strong

 

[mnkywrnch]

A clean well maintained one!

 

[caledoniacars]

I know people will think i'm crazy, but i'm on my second year with a us stove 6100. we heat a 2200 sq ft ranch plus 1800 sq ft in the basement. the furnace has been trouble free. it burns about anything. it's not fancy to look at or operate. we turn it up when its cold and down when its warm. pretty simple. i believe many problems stem from an improper installation. we spent good money to have ours hooked up by a professional and i do not regret a dime of it. i look forward to moving this one to the barn and geting a newer fancier one for the house in a year or 2.

 

[MCPO]

I know people will think i'm crazy, but i'm on my second year with a us stove 6100. we heat a 2200 sq ft ranch plus 1800 sq ft in the basement. the furnace has been trouble free. it burns about anything. it's not fancy to look at or operate. we turn it up when its cold and down when its warm. pretty simple. i believe many problems stem from an improper installation. we spent good money to have ours hooked up by a professional and i do not regret a dime of it. i look forward to moving this one to the barn and geting a newer fancier one for the house in a year or 2.

Are you saying that you heat $4000 sq ft with a pellet stove and that it`s in the basement? Or is this an actual pellet furnace?

 

[Flammam]

Had my Austroflamm since 1994 the only maintenance has been gaskets and cleanings. I am at or near 100 tons through this stove.

 

[hearthtools]

Had my Austroflamm since 1994 the only maintenance has been gaskets and cleanings. I am at or near 100 tons through this stove.

you burn over 7 ton a year?
I guess that could be done I have a few customers that do 6
A few things I dont like about he Austroflamm is NO real ashpan and that after a few years the heat exchange scrappers start to warp and hang up.
other that that is is a solid stove.

 

[Stentor]

boy, wouldnt MTBF ratings be nice for these things?!

Yes, it sure would be nice. Even better would be some ratings that showed what are historically problem areas for particular features and models, like Consumer Reports for cars.

 

[Flammam]

Had my Austroflamm since 1994 the only maintenance has been gaskets and cleanings. I am at or near 100 tons through this stove.

you burn over 7 ton a year?
I guess that could be done I have a few customers that do 6
A few things I dont like about he Austroflamm is NO real ashpan and that after a few years the heat exchange scrappers start to warp and hang up.
other that that is is a solid stove.

5 to 7 tons a year for 16 years by thend of this season. Pretty much primary heat for a 2200 sqft split ranch with crap for insulation. The no ash pan can be a pain. I have pretty much filled that stove with ash(8-9 inches solid across the glass) and it still runs and heats well normally I clean it every week no matter how much I burn.My scrappers stick when cold. Once the stove warms up they run pretty smoothly.

I would buy a new one tommorow if I needed it with no hesitation.

 

[krooser]

My St. Croix is a 2001 model... 3rd year in my home. It's been trouble free since i figured out how to properly clean it.

 

[mattson70]

I've got a St. Croix, Lancaster model, and haven't had one problem with it ever. Just do the right maintenance with whatever stove you buy and you will most likely be problem free.

 

[imacman]

I would buy a new one tommorow if I needed it with no hesitation.

I agree. If I had the $$ for one in summer '08, I would have one too....solid stove!

 

[chrisasst]

I have experience with Harmon, Kozi, and now I have a Quadra-Fire.


The Harmon was a beast of a heater... my family had 2 of them. This thing blasted us out the house, we only used pinnacle pellets. We put one in a 2x4 studded garage we turned into an office...and it ran on low and you were still too hot, and this was in Northern Ontario.


The Kozi seemed to suck.... no matter what pellets we put in that thing it seemed like it wasn't putting out anything for heat.


The Quadra Fire Sante Fe we put in this fall, is heating our whole house... burning a bag and a half of arguably the best softwood pellets you can get out of Western Canada (Spruce Pointe). I would have bought a Harmon, but the extra 1.5-2000 was outside my budget. Woulda loved the XXV though.... Having control over the fan speed and feed rate would be nice...as its 3 settings and thats it for the Quad. Probably would burn less fuel with the harmon as well.

