Brand new to pellet stoves lots of ??

[btbeam]

I have been lurking around the site for a couple of weeks and I have learned quite a bit so far. As nice as the Harman stoves appear to be I unfortunately have more of an Englander budget. I was looking at the 55 shp22 which is the 2200 square ft model from lowes. I read reviews that are all over the place on these units. Looking for the bottom line on the brand. It seems to me that if you are handy they work pretty good. If you are looking to dump in pellets and forget it maybe not. Would that be accurate?

 

[rona]

I have been lurking around the site for a couple of weeks and I have learned quite a bit so far. As nice as the Harman stoves appear to be I unfortunately have more of an Englander budget. I was looking at the 55 shp22 which is the 2200 square ft model from lowes. I read reviews that are all over the place on these units. Looking for the bottom line on the brand. It seems to me that if you are handy they work pretty good. If you are looking to dump in pellets and forget it maybe not. Would that be accurate?

If you are looking to dump in pellets and forget it you should be buying a electric fireplace. All stoves require cleaning and maintenance, all exhaust systems need to be cleaned. Many people think a high dollar stove will mean less work. Not true. Some stoves are more user friendly then others and some have the more popular name.
I would say the New England stoves are a reasonable price stove that will produce heat. More then likely you will be learning how to maintain it by either reading the manual or asking on this website. If you are willing to get your hands dirty and are a do it yourself type of person it should serve you well. There is a person who rebuilds them and sells them who is popular on the East end of the country. I would suggest contacting him as he has a good reputation as far as helping his customers.
Craigs List will often have name brand stoves cheap but will need cleaning and possibly replacement parts. If you can educate yourself on the good and bad points of the brand you like you can save money that way.

 

[Bioburner]

Good to hear your around Ron. Going to try and go south this year? I am glad to have gotten the Ecoteck to bump the heat from the Harman with Crosslink with this ugly continued cold.
I agree with Ron In that good stoves can be had refurbed or from CL with a bit of elbow grease.

 

[btbeam]

I have been looking around CL with out much luck. So is the Englander brand a bad idea? Looking at the 49 cpm or the 55

 

[Bioburner]

Have you tried AMFMenergy? They refurb Enlander stoves and carry a warranty but with your elbow grease and have a good customer support. That may well be very important for a first time pellet stove owner.

 

[mithesaint]

If this is your first time with a stove, I'd stick with a new or refurbished stove. At least you know how it is supposed to work that way, unlike with a used stove where someone may have altered something.

I have the CPM. Solid stove for me. I'm heating 2400 sq ft, and it does well until it gets cold and windy. Cold is ok, windy causes problems. It burns any pellet out there, but certain pellets produce more heat out of the vents. I burned a bit of corn the other day, and learned what a clinker what. Yikes! I'm sticking to pellets.

The stove is pretty easy to work on, and not too complicated either. More expensive stoves might look better or be more efficient or quieter, but the Englander stoves are solid, effective heaters.

 

[rona]

I have been looking around CL with out much luck. So is the Englander brand a bad idea? Looking at the 49 cpm or the 55

I think Bioburner gave you some good advice plus the name of the company I was trying to think of.
Truth be known there is a lot of very good stoves out there and each one of us has our favorites. Dealer support will be a important item when buying your first stove. Some states have a tax rebate on pellet stoves. The fed tax also had a rebate for a few years but I don't know if it is still around. Between the two you could figure a 1/3 rd off on the stove, install kit, and hearth pad. This was a good savings and allowed people to get a higher quality stove.
When choosing a stove there is several things to consider. I want a large fuel hopper because I only want to fill it once a day. I also want a large ash container for the same reason. How big of a stove do you need? 35000- 68,000 btu is available. I always suggest that you can always turn a stove down if the house is to warm but once that stove is on high that's all there is. Are you home twice a day to add fuel or remove ashes? Do you want the convenience of electronic ignition or do you want to manually start it each time?
Sometimes simpler is better as there is less to go wrong.

 

[rona]

Good to hear your around Ron. Going to try and go south this year? I am glad to have gotten the Ecoteck to bump the heat from the Harman with Crosslink with this ugly continued cold.
I agree with Ron In that good stoves can be had refurbed or from CL with a bit of elbow grease.

