Pellet stove choices

[Skygrl01]

I'm new to the stove world and am contemplating putting a pellet stove in my home this year. I am a bit overwhelmed with all the choices and thought I'd ask here everyone's opinions.

My home is small. 1000sf. It's 100 years old. Cottage/bungalow type home. Winters are fairly mild where I live. 20-30's @ night. 50's durning the day. Maybe warmer. I'm leaning towards a cast iron stove for the charming looks as it will be a focal point of my living room. The St croix Hastings or the enviro empressa so far have my eye.

Are there any others I should check out/research?

Thanks!
A

 

[Bioburner]

Harman XXV and the new Absolute 43 if going for the older wood stove look

 

[Skygrl01]

Thanks! It seems there are a lot of harman lovers on here! Are they really that much better?

 

[johneh]

Everyone has there opinion and the stove they like and promote
Me I like the Enviro . Your best option I think is Buy the stove
best suited to you and your tastes . The really important thing
is to have a good dealer with good service and is close to you
Good luck and Welcome to the forum

 

[hossthehermit]

Are you married ?????????????
If so, you're asking the wrong crowd ................

 

[Skygrl01]

Everyone has there opinion and the stove they like and promote
Me I like the Enviro . Your best option I think is Buy the stove
best suited to you and your tastes . The really important thing
is to have a good dealer with good service and is close to you
Good luck and Welcome to the forum

Thanks! I think you are right about good service close by!

 

[Skygrl01]

Are you married ?????????????
If so, you're asking the wrong crowd ................

Not sure what being married has to do with pellet stoves but it's seems to me that asking a question about pellet stoves in a pellet stove forum might be the right crowd!

 

[Bioburner]

Harman has a burning mode that fires without the room fan, AKA fireplace mode. Nearly silent. Would have put a Quad on the list but probably be to big as your not in the snow belt and on the smaller side heating space wise..

 

[Bioburner]

Hoss is referring to who has or makes the home interior decisions. Harman's p series is not the most glamorous of designs.

 

[Skygrl01]

Harman has a burning mode that fires without the room fan, AKA fireplace mode. Nearly silent. Would have put a Quad on the list but probably be to big as your not in the snow belt and on the smaller side heating space wise..

Yes it seems that most are much bigger then my needs.

 

[Skygrl01]

Hoss is referring to who has or makes the home interior decisions. Harman's p series is not the most glamorous of designs.

Ohhhh. Haha. I missed that. I make the decisions.

 

[hossthehermit]

Ohhhh. Haha. I missed that. I make the decisions.

oops, sorry, didn't even notice the name .............. most humble apologies

 

[Skygrl01]

oops, sorry, didn't even notice the name .............. most humble apologies

No worries!

 

[fmsm]

I would recommend the Absolute 43. It is not that large, will maintain a temperature, and the unit is VERY easy to take care of. Far less cleaning and easier daily maintenance.

 

[bogieb]

The Hastings is a nice looking pellet stove and runs well. It heated my main floor of 950 sq/ft very well last winter and we had a lot of ights that were -15 to -20, with daytime temps just above 0. It has 3 modes to run; at a constant setting, temperature driven then going to a low constant burn until heat is called for again, or totally thermostat controlled.

The main issue I had with my Hastings was that it only held about 35# in the hopper (yeah, I know they say 40# - they are optimistic). Since you seem to live in a warmer part of the country, I think it would do well for you. And as a person of the female persuasion, who has no electrical knowledge, I found it fairly easy to set up for a thermostat (once I chased down some internal wiring issues - I bought the stove used). It is a very nice looking stove too.

The Hastings will need cleaned more often, and the ash pan emptied more often than a Harman - although I am not familiar with the Harman XXV, so do not know how it would compare. However, I do love Harmans for their ease of maintenance and larger hoppers. I don't think you could really go wrong with either model/brand.

 

[stovelark]

For medium cast stoves, the stoves mentioned are all good choices. In addition to the Empress from Enviro and the Hastings and Harmans mentioned, I'd add Quadrafire's Castile to the list.