ADVICE ON PELLET STOVE FOR HUNTING CABIN

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STUEBEN DEER HUNTER

New Member
Apr 27, 2011
4
UPSTATE NEW YORK
I own a small uninsulated hunting cabin in the 800 sq ft range. we have used wood stoves for the last 30 years and want to go to a pellet stove for consistency of heat (especially at night !) and ease of getting fuel. We think we have it narrowed down between a harman pro 38 plus and a quadra fire santa fe. We want to go a cheap as possible as we only use the cabin about 10 times a year and only half of that is times when it needs to be heated. We will be buying and installing the stove ourselves. Any help, ides or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
i like the P38 a lot, its simple and just goes. Do you have any trouble with electrical service at the cabin? if so, you might want to look at some units that are DC like the Thelin Gnome so you wont have to invest in an inverter.
 
We have good electric so that is not an issue. I just don't like the prices of either model just for a cabin. I can't seam to find a used one either. It seams to me from my research the Harman may not be as feature rich as the sant fe but there also seams to be less issues with it, but you pay more to get it.
 
keep looking, you'll find a P-series stove for a good deal. I had a guy find one at the dump last year...free, had to put $200 into it to make it run like new. they are out there. I dont know anything about the santa fe. what "features" do you really need for a cabin you use 10 times a year? THey haven't build a stove yet that can pour a shot or open a beer....so I guess most stoves are short on important features, LOL.
 
I'd get one with a big hopper , the more lbs of pellets you can hold the better. Mine holds 3 bags, had a friend who's held 1 bag, he hated having to fill it twice a day when it was cold. In a hunting cabin , you will be out of the cabin a lot , and if the stove runs out of pellets , you come home to a cold cabin. And with it being uninsulated, you'll be going through the pellets to keep warm.
 
Stick with wood,......sheesh!, it's all around your cabin!!, stop being LAZY and cut and split it man!
Look on your local craig'slist, always pellet stove for sale this time of year cheap!
 
For a cabin, I'd go wood or propane. Propane is easy, propane stoves dont have a million parts, wires, scary flashing lights are not sensitive to the fuel you use, will work in a power outage, etc. LP will cost more per BTU, but what the hell, its not like your gonna be there full time. If you wanna mountain man it and use alternative fuel, burn wood.
 
Wood is all around the cabin but we do not own the land. everyone who uses the cabin is getting older and we have been doing wood for over 30 years and are tired of getting up in the middle of the night to feed the fire, then it gets hot as hell for a while then is ok then cold or hot as hell again. Propane would be an option but we like the ambiance of the stoves and the smell too. Thanks everyone for the ideas and the links!!
 
With the cabin being uninsulated and located in upstate NY, I'm not sure a pellet stove will heat the area up to your expectations, especially when compared to the output of a wood stove.

If you do decide on a pellet stove, you cant go wrong with the P-38. I have had mine now for four years and it is a great low frills unit.
 
STUEBEN DEER HUNTER said:
Wood is all around the cabin but we do not own the land. everyone who uses the cabin is getting older and we have been doing wood for over 30 years and are tired of getting up in the middle of the night to feed the fire, then it gets hot as hell for a while then is ok then cold or hot as hell again. Propane would be an option but we like the ambiance of the stoves and the smell too. Thanks everyone for the ideas and the links!!

You'll get no smell from a pellet stove if installed correctly and better ambiance from a propane stove. Where in upstate ny?
 
STUEBEN DEER HUNTER said:
Wood is all around the cabin but we do not own the land. everyone who uses the cabin is getting older and we have been doing wood for over 30 years and are tired of getting up in the middle of the night to feed the fire, then it gets hot as hell for a while then is ok then cold or hot as hell again. Propane would be an option but we like the ambiance of the stoves and the smell too. Thanks everyone for the ideas and the links!!

Get a soapstone woodstove with a long burn time.

Long burn time= not having to feed stove in middle of the night

soapstone= nice smooth, even heat that eliminates (or at the very least "softens") those heat spikes you are talking about. Soapstone absorbs heat from the fire & then releases it in a nice, steady soft heat.

Good luck with whatever you decide on!
 
If you have electric service and you are only there a few times a winter I would put in some insulation and Electric Heat. Much cheaper install than buying pellet/propane unit and won't be bad to run a few days a year.
 
mascoma said:
If you have electric service and you are only there a few times a winter I would put in some insulation and Electric Heat. Much cheaper install than buying pellet/propane unit and won't be bad to run a few days a year.

Good point! And, no maintenance! And if security/theft is an issue, much less attractive to a thief.
 
I agree with the electric way to heat, for the time you are there electric sounds like a way to go. Propane is dam expensive around these parts and will continue to climb right now it is 2.91 a gallon a face cord of wood (unseasoned) is 50 bucks and electric is well depends on where your at. In arcade ny they have there own power and electric is like 6 cents a kwh.
 
I say a big no way to electric heat in NY state way to expensive will be more than propane.

Propane they will shaft you for not using enough, may be $4 gallon by next year.

Thats why I bought a pellett stove to get away from propane, they are like drug dealers
 
Pick up a Englander 25-PAH at Lowes or whatever ..120 lb. hopper and will burn for 3 days on low settings ...perfect for camp ...someone can load the hopper and hit ON the day before ya all head on out ...camp will be warm an ready when ya arrive.
 
One of my favorite stoves of all time:
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Englander 2,200 Sq. Ft. Satin Black Pellet/Multifuel Burning Stove

Model # 10-CPM, Home Depot $2300

Great stove, much more radiant heat than the Sante Fe and the P38 is manual light...
 
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