Where were you 3 years ago, before I bought my sucky Kozi 120 stove.....Best heat I can get is about 230 on setting 5..

 

[imacman]

I know people will think i'm crazy, but i'm on my second year with a us stove 6100. we heat a 2200 sq ft ranch plus 1800 sq ft in the basement. the furnace has been trouble free......../quote]

Are you saying that you heat $4000 sq ft with a pellet stove and that it`s in the basement? Or is this an actual pellet furnace?

Gio, yes, it's a furnace, but even the manufacturer only rates it at 75k btu/hr and max of 2000sq. ft heating, and we all know how "optimistic" the specs for these units can be. I kinda doubt that he heats 4000 sq ft with it, unless he has other heat source too. Even more doubtful if the basement isn't finished/insulated.

 

[caledoniacars]

I know people will think i'm crazy, but i'm on my second year with a us stove 6100. we heat a 2200 sq ft ranch plus 1800 sq ft in the basement. the furnace has been trouble free. it burns about anything. it's not fancy to look at or operate. we turn it up when its cold and down when its warm. pretty simple. i believe many problems stem from an improper installation. we spent good money to have ours hooked up by a professional and i do not regret a dime of it. i look forward to moving this one to the barn and geting a newer fancier one for the house in a year or 2.

Are you saying that you heat $4000 sq ft with a pellet stove and that it`s in the basement? Or is this an actual pellet furnace?

yes its a pellet furnace that's actually hooked up to the duct work.

 

[caledoniacars]

I know people will think i'm crazy, but i'm on my second year with a us stove 6100. we heat a 2200 sq ft ranch plus 1800 sq ft in the basement. the furnace has been trouble free......../quote]

Are you saying that you heat $4000 sq ft with a pellet stove and that it`s in the basement? Or is this an actual pellet furnace?

Gio, yes, it's a furnace, but even the manufacturer only rates it at 75k btu/hr and max of 2000sq. ft heating, and we all know how "optimistic" the specs for these units can be. I kinda doubt that he heats 4000 sq ft with it, unless he has other heat source too. Even more doubtful if the basement isn't finished/insulated.

I know its only rated for 2000 sq ft, but we do actually heat our whole home with it. Our propane furnace never runs. The basement is actually 1800 sq ft finished and 400 unfinished. The upstairs is a well insulated brick ranch with 10 ft ceilings. The farthest room on the main level isn't the warmest, because the heat doesn't seem to get pushed that far. Its very managable. We don't keep the house all that warm anyway. (68-70 on average) I realize we are probably maxing out the capacity, however we seldom run it past the 3rd setting. I would run it at 4 or 5 if the boss would keep the dam windows shut. I have gone from being a preferred every other month propane customer to about a once a year full up.

 

[jtakeman]

I know its only rated for 2000 sq ft, but we do actually heat our whole home with it. Our propane furnace never runs. The basement is actually 1800 sq ft finished and 400 unfinished. The upstairs is a well insulated brick ranch with 10 ft ceilings. The farthest room on the main level isn't the warmest, because the heat doesn't seem to get pushed that far. Its very managable. We don't keep the house all that warm anyway. (68-70 on average) I realize we are probably maxing out the capacity, however we seldom run it past the 3rd setting. I would run it at 4 or 5 if the boss would keep the dam windows shut. I have gone from being a preferred every other month propane customer to about a once a year full up.

Sounds like you are doing just fine with it. If it works for you, Thats what matters.

I was looking at its sister stove US stove 6500. It a massive stove and overlooked it because I thought it would be to big for my application. Would have loved to have a stove I could duct the whole house to. Put the heat where I need it to go.

How easy is it to clean?

 

[Tom Pencil]

Installed my Harman Eccentra Insert in December of 2004. Burn 5 - 6 tons year. Only problem (knock on a wood pellet) we have had is that the Hopper lid spring mechanism broke and the lid would not stay up. Had parts and replaced in less than a week. It gets a weekly cleaning and a monthly deep cleaning.