Harman p35i vs Harman Accentra insert?

[Newbie2012]

Hi everyone!

I was hoping for some help deciding between a P35i and an Accentra.. I have a 1955 ranch, fireplace is in the middle of the house in living room. 1222sq ft upstairs..partial finished basement downstairs...looking to mainly use the pellet stove for supplemental heating... have oil heat now. 2 bedrooms at one end of the house, family room/tv room at the other end, kitchen is on the other side of fireplace...We will have a ceiling fan in the living room. newer windows... slight drafts in each though..
My concern is will the p35i be enough to heat the one floor? it's rated 0-35,000 btu..up to 1520 sq ft heating capacity but in zone 2 (Mass) 925 sq ft., the accentra is 42,000 btu up to 2200 sq ft. capacity.. I tend to think that I'd be better off going bigger with the accentra, however I don't want to have as stove that is working to heat a larger area than need be. Most dealers have said we'd be fine with the p35i... but I've had one say it wouldn't.. Any help would be appreciated... have never had a pellet stove before. Thanks!

 

[Trickyrick]

You can see where I lean by my signature but I heat 1,900 sq feet just fine with the accentra. I will say this, on really really cold nights with any wind above 20 MPH (temp with windchill bellow about -5) the accentra struggles to keep up and I have a VERY well insulated home. With the accentra you get the better looks (my opinion) and you will have the best chance of setting it up on a thermostat and NOT running the oil system.

Also remember you have to clean your stove. Really clean it once a week perhaps once every other week.

I think it the P35i will supliment a good portion of your heating bill but it will not eliminate the use of the dinoburner.

 

[fmsm]

I have a front to back split with an addition on the back. About 1500 sq feet. The room that my insert is in has a cathedral ceiling that rolls the heat into the upstairs rooms. My P35i does the job easily!

 

[subsailor]

Personally I'd rather have too much stove than not enough. It's a lot easier on the stove running at medium that cranking for all it's worth.

 

[movemaine]

Truth is, with a pellet stove always go for more stove than the square footage assessment. It's better to be able to heat the space easier, than to have the stove always working at it's max (think maintenance and replacement parts).

That being said, look at the post in my signature below.

I have a Harman Accentra insert and it heats 90% of my house - my house is 2400 sq ft, tri-level, with the stove on the lowest level. My home doesn't have a natural flow (like a colonial, cape, etc.) where the top floor is directly over the next lowest floor, so for the Harman to reach all of those areas (especially the back bedrooms) is a lot better than I initially thought it would do. I should also mention that I'm not running any fans, nor do I have vents from the lower level to the bedroom level.

Additionally, I burn high quality pellets - no polluting my stove with cheap ashy pellets

 

[mrjohneel]

I have a P35i in the centrally located fireplace of my two-story house. It did well heating my house last winter (I did not use my oil furnance except for hot water) but let's face it, it was the easiest winter in Massachusetts in recent memory. I like my stove but if I had to do it again? I'd get the Accentra. I agree with movemaine and subsailor -- get the bigger stove as opposed to running the smaller stove full tilt. Good luck!

 

[Newbie2012]

Thank you everybody for your input and replies!
. I actually sent this question to 3-4 dealers and received a different response from each and every one of them...I sent a written drawing of our house to one of the dealers.. his response was this:
Looking at the layout of your house the p35i would fit in your fireplace, but we don't recommend it only because the way these stoves work best is they have to face the majority of the area your trying to heat. We feel that if you put one in the fireplace it's gonna be real hard to move the air around. The best spot would be the upper corner of your family room.
This totally dumbfounds me since we've been looking for inserts all along..and never heard this before.. we don't really have a good location to do a freestanding stove either.

I'm leaning towards the Accentra, I've always been the type to buy the best I can get so I don't have to doubleback later...Now to narrow down a dealer to get this done!

 

[smwilliamson]

look at it this way, very few stoves ever run on full tilt . the accentra has been around for a long time but is costly to make. the p35 is much cheaper....since it is only a couple of years young. go with wht is proven. the p35 is newer design and im guessing not all that efficent as there isnt

 

[Newbie2012]

Good point... I couldn't find any reviews on the p35i..

 

[DAKSY]

I'm also of the opinion that bigger is better. You can turn a big unit down if you need to, but you can't get any more heat out of the smaller unit. Look at it this way, too. If you were to choose between, say, a Cadillac & a Chevy Vega & you wanted to drive around at 65 - 70 all the time, which would be the better choice? The Caddy can also cruise at 45 & still give you the comfort you need, but the Vega will beat itself to death trying to maintain a constant 65 - 70... It just wasn't built to do that. Another BIG difference between the two Harman's is that the Accentra Insert has the patented Harman "Accordion" Heat Exchanger, the P35I does not. That SHOULD mean the the Accentra will give you more bang for the buck as far as efficiency goes...

 

[Lousyweather]

efficiency ratings are roughly the same......7k btu/hr difference in the two.......the P35i is lighter, and has a nifty roller system which makes it easier to pull out and clean as well. That being said, like Daksy, I also am a bigger is better guy, within reason.....dont forget, the p35i is also a MUCH cheaper unit as well (roughly a difference of $800 or so), but that difference is partially mitigated by the current harman promo of $300 for the Accentra Insert and $100 for the p35i (till 9/16, I think).

I have a feeling the P35i may be slightly more forgiving from a person-who-doesnt-clean-well standpoint, given its architecture......that being said, the Accentra Insert is gonna change in the next year or so.....in a few ways, just cant tell ya how yet...they are secrets!

 

[movemaine]

I find the Accentra easy to clean. It's got a nice large opening for getting at things.

 

[bugize]

Well,a couple years ago i had the same dilema...I went with the Accentra..its in my living room,so the looks had something to do with it.
I am in Maine...the more btu's had something to do with it.
I wanted the better,at the time,ease of cleaning.
I also didnt want to kick myself for not spending the xtra 800$ after it was all hooked up...LOL