Hi back at you! Looks like you have been testing the stoves this winter with the cold temps. Going south seems like a logical idea but have to visit with the doctors at the VA for a couple of issues first. My shoulder has been telling me I need to have it checked out. May have a rotocuff issue. Feels like I need a grease zerk in it. I am finding out this retirement time of life isn't what its cracked up to be. Body is wore out and I don't heal up like I used to. Corn has dropped to 3.93 around here and almost tempted to get some as the Bixby like a mix of corn and pellets better then just pellets.
How's that 45 working for you?

 

[btbeam]

If this is your first time with a stove, I'd stick with a new or refurbished stove. At least you know how it is supposed to work that way, unlike with a used stove where someone may have altered something.

I have the CPM. Solid stove for me. I'm heating 2400 sq ft, and it does well until it gets cold and windy. Cold is ok, windy causes problems. It burns any pellet out there, but certain pellets produce more heat out of the vents. I burned a bit of corn the other day, and learned what a clinker what. Yikes! I'm sticking to pellets.

The stove is pretty easy to work on, and not too complicated either. More expensive stoves might look better or be more efficient or quieter, but the Englander stoves are solid, effective heaters.

Thanks for the response what made you get the cpm over the other Englander stoves? Is the multi fuel capability worth the extra stove expense?

 

[mithesaint]

Thanks for the response what made you get the cpm over the other Englander stoves? Is the multi fuel capability worth the extra stove expense?

I wanted to multi fuel capability just in case I would ever take advantage of it, and I was lucky enough to find a newer model on Craigslist locally for $950. Now that I've burned corn, I think I'll stick with pellets. It's easier to burn pellets, and no clinker issues. The CPM is going to be a lower maintenance stove for burning pellets compared to a regular pellet stove. Burns any pellet out there with no problems as long as things are relatively clean. No burn pot scraping, etc. I probably have to open the door every two weeks, and that's only to clean. I also think it's a more attractive stove than the rest of the Englander line, although the 25 EP would be a nice stove too. I'm no expert on this, but the 25 EP apparently has a more advanced heat exchange system, so it might be more efficient. I also needed every BTU I could get.

 

[Bioburner]

Hi back at you! Looks like you have been testing the stoves this winter with the cold temps. Going south seems like a logical idea but have to visit with the doctors at the VA for a couple of issues first. My shoulder has been telling me I need to have it checked out. May have a rotocuff issue. Feels like I need a grease zerk in it. I am finding out this retirement time of life isn't what its cracked up to be. Body is wore out and I don't heal up like I used to. Corn has dropped to 3.93 around here and almost tempted to get some as the Bixby like a mix of corn and pellets better then just pellets.
How's that 45 working for you?

The 45 has been working without a fault. Been eating a little better pellet this season as Fleet farm had a good early season pellet sale. Mixing a blend of corn of about 20% with no issues at all. Chewing through about 60 pounds of fuel to heat and provide hot water. Have the Bixby full of corn and just needs to have the venting put up if the Harman decides to have a failure but have a complete and working 45 in the garage if I need a part. Will probably order a new combustion fan from Amazon for $101 as that is a pain to remove and why install a used one. Going to be a very cold next 2 days.

 

[btbeam]

I wanted to multi fuel capability just in case I would ever take advantage of it, and I was lucky enough to find a newer model on Craigslist locally for $950. Now that I've burned corn, I think I'll stick with pellets. It's easier to burn pellets, and no clinker issues. The CPM is going to be a lower maintenance stove for burning pellets compared to a regular pellet stove. Burns any pellet out there with no problems as long as things are relatively clean. No burn pot scraping, etc. I probably have to open the door every two weeks, and that's only to clean. I also think it's a more attractive stove than the rest of the Englander line, although the 25 EP would be a nice stove too. I'm no expert on this, but the 25 EP apparently has a more advanced heat exchange system, so it might be more efficient. I also needed every BTU I could get.

Thanks for the reply I also like the look of the CPM a little better. It is about 400 more than the other Englander that would cover 2200 sq ft. So burning corn wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

 

[Bioburner]

Clinker issue can be reduced with addition of some pellets or oyster shells.

 

[rona]

Clinker issue can be reduced with addition of some pellets or oyster shells.

I have found burning a mix of corn and pellets to be worth the effort. That combination seems to provide the advantages of both the fuels with none of the bad points. No clinkers, more heat