Which stove to get and where to place it? Newbie help.

[casanueva14]

Hello all and thanks in advance for your help.

We're new to stoves. Our house doesn't even have a fireplace. The house is a raised ranch, also called split entry. It's 1100 sqft in each level (basement and first floor). The basement is half finished and has full size windows (only bottom half is under ground). The only heating system is an oil boiler and baseboards.

We plan to put the stove in the finish basement (under the bedrooms), but wonder if the heat will keep the main floor warm. The house was built in 1989. Reading here, seems to us the Castle Serenity is a good option. We wonder if it'll be better to go with a bigger one, like the Pleasant Hearth 50000 btu one since the stove will be in the basement and 30K BTU might not be enough.

As we're completely new to stoves and/or fireplaces, we need something easy to maintain and affordable. We visited some dealers, but can't afford the Harman and similars. We plan to do the installation ourselves. We have construction field experience.

I'll make some diagrams of the layout to post later.

Thanks again!

 

[railfanron]

Just something to think about. The Harmans are more money that's for sure but in the long run they may be cheaper. To give you something to think about. I bought a Harman and my neighbor bought a stove that was 800.00 cheaper. That was 4 seasons ago. Since then I haven't put a nickel in parts for my stove and she has dropped 600.00 in parts in her stove. So now the difference is only 200.00 and I'm sure that she would have saved at least 1 ton of pellets a year or 200.00 because her stove has to stay running instead of only running when the house needs heat. Her stove needs to have the ash dumped daily mine only every 3/4 of a ton of pellets used. I clean both stoves once a month and I can clean mine in 20 minutes with no parts or gaskets needed. Hers takes an hour and one gasket for the combustion fan at 2.00. My stove lights 100% of time with no problems hers lights only 90% of the time so hers could never run in automatic mode as she needs to be there when it lights to make sure it doesn't overflow. In a 10 year span I would say her stove will cost more than 200.00 more than mine and consume 10 tons more pellets and her house is half the size of mine.
Ron

 

[Jonkman]

railfanron has some good and valid points...however, sometimes you can't just swing the cost of a Harman up front. And, sometimes (though not most of the time) the lesser expensive stoves can be decent, not all of them are junk. There are horror stories out there about Quadra-fires and Harman's too. There are obvious low priced ones to stay away from, and you can figure that out.

There have been 3 or 4 threads started on this very topic in the last few weeks. Here is a link to one...although it looks like you may have seen them already...

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/online-store-recommendations.156974/

 

[Jonkman]

Oh, and it's always better to get more BTUs than you think you will need....

 

[rich2500]

If at all possible I would opt. For a Castle Serenity in the basement and another upstairs.

 

[pete7713]

I'm with you rich for the price of a Harman he could buy 2 castle serenitys and have enough money left over for a few tons of pellets

 

[Jonkman]

If at all possible I would opt. For a Castle Serenity in the basement and another upstairs.

That is actually a good idea...like Pete7713 said, you could heat both floors for less than 1 harman. Then you don't have to worry about heat distribution issues. Too bad you missed out on the Ace Hardware deal, they were running the serenity for $900 until October 31st.

 

[bogieb]

I some places the heat will distribute well to the next floor, in others it won't. And there is probably no good way to figure that out until the stove is installed (you could rent a large BTU space heater and place it in the basement and see how it works, but even that won't tell you how it behaves on really cold days unless you do it in Jan-Feb).

I have a smaller house with 950 sq/ft as mainfloor and 650 sq/ft basement (the rest is under-house garage). On the advise of "professionals" (stove dealer, stove installer, heating tech and contractor; 4 different people) instead of two smaller stoves, I put a P61a in the basement and tried everything in the book to get the heat to rise and circulate, It won't in my place - or at least not satisfactorily; my bedrooms were in the 40's so I slept in the living room. So, I ended up with two stoves - plus holes in my wood floors for vents that do no good - and the P61a is complete overkill for the basement (although, if the main floor stove was to go down for some reason, I could at least keep the main floor from freezing over). So, I'm with Rich in thinking starting out with the plan for 2 stoves, if at all possible, would be your best sure-bet.

Also, as mentioned, plan on a few more BTU's than you think you need - at least for the living area. If you are underserved in the basement, it is no big deal.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Your sig indicates you are from sea coast NH. If you haven't done so already, stop in to Home and Hearth on Rte 1 in Hampton Falls. They sell different brands of stoves (no junk) and will give you great advice and recommendations in a no pressure environment. I own two Harmans purchased from them.

 

[bogieb]

Seeing as how you are planning on self-install anyway, you could look at used stoves (Harman's of course ). I got my P43 for a grand. Course it was spring and the people were moving to FL and were desperate to sell. There are some other brands that are still tanks even if a couple of years old - St. Croix comes to mind. However, those stoves also tend to be more expensive than the stoves you find at BBS and hardware stores. Just throwing out ideas for you to think on.

 

[bags]

Hey and Welcome! What kind of budget are you trying to stay within for starters? There are many ways to go. I have two Harmans and love them. A P68 I bought new for big money and a used but like new PC45 I picked up for $1,500 or $1,600.

That said, there are some good suggestions up above. I am an admirer of the Castle Serenity stoves and read up a bunch. I will buy one of those next for another area to heat. Great bang for the buck but I also love my Harmans. Money well spent.

You could go the less expensive route and always get another stove too. Sell the first or keep it for the lower level etc; Sometimes heating two floors with one stove can produce not so great results. I know exactly what type of house you are in. Here they are known as bi-levels. Basically you walk into the front door onto a landing and can go down or up a half flight of stairs either way.

