Okay heres my question, I can buy a PF-68 for next to nothing from a friend as opposed to spending near $3,000 for a new PF-61 but heres my predicament. I will be using it as a supplement heat the house, would it use way more pellets than say a PF-61 for the same time I would run both of them? When I say supplement heat I mean that it will be run mostly in the evenings and on the weekends when we are home but will not be my primary heat source.
Need Stove Advice Please
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BubbRubb
New Member
It would control the pellet feed based upon the thermostat if operating in room temp mode. In that regard, you would use the same amount of fuel if burning the same amount of time. Even if it was in a maintenance burn, the amounts should be the same. The only difference is the P68 would have the capability to burn more if the heat was needed.
STOVEGUY11
Feeling the Heat
If you buy a new stove, you will have a warranty and a dealer to back you up when there is a problem. Buying used, your going to immediately pay out of pocket for parts.
The Patriot
New Member
STOVEGUY11 said:
Yeah, but for "next to nothing", he'll have some extra money to pay for those parts.
And are we sure that the warranty is void? The warranty on the P68 is transferable.
STOVEGUY11
Feeling the Heat
Labor is not covered under warranty first of all. Secondly most dealers will not touch a stove they didnt sell you.
The Patriot
New Member
STOVEGUY11 said:
Okay, if labor isn't covered (funny, I didn't pay anything to replace my igniter this winter, must have a really good dealer), then what's the difference between the two stoves assuming the warranty can be transferred.
I can't speak to the dealers fixing the stove that they didn't sell you. Of course, one can always ask the dealer. He's buying it from a friend, I'm sure the friend can talk to the dealer and see what the deal is. And, technically, they DID sell the stove, just not to the new owner.
Also, who is going to install the stove? If the same dealer is going to be paid to install the stove (a second time), I'm sure they'd be a little more willing to work on the stove in the future under warranty.
STOVEGUY11
Feeling the Heat
That was nice of your dealer to do that for you. Labor is covered for the first 3 years. After that you are responsible for labor charges. Parts are covered for 6 years except for all the mechanical and electrical is warrantied 3 years. There is a transfer fee of $25.
Its 3 years old and according to him it only needs an ignitor, once its going it works fine, the ignitor went out this winter. When I say next to nothing I am looking at close to $1000, a new one is $3000 in my area, so it seems like a good deal to me. I will do the installation myself as I did with my wood stove.
The Patriot
New Member
AlaskaCub said:
Sounds like a good deal to me. And if you're going to install the stove yourself, I'm sure you'd be fine fixing the ignitor yourself if need be.
Also, in your area, the ignitor may not get much use. Plus, it's not absolutely necessary depending on what your needs are. If you are supplementing as you say, are you only supplementing when you are home? The two benefits of the igniter are 1) you don't need to light the fire manually (not a big deal really), and 2) the stove can turn off and on in room temp mode saving a little on pellets.
If you are using the stove only when you are home, you may find you don't even care about the igniter. Starting the fire up manually is easy. A tip, look into getting some gel hand sanitizer to use instead of starter gel, it's much cheaper. Plus it comes in pumps (like liquid hand soap) rather than squeeze bottles. I'd say probably stick with ones without perfumes, but it probably doesn't matter much.
Even if you fix the igniter, you should have something on hand in case the igniter fails.
One other thing, you say that you are supplementing. Is it at all possible that the stove COULD heat your whole house? I don't know your house size/layout/stove placement situation. I see from another post that you are heating 1000 - 1200 SF with the stove, is that part of your house, or your whole house? With the price of oil right now, I'd use a P68 to heat as much space as possible.
stoveguy2esw
Minister of Fire
heat output is related directly to how many pellets you feed it , that said a larger unit can be run at a lower feed rate (which aint always available with woodstoves due to creosote issues and other complications) being in alaska biggest thing i would check on is fuel availability which in some parts of our 49th state ive heard can be problematic. at any rate if you are mecanically competant (living up there i assume its a prerequisite) you should witrh proper guidance be able to handle whatever is tossed at you. it sounds like a pretty good deal, an igniter is not a required part in most cases unless you are using an "on off t-stat setting. any way its an easy fix to replace it. dont look just at "max output" very few pellet stove owners use the max available anyway lok at what the potential is and whether its suitable for what you need. if its too big , turn it down , if its too small , well then you have to help it , which is more desireable to you??? me im going big and running low before im going small and supplimenting. just my 2 cents
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