Advice on stove to buy please

[Mais_Que]

I am looking to purchase my first pellet stove soon. I want to buy a reliable and relatively easy maintenance stove. I have seen a few and like the look of the Lopi Deerfield. Would anyone recommend this stove or look in another direction? I know Harman is great, which stove is better to heat a house of about 1550 sq foot with very high ceilings Harman p61 or Harman absolute 43? Or would the lopi Deerfield be good? I know most of these stoves heat bigger areas but with the high ceilings I’d like a stove that could heat up more room. Thank you in advance for any advice and or information.

 

[Jhawknseattle]

I currently own the lopi deerfield. If I were to do it again, I would get a Harmon. Deerfield is a beautiful stove, but the angle of the feed ramp is not as steep so if you plan on using it in thermostat mode, you'll have issues. Also, mine had an extremely loud rattle at higher fan speed that took the techs 3 visits to fix and their fix was to put some sort of anti vibration tape on the inside of one of the back panels. To me, unacceptable to even have that issue in a stove that costs that much.

Other than that though, it's been very solid, heats well, but if I could do it again, I'd have a Harmon.

 

[vinny11950]

I like my Enviro M55 steel. It has a big ash pan, which means it can go weeks without emptying. The agitator rod takes care of the clinkers, so you don't have to keep clearing the burn pot. The parts are expensive, but I think most stoves are this way. If you search, you can find some generic replacements that don't cost as much. The biggest downside are the buttons on the control panel, as the covering wears out, and in some cases the buttons stop working. But that is rare.

 

[Washed-Up]

P61 owner here, easy to maintain, clean and understand...amazing heat and it looks great.

 

[Mais_Que]

Thank you for the responses and advice, much appreciated. So with that said I will most likely go with a Harman. My wife likes the look of the stoves with the legs. So I guess I have the choice of the absolute 43 and XXV Harmans. Can anyone give me advice on which of those two would be better choice? Thank you

 

[Tonyray]

P61A Harman owner also...
super easy to maintain plus the ashpan is huge..
like a big square bucket with a handle..
great for pushing heat to a 2nd floor as we have..
will burn any brand pellets but better quality = minimum burnpot scraping.

 

[Dataman]

Harmon XXV Owner, 2nd year. I don't regrete buying the stove. Great Stove.

 

[Mais_Que]

Any issues at all with the stove? Does it have the dials for controls or the easy mode touchscreen control?

 

[Tonyray]

if u mean the Harman P61A , I believe they still have the dials as opposed to digital controls..
[one less thing to go wrong or whacky with the stove]...

 

[Mais_Que]

if u mean the Harman P61A , I believe they still have the dials as opposed to digital controls..
[one less thing to go wrong or whacky with the stove]...

That is true, I read really good things about that stove just my wife likes the look of th me other ones, I’ll have to decide between the Harman absolute 43 or Harman XXV, just not sure which one is better option. Thank you again!

 

[JR52]

I have the Absolute 63 which is almost identical to the 43. Almost every issue I have had is related to cleaning but I also use store brand pellets use it as my only heat source. If I had to do it again, I'd buy the exact same stove. It takes awhile to learn the ins and outs but after three years I've become quite mechanical.

 

[Tonyray]

That is true, I read really good things about that stove just my wife likes the look of th me other ones, I’ll have to decide between the Harman absolute 43 or Harman XXV, just not sure which one is better option. Thank you again!

Just a final note; i would not base my purchase of a pellet stove on its digital controls as millions we're sold and used with standard dial controls. Not bashing them just saying it wont burn any better or keep u warmer. Still relys on good quality pellets and how often u clean them. Now, when they come out with a stove that will clean itself, then I am all in. Good luck

 

[Tonyray]

Just a final note; i would not base my purchase of a pellet stove on its digital controls as millions we're sold and used with standard dial controls. Not bashing them just saying it wont burn any better or keep u warmer. Still relys on good quality pellets and how often u clean them. Now, when they come out with a stove that will clean itself, then I am all in. Good luck

Btw: my wife wanted to buy a stove based on looks. Could have been the xxv.

 

[Tonyray]

Sorry. Posted too soon. Anyways , since i would be the one maintaining it, we chose the p61 for the ease of cleaning. We did spring for the shiney metal decorative ad ons so it did not look plain jane black.

 

[Mais_Que]

Sorry. Posted too soon. Anyways , since i would be the one maintaining it, we chose the p61 for the ease of cleaning. We did spring for the shiney metal decorative ad ons so it did not look plain jane black.

Yes that looks nice, how much clearance do you need from the walls with the p61a?

 

[Tonyray]

Yes that looks nice, how much clearance do you need from the walls with the p61a?

9 inches at the corners but we have heat shields on both sides of the stove since we are in a corner.

 

[Mais_Que]

9 inches at the corners but we have heat shields on both sides of the stove since we are in a corner.

