Harman P35i vs Quadra Fire CB 1200i

[newhomedude]

Hey Everyone. I know you've seen this before, but I wanted to tap into the deep wisdom of this community myself.

I recently bought a ranch-style home that is 1300 square feet on one level. We live in Maine, so winters are cold. We have an oil boiler with baseboards, and the bedrooms at the far end of the house are the warmest ones with the oil engaged. In our living room, which is opposite the bedrooms, is a fireplace, where I want to put a pellet stove insert to heat the living room and kitchen / dining area during the day. I'm currently torn between the Harman p35i because of the higher efficiency and good reputation and the Quadra Fire Classic Bay 1200i because of the higher BTUs it's supposedly capable of producing vs the Harman.

To note: The house was built in '61 and while I'm planning to add insulation in the attic, like many houses in New England, it's not up to 21st century standards. It will be closer in the next few months but not perfect.

Which of these pellet stoves would you choose, given the situation? Should I look at something else? What advice can you offer me?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Ssyko]

either stove would serve you well. I still have and run my 2001 cb1200 replaced 1 convection blower and 2 igniters in 19 yrs.

 

[SidecarFlip]

One item that people tend to overlook and that is, they buy a box that plugs into a wall outlet and expect it to heat their entire home and it never works out the way they think because no pellet or biomass stove will uniformly heat an entire home, they have to be used in conjunction with your central furnace, especially when it gets frigid outside. No biomass stove is capable of the BTU output to provide heat for an entire dwelling. In reality they are space heaters.

If your expectations are for a biomass stove to be a primary heat source 100% of the time, you'll be disappointed, don't play that way.

 

[SidecarFlip]

20 here this morning and the biomass stove is cooking away and the central furnace is cycling too. About once every hour or so. Keeping the RH up as well.

 

[newhomedude]

One item that people tend to overlook and that is, they buy a box that plugs into a wall outlet and expect it to heat their entire home and it never works out the way they think because no pellet or biomass stove will uniformly heat an entire home, they have to be used in conjunction with your central furnace, especially when it gets frigid outside. No biomass stove is capable of the BTU output to provide heat for an entire dwelling. In reality they are space heaters.

If your expectations are for a biomass stove to be a primary heat source 100% of the time, you'll be disappointed, don't play that way.

I agree with your assessment, and I'm not expecting it to replace the oil boiler. The pellet stove will be there to heat the living spaces during the day with some oil as needed, and the oil will be there to take the "bite" off the bedrooms at night / in the early mornings.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Bedroom 'bite' for us is an electric blanket and cuddling............... Nothing beats companionship in bed.