Harman P38. . .Lots of Questions

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juliez

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Apr 6, 2012
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We are buying a house currently that has an oil furnace. Due to the rising cost of oil, we are thinking of putting a Harman P38 in the family room.We have lots of questions, as we are very new to this:

1. The MSRP on the Harman site says approx. $2300. Is this a typical price from a dealer?

2. We are planning to have it professionally installed. Any ideas on what that runs as far as cost (we are in northeast PA)?

3. What accessories will we NEED, and how much do these cost? What extra accessories should we consider and what is the cost?

4. My husband was thinking of having the stove installed about 12 inches off the floor since it is so small. Is this a good idea?

5. Those of you with young children, is there something you use to keep your child away from the Harman stove?

Any other opinions/help would be welcome! Thank you so much!
 
I have a P38, it is a great stove.

1. $2300 is probably what they sell for new. I bought mine used for $500. Have seen others for $700 and $1000 used. I have also seen them for $1500 used.

2. Installed pipe and everything, $550 to $700, all parts included.

3. You shouldn't need any accessories. Maybe if you want to have your unit hold more pellets, you could buy an extension for your pellet bin, @$160. You may want to consider moving up to the P 43, which is the same as your P 38 but has an automatic ignition. Maybe $300 difference.

4. I'm not sure installing 12 inches off the floor makes sense. I don't know of many on this forum that have done that.

5. My children haven't been young for a long long time. I will let someone else answer that. I have seen people put a barrier or fence around the stove. Kids will understand hot pretty quick.


Tom C.
 
I have a P38, it is a great stove.

1. $2300 is probably what they sell for new. I bought mine used for $500. Have seen others for $700 and $1000 used. I have also seen them for $1500 used.

2. Installed pipe and everything, $550 to $700, all parts included.

3. You shouldn't need any accessories. Maybe if you want to have your unit hold more pellets, you could buy an extension for your pellet bin, @$160. You may want to consider moving up to the P 43, which is the same as your P 38 but has an automatic ignition. Maybe $300 difference.

4. I'm not sure installing 12 inches off the floor makes sense. I don't know of many on this forum that have done that.

5. My children haven't been young for a long long time. I will let someone else answer that. I have seen people put a barrier or fence around the stove. Kids will understand hot pretty quick.


Tom C.

The P-38 is a great stove. Looks like a toilet bowl but runs like a charm. Hopefully the newer ones are auto ignition.
Mine is a 2004 but I don`t mind the manual ignition as it takes less than 30 seconds and puts out heat faster from a cold start. Auto ignition might save fuel though.
 
We own a p61a and have. 3 year old son. He is very curious, but the day we got the stove I started it up and let it warm up a bit. Before it got really I hot I called him over and explained the dangers and had him touch the sides. He understands and has been really good about staying away from it. No fence or gate around it either.
 
I just had a p43 installed, stove was list price, had $4000.00 in whole package with a ton of pellets. I also wanted to lift my stove, we were going with a 12" riser and after some careful measurements I figured 12 would be to high and went with 10" instead, my measurements may have not been so precise and I should have stuck with the 12". I did it because I have some health issues and it will making cleaning it easier.

I do notice my floor and knee level area is cooler and this probably would not have been the case had it been closer to the floor.

I would go with the p43 it is the same stove as the p38 but with auto ignite, so you can use the thermostat on the stove and it will cycle on and off when the temps are not that cold.

Some pics of mine here.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...-is-to-damn-hot-to-use-it.84832/#post-1091111
 
If the stove with the ignighter is within your budget I highly recommend it. We use and have had no complaints with a kidco hearth gate. You can check them out at kidco.com. Shop around online, I found quite a price variance in this gate. If I remember correctly it was around 129.00. I saw other places online around 160 and our local stove shop had the same thing for 234.
 
I purchased a new P38 in Dec 2010. The price of 2300 seems close, usually you can get some off that, also sometimes Harman has a coupon for $100 or 200 off on their web site, or get a free ton of pellets.. Have them do a pre burn on the unit. . If I had it to do over I'd go with the P43, auto ignite and room temp. Add on 100's for piping, install, and floor protector. Adds up pretty quick, maybe $1000 for install depending on type.. Have you looked or "listened" to any other stoves??
 
I have 2 of these stoves and I'm 100% satisfied with both. If you choose a new P38 it'll have the new style control board with room and stove temp settings. While others swear by it, I've not once wished I had auto ignite. If you're using the stove as your primary heat source you're gonna turn it on and leave it on, with the exception of clean out time. IMO, the stove is stupid easy to light and takes at most 2 minutes depending on your method. Auto ignite is not a particularly expensive option but it does introduce an expendable part to the stove that will require replacement at some point. While the 2 burning mode control panel comes standard on the new P38, if it was an option along side "auto ignite" I'd choose the dual mode hands down.

I paid less than the MSRP and as gfreek stated, there are discounts to be had. Installation labor and delivery was $300 and parts were $330. Mine is a corner installation with the Harman OAK. You'll need some sort of hearth pad which will range from $40-$400.

"Must have" accessories would, on my list, only include a plastic putty knife and a few brushes used for cleaning. A dedicated shop-vac would be nice as well. The Shop-vac hang-up mini ($20) is what I use but BE 1000% POSITIVE the stove is out and cold before using one.

IMO, you'd be better off keeping the stove near the floor, that way it'll be pulling in and heating the coolest air. Every house is different but it'll likely be the best option to encourage the proper convection currents.
 
I have a p38 and I love it. Only thing you "need" is a small propane torch to light the pellets instead of that overpriced and sometimes frustrating gel.
 
We are buying a house currently that has an oil furnace. Due to the rising cost of oil, we are thinking of putting a Harman P38 in the family room.We have lots of questions, as we are very new to this:

1. The MSRP on the Harman site says approx. $2300. Is this a typical price from a dealer?

2. We are planning to have it professionally installed. Any ideas on what that runs as far as cost (we are in northeast PA)?

3. What accessories will we NEED, and how much do these cost? What extra accessories should we consider and what is the cost?

4. My husband was thinking of having the stove installed about 12 inches off the floor since it is so small. Is this a good idea?

5. Those of you with young children, is there something you use to keep your child away from the Harman stove?

Any other opinions/help would be welcome! Thank you so much!
 
I've had both the P-38 and P-43. $2300 is the pricing here in Cincinnati for the P-38. Add $400 for the P-43.
 
I priced one last year in NH, it was $2700 also for the P 43. I hope "shtrdave" didn't pay $4000 like he mentions.

Tom C.
 
Thank you for all the helpful responses. One more question. We are buying a 1600 square foot home (where we will be installing the pellet stove). The furnace is oil (which we want to NOT use as much as possible, due to the cost of oil right now). How many pellets would you think we should purchase for a fall/winter season (in Pennsylvania)?? We like to keep the house around 73 degrees (average).
 
good rule of thumb for pellets is about 1 ton for every 500 sq.ft you want to heat (thats exclusively with pellets)...so guesstimate about 3-3.5 tons.
 
I priced one last year in NH, it was $2700 also for the P 43. I hope "shtrdave" didn't pay $4000 like he mentions.

Tom C.

The $4000.00 was for the whole deal, delivered, installed and a ton of pellets.
 
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