Enviro Omega or M55, Or a Harman p61-a or P68, my 4 choices.

[Buck Hunter]

Well i am new in here and probably am posting this in the wrong area. I am going to purchase a pellet stove and have narrowed it down to one of 4 Enviro Omega or M55, or a Harman P61-A OR P68. The difference on total installed price is around $1,000 or a little better. The Enviro models being cheaper 4300 to 4500 installed and Harman 5200 to 5450, just looking for some feed back on performance and problems if any, i know a lot of you have been at this for many years and i would appreciate any advice or suggestions you may have, myself i like all of the 4 stoves. The dealer for Enviro seems to push the M55 a little harder than the Omega ??? Maybe because they have the M55 in stock and would have to order the Omega, he says the M55 is the exact same stove as the Omega just more compact and of course 5000 BTU'S less. My home is 2600sp feet, very well insulated and very easy to heat, 3 to 4 cord of hardwood each year in a stove that is around 30 years old now, my wife wants something a little cleaner and no more bug's LOL, but hates electric heat and wants a pellet stove. So any one that has had experience with these stoves and can say the likes and dislikes or which one i should go with, it would be a great help.

 

[jtakeman]

buck hunter,

My vote is for the Omega or its little sister the M55. The Omega is a heat throwing machine. I does everything I want and more. Plus I like the fact it burns anything with ease. I don't have one negative thing to say about it. Easy to clean and maintain. Quite operation and easy controls. There is a few members that have the Enviro's. I don't think there are many complaint's about them. They just seem to run!

I would save the $1000 and spend it on the years pellet supply. Or what ever else you need. Pretty much why I went with the Omega was the overall cost savings.

Welcome to the forums and enjoy the stove you decide to buy.
jay

 

[mnkywrnch]

I don't own any of the 4 stoves mentioned,but my dealer who also sells the enviro brand has a m55 in his show room burning and man that stoves seems very well put together and throws tons of heat If that stove was available when I bought my st croix I would have bought it in a heart beat,plus it's a multifuel (the omega is to) so like jay said save the $1000 and go with the enviro,can't go wrong with either the omega or m55 IMO.

 

[pelletdude]

As a dealer of Enviro, I have to say the M55 is an excellent stove. $500.00 cheaper than the Omega and just about the same performance. Burns everything and the ASH pan is HUGE. We run it everyday and I only empty the ash pan every three weeks. On heat setting 3 the stove is very quite only hearing the agitaor and auger, you almost can't hear the fan.

I also run the M55 in my home - heats 2,100 sq. ft. to an average temp of 69.

 

[hearthtools]

If the enviro is my choice and I have burned a lot of stoves in the past 19 years.
Just an added bonus if the stove installed is a grand less that the Harmon because IMO if the the Omega was more that then harmon I would still get the Omega.
I OPEN THE DOOR TO MY STOVE TWICE A YEAR(SEPT AND DEC) BURNING 3.5 TONS

 

[Benski]

BH,

I have bought the M55 this fall and like it very much.

I agree with what all others mentionned in this thread so far.

I had been hesitating between Omega and M55. Since I was doing the install myself, I was concerned about the weight of the stoves, the Omega being a bit heavier.

It turns out even the M55 has been difficult to bring down the stairs to the basement...

Anyway, I like it, throws a lot of heat, works well with corn in multi-fuel mode, etc... I haven't even wiped the door window yet (2 months of operation!) and must agree that it would take 3 weeks before emptying ash pan (if burning wood pellets). I clean the stove (burn pot) every saturdays which takes 5 minutes, maybe a little more when I had corn because of the clinkers that formed on the agitator.

With the recent cold weather we have, I have been running the stove at Max setting on a permanent basis and it takes 13 1/2 hours to empty the hopper, which translates into 5,9 to 6,1 lbs pellets/hr. House is very large though (1300sq.ft. with basement non insulated, unfinished).

Having a pellet stove burning biomass and still being controlled by a thermostat is the best combination I could have dreamed of! I was still skeptical about how a thermostat could control a stove and have now understood the difference between Auto Off vs. Hi-Low Mode, so I confirm: it does work really well.

There is nothing I can say about Harman, I don't know them at all.

