NEED ADVICE ON MY NEXT PELLET STOVE INSERT

my house is 900 sqf ranch and i want to put a pellet insert in my fire place of my main floor. a couple of things im interested in ones easy to clean and have a t-stat. I like the idea of the use of a rail system that the stove sits on. I have a pellet stove in the basement which does fine if its not broken. Im going to be taking my stick burner out and put in a pellet stove. my quadrafire 2700i just doesnt burn like it used to i have been all over it with no luck. i dont know all the latest news on these stoves so if someone could help meout that would be great thanks.

Most stoves these days will take a thermostat. They all about require the same cleaning schedule. more or less depends more on physical size and qty burned of what quality more than anything.
The harman accentra has a rail kit. not sure of any other brands off the top of my head.

Harman p35i could be well sized for your relatively small space. It has a rail system and is a good stove. I'm happy with mine.

I envy my dads mt Vernon insert

I had a 2700i for about 5 years, sold it to a friend, and he likes it. Maybe your baffle or the insulation on top was mis-positioned.

www.amfmenergy.com/55trpepi--epa-certified-pellet-insert--2000552000.html

Two well respected inserts that roll out on rails are the Harman Accentra and the Enviro M55. Both work on a thermostat. Heating 900sf would be super easy with either. The Harman has a better OAK setup though. Pretty sure the Accentra is easy to clean. I know the M55 is easy. Of course they are both pretty high dollar units.

A Quadrafire Sante Fe would surely heat 900 square feet with no problem and it's super easy to maintain and operate.

How hard is it to clean especially the vent pipe? I was wondering should I get the biggest stove that will fit. Are there any advatages to getting a smaller or bigger stove?

Always lean in the bigger direction.....you always want the ability to crank it up during very cold spells, but can always be turned down.

I'm with Imacman on this one. A salesperson may sway you toward the minimum size for your space. They do this to keep the purchase price down, to keep you from walking out the door...

I fell for this "that mt Vernon will roast you out of your living room" & bought a castile. I wish I had that bad ass super quiet mt. Vernon, because I would turn it down while I'm in the room & let it rip when I'm looking to heat the whole joint.

I have a quadrafire 2700i and it heats great at 44000 btu. The classic bay is I think rated at 47000 btu so I think thag would be plenty. Could anyone comment on the classic bay and a ball park on price.

Also I have a 6inch stainless flex liner insulated in my masonry chimney can I connect the stove to that?

I have the accentra Insert and love it. the rail kit is expensive 500.00 so I built one myself and works great
http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/todays-project-harman-accentra-insert-rail-kit.105997/
It puts out alot of heat and takes me around 30 minutes to clean. I clean my stove every sunday regardless of how much I burn and once a month I pull the stove out and clean the esp and the fines box so add another 20 minutes but again Love the stove

What steps do you take to disconnect the vent pipe? For 900sqft is this stove overkill or will it run low enough?

the stove pulls out and there is a frame that stays inplace with a gasket that attaches to the stove so you have easy access to the exhaust pipe if you look atthe link i posted you will see the stove pulled away from the hearth. the rail I made gives me plenty of room behind the stove to work and get the the exhaust

as far as over kill you would rather have to much stove then not enough but that has a lot to do with a lot of factors like your lay out and insulation in the house how drafty the house is ( I would install an OAK(out side air kit) to the stove when you have it installed to help eliminate a lot of drafts in the house. I did not have it done when I had my stove installed and I am going to install one this summer.