Thats not bad for clearance. My house is roughly 1550 sq foot and a few of the rooms have vaulted ceilings like 12-13 feet high. These room have an open floor plan. Where the stove would be placed is in the family room corner and that room has two doors that open into the formal living room/ kitchen that is all open. Would you recommend the p61a or p43? Also are they the same as in cleaning wise? I know one covers more square ft and burns hotter but as for maintaining are they the same? Thanks

 

[Tonyray]

I really don't know that much about the other stove as far as cleaning. It could be just as easy or might be a few extra steps to remove a few things. I do know that a free-standing stove is a lot easier to clean than insert . I would do an internet search on that particular stove and look for video on YouTube on how to clean the stove and then compared to the p61a. Now as far as size, I wanted something that was a bit oversized in case I ever needed the extra BTUs. Sounds like you have a nice straight shot to heating a few rooms. I have 10 foot ceilings so I wanted something with bigger BTUs in case I needed it. What I am getting at is I would rather have a bigger stove and run it at half throttle [most times] than have a smaller stove and need to run It On full bore on very very cold nights. I am heating 1500 sq which is 2 floors. Downstairs i keep at 74 , upstairs bedrooms at 67 degrees and that running theP61A at around half or a bit more of its horsepower. Hope this helps. I also burn good softwoods as i feel they burn hotter than many hardwoods. Believe me, i had burnned many hardwood brands before switching to S oftwoods. Hope this helps.

 

[Tonyray]

I really don't know that much about the other stove as far as cleaning. It could be just as easy or might be a few extra steps to remove a few things. I do know that a free-standing stove is a lot easier to clean than insert . I would do an internet search on that particular stove and look for video on YouTube on how to clean the stove and then compared to the p61a. Now as far as size, I wanted something that was a bit oversized in case I ever needed the extra BTUs. Sounds like you have a nice straight shot to heating a few rooms. I have 10 foot ceilings so I wanted something with bigger BTUs in case I needed it. What I am getting at is I would rather have a bigger stove and run it at half throttle [most times] than have a smaller stove and need to run It On full bore on very very cold nights. I am heating 1500 sq which is 2 floors. Downstairs i keep at 74 , upstairs bedrooms at 67 degrees and that running theP61A at around half or a bit more of its horsepower. Hope this helps. I also burn good softwoods as i feel they burn hotter than many hardwoods. Believe me, i had burnned many hardwood brands before switching to S oftwoods. Hope this helps.

Forgot to mention that I have a 1920s old house that is not well insulated at all and the p61a is keeping the house very warm with hardly any effort.

 

[Mais_Que]

I really don't know that much about the other stove as far as cleaning. It could be just as easy or might be a few extra steps to remove a few things. I do know that a free-standing stove is a lot easier to clean than insert . I would do an internet search on that particular stove and look for video on YouTube on how to clean the stove and then compared to the p61a. Now as far as size, I wanted something that was a bit oversized in case I ever needed the extra BTUs. Sounds like you have a nice straight shot to heating a few rooms. I have 10 foot ceilings so I wanted something with bigger BTUs in case I needed it. What I am getting at is I would rather have a bigger stove and run it at half throttle [most times] than have a smaller stove and need to run It On full bore on very very cold nights. I am heating 1500 sq which is 2 floors. Downstairs i keep at 74 , upstairs bedrooms at 67 degrees and that running theP61A at around half or a bit more of its horsepower. Hope this helps. I also burn good softwoods as i feel they burn hotter than many hardwoods. Believe me, i had burnned many hardwood brands before switching to S oftwoods. Hope this helps.

Yes that helps out a lot, I think I can convince her to go with the p61a for the easier maintenance and easier clean. I will most likely go with the bigger of the two stoves like you said so it doesn’t have to work as hard to heat the rooms and Incase I need the extra BTU’s. Thank you again for all the help.

 

[Tonyray]

Glad to help. Dont think u will go wrong with the P61A.

 

[WOODNUT358]

Have my Harman xxv for 11 yrs. 375 lbs. of cast iron.Still running great,no problems whatsoever easy to clean,and looks attractive. Good luck in your search,there are a lot of nice stoves out there.

 

[bogieb]

Yes that looks nice, how much clearance do you need from the walls with the p61a?

From the manual - clearances are given for with or without shields

 

[moog5]

My XXV is a 2004 model. I bought it the first year it first came out. I absolutely it. I have essentially run it 24/7 from November through April for 15 years. No signs that it's going to quit on me. Wish I would have splurged and got the enamel coated version, rather than just the standard "stove spray paint" paint job. Also worth mentioning the automatics. There are a lot of room temp automatics on it I thought was going to be really great to use, have it speed up and slow down as needed to keep the room at a constant temp, but found it more convenient to find the stove temp setting that just goes through a bag a day, and just dump a bag in the same time every day. Some days, it really toasty, and other days the house is just warm enough.

I highly recommend this model. Even after I had a years worth of buzzing with in in 2004/2005. I wouldn't have recommended it back then, but I do now. If you search Harman buzzing, you can find that terrible story.

 

[Mais_Que]

My XXV is a 2004 model. I bought it the first year it first came out. I absolutely it. I have essentially run it 24/7 from November through April for 15 years. No signs that it's going to quit on me. Wish I would have splurged and got the enamel coated version, rather than just the standard "stove spray paint" paint job. Also worth mentioning the automatics. There are a lot of room temp automatics on it I thought was going to be really great to use, have it speed up and slow down as needed to keep the room at a constant temp, but found it more convenient to find the stove temp setting that just goes through a bag a day, and just dump a bag in the same time every day. Some days, it really toasty, and other days the house is just warm enough.

I highly recommend this model. Even after I had a years worth of buzzing with in in 2004/2005. I wouldn't have recommended it back then, but I do now. If you search Harman buzzing, you can find that terrible story.

Thank you for the information, does your XXV model come with the easy control touch screen control board on top of the stove or what it made with adjustable dials during those year? If it was touch screen any issues with that at all? Also with the buzzing you mentioned is that for older XXV or newer ones too? How did you fix the problem to get the buzzing to stop? Thank you