Advice on stove to buy please

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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
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
Mine has the easy to control dials (they are easy because the only time i touch them is to turn it off).
The buzzing i mentioned I believe was in older models only (04', 05',+?) , and as far as I know it was eventually resolved with a design change. In 2004 and 05, there were a few (apparently not many) making a buzzing noise. I believe they made some design changes to resolve that, and fixed those that were sold that had the buzz with a metal hose clamp to suck some metal together that was vibrating due to a magnetic field from the blower motor (I think).

I did see videos on youtube by a guy named Dale that described a different noise, definitely not the same sound I had. That sound was much higher pitched. I think I may have heard that sound once or twice maybe 10 years ago, and wished it away. I didn't take any action, it eventually just went away. After watching dales videos, i think it may have had to do with a different type of pellet i tried using. Dale demonstrated very soundly that it was coming from the auger. The auger was (is still?) welded to the shaft and only at its ends. In between where it wraps around the auger shaft, it wasn't welded, so the long span of metal wrapped around the shaft would vibrate like a high pitch violin string. Not sure any still have this issue, or if they made a design change to addess it. Before I bought, I would definitely look into it to see if it was resolved.

I remember researching and seeing all the room temp automatics the XXV has (even 15 yrs ago), and thought wow, how cool, gotta have it. The reality is that I don't use them. I tried to use them over the first few years, but when I did, I inadvertently let the stove run out of pellets. Now I just leave it on the lowest stove temp feed rate, and get in the habit of dumping in a bag a day. It goes through a bag a day on the lowest stove temp setting. On colder days, which are not that frequent, I dial it up. I just got in the habit of dumping in a bag a day because it was convenient. Sometimes I dump a bag in the morning before heading off to work, sometimes at night. The stove holds 1.5 bags (60lbs) so getting into the habit of a bag a day, keeps it from ever running out of pellets. Also, on room temp auto it would sometime shutdown, and if the burn pot were a bit too dirty (yes, I don't always scrape it daily) it wouldn't start, and I come home to a cold house. I would rather it be extra toasty, than cold. Somedays, my house is really toasty, other days it's just warm enough (variety is the spice of life).

After heating with a pellet stove for pellet stove for 25 years, the main things I would look for if I were shopping for a pellet stove are:

1) It look good. I love the look of the XXV, even after looking at it for 15 years, just wish it were porcelain finish. I had the sheet metal box Whitfield Advantage II the first 10 years, I hated the way it looked, though it ran great

2) It have an auto start igniter. When they are working, they are great. They will eventually quit working, and fixing them shouldn't be hard. The XXV is pretty easy fix.

3) It be relatively quiet (at the time I bought mine it was one of the quietest). My old Whitfield dropped pellets into the burn pot, the clink clink of them landing once every 60 seconds got annoying. Harmans push the pellets in from the bottom which is a lot more quiet,.
Also dropping pellets into a burn pot causes a lot of ash to get suspended in the air, and pulled through the exhaust driving up the frequency of maintenance. Pushing pellets in from the bottom reduces the amount of ash that gets suspended in the air and reduces the amount that gets pulled through the exhaust.

4) It hold at least 60 lbs of pellets (allows you to pretty much always dump in a full bag, minimizes dumping partial bags, and leaving a half empty bag sitting by the stove and the 60lb capacity allows it to run unfed for 24+hrs in most cases). The Whitfield as I recall only held about 1 bag. I always had a partial bag sitting by the stove.

5) It be from a company that has been around for a long time and likely will be around for a long time (you will need to buy replacement parts, it will be worthless later if you cant find the parts). Mine is a chain drive, after running 24 -7, 6 months a year, the chain started slipping on the sprocket (big clunk sound), found the parts online and fixed it in 15 minutes. I have also changed the igniter twice, and it needs to be changed again, but when I need to start it, I pull out 2 feet of paper towels, wad up a handful of pellets in it, and light it (it always works). Also have had to replace the flame guide, on my third.
 
good post and agree with your check list of things to look for.
forgot myself to mention about bottom auger feed as opposed to a drop feed... good point.
I would also mention the "accordian style " heat exchanger of harmans which radiate the heat better with no spaces in between.
[wife wanted to get the porcelain finish type units but decided against it as we knew i would end up dropping
something on it or banging it accidently and permantly chipping the finish in due time.. maybe.......
I also didn't need a stove to tell me when to put pellets in as we just keep it filled when it get's down to less than half.
pretty much run the same settings thruout the cold spells but i'm sure the presets and all on the digital controls would be fun for some
for a while anyways to have it turn on/off at preset times same as a wall thermostat..
 
