considering harman p61a purchase.

[lepper]

I'm building a new house and want to heat it with a pellet stove, looking at the p61. I've been researching the stove and I have yet to find my answer.

And that is this, if the house gets to warm, will the stove shut down and if it gets cold will it start back up? or is the self adjusting thermostat type thing It has, only increase and decrease the burn rate?

Reason i'm asking, is I live on the coast, where in the winter we stay around 40-50 with a few drops down into the 30's, maybe 1x a year into the 20's.

and I don't want to cook us out.

Thanks!
Dave

 

[bogieb]

If you are talking about a P61a, then yes, it will do what you want when you run it in Room Temp mode and on Auto for the igniter. You can either use the temp probe that comes with the stove for it to sense when it should start up / shut down, or you can attach it to a thermostat and control it that way. I have my P43 on a thermostat because I want it to go by the temp in another part of the main floor (living space) . My P61a I just use the probe since it is in the basement and it is all open down there.

A regular P61, I believe, will not start up / shut down, but will ramp the burn rate according to if there is a call for heat or not. If no call for heat, it will go to a very low maintenance burn.

 

[bogieb]

By the way, the owner's manual is an excellent place to look for those types of answers - and it will also tell you about the different modes and options for controlling the stove. And, don't forget to pay attention to the installation manual to understand where and where not to install the stove in relation to windows, doors, corners, etc.

 

[Tonyray]

yes.. what bogieb said..
btw:
I don't think they still make the regular P61 [without auto ignition] which you have to manually ignite.
P61A is the way to go... set it and forget it..
would come on, ramp down. ramp up, shut off etc depending on room temperature you have set on the control panel.
rinse/lather/repeat all winter as long as pellets in the hopper..,

example:
my P61A has been idle for over a week... last nite the temps dropped and got very nippy around here.
stove kicked on around 2AM this morning till sun came up...
actualy forgot I still had pellets in thehopper as I haven't done my end of season cleaning......

 

[lepper]

Thank you very much for all the good information! It's nice knowing out of the 10k things I have to figure out for building a house... I have one issue solved!

 

[bags]

Lepper,
It is a great stove. Set it to a temp of your liking and forget about it. They run automatically like a central HVAC system for the most part. Bogie explained it well and she has one. My P68 is the same just a little bigger.

Harmans are easy peezy for operating and maintaining a pellet stove. Spend the extra money. you will not regret it one bit. I haven't. Good luck and get to pounding some nails.

 

[Harmanizer]

Is the pellet stove going to be your only source of heat?They are great stoves but they do occasionally break down.And there have been pellet shortages in the past.Best to have a backup heat source just in case.

 

[bags]

Is the pellet stove going to be your only source of heat?They are great stoves but they do occasionally break down.And there have been pellet shortages in the past.Best to have a backup heat source just in case.

I'd venture to say they have a backup or central system going in to appease code requirements. Just a guess. But a P61 would not have a problem being the primary heat. All I have used the last three winters is my P68. I've fired the PC 45 up a time or two each year when we have people here for Turkey Day etc; as needed. I have a central HVAC system (heat pump) and use it for AC only now pretty much. When the temps drop I'll turn the fan / blower on only in it just to move and circulate the heat the stove throws out.

 

[alternativeheat]

Just for the record, all the late model Harman stoves will do what you are asking about. The P61A may well still be the stove you want, it is a great stove, but just thought you should know that it isn't the only Harman that will start and stop on demand.

 

[lepper]

We will have in wall electric heaters, really where I live there is not a need for HVAC.. never cold enough to justify it, nor is it so hot in the summer you can't stand it.. If it's in the 70's in the summer we are lucky!

I've ran a quadrafire classic bay 1200 in my current house as the primary heat source for 6 years now and it works great, I like the Harman as my new house is considerably bigger then my current house (1600 vs 2400 sqf) I'm essentially going for the stove that will hopefully put out the most heat. Trying for the "oversized stove" that runs less then a small one that never stops.

i'm one of those people that always buys my pellets in August, so even when there has been a shortage I've always been fine

Thanks for the info!
Dave

 

[Tonyray]

been running strictly pellets for heat past 3 years...
have a good sized generator out back and a transfer box attached to the main panel so we can run 10 circuits
in the event of a power failure....
one of the circuit is the oil furnace in the basement so we can run it along with hard wired rooms and such..

that big ugly chord get's plugged into my genny and other end into 30amp outlet on the porch which runs all the way back to the transfer box.

 

[P51mustang]

If your new house will be near 2400 sq. feet, I'd go with the P68. I say that not knowing much about your climate or the planned lay-out of the new house. I prefer to over size a bit with my heat source as having that extra bit of heat capacity is never a bad idea in my opinion.

 

[lepper]

so the p68 Is essentially the p61a big brother with more heat output? (looks that way)

 

[Tonyray]

so the p68 Is essentially the p61a big brother with more heat output? (looks that way)

yep...
same exact stove...
might have a wee bit bigger burnpot for the extra 7K BTU'S..

 

[alternativeheat]

The P68 is a couple of inches larger than the P61 and as Tony mentioned, it has a slightly larger burn pot. If that is a nice tight new construction home with open floor plan more or less and modern compliance on insulation, then the P61 should be plenty. And if the P61 can't heat it, I doubt the P68 would either, because it would be about distributing the heat more so than output. Both stoves are rated higher than for 2400 sq ft. Most important is if the layout allows heat to move through the house.

