Hi all i am new to this site and i am sure this may have been discussed before but i have a 1800 built home that is 3200 sq feet and purchased a harman xxv pellet stove to supplement my propane furnace (roughly 12 years old 80% efficient) last year killed me on heating costs in northern CT and i recently insulated attack but am looking to try to use as little propane as possible for both saving money and to keep our hard earned dollars in american made pellets. i have a forced air system now and was thinking of getting the harman pf100 with the biggest blower for it, but was also thinking of getting another stove instead. Being young (25) and recently married im looking at long term heating for this home (wife never wants to move) so a larger investment upfront is ok if it pays off over the years. I dont know anyone with a central pellet heating unit but have heard they are pretty good... was wondering what it costs to get the unit installed parallel to existing propane and the longevity of the units... sorry for the long post
another pellet stove or a furnace?
- Thread starter mowerman86
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
You and the family would probably be the warmest with the pellet furnace. But its gonna eat lots of fuel. The whole house would be warm and less chance of cool areas with a furnace. Pricewise I think the units are close to 6K not including install. Install could be pricey depending on whats needed to sister it to the existing furnace.
If you have the room and a good location for a second stove, It might work for you. But there still could be some cool spots about the house.
If you have the room and a good location for a second stove, It might work for you. But there still could be some cool spots about the house.
The only way to know what the actual cost would be is to get a HVAC quote on the job. I would elect to go with a furnace if I did it again as it would be nice to have the whole house at a constant temp. You will eat 6-8 tons of pellets but if you buy them right it will still be cost effective over propane and you'll be warm. You can shut off areas of the house that you may not wish to heat just like you can do now. If you stay in one area of the house most of the time a stove would be cheaper. You need a place to be able to store a mess of pellets if you get a furnace. The early PF100's and 105's had some issues with burnpots so if you decide to buy used you would need to check into that.
thanks for the reply. i think i will try to go the furnace route...its about a 1000 more for the pf100 new then adding another xxv or a p61 plus whatever it cost to hook up to the ducts. If i burn under 10 tons ill be happy... i paid over 4000 last year heating and just picked up pellets for under 200 a ton. Im going to look at the stoves and furnace this week sometime. Pellet storage is not an issue... and its nice having a skid steer to unload pallets off my trailer. Are there any known issue with the new pf100 burnpots?? i heard there were issues with the early xxv stoves but the later models were fixed... mine ran good since i got it in decemeber
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
Yes the PB105 and the PF100 have had hump and crack issues!
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/53004/P0/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/53004/P0/
ill ask the harman dealer about the burnpots when i go in... im not sure if thats enough to keep me away from going the furnace route
exoilburner
Feeling the Heat
The best way to get really in-depth information on a pf100 install is to do a search for pf100 on this site. You may be new to this site but it is very worth-wile thing to do. You will get all of the PF100 owners experiences. Good and bad (mostly troubles but some opinion).
A single thread is kind of a crap shoot but a search will provide more information than you may want to look at.
A single thread is kind of a crap shoot but a search will provide more information than you may want to look at.
I f you already have a stove you might want to look at a minisplit you could use this a supplemental heat and it would act as an
a/c in the summer.
a/c in the summer.
i stopped by one of the harman dealers near me and got a price for the pf 100 at $4500+ tax plus $300 labor +piping to vent. They do not do ducting work so that would be an additional charge. Getting the unit into my basement looks do-able but not gonna be easy. so im guessing with tax this is almost 5100 plus piping (400 to 500 maybe??) plus getting the unit installed into my ducts (guessing ~$1000) so this could cost about $6500 installed.... not sure if im ready to make the investment... but they are giving away 2 tons of pellets "for free" with purchase so more around the $6000 installed range...
jmcp
"I f you already have a stove you might want to look at a minisplit you could use this a supplemental heat and it would act as an
a/c in the summer.
I have a central air system already although not extremely efficient we only have the ac on for about 2 months so i dont think that is something i am going to upgrade for awhile. thanks for the idea though
jmcp
"I f you already have a stove you might want to look at a minisplit you could use this a supplemental heat and it would act as an
a/c in the summer.
I have a central air system already although not extremely efficient we only have the ac on for about 2 months so i dont think that is something i am going to upgrade for awhile. thanks for the idea though
- Status
Similar threads