Mine has the easy to control dials (they are easy because the only time i touch them is to turn it off).
The buzzing i mentioned I believe was in older models only (04', 05',+?) , and as far as I know it was eventually resolved with a design change. In 2004 and 05, there were a few (apparently not many) making a buzzing noise. I believe they made some design changes to resolve that, and fixed those that were sold that had the buzz with a metal hose clamp to suck some metal together that was vibrating due to a magnetic field from the blower motor (I think).

I did see videos on youtube by a guy named Dale that described a different noise, definitely not the same sound I had. That sound was much higher pitched. I think I may have heard that sound once or twice maybe 10 years ago, and wished it away. I didn't take any action, it eventually just went away. After watching dales videos, i think it may have had to do with a different type of pellet i tried using. Dale demonstrated very soundly that it was coming from the auger. The auger was (is still?) welded to the shaft and only at its ends. In between where it wraps around the auger shaft, it wasn't welded, so the long span of metal wrapped around the shaft would vibrate like a high pitch violin string. Not sure any still have this issue, or if they made a design change to addess it. Before I bought, I would definitely look into it to see if it was resolved.

I remember researching and seeing all the room temp automatics the XXV has (even 15 yrs ago), and thought wow, how cool, gotta have it. The reality is that I don't use them. I tried to use them over the first few years, but when I did, I inadvertently let the stove run out of pellets. Now I just leave it on the lowest stove temp feed rate, and get in the habit of dumping in a bag a day. It goes through a bag a day on the lowest stove temp setting. On colder days, which are not that frequent, I dial it up. I just got in the habit of dumping in a bag a day because it was convenient. Sometimes I dump a bag in the morning before heading off to work, sometimes at night. The stove holds 1.5 bags (60lbs) so getting into the habit of a bag a day, keeps it from ever running out of pellets. Also, on room temp auto it would sometime shutdown, and if the burn pot were a bit too dirty (yes, I don't always scrape it daily) it wouldn't start, and I come home to a cold house. I would rather it be extra toasty, than cold. Somedays, my house is really toasty, other days it's just warm enough (variety is the spice of life).

After heating with a pellet stove for pellet stove for 25 years, the main things I would look for if I were shopping for a pellet stove are:

1) It look good. I love the look of the XXV, even after looking at it for 15 years, just wish it were porcelain finish. I had the sheet metal box Whitfield Advantage II the first 10 years, I hated the way it looked, though it ran great

2) It have an auto start igniter. When they are working, they are great. They will eventually quit working, and fixing them shouldn't be hard. The XXV is pretty easy fix.

3) It be relatively quiet (at the time I bought mine it was one of the quietest). My old Whitfield dropped pellets into the burn pot, the clink clink of them landing once every 60 seconds got annoying. Harmans push the pellets in from the bottom which is a lot more quiet,.
Also dropping pellets into a burn pot causes a lot of ash to get suspended in the air, and pulled through the exhaust driving up the frequency of maintenance. Pushing pellets in from the bottom reduces the amount of ash that gets suspended in the air and reduces the amount that gets pulled through the exhaust.

4) It hold at least 60 lbs of pellets (allows you to pretty much always dump in a full bag, minimizes dumping partial bags, and leaving a half empty bag sitting by the stove and the 60lb capacity allows it to run unfed for 24+hrs in most cases). The Whitfield as I recall only held about 1 bag. I always had a partial bag sitting by the stove.

5) It be from a company that has been around for a long time and likely will be around for a long time (you will need to buy replacement parts, it will be worthless later if you cant find the parts). Mine is a chain drive, after running 24 -7, 6 months a year, the chain started slipping on the sprocket (big clunk sound), found the parts online and fixed it in 15 minutes. I have also changed the igniter twice, and it needs to be changed again, but when I need to start it, I pull out 2 feet of paper towels, wad up a handful of pellets in it, and light it (it always works). Also have had to replace the flame guide, on my third.
Great post with a lot of useful information. And thank you again for that. We went to a local dealer to look at the stoves this weekend. By the looks we liked the XXV and the absolute 43. They are only about 200$ difference between the two. I will be going back this week to make the final decision and purchase. I think we are leaning towards the XXV due to the bigger hopper and the higher BTU output on the XXV. The salesman’s said they are about the same to clean and maintain. I will post once I go back and make the purchase. Thanks again