Good luck.

Ben

 

[Buck Hunter]

Well after about 2 months of reading and asking dealers questions, getting customers names from dealers to check with i have finally decided to go with the Enviro Omega, i hope i made the right choice. We have enough wood to do the season so i asked for a March install, that will give me a couple of months to get the bugs worked out if need be. Almost went with the M55, a very nice unit, but opted for a few extra BTU's, now i can't wait until March. We ordered in on Dec 23rd, they said it should be in on the 28th.
So be forewarned Jay that i'll probably be asking you lots of question's seeing as you have been running one for a little while. But i am reading and looking at everything
i can find on them, i want to know it inside out.But from the different sites and what i've heard about them i don't think there will be that many problems.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas and all the best wishes to all for the coming New Year

 

[jtakeman]

Well after about 2 months of reading and asking dealers questions, getting customers names from dealers to check with i have finally decided to go with the Enviro Omega, i hope i made the right choice. We have enough wood to do the season so i asked for a March install, that will give me a couple of months to get the bugs worked out if need be. Almost went with the M55, a very nice unit, but opted for a few extra BTU's, now i can't wait until March. We ordered in on Dec 23rd, they said it should be in on the 28th.
So be forewarned Jay that i'll probably be asking you lots of question's seeing as you have been running one for a little while. But i am reading and looking at everything
i can find on them, i want to know it inside out.But from the different sites and what i've heard about them i don't think there will be that many problems.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas and all the best wishes to all for the coming New Year

BH,

hearthtools(Rod) has had his the longest. And I got most of my q's answered by him. He's the one you really need to ask. But if I can assist I will. You will love the heat the Omega throws at you. And the fact it will burn just about anything. Only issue I have so far. I lost my igniter the other day. Covered under the warranty. I am hoping it was just a fluke.

jay

 

[BIGISLANDHIKERS]

Well after about 2 months of reading and asking dealers questions, getting customers names from dealers to check with i have finally decided to go with the Enviro Omega, i hope i made the right choice. We have enough wood to do the season so i asked for a March install, that will give me a couple of months to get the bugs worked out if need be. Almost went with the M55, a very nice unit, but opted for a few extra BTU's, now i can't wait until March. We ordered in on Dec 23rd, they said it should be in on the 28th.
So be forewarned Jay that i'll probably be asking you lots of question's seeing as you have been running one for a little while. But i am reading and looking at everything
i can find on them, i want to know it inside out.But from the different sites and what i've heard about them i don't think there will be that many problems.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas and all the best wishes to all for the coming New Year

BH,

hearthtools(Rod) has had his the longest. And I got most of my q's answered by him. He's the one you really need to ask. But if I can assist I will. You will love the heat the Omega throws at you. And the fact it will burn just about anything. Only issue I have so far. I lost my igniter the other day. Covered under the warranty. I am hoping it was just a fluke.

jay

Jay....does the Omega ever shut down on its own to clean? I assume you can manually start when you do loose an ignitor. The biggest gripe I have with the Mt Vernon is that is shuts down to clean which creates a dependency on the ignitor working several times a day. I can manually start but I have to make sure I am there to manually start a few hours later after it cleans....and again and again. Loosing an ignitor on a stove that keeps running not as big of a deal I imagine.

BIH

 

[jtakeman]

Well after about 2 months of reading and asking dealers questions, getting customers names from dealers to check with i have finally decided to go with the Enviro Omega, i hope i made the right choice. We have enough wood to do the season so i asked for a March install, that will give me a couple of months to get the bugs worked out if need be. Almost went with the M55, a very nice unit, but opted for a few extra BTU's, now i can't wait until March. We ordered in on Dec 23rd, they said it should be in on the 28th.
So be forewarned Jay that i'll probably be asking you lots of question's seeing as you have been running one for a little while. But i am reading and looking at everything
i can find on them, i want to know it inside out.But from the different sites and what i've heard about them i don't think there will be that many problems.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas and all the best wishes to all for the coming New Year

BH,

hearthtools(Rod) has had his the longest. And I got most of my q's answered by him. He's the one you really need to ask. But if I can assist I will. You will love the heat the Omega throws at you. And the fact it will burn just about anything. Only issue I have so far. I lost my igniter the other day. Covered under the warranty. I am hoping it was just a fluke.

jay

Jay....does the Omega ever shut down on its own to clean? I assume you can manually start when you do loose an ignitor. The biggest gripe I have with the Mt Vernon is that is shuts down to clean which creates a dependency on the ignitor working several times a day. I can manually start but I have to make sure I am there to manually start a few hours later after it cleans....and again and again. Loosing an ignitor on a stove that keeps running not as big of a deal I imagine.

