Breckwell Big E or Harman P38 or P61?

[rdevine10]

Hi

We are in the process of trying to figure out which pellet stove to purchase for our home. We have a 1650 sq feet High Ranch- 550 sq ft on the all above ground lower level and 1100 sq feet on the upper level. We will be placing the stove on the lower level of the home in the family room.

We also have a hot air furnace and plan on turning the blower to help circulate the air. We would like to use as little oil as possible.

Which stove would you recommend? And how many tons of pellets? We just bought 3 tons of pellets (even though we havent figured out what stove we want!).

Ideally we would like the best stove for the $, and obousily we dont want to overspend.

 

[begreen]

There's a big difference between these stoves. Do you spend any time in the family room. The Breckwell can be a noisy unit. I would consider the Harman first.

 

[rdevine10]

Yes, we do spend time in the family room (which is honestly mostly the kids playroom these days!). We have done some research and the Big E seems to have the best BTUs- 55,000 (I think), heats up to 2200 sq ft, and is a great price in comparison (less than $2000). The Harman P38 seems like it might be another option but Im concerned it wouldnt heat the house well enough. The local dealer suggest the p61, and while it seems great, is really more than we wanted to spend (although will if its the right stove).

FYI- we currently heat with oil and go though approx 600 gallons per year- keeping the house around 68 to 71 in the day and the mid 60s at night.

 

[smirnov3]

If you are only using 600 gallons of oil, then the p38 may be enough for you.

I use a Harmon accentra, and I find it replaces about 500 gallons of oil, and it's not running at it's full throttle (we use about 3 lbs of pellets an hour during the winter, and it's rated to 4.75)

 

[mjbrown]

hi,

i lve in maine and heat 1100 sq ft with my P38...if i was going to try and heat 2 levels and 2200 sq feet, i would probably go with the P61. if i am wrong please correct me , but i think the 61 has a built in t stat where the 38 requires the purchase of a t-stat seperate. i love my 38 and cant wait to see what i will use for pellets on a full season of heating.


in theory ( again, only MY opinion), i would opt for a larger stove with your home. if you have the larger stove , and require more heat, you can turn it up, with a smaller stove you can only go so far. better to have more than enuff and not need it , than need more and cant get it.


everyonee else , please dont shoot me! this is just my feelings. my stove is more than enuff for my 1100 sq feet.


mike oops my bad...just saw that you have 1650 sq feet.but still with 2 levels, the 61 would be my choice.

 

[STOVEGUY11]

I would go with the larger unit if your going to try and heat both levels. The Harman P-61 is available with and without automatic ignition. If your looking to cut costs go with the one withought auto ign, its a couple $100 less. You would just have to you a starter gell to start the stove.

 

[buildingmaint]

I have a BIG E and it is noisy. It will put out the heat . I ran mine on #3 [ out of 5] manual and got my first floor , 600 sq ft to about 90 , and it almost killed me with sooooo much heat. I use a programmable stat most of the time so to conserve pellets and to regulate the heat. My stove ate up 120 lbs in 40 hours on #3 manual. I have heard that a lot of people have been having a lot of problems with Breckwell latley.Problems with the stoves and shabby customer service.

 

[Wet1]

I’d probably go with the P38 assuming you have a main heating source that could supplement your pellet stove on the coldest of days (nights) if need be… These times would probably be few and far between as I suspect the P38 would likely handle your requirements. The cost of the P61 and the noise of the big E are the main reason I’d go with the P38. Remember, if you’re going to use this room where the stove is located, you’re not going to want it to be 90+ degrees in there, which is my next concern…

This sounds like a raised ranch with a garage underneath one end (???). If so, you’re probably going to have some issues with getting heat up to the second floor, especially above that garage end. It’s going to need to be pretty warm in the 550 sq ft lower level in order for that heat to be at a reasonable temp upstairs. Using the recirc blower on your furnace may not distribute the warm air as well as you might think, and don’t forget about the cost of running that blower all the time.

 

[compressedwoodsupplier]

Im a breckwell dealer in maine and have had no problems with my stoves or customer stoves. Havent heard may complaints must be just a freak thing. customer service is from the dealers not breckwell them self. If your in maine and have a problem let me know and i would be glad to help
207-542-0834

 

[STOVEGUY11]

The P-38 is not going to be enough heat, if you place it in the basement. Go with a larger model. Yes its going to be warmer downstairs, but at least you will get some heat upstairs.

 

[buildingmaint]

I was in no way trying to bash Breckwell , just going from what I've experienced and have read on these forums . Breckwell's website has a link to ask them tech type questions , and mine have been not been answered latley. I love my stove because of its big hopper , lots of options on the control board as far as heat setting . As far as heat out put it rocks , noisy yes .

