First Pellet Stove

mikespirito said:

Mommy of 4 how often does the CAB require cleaning? I hear the Harman's require only once a week. Are you happy with your cab50? Would you buy it again?

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My Harman ..I can get away with cleaning once a month..
THeres always a little daily scrapping of the burn pot..but stove doesn;t need to be shut down for that.
I believe Ive gone as far as 5 weeks without cleaning. (Just another reason I love my Harman

rayttt said:

My Harman ..I can get away with cleaning once a month..
THeres always a little daily scrapping of the burn pot..but stove doesn;t need to be shut down for that.
I believe Ive gone as far as 5 weeks without cleaning. (Just another reason I love my Harman

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I love all the Harman's ain't pellet picky reposes these types of threads always get. But there you are scraping your pot every day
Lol.. Too me this type of daily maintenance would make them somewhat pellet picky. Especially if different pellets make you have to do this more often.

Don't get me wrong, Harman are very nice. But I think this "not pellet picky" is a bit over blown considering the burn pot maintenance that needs to be done.

One of the reasons I stuck with the multifuel is the burn pot design. If you tangle with some real ugly fuel you can stick in the stirrer and let it stir and grind itself clean.

IHATEPROPANE said:

I love all the Harman's ain't pellet picky reposes these types of threads always get. But there you are scraping your pot every day
Lol.. Too me this type of daily maintenance would make them somewhat pellet picky. Especially if different pellets make you have to do this more often.

Don't get me wrong, Harman are very nice. But I think this "not pellet picky" is a bit over blown considering the burn pot maintenance that needs to be done.

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Ah yes, here's where the "disorder" lies. It doesn't "have" to be done. I've burned plenty of ashy pellets where a huge "beard" gets built up on the edge of the burnpot and acts almost like a front flame guide, directing the flame more towards the back of the exchanger. Who knows, if you think about it, maybe the heat exchanger becomes more efficient as the "hot" spot is moved rearward and the natural convection currents INSIDE the firebox heat it more evenly. That's my just made up theory anyway. All kidding aside, the burnpot edge can only hold so much ash. Use ashy pellets and burn it on low and you'll get a Paul Bunyan. Burn it on high and you may only get a pencil thin D bag beard. Even with Infernals, I've never seen it even come close to snuffing itself out.

The bottom line is it doesn't "have" to be done, but it "has" to be done

P38X2 said:

The bottom line is it doesn't "have" to be done, but it "has" to be done

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I noticed this last year. Wife: "You just scraped that this morning. It's fine! Why are you scraping it again?" Me: "I don't know." I also look in the hopper at least 5 times per day even though I know its fine. I always thought these little quirks were left over from my wood burning days when I HAD to pay attention or things happened.

They don't understand.

I heat a 2200 sq. ft. two story with my 40,000 btu. St. Croix... I have an open staircase in the living room which helps move the warm air into the second floor.

I seldom have to set the heat past #3 even in the coldest weather.... we've seen -20F on a regular basis. My home is over 100 years old with R-11 insulation in the first floor but little in the second floor walls. The roof has R-19.

It's important to move the air around in any home that has a traditional floor plan... open floor plans allow for better heat distribution.

I never drank the Harman Kool-Aid... I went to the well, saw the price, and backed away... I heard all the hype about about balanced motors, high quality parts yada-yada-yada. Turns out there are many stoves out there that are just as good as the Harmans for far less $$$. The dealer I bought my used stove from was honest enough to tell me the same... and he's a big Harman dealer. Nothing wrong with the Harman's... just over-rated IMHO... (let the beatings begin!)

My old St. Croix has been bulletproof for many years... I think it's a 2001 model stove. Paid $950.00 used. I can run this stove for two weeks and never have to open the door...

Finding a good dealer is the most important part of buying a pellet stove... using a good, clean burning pellet is also very important.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do...

mikespirito said:

I'm looking at getting the quadra fire classic bay 1200. What do you guys think?

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Here we go again.

mikespirito said:

I'm looking at getting the quadra fire classic bay 1200. What do you guys think?

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By all accounts a very good stove

Hi Mike- did you check out the classic bay at Preston Trading Post?? I see you are leaning that way, great stove for the money spent. Don't think you'll regret it.

Hello again Mike, I think you would be making a good purchase. There are always a few stoves that give problems. That is when buying from a large dealer helps out. Remember too, there are thousands and thousands of CB1200s in service. I have two Enviro pellet stoves, both have been superb performers, but there are troublesome units of any Mfr. Good luck with whatever you decide on.

Hi Mikespirito, You seem to be going back and forth with your decision on this. I think the stoves you are looking at are all great stoves, and each brand will have its quirks and its bad apples in the bunch (a.k.a - "Friday" stoves). At this point, it might help you to physically write out on a piece of paper all of the models you've narrowed it down to, list the price, the things you like about each, and the things you dislike about each. Take a step back and look at the list. Review sites are a great source of information, but remember that they're only a small cross section of the people who may actually own one. Just don't get a stove that's too small for your house in order to save some $ up front.

Yes, try not to get "analysis paralysis". Reviews can be a great starting point. I tend to pay more attention to bad reviews for any given item, looking for commonalities in them. Also, IMO, people who have had a bad experience with something tend to want to voice their opinion more than someone who has something positive to say. This may or may not skew your view on them, but it can be misleading ESPECIALLY seeing we're talking pellet stoves and you're not likely to find a nice long list of them to read and base your decision on. Like MikeNH said, maybe you're reading a review on a "Friday" (or "Monday") stove. Maybe it's the a rewiew of the occasional lemon every manufacturer is guilty of letting off the assembly line. Don't lose sight of that possibility. As you already know, dealer quality and proximity should be playing a sizable factor in your decision.

Good luck with whatever you choose. Winter is coming.

I always hear how a harman can burn low quality pellets w the same heat. How is that possible? the only thing i think it must do is burn the low quality pellets faster to regulate the heat.

I believe it's basically the computer trying to make the best of what it has to work with. Since they seem to have very effective heat exchangers they should do well even when the fire isn't quite as hot. I think you can burn anything on a much less expensive stove also (at least a decent one), but the tradeoff is you need to adjust it manually to compensate. In the end though, you will only get so much out of any pellet....any stove should do better with better pellets (ones with a higher btu value) and will require less cleaning. It sounds like the Harman's (and a few other expensive stoves) do at least some degree of self cleaning also, so maybe it minimizes the inconvenience of a higher ash content.

jlupi said:

I always hear how a harman can burn low quality pellets w the same heat. How is that possible? the only thing i think it must do is burn the low quality pellets faster to regulate the heat.

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I am pretty surr it adjust the feed rate and combustion air to maintain the temp the esp wants.

mikespirito said:

I'm going with the quadra fire classic bay 1200

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Congrats! Take care of it and it will take care of you! Also, purchase a programmable thermostat, like the LUX TX1500E

mikespirito said:

I'm going with the quadra fire classic bay 1200

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Now head to Hattoy's Nursery for some Barefoot pellets!!

Good choice Mike, that is a workhorse stove. Just try and get the best pellets you can, it does pay you back with good performance and less cleaning. I hope PTP helped in your decision too, they'll treat you right. Good luck.