Question is how well you can get your heated air moved. This can be done with fans but that can also be limited. Probably the best location would be as close to the stairwell as possibly. I am heating 2,350 SQ FT here on two levels with tons of windows and glass doors and high ceilings but have located the P68 right below a big lofted area that is wide open so heat easily makes it way to the second floor. A regular stairway will not allow as much heat to go. Your setup would be a bit more difficult but I have seen where people have gotten by with one stove in your situation.

What are your expectations? Give some more thoughts and / or details, budget, etc; so we can help more.

 

[mass_burner]

I have an insert in my basement office, and not a lot of heat makes it upstairs, no staircase. But even with no insulation/drywall, I can't feel a difference upstairs, maybe a 2d in upper floor temp.

 

[Deromax]

I think there is an obvious answer to the heating of two floors question, and I'm surprised it is not often mentionned! You could use a stove model that have a secondary ductable hot air outlet. That way, you keep the stove, its dust and noise in the basement. The stove heats the basement and the forced hot air secondary conduit brings heat to the main floor by a simple register in the floor.

Two stoves is a way more expensive solution, needs two flue vents and needs two time the tending and maintenance.

My 0,02

 

[casanueva14]

Your sig indicates you are from sea coast NH. If you haven't done so already, stop in to Home and Hearth on Rte 1 in Hampton Falls. They sell different brands of stoves (no junk) and will give you great advice and recommendations in a no pressure environment. I own two Harmans purchased from them.

We did. They showed us the Harman's and Quadrafires. The cheapest one is $3800...

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[casanueva14]

Hey and Welcome! What kind of budget are you trying to stay within for starters? There are many ways to go. I have two Harmans and love them. A P68 I bought new for big money and a used but like new PC45 I picked up for $1,500 or $1,600.

That said, there are some good suggestions up above. I am an admirer of the Castle Serenity stoves and read up a bunch. I will buy one of those next for another area to heat. Great bang for the buck but I also love my Harmans. Money well spent.

You could go the less expensive route and always get another stove too. Sell the first or keep it for the lower level etc; Sometimes heating two floors with one stove can produce not so great results. I know exactly what type of house you are in. Here they are known as bi-levels. Basically you walk into the front door onto a landing and can go down or up a half flight of stairs either way.

Question is how well you can get your heated air moved. This can be done with fans but that can also be limited. Probably the best location would be as close to the stairwell as possibly. I am heating 2,350 SQ FT here on two levels with tons of windows and glass doors and high ceilings but have located the P68 right below a big lofted area that is wide open so heat easily makes it way to the second floor. A regular stairway will not allow as much heat to go. Your setup would be a bit more difficult but I have seen where people have gotten by with one stove in your situation.

What are your expectations? Give some more thoughts and / or details, budget, etc; so we can help more.

Well, we're still debating between pellet and wood stove. The house is exactly as you describe. Stairwell is in the middle.

We could go up to around 3k all included. We're afraid of buying used since we don't have any experience with them and don't know what to look for.

The stove with secondary duct sound great. Which ones are those?

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[casanueva14]

BTW, We found a dealer with a clearanced Regency 60, enameled for $3,200. Is that a good deal? Another dealer is selling the St Croix heritage for $2,900.

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[rich2500]

What about 2 stoves

 

[casanueva14]

I guess we'll try with one downstairs and see how that'll work

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[casanueva14]

More questions: there are some used Harman for sale, around $1600 for a p38, $1500 for a p43, Harman advanced for $1950. Are those prices good?

Or for novices like us would be better a new castle serenity?

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[Deromax]

Drolet Eco-65, and a few models from Ravelli comes to mind. There are surely other models too.

 

[bogieb]

More questions: there are some used Harman for sale, around $1600 for a p38, $1500 for a p43, Harman advanced for $1950. Are those prices good?

Or for novices like us would be better a new castle serenity?

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Those are good prices as long as they aren't like 20 years old. Are those from a reconditioner in the seacoast area (HF) or from individuals on CL? If that P43 is from an individual on CL in a town that starts with D - I wouldn't just by the way the inside looks and it is 15 years old.

But there is a P38+ in a town that starts with W that sounds good (2012), but get them to send pics of the firebox at least. I am unsure if those have auto light or not (which is something that you would want). It's hard to tell about the P38 in HF since they don't give year or a true pic - just a stock picture - once again have them send pics before going to look at it.

 

[casanueva14]

Great help, thank you. Yes, I was surprised by the amount of stoves in HF and think some of them are from a reconditioner. Is it OK to buy from one of them or better from individuals? I'll contact the W one.

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[rich2500]

that heatilator cab 50 for 900.00 would be a good buy, or heck for about the same money as the used Harmans you could get a new Cab 50 which is a great stove.

 

[bags]

Rich has a very valid point. At $900 bucks a piece you could get two stoves (one for each level) for $1,800 bucks approx. This would also open up more heating preferences and options as needed on the different levels.

The Castle Serenity stoves are a great bang for the buck IMO and the opinions of some others. This leaves $1,200 for venting and installs. OR you could get one and try it to cover the house and if it struggles you could add the second one.

Those are good prices on the used Harman stoves depending as Bogie mentioned. About any slightly used Harman sub $2,000 bucks in good shape is a pretty decent deal. Some models are worth more than others though. New or used so research it and / or ask questions like you are doing.

 

[casanueva14]

The P38 in HF is manual light, 1997 model. I haven't heard from the other ones yet.

The serenity looks better..

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