BIH

BIH,

No it only shuts down when you shut it down. No clean cycle at all in pellet mode. In Multifuel mode it goes to a low fire mode and lets excess fuel burn out and then goes right back to high fire. I was using Auto/Off mostly while pellet testing. It will use the igniter on the restarts when the stat calls for heat.

I just start it with a torch right now. Not a big deal. I have it in Hi/lo mode so I only have to manually light it if I clean it. Would be a bigger pain if it was too warm out. Its stays in Hi/Lo mode until the new igniter arrives. No pellet testing for a bit.

jay

 

[Buck Hunter]

Ok thanks Jay, i've done a lot of reading on this site and one thing that impresses me is everyone always seems more than happy to try and help someone with a problem, it seem's like a really great site.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Ok thanks Jay, i've done a lot of reading on this site and one thing that impresses me is everyone always seems more than happy to try and help someone with a problem, it seem's like a really great site.

Just don't fall for the standard Pellet Pig line, that's the one where they offer to take those terrible obviously defective pellets off your hands for nothing ;-) .

 

[jtakeman]

Ok thanks Jay, i've done a lot of reading on this site and one thing that impresses me is everyone always seems more than happy to try and help someone with a problem, it seem's like a really great site.

Just don't fall for the standard Pellet Pig line, that's the one where they offer to take those terrible obviously defective pellets off your hands for nothing ;-) .

I offered $1.00 a bag the last time. Hey never hurts to ask. Right? I scored some MWP last year for that. Don't think thats going to happen this year. MWP got much better!

Now for this years Inferno's it's $.25 a bag MAX!

 

[summit]

the Harmans got alot of Cadillac kind features, but the sherwood stoves (enviro, greenfire, vistaflame) are all pretty solid units, and are a little more basic more easy to troubleshoot/operate for a lay person on for alot of technical issues... however the Harman can chug thru any inda pellet, and has the best heat exchanger and cleaning rate in the biz IMHO.

 

[imacman]

Now, all you Harman owners who think your stoves are the best thing since sliced bread, don't start hating on me.....I just call it like I see it....I really don't care one way or the other.

That being said, IMO Harman makes a nice stove. BUT, I think they are WAY overrated. Just pay attention to all the posts on this forum from people that have "issues" with them. For their price, there shouldn't be anywhere near as many as there are. Yes, I know..... there isn't any stove that doesn't have some problems eventually, but for what the Harman's cost, they seem to have more than their fair share. And from what I've read on this forum lately, their warranty and direct customer service leaves something to be desired.

On the other hand, I see very few "issues" with the Enviro units. My choice would be the Omega. Burns anything, easy maintenance, and Rod (hearthtools) owns one and rates it highly....that would be good enough for me.

 

[Buck Hunter]

Yes that is why i went with the Omega, the Harman is a very nice unit indeed, but from all my reading there does seem to be a lot of issues for the price they want. And the Omega can also burn any grade of pellets as well as the M55, plus the auger helps keep the burn pot clean, and the heat exchanger is 11 heavy steel tubes, And the fact that there is not so much to go wrong and easy to trouble shoot is just an added bonus, that is why i want to get away from wood, more time to myself and less time spent with the stove.

 

[jtakeman]

more time to myself and less time spent with the stove.

I over clean my stove at once a week. Even with crap pellets the ash pan is only 1/8 full and the pot only has some minor scale built up. If I have other things to do I push it to 2 weeks before cleaning. You will just need to keep the hopper full(once every other day). Much easier than wood IMO.

Now don't forget the pictures once you have it installed and Please report what you think overall about it. I am sure you should be a happy Omega owner.

jay