FIRST PELLET STOVE P68!!

[nnysnowbelt]

hey all! Just ordered my brand new Harman P68 pellet stove and am pumped to see how much heat this baby throws this winter!! Now this is my first pellet stove and I was wondering 2 things. First from all you pellet stove owners out there are there any secrets or tricks to running these things and what are the best pellets to use for heat output. And secondly to my fellow Harman and P68 owners what are your thoughts in general about them and are there any tricks to them. Thanks guys for all your insight and help so far on this forum.

 

[Mt Bob]

Congrats,a fine product.Study and learn the manual.There is a thread at top of this forum with good harman info.As you said you ordered it,I have a question,will yours come with the new controller harman has come up with,or the old style?

 

[Tonyray]

Congrats on your choice of a Harman....
as far as best pellets, that is something you will have to expirience 1st hand..
Everyone here has the're favorites, & many are scientific about it and have a pellet brand for winter, fall, spring,Autumn, windy, damp,rainy, snowy etc.. , pretty much a pellet for every type of weather Condition...Always interesting reads.
Read the forums and a lot will depend on where u live and what dealers around you have available.
The Big Box stores carry a few brands like Stove Chows, Green Supremes , Presto logs etc and usually cheaper prices like 219-229.00 ton.
All pellets will produce heat [how can they not] and range from minimum ash to a Crapload of ash......some are called junk, others are revered as "Magic pellets" by Stove owners.
Lot really depends on the Stove itself..
you should get a few bags of whatever u can and try them..
we pellets stove owners will pay from 200.00 ton to over 300.00 ton, swearing the brand we use is Best & keeps us warm and happy[which it does] so don't be swayed by "highest priced is Best" or "lowest priced is Worst." Not True..

No tricks to a Harman... Huge Ash Pan, very easy to clean and maintain, pretty dependable, and well built...your Harman will burn just about any Brand out there so hope you are close to a lot of choices from Dealers..

I burn Energex Hardwood premiums ,Made here in Pa, 240.00 ton, and HD Stove Chows 229.00 ton and although they are both ashy I'm not willing to pay close to 300.00 ton or more for less ashier pellets but that's me...It's all about staying warmth and paying less if u can in the end..Gotta vacuum and maintain the stove either way periodically no matter what you burn..
Good Luck..

 

[alternativeheat]

hey all! Just ordered my brand new Harman P68 pellet stove and am pumped to see how much heat this baby throws this winter!! Now this is my first pellet stove and I was wondering 2 things. First from all you pellet stove owners out there are there any secrets or tricks to running these things and what are the best pellets to use for heat output. And secondly to my fellow Harman and P68 owners what are your thoughts in general about them and are there any tricks to them. Thanks guys for all your insight and help so far on this forum.

Congratulations, great stove ! I own the P61a, next one down from yours and it works great.

Pretty much these P series Harmon's burn about any pellet but my preferred brands are listed in my signature. I too do like the Energex Hardwood for a mid road pellet. Good heat output, a bit ashy but liveable with excellent BTU per lb experience with them. Top picks, going up the ladder, those Energex Hardwood, La Crete and at the top Okanagan Douglas Fir, affectionately dubbed DF around here. But many many brands will heat your house. I have not burned any pellet that would not heat the whole house in the P61 but have run into some where you need to empty the ash pan every week Those pellets to me are junk, other people love them, go figure.. There certainly are some hotter pellets than others, Okanagan DF would be at the top of the list for me in that regard and very low ash ( empty the ash pan every three weeks to a month), they just are expensive around these parts. But DF's are my gauge by which I rate other pellets from. Again, they all heat the house.

Also, pellets by brand can be regional.

 

[Tonyray]

Congratulations, great stove ! I own the P61a, next one down from yours and it works great.

Pretty much these P series Harmon's burn about any pellet but my preferred brands are listed in my signature. I too do like the Energex Hardwood for a mid road pellet. Good heat output, a bit ashy but liveable with excellent BTU per lb experience with them. Top picks, going up the ladder, those Energex Hardwood, La Crete and at the top Okanagan Douglas Fir, affectionately dubbed DF around here. But many many brands will heat your house. I have not burned any pellet that would not heat the whole house in the P61 but have run into some where you need to empty the ash pan every week Those pellets to me are junk, other people love them, go figure.. There certainly are some hotter pellets than others, Okanagan DF would be at the top of the list for me in that regard and very low ash ( empty the ash pan every three weeks to a month), they just are expensive around these parts. But DF's are my gauge by which I rate other pellets from. Again, they all heat the house.

Also, pellets by brand can be regional.

Always hear good about the DF Pellets..
just don't seem to have them here in Eastern Pa...
closest to 0.5 ash here are the Energex Golden Premiums Hardwoods.