 

[MCPO]

The P-38 is not going to be enough heat, if you place it in the basement. Go with a larger model. Yes its going to be warmer downstairs, but at least you will get some heat upstairs.

That`s the rub. It can make for a hard decision , and one that you have to live with.
According to the OP his family room is in the basement . An oversized stove cranking out enough heat to warm the upper levels especially during cold spells will in all probability render that room far too warm to spend much time in.
Of course If that heat can be evacuated / moved out efficiently then I`d think about a larger stove myself as my setup is similar but anything directly in front of the stove itself is going to be blasted with a lot of heat.
I know my P-38 is going to make the family room in my finished basement warmer than I`d like when running at the higher settings during cold periods . I`d be reluctant to go with a larger stove for this reason.
Personally I`d like to see a very small pellet burner designed just for heating a family room alone.

John

 

[compressedwoodsupplier]

Yes the big e is very noisy at the max setting but i had my show room the other day 110 degrees in about 4 hours. I was trying to prove my point to my boss that they will heat a room very well. (point proven). But if you havent had you question answered let me know and ill call my contact and get the answer for you
207-542-0834

 

[kinsmanstoves]

If you want the most heat for the least amount of money, go with a BIG E. That stove has 40% of all my stove sales. It is ugly but does the job. And yes I also have one in the show room.

Eric
330-876-0200

 

[Darth Fishhead]

I did go with a Big E, based on what I had read and what my dealer told me. (Not a biased dealer, he had a lot of brands available.) I put it in my basement, did the whole venting and inspecting thing, but I feel like it's not putting out enough heat. I let it run for a day on 3 with the oil furnace on low as back up. when I got home, it was about 60 in the house. I had left the basement door open to let heat into the rest of the house. The dealer had suggested that the stove would keep the floors warm and all, but that has not been the case. I have tried running on 4, with no improvement. I am hoping that the damper adjustments I have just tried will be effective. I am planning to put some vents in the floor to let the heat rise, but a co-worker said her husband had done that for a friend, but it was ineffective. I am worried that something is not right.

Facts and figures: ~1800 sqft single story ranch. The aforementioned basement door is on the opposite side of the house from the stove. I apologize for hijacking the thread, but this seemed like the most relevant place. Thanks for any help. I hope I did not make a bad decision here with the Big E.

 

[StoveMiser]

Not a bad decision going with a big e, but bad decision putting it in the basement. The concrete is stealing all your heat. Move the stove to the first floor and enjoy the heat.

 

[krooser]

Not a bad decision going with a big e, but bad decision putting it in the basement. The concrete is stealing all your heat. Move the stove to the first floor and enjoy the heat.

What HE said...

 

[Wet1]

Unless you have an insulated basement, it's generally a loosing proposition to place the stove in the basement. If you're hell bent on leaving the pellet stove in the basement, I'd highly recommend insulating it.

I have a mostly insulated basement and I still found it was cheaper for me to heat the first floor with oil (using the central heating system) than it was for me to do the same burning pellets in the basement. I do have a wood stove in the basement which will effectively heat the upstairs, but I don't have to pay for the wood (just my time and gas). With pellets being about the same price as oil, trying to heat the first floor from the basement with a space heater makes it a loosing proposition.

 

[mischinski]

My case study:

I am a bit of a picky buyer and was not really sure if the pellet stove concept would work - so I wanted to limit my investment in case it did't work and I wanted to get out. Also, bonehead me did not do my research thoroughly and I thought the Big E would heat my house from the basement. So appearance and acoustics were not a big factor. Went with the Big E mainly for price and heat output. When the basement install did not work I moved it upstairs and it does a fine job, especially when I put some oil heat into the upstairs. The stove is not the best looking and it is noisy but it is getting the job done. Big hopper is also a plus. So far I am quite satisfied with my purchase and down the road if I want better looks and a little more quiet I might upgrade. My total investment for stove and venting was under 2K (self installed). Depending on oil prices payback should be fairly quick.

Let us know what your final decision is.

 

[peirhead]

My previous homes have has hot air furnaces and you can really control distribution of air/heat with the circulating fan, but you need to consider where your air supply and return registers are located. I'm not sure about code requirements for this where you are, but if you could add a cold return register connected to your ductwork and locate it near the ceiling of a warm wall near your stove...it will draw the warm air into the plenum and help distribute it around the house.

Normally all the return registers are ar floor level to take the cooler air off the floor and re-heat it with the furnace...that is why just runnig the fan withour any modifications won't help redistribute much heat.

By the way both of my old houses had a "Summer Fan" setting on the furnace that ran the blower on low speed all the time (kicked into high speed when furnace was heating) I ran it this way year round.