 

[Tonyray]

Layout is key as Altheat mentioned...
I know a couple people who have sectioned off rooms in the house, a wall here, wall there, left turn/right turn etc
and all they do is ROAST the main room with the pellet stove as heat doesn't turn corners very well.
I imagine a wood stove would be the same?
agree also if a P61 doesn't cut it, don't think another 7k would matter..

 

[lepper]

the house is basically two large rooms (connected with a 10' opening) (contains 2 living areas kitchen) and then 4 bedrooms and bathrooms. I know getting warmth into the bedrooms/hallway would be the issue, but I've also been thinking of adding some form or air circulating fan from the back hallway to essentially right above the stove (pull air from the hallway and put it back in above the stove) Maybe a crazy idea, but I think that may work.

 

[alternativeheat]

Hallways can be issues. Depends on a few things really, starting with your winter time average temps. You can heat about any configuration if your low temps are 40F. But -20is a whole different matter and windy another one. But my upstairs heats fine an that has 3 bedrooms off a hallway, the bathroom can be a bit cool but we manage. So the stove faces the open stairway, it blows right at it from across the living room downstairs. It helps that heat rises.

This pellet stove does a better job of heating this house than the coal stove did, the coal stove generally being hotter but no blower. But the coal stove had more btu,yet used less fuel annually ( coal is like that). People visiting us called it the dope machine, because the living room would put you to sleep with the silent heat source. The pellet stove is noisy by comparison but it pushes heat into outer rooms better. The living room is still the center of the heat zone but it is more even though the house comparatively. My sister in law is living with us for lets say "a season", she says if you ask her the stove is too warm, so I cranked it up some more. Still I noticed that she sat in the living room an awful lot .

An XXV or the new designed Harmans like the Absolute 63 have more powerful blowers than the P61, FWIW. I've witnessed the blowers on the XXV being test fired in a big showroom, it puts out one powerful stream of warm air. It's a formidable weapon against cold spots I'm sure and said to be the quietest of the Harman line up last I knew. I'm not up on the new designs though, they may be quieter too..

To me the best of both worlds would be either a pellet boiler in my basement or a coal stoker. Still we like our fire in the living room, gotta have a stove in there of some sort.

We aren't real fond of wood stoves, Tony. Once you live through a real live rip roaring chimney fire, you get sort of tainted. My wife at first wasn't convinced a pellet stove would be safe, she knew coal was. But she is confident now after 4 seasons of burning the P61. All in all it does a good job but we do burn more fuel than we did with coal for more even warmth. A coal stoker would be awesome I think but that kind of coal is a rare item around these parts so no go at the time of our stove purchase. We moved to pellets, we will hang our hats right there.

 

[Don2222]

Hello
The only thing better than a Harman OR a Quad is a Harman AND a Quad!
Having two stoves will heat the home more evenly and one can be a backup of the other one!
I have a P61a and CB1200 just in my garage right now . Good stoves! All automatic too!
Do not forget the best venting - Selkirk DT for the best stoves! This venting warms and dries the burn air for 10% over all more efficiency!
See pics below
Click to enlarge.

 

[alternativeheat]

It sounds like the second half of the OP's house is all bedrooms. I thought of two P43 stoves but not sure a second stove would have a place. When I hear about these split houses with stoves I immediately think of a furnace with proper duct work, they do make pellet furnaces.

Myself on the other hand would like a second stove in the basement for various useful reasons.

 

[bogieb]

If this is a single level house and you can situate the stove so the blower is aimed down that hallway, I think you will be fine for heat circulation.

Since I turned my main floor stove from hitting a dead corner in the living room to aimed down the hallway I haven't needed any fans at all (prior I had something like 3 fans going and the LR/kitchen were in the 80's while bedrooms/bath were in the low 60's). Okay, I admit I changed out stoves (from a Hastings to P43), but they had basically the same capabilities but the P43 is smaller in size so basically it was just a 45* turn of the stove, I did not move the hearth or exhaust.

Course your house is bigger than mine, but since your winter temps aren't that cold I don't think that will be much of an issue.

 

[bogieb]

It sounds like the second half of the OP's house is all bedrooms. I thought of two P43 stoves but not sure a second stove would have a place. When I hear about these split houses with stoves I immediately think of a furnace with proper duct work, they do make pellet furnaces.

Myself on the other hand would like a second stove in the basement for various useful reasons.

That is a good observation about pellet furnaces. In a house that is being built, it would be easy to plan for something like that.

Now, me, I would have loved to put one in my 1960's house but there is no room, I have a short ceiling - and no duct work at all, and that side is not at all satisfactory for pellet delivery, so for the money, having two stoves is the better choice.

 

[alternativeheat]

That is a good observation about pellet furnaces. In a house that is being built, it would be easy to plan for something like that.

Now, me, I would have loved to put one in my 1960's house but there is no room, I have a short ceiling - and no duct work at all, and that side is not at all satisfactory for pellet delivery, so for the money, having two stoves is the better choice.

Ya hind sight is 20/20, when we bought the p61 I had not even thought about a boiler add on to my oil fired boiler. There are a couple of different manufacturers of them and if the pellet fired one goes out for what ever reason the oil just takes over.. Nice ! But we are pretty happy this way too, as mentioned over the last year or so, I would like another stove in the basement is all. We also would never be without a fire in the living room on those cold winter nights anyway, I mean why now after 40 years of burning stoves around here LOL !

It sounds like you have your setup working well Bogie.