 

[alternativeheat]

Always hear good about the DF Pellets..
just don't seem to have them here in Eastern Pa...
closest to 0.5 ash here are the Energex Golden Premiums Hardwoods.

I've wanted to try those but have not found them locally. The Energex Gold that is.

 

[Tonyray]

I've wanted to try those but have not found them locally.

Contrary to my post, I actually sprung for 2 tons of the Goldens on early buy.special.. 265.00 ton.
there was a Big fire at the Energex plant in Mifflintown, Pa few months ago so Goldens won't be at my dealer till July.

 

[alternativeheat]

Contrary to my post, I actually sprung for 2 tons of the Goldens on early buy.special.. 265.00 ton.
there was a Big fire at the Energex plant in Mifflintown, Pa few months ago so Goldens won't be at my dealer till July.

The dealer who sells Energex locally only keeps in Premium grade , both soft and hard wood versions. Right now I only have the soft but prefer the hard. After the crunch on pellets back around March he only brought in softs till next season. Incidentally, 292 a ton at that. Tractor supply's all hard wood pellets are just as good as Energex ,IMO ,and less costly. Though I heard they were changing suppliers for their whole system.

 

[Tonyray]

The dealer who sells Energex locally only keeps in Premium grade , both soft and hard wood versions. Right now I only have the soft but prefer the hard. After the crunch on pellets back around March he only brought in softs till next season. Incidentally, 292 a ton at that. Tractor supply's all hard wood pellets are just as good as Energex ,IMO ,and less costly. Though I heard they were changing suppliers for their whole system.

All the Energex softwoods or softwood blends are Canadian..think they make 4 ..
Energex only puts out 2 hardwoods. Premium hardwood and Goldens and both for US.

 

[alternativeheat]

All the Energex softwoods or softwood blends are Canadian..think they make 4 ..
Energex only puts out 2 hardwoods. Premium hardwood and Goldens and both for US.

Well maybe someday someone will bring in the Goldens around here.

 

[mepellet]

One of the best things i have done to my harman was boughta programmable thermostat and wire it in series with the room probe.

 

[UpStateNY]

P68 nice stove and has less parts to clean than my Harman. Good choice.

For AUTO start don't forget to set the FEED rate down to 3. The instructions are clear about this but sometimes people like myself don't follow instructions and wonder why so many pellets are filling the burn pot and spilling out into the ash pan before ignition. At the start of each heating system I should probably get the manual out and read it again. Hey I am expert right and don't need no stinking manual.

BTW my exhaust pipe goes through the wall and has an elbow turning down. I never went for the 4 feet up stack. Only had slight smoke in the house once. Easier to clean. Probably should have gone with an outside intake tube. All that air blowing out the smoke means the house is sucking in cold air from some where.

Good luck with your stove.

 

[mepellet]

[quote="UpStateNY, post: 1731829, member: 4976"[/Quote]For AUTO start don't forget to set the FEED rate down to 3. The instructions are clear about this but sometimes people like myself don't follow instructions and wonder why so many pellets are filling the burn pot and spilling out into the ash pan before ignition. [/quote]
Where in the instructions does it say this?

BTW my exhaust pipe goes through the wall and has an elbow turning down.

An elbow turning down? Is that installed in accordance with the install manual?

All that air blowing out the smoke means the house is sucking in cold air from some where.

Shouldn't be blowing any smoke if operating properly.

 

[The Grintch]

Got my p68 last September and love it. I set it on room temp, manual, kept it full and clean... And it kept me warm.

One word... Awesome!

Wish I would have done it years ago!

 

[The Grintch]

O ya... Congratulations you will be happy and warm!

 

[ttdberg]

Congrats. You will be very happy with the P68. UpStateNY - The feed rate setting is not related to the startup / ignition sequence. The startup procedure operates using a separate set of logic involving timed feeds and pauses. This is covered inhere in a few different threads, check the stickys. If you have pellets spilling into the ash pan, that is a different issue; it could be the igniter / compartment needs to be cleaned or the pellets have too much moisture causing long / delayed start times.

 

[JohnD]

hey all! Just ordered my brand new Harman P68 pellet stove and am pumped to see how much heat this baby throws this winter!! Now this is my first pellet stove and I was wondering 2 things. First from all you pellet stove owners out there are there any secrets or tricks to running these things and what are the best pellets to use for heat output. And secondly to my fellow Harman and P68 owners what are your thoughts in general about them and are there any tricks to them. Thanks guys for all your insight and help so far on this forum.

