Recommendations on Pellet Stove

Buy as stove that exceeds your heat requirements. 50k btus likely. I am partial to Harman... my father has a 6 yr old XXV that heats his 1300 sq ft A frame chalet in NH exclusively. I have an Absolute63 that I use to heat my 3400 Sq ft house in VA... only use the second floor heat pump for a hour in the morning to take the chill off... other than that, it's pellets. As with any stove... there is maintenance involved with keeping it running at peak efficiency. As with you... my stove is in a primary living space... so aesthetics was important.

This is my father's XXV cranking away on this -3 degree morning!

A cursory search yielded a few XXVs on Craigslist.

Good luck and let us know where you land!
Mal

I suggest a Harman P61 or P68 but they will possibly break the bank at buy in. Worth every penny in the grand scheme though. Or maybe buy two new Castle Serenity stoves for about $2 grand for both. Can you work in two stoves at somewhat opposite ends of your place?

Running two definitely has an advantage. You also do not have to run both at the same time like when temps are not extremely cold when one would probably supply enough heat. Just an option and cost effective.

If you are looking to heat your bedrooms, try to configure it so the stove is set up to push the heat that way. Moving the hot air with room fans (or ceiling fans), to rooms with lower ceilings can be frustrating and noisy. Here is how my P43 is set up and it pushes the heat to the bedrooms 40' away.



As others have stated, you will want a stove that is rated for higher BTU's than what is technically called for. A P43 can technically heat that square footage, but when you factor in poor insulation and then the occasional really cold weather pattern, you would be better served to go with a larger stove.

There are lots of stoves that could probably do the trick. Try to answer some questions to yourself before deciding though. Such as; Do you need a large hopper (you could possibly go thru 2+ bags/day), how often are you willing to clean (some stoves you have to clean out every day, some every 2-4 weeks), do you need auto start or are you willing to leave it burning all the time (or manually start/stop), how much clearance do you have to combustibles in the area you want to install, are you handy enough to do your own maintenance or will you normally need dealer support?. There are more questions to ask yourself, but those will give you a good start.

I'm biased towards Harman's. They are reliable and easy to clean (plus you can go weeks before doing anything to them). However, they are spendy stoves. Many of us believe it is well worth the price, but there are also cheaper stoves that others are very happy with.

JJ1021 said:

So my other option would be to put a stove down there in basement and hope heat rises up enough to help or fix that one and maybe put pellet stove in living area to see if that would help, but not sure if running 2 different sources would be more cost effective than one and the oil heat I'm using now.

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Putting a pellet stove in the basement doesn't always work out. It's hard to get the heat on to the main floor at times...And a wood stove heats different than a pellet stove..

25-pdv is a great stove for the price. The 10-CPM im not familiar with yet. You will have to dedicate yourself time to clean and maintain the stove (any stove for that matter). Either of the stoves you are looking at are going to produce good heat, but getting it moved around the house will be a challenge. Go big and run it low is good advice the others have posted.

Truth be known I would second the idea of a Harman P68 only I would tough it out until spring and find a used one on Craigs list or similar advertisements. They may cost a little more but you can rebuilt a used one fairly easy and by doing it yourself you will save money and learn how they work. Just remember a couple things one you can get help on this forum just by asking. The second thing is resale down the road will be a lot better then a cheap box store stove that someone is peddling off so they can buy a Harman. I know many owners that bought their stove new 12 years ago and the only thing they have replaced is door gaskets. The Harman is known for simple operation and very little to go wrong.

I just recently purchased a Harman P61a after doing research. More cost upfront but less down time cleaning. Do you have forced air? I just wired up a relay and second thermostat to control the blower and circulate the air through the ductwork.

JJ1021 said:

I am currently looking at the 25-PDV or the 10-CPM as these are rated for about 2200 SqFT which I think should be plenty, and won't break the bank. From what I saw from a couple older posts, it seems besides being multi-fuel the 10-CPM is newer model, but without offhand knowing what other pellets are around where I live is the option of burning other stuff/auger change worth the extra money?

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I have an englander 10cpm 8 seasons now. Heats my 4 bdrm 2500 sf colonial np.

If your testing find a 25-PDV used throw some new parts in it and run with it. Good stoves just picky on cleanliness.