What brand/model stove do you have and would you recommend it?

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Hello fellow newbie,

To answer your original question, I can vouch for the HearthStone Heritage as being a great stove after having run it for over 2 months now. The Heritage is made by a good, American company that makes a quality product. It's self-igniting, has a unique and effective design that ends-up throwing a ton of heat, and can be either manually controlled, thermostatically controlled, or programmed by the user on a custom schedule. It heats my whole home of 1,160 square feet. Great aesthetics as well. I've been in touch with their technician via email and he's been quick with replies and informative. I can easily recommend this stove.
And no, I don't work for the company! ;)

Whatever you end-up getting, have a safe and happy heating season and welcome to the board, it's a great place to glean info.
 

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I'll repeat what I say regularly any stove can be made to heat well even some that a lot of folks give up on that are actually junk as delivered.

But unless you are willing and able to get down, dirty, and become totally familiar with your stove and all of its pieces, you are going to be constrained by the dealers staff and customer service skills which vary widely. Research the dealers more than the stove otherwise you will regret your decision even if it was one for the cats meow of a stove.

If you plan on using the stove as primary heat make certain you have a backup heating system that works, common spare parts for the stove, or a combination of both.

I fully agree.

It took me about 4 years of tweaking, cleaning, messing around, swearing, turning it off for a week, hating it, reading here, fixing it, loving it again, and so on and on to really say I know what i'm doing with it now. I've been elbow deep in places that if my stove were a female, i'd get in trouble for. lol


I fully support the dealer option-- go see what they sell. And even more so, pick a GOOD dealer. Other dealers tend to only want to work with what they know.

And make sure you get an OAK (outside air kit). It's my biggest regret with the stove. Do it upon install.
 
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my m55 clone (Regency GCI 60) insert has done nothing but impress me, especially during the recent cold snap. I have fussed with it a little bit getting it set to run, but more a labor of love. Now that thing keeps my 2,000 SF plenty warm. I also have plenty of capacity to make more heat if I need too.

There is a GCI 55 I think which is a little smaller/cheaper, and that might fit your SF better. I think the 60 could be overkill.
 
I've been running pellets almost 20 years now. Things to consider:

1. If it's the only source of heat, buy back up parts such as blower motor, combustion motor, auger motor, limit switches - or whatever you read may go out on the stove you end up choosing.
2. Make sure parts in #1 are available. Most of the stuff doesn't have to bought from a dealer - McMaster Carr & Graingers are good resources.
stove-parts-unlimited.com is a place I get a lot of parts as well.
3. Make sure you have a local wood pellet dealer that's been around awhile. I bought a Harman P-100 Pellet Furnace dirt cheap from a guy who couldn't find pellets locally anymore.
4. If you can pull that oil boiler - put in a Harman Pellet Furnace. I heated a 2500 sq. ft. home with mine (above) for four years on about two bags/day in the coldest of winter. 120,000 BTU's was a nice output for two bags a day.
5. Get on these kinds of boards and learn the idiosyncrasies of how pellet stoves function in general, and then how your brand operates. I've never bothered going to a dealer, because after 18 years, I've found I know more then them anyway.
6. Always make LITTLE adjustments.....i.e., damper, feed control, thermostat control.
7. Install stove leaving yourself room to work, i.e., taking off side or rear panels in particular.
8. If your stove is in the house and if you live in a area you can get away with it, take your pellet stove outside sometime in the summer and blow it thoroughly with air compressor. Or leaf blower - I guess that's a popular method now, too.


I'm sure there's more, but that's what comes to mind. I've had Whitfield, Harmon, Avalon, Breckwell and a couple of ancient stoves that I don't even remember the names of.
 
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I'm new to the pellet world and have an englander 25 pdvc and it cranks out plenty of heat for my small house but I have some regrets I bought it without knowing to much and wish I had gotten one that would turn its self on and off with the thermostat instead of just going on low keep that in mind on nights it's just cold enough to want a little heat the thing gets it to like 77 have to keep turning it on and off
 
I fully agree.

It took me about 4 years of tweaking, cleaning, messing around, swearing, turning it off for a week, hating it, reading here, fixing it, loving it again, and so on and on to really say I know what i'm doing with it now. I've been elbow deep in places that if my stove were a female, i'd get in trouble for. lol


I fully support the dealer option-- go see what they sell. And even more so, pick a GOOD dealer. Other dealers tend to only want to work with what they know.

And make sure you get an OAK (outside air kit). It's my biggest regret with the stove. Do it upon install.

Please dont use the words "elbow deep" and "female" in the same sentence again.
 
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I would start by looking at what is available locally and by reputable dealers. Then I would make a list of ones you like and ask the forum....you will get many suggestions here but may not do you any good if they are not in your area
X2
 
My first home was just an oversized air filter with so many leaks. Almost could tell which way the wind blew by the dust bunny drifts. New home you can tell if you have a door or window closed by how high the fire is. Have to run a radon mitigation system too. Rather have a leak or 2.
 
IMO...OAK's are over-rated. I've never had one and never had a problem. Including with insurance companies.
Perhaps you simply don`t know what you`re missing or the ramifications of not having one?
 
As someone with a newer house (1997) and a radon system, get an OAK :p
 
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I'm new to the pellet world and have an englander 25 pdvc and it cranks out plenty of heat for my small house but I have some regrets I bought it without knowing to much and wish I had gotten one that would turn its self on and off with the thermostat instead of just going on low keep that in mind on nights it's just cold enough to want a little heat the thing gets it to like 77 have to keep turning it on and off
I understand you can get a thermostat for this unit and wire it in yourself, I think I saw it on the video that came with the stove. I have not started my research on that yet but I will let you know when I get it how it works. Just now we are doing the same, turning it off and on.
 
I understand you can get a thermostat for this unit and wire it in yourself, I think I saw it on the video that came with the stove. I have not started my research on that yet but I will let you know when I get it how it works. Just now we are doing the same, turning it off and on.
Like Pweeny says. I have the 25 pvdc and there's lots of info on it here in the forums. I don't know everything but am learning besides it's a relatively simple stove which I like because I am relatively simple.
 
I understand you can get a thermostat for this unit and wire it in yourself, I think I saw it on the video that came with the stove. I have not started my research on that yet but I will let you know when I get it how it works. Just now we are doing the same, turning it off and on.

The pdv/c series are great performers BUT they are Englanders low end value driven pellet heaters and tailored to potential buyers in the low end price range. Something has to give here.
If that`s what you bought , you gotta live with the way the thermostat operates the stove (hi/lo) only. It works just fine in the coldest months but in the shoulder seasons you would need to turn it off/on manually . I don`t see it as an issue for everyone but we all have different wants and needs.
And this is where the purchaser should have done his homework first.

My Harman P-38 (Harman`s low end model) doesn`t have an auto ignition ,therefore it`s all manual and pretty much the same as the PDV,C series but my next pellet stove will have auto ignition and on/off thermostat capability. I think it`s worth it just to save pellets.
 
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