Harman Accentra vs Enviro

[scarf]

I live in a VERY modern home 1,260 sq ft (with cathedral ceilings on 2nd floor) on the ocean in Massachusetts. When the wind blows, the temperature drops 10 degrees. I hate using propane gas - nothing else is allowed near the ocean. So, I have been researching pellet stoves.

I was originally planning to purchase a Harmon Accentra but recently learned that it no longer comes enamalized. Something about it chipping?? When I looked further, I noticed that there are multiple dealership selling Enviro pellet stoves but only 1 Harman. Does anyone know why? I thought the Harman was best because it was:
1) easy to clean
2) few repair problems

Does everyone on Cape Cod know something I don't? The Harmon is cast iron while the Enviro is steel. Since ocean air = rust I would have thought cast iron is better.

Honestly, all of these salesmen remind me of used car dealers. Does anyone have any good / bad experiences with either of these stoves? or the dealers in Southern Mass or Cape Cod? I'll even pay extra for someone in RI if they are known to do a good job.

Thanks for your help!

 

[summit]

the harman is a far superior unit; can burn any grade of pellets.. cleaning is only once @ 2-4 weeks, very quiet, and is self regulating. the enviro is a middle of the pack kinda stove, and is a good product, but the harman units are superior, hands down.

 

[nailed_nailer]

Scarf,

Welcome, You are in the right place to ask the questions.

I cannot compare the two stoves you have mentioned. The Old Enviro EF-2 that I have is a great stove. I have had very few problems with it. I bought it used two years ago.
It is easy to clean and maintain. I clean mine out about once a week. I burn about 3-1/2 tons of premium pellets a year to heat a 1000 sq foot beach cottage in Mashpee.

Cleaning is going to depend on how hard you run it and what quality of pellets you burn.

I usually buy my pellets at Ash-A-Way in Dartmouth or it's sister store in Middletown RI (same prices) I sometimes work in Newport,RI so transport is easy in my truck.

Nice to see another pellet head here on the Cape. How about that Sagamore bridge traffic today? 15 mile backup on RT 3

Hope to see you around,
---Nailer---

 

[crausch]

I like my Harman stove. It is not the same model you are looking at, but I think most have the same type of feed system (except for the corn capable ones). I like that my stove pretty much runs itself, most operation is automatic. Just set it and forget it kind of operation. The room sensor mode will keep the room at a steady temperature +- 3 degrees I think. That might be a good operation for you with the temps dropping and raising as the winds come and go.

Good luck with your choice because I am sure that both stoves have satisfied owners and those who have had problems. Your best bet is to match the right stove to your needs. But also look at service and parts availability for your area.

 

[jtakeman]

The Enviros are also nice stoves. The Empress is a cast iron unit available in 7 porcelain enamel colors.

Specs can be found here:

http://www.enviro.com/fireplace-products/pellet/freestanding-fireplace.html#empress

just FYI

jay

 

[scarf]

Thanks for all of your advice. I am looking for a pellet unit that works and will not look funny in a modern house. I think I am leaning toward the Harman but any advice would be greatly appreciated. No idea who I will order it from though.

btw: I thought Gov Romney was supposed to "fix" the backup to the bridges!! 15 mile backup. Yuck!

 

[seige101]

I am an enviro user/owner, can't comment on the Harmen.

I have an empress, have had it for 3 years now and am very happy with it. Low maintenance, and pretty much care free. The only problem i had was the door, but it was replaced under warranty (they updated the design). All in all good stove for a good price.

 

[rona]

Harman has a pretty good reputation and they used to have a warranty that was transferred from one owner to another. That is a rarity among pellet stove companies. That said if your dealer isn't good you will have problems and will end up having to go to a lawyer to get things fixed.
You can't order parts from Harman factory. You have to go through a dealer where you bought the stove. This can be a real problem.
Most of the stoves out there will do a good job and about the only thing to think about is the service end of it. How dirty do you want to get when you clean it? Sometimes you can hire a dealer to do a annual cleaning but you can do that yourself and save some money. No real reason not to learn to do it yourself.

 

[iceman]

I owned an old enviro believe it was a ef-1 maybe 2 whatever it was it was the smaller one outta the 2 .... the dealer told me i would be much happier with a p38 or p61 ...... needless to say i went back and got the p61 ...... which has the ability to put out more heat (back then don't know about now).... anyways when i moved i sold it and that person still has it to this day and is very happy..... however couple of years ago i went back and got another pellet stove,
Harman Accentra...... i hate harman because of the prices and there was a design flaw that harman has fixed in the accentra a couple of years back... but talk about set it and forget it when pellets are scarce and all you can find is junk pellets you will be happy you have a harman...most stoves that are top feeders.... cant burn the low grade because it clogs up the system ... usually the auger that brings the pellets up... harmans are low maintenance but like as mentioned before enviro isnt a bad unit ..... but i own harman lotta my friends have the englander from home depot.....(similiar setup) but my friends with enviros say there next is a harman

 

[swalz]

If you are going to buy a Harman make sure the dealer will give you support when needed. The dealer I bought mine from was one that put sales before service. The two times I needed service I was told that it would take 2 to 3 weeks for them to come out, they set aside 1 day for service a week and then didn't show up when they said they would. I'm glad for the people on this site or it would never have been fixed, I ended up fixing. Got fed up with taking off work only to call them to find out that they could not make it out. I now need a igniter and after calling the dealer since December of last year, in May they told me that they no longer sell Harman and cannot get the parts. Last week I found out that there are 2 dealers in my area now selling Haman's and the closet one is working with me to get the part I need.

Harman is a good stove but it is only as good as the dealer.

