Harman Vs Ravelli?

[Swed]

So today I currently have an Englander stove and am looking for something a bit better. (Schedules, thermometer, ash bins, all that good stuff).

I just went and looked at the Harman Allure50... its nice, has all the bells and whistles but its 4k (dealer is not discounting) and 500 for delivery and hookup to existing line, plus taxes. Its nice.. but not sure if its 4700k nice when all is said and done.

I notice Ravelli makes a somewhat similar stove.The Holly V, RV100, RV120

Are the brands truly comparable? I believe the Ravelli is significantly less expensive. Thanks for any feedback from owners.

Chris

 

[rich2500]

Do you have a local Ravelli dealer, If so you might want to go get pricing because I think your gonna find the difference is only around