I like the softwoods for the heat...okanagon Douglas fir is by far the best but also crazy expensive at almost $400/ ton...laCrete is also good....my go to pellet is a blend of hard/softwood...Maine Woods Pellets. I know people will say they are a shoulder pellet or middle of the road, but at a mid to low price range, $245-$260/ton, they burn consistently long, hot, and the lightest, brushable ash ever. Always my go to pellet after trying a lot of super premium expensive pellets, and many low end and middle of the road pellets as well. I have a Quadra Fire CB 1200 FS Stove. Good Luck!

 

[Tonyray]

I like the softwoods for the heat...okanagon Douglas fir is by far the best but also crazy expensive at almost $400/ ton...laCrete is also good....my go to pellet is a blend of hard/softwood...Maine Woods Pellets. I know people will say they are a shoulder pellet or middle of the road, but at a mid to low price range, $245-$260/ton, they burn consistently long, hot, and the lightest, brushable ash ever. Always my go to pellet after trying a lot of super premium expensive pellets, and many low end and middle of the road pellets as well. I have a Quadra Fire CB 1200 FS Stove. Good Luck!

Plenty of people here stay quite warm all winter using " so called Shoulder season pellets...
Never understood that...I have to turn my temps down many times in the winter and I am supposedly using a shoulder season pellet.... Energex Hardwoods.

 

[JohnD]

Didn't mean to offend anyone.... Just using a familiar term that I learned here. I believe the Maine Woods that I prefer we're on e referred to as a shoulder pellet. No big deal!

 

[Tonyray]

Didn't mean to offend anyone.... Just using a familiar term that I learned here. I believe the Maine Woods that I prefer we're on e referred to as a shoulder pellet. No big deal!

John,
no way did u offend anyone...not sure why u thought that,, Anyways,
I for one really don't buy into Shoulder season pellets but that;s me....My feeling is a lot depends on the Stove itself as much or more than the pellets..
If u can keep your house warm with the cheapest priced pellets you can find and they don't gunk up your stove,, then those are for you. I have read where some top name pellets go for over 400.00 ton.. "Magic Pellets." I assume.

 

[alternativeheat]

John,
no way did u offend anyone...not sure why u thought that,, Anyways,
I for one really don't buy into Shoulder season pellets but that;s me....My feeling is a lot depends on the Stove itself as much or more than the pellets..
If u can keep your house warm with the cheapest priced pellets you can find and they don't gunk up your stove,, then those are for you. I have read where some top name pellets go for over 400.00 ton.. "Magic Pellets." I assume.

I think the term shoulder season regarding pellets came to being because they are ashy and mid season one may not want to deal with it. In the shoulder season the cleaning intervals tend to stretch out. Sone of thise pellets also just produce less btu as well. But I wouldn't put the Energex hardwood in that class. I used them in Feb last year , they are good hot pellets with mid level ash. About the limit of what I like for ash but easy enough to take care of so acceptable to me in my p61.

 

[Tonyray]

I think the term shoulder season regarding pellets came to being because they are ashy and mid season one may not want to deal with it. In the shoulder season the cleaning intervals tend to stretch out. Sone of thise pellets also just produce less btu as well. But I wouldn't put the Energex hardwood in that class. I used them in Feb last year , they are good hot pellets with mid level ash. About the limit of what I like for ash but easy enough to take care of so acceptable to me in my p61.

I agree.....
I also have the P61 and since I am on a every 10-12 day brush and vacuum the insides schedule,
The amount of ash I get one way or an other is not really an issue..as long as it's not enough to smothers the flame, I'm good.
I pull [with the harman tool] any ash buildup in the burnpot down to the ash pan couple times a day anyways just as a OCD thing.
Makes a big difference when your home most days..It's like the Stove has a full time babysitter.

 

[alternativeheat]

I agree.....
I also have the P61 and since I am on a every 10-12 day brush and vacuum the insides schedule,
The amount of ash I get one way or an other is not really an issue..as long as it's not enough to smothers the flame, I'm good.
I pull [with the harman tool] any ash buildup in the burnpot down to the ash pan couple times a day anyways just as a OCD thing.
Makes a big difference when your home most days..It's like the Stove has a full time babysitter.

I scrape the pot two to three times a day depending on the pellet. I brush down there the ash into the pan about very two days. I shut down and vac once a week sometimes bur more likely two weeks. I clean the fines box monthly. Some pellets do better, like DF, you can steer all those intervals out. The worst pellets I burned I cleaned the stove after 6 days and returned the rest of the pellets.

 

[Tonyray]

I scrape the pot two to three times a day depending on the pellet. I brush down there the ash into the pan about very two days. I shut down and vac once a week sometimes bur more likely two weeks. I clean the fines box monthly. Some pellets do better, like DF, you can steer all those intervals out. The worst pellets I burned I cleaned the stove after 6 days and returned the rest of the pellets.[/quote

what brand were they?

 

[alternativeheat]

Natures Own.