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I can't really speak to the overall build quality yet...but so far I love the design of my P61A. It is much simpler than my St Croix and much easier to clean and maintain. No exaggeration, I spend at least 3 times as much time overall cleaning and maintaining the St Croix as I do the Harman. The Harman is also quieter and the distribution is much more powerful (though it is a larger stove).
Unfortunately the Harman will never make it into our main living space as it is not attractive enough for my wife. The St Croix is a very nice looking stove.
mkmh: My wife it was the other way around! She prefers the look of the P61-P68 stoves to most of the others.......
My stove so far has been very reliable. I liked design of the stove and burn pot better than some of the other stoves out there. This is my first pellet stove but it honestly only takes 15-20 minutes once or twice a week to keep it running good. I've let it run for 2 weeks before and it did not have an issue I just prefer to clean it more.
I went with the P-68 Harman because I'm heating a 1800 sqf rancher with it. It can get cold enough here I wanted the most possible heat output.
I was reading that the insert hartman stove is on tracks that make it easier to pull out to clean and serive. is this something that only hartman inserts have??
I did some looking around before I bought my Accentra, and this is what I got:
The good:
Harman seem fairly reliable, and they are common stoves, so parts should be plentifull
both the Accentra stoves and the insert put out a good amount of heat
because of the auger & burn pot design, the Accentra can burn a variety of pellet fuels, and they can deal with over-sized pellets easilly
you have a lot of control over how it burns
It is easy to clean and to do routine maitenance on (no screws that warp & lock from the heat)
the bad:
It is middle of the road in terms of noise. you won't be able to watch tv in the same room when it is running with the distribution blower on medium or high.
The insert ashpan needs to be emptied 2x a week (the stove ashpan is more than 4 times as big)
Yeah, in fairness, my P61 is not very "fancied up". I bought it used, and it has the brass trim which I have not really tried to shine up or anything. With a fresh coat of paint and some trim accessories I could probably win her over. However, the St Croix has the traditional cast iron looks which she wanted. If that stove ever lets us down I may make a pitch to move the harman up into it's place.