 

[sparkydog00]

Thanks for all of your advice. I am looking for a pellet unit that works and will not look funny in a modern house. I think I am leaning toward the Harman but any advice would be greatly appreciated. No idea who I will order it from though.

btw: I thought Gov Romney was supposed to "fix" the backup to the bridges!! 15 mile backup. Yuck!

Didn't you get your Special Canal Tunnel sticker?
They gave them out to all the Republicans in Massachusetts. Never any traffic there...

 

[countk]

I am an enviro user/owner, can't comment on the Harmen.

I have an empress, have had it for 3 years now and am very happy with it. Low maintenance, and pretty much care free. The only problem i had was the door, but it was replaced under warranty (they updated the design). All in all good stove for a good price.

Ditto to what seige101 said. I have had mine for only a year, but love it and have had only door problem, which was replaced under warranty.

I also agree with the fact that it is critical to have a dealer who will support you. My advice would be if you can't decide which stove to buy, then choose the dealer who you feel will give you the best support.

 

[Nicholas440]

Harmon gets my vote, they are built like a tank and will outlast anything I have seen in the showrooms so far.

 

[Westwood]

My only experience is with the Harman Accentra insert. I've owned it for one year and am quite pleased with it. We use it to supplement our oil/steam system. That means we can keep the house at 52F during the day when absent and then get our living room up to 75F within an hour after coming home. It is a bit noisy on higher speeds so we put it on full blast when we first get home and are getting dinner ready to make the living room toasty and then turn it down when we watch TV adjacent to it (it maintains comfort at even the lowest setting once a heat charge has been built up in the room). I did quite a lot of research before buying and offer the following observations:

These units, whether an insert or free standing, regardless of manufacturer, work best in homes with open floor plans. We have a conventional center entrance Cape with only one door to the front-to-back living room. This means we have a cage fan (Seville Classic from Costco with base/rotating assembly removed) mounted horizontally at the top of the door opening to circulate heated air to the rest of the house. It works but is not ideal.

Most everyone loves their Harman stove until something breaks and requires service. It's a machine, they all do eventually. The Harman factory does not accept calls from customers - you must go through one of their dealers to get parts/service. If you bought the stove from your closest dealer (fortunately mine is 5 miles away) then chances are you will get good prompt service (mine has BBB stickers all over their front door and has been in business at the same location for decades) . If, however, you decided to save $214.75 or whatever, by driving up to New Hampshire and buying it there or perhaps from a discount dealer in the Albany NY area, what kind of response would you expect from the local dealer to your request for emergency service ASAP? Right. See you in July when we are not busy serving OUR customers. Frankly, I wouldn't blame them. When you see people complaining about Harmans, this is the most frequent cause and, I believe, quite avoidable.

Now you know. Good luck with your eventual decision.

 

[rona]

A Harman stove had a transferable warranty that was a step ahead of other companies warranty. Most of the time when you buy a used stove there is no warranty.
If you have the misfortune of buying from a bad dealer and they are out there you will need a lawyer if you have problems because Harman will insist you go through the dealer you bought the stove from. If you look back into Fed or March 09 you will see where people bought a P-68 and had a real night mare with a bad dealer. Harman wouldn't do anything about it until they got a lawyer involved. They ended up with a different dealer and Harman replacing the bad parts.
Harman is a well built stove but their policy of making you go through a dealer for parts is bad. What if the dealer quits and you have no other dealer close to you??

 

[investor7952]

My dealers sucks here in NJ. THe next dealer is 52 miles away. Harman in a nutshell doesnt give a dam about there customers or there complaints.They let there dealers handle the headaches.When you try to go over the dealers head Harmon NEVER ANSWERS YOUR EMAIL OR CALLS.
I dont know what a 5 year warranty is good for when you have a dealer who is just no good and dont care about servicing there product.Harman doesnt even follow up on dealer complaints. Any joe smoe can be called an AUTHORIZED DEALER. Harmons customer service is the worst in the industry. There stoves are fantastic but good luck getting service from a dealer that sucks.

 

[rona]

I know several people that bought brand new Bixbys on E-Bay the last couple of years and there is no warranty bought over E-Bay. But if you have the least mechanical ability and can follow directions you will have no problems with them. You can call the factory and they will get back to you or take care of you over the phone.
These stoves cost right at 4,000.00 a few years ago and you can buy them for 1500.00 on E-bay. They are a top notch stove and after a little coaching about them they are easy to operate and basically set and forget. Basically you just have to understand how they work and have enough confidence in yourself that you don't need a dealer at your beck and call. It is good not to have to depend on a dealer anyway.

 

[scarf]

THANK YOU for sharing all of your experiences.

I don't think I am brave enough to install a Bixby. Enviro seems like it is harder to get pellets for, so I may go with Harman.

I keep seeing reviews which state that people are ordering in August and expect installation in October -- but don't actually see an installer until Jan/Feb. Is this normal?

 

[imacman]

.........Enviro seems like it is harder to get pellets for, so I may go with Harman.

I keep seeing reviews which state that people are ordering in August and expect installation in October -- but don't actually see an installer until Jan/Feb. Is this normal?

Not sure what you mean by "Enviro seems like it is harder to get pellets for".....the decision to buy one brand of stove isn't determined by pellet brand. Any pellet stove will burn any brand of pellet (how well it burns them is another matter).....maybe I'm missing something in what you meant there.

As for installations, last year the problems with installations were mostly due to not being able to get stoves in a timely manner, so installations had to be pushed back. I think this year, if the dealer has the stove in stock, or you order the stove over the internet and the receive it, then the installation should happen on or very close to whatever date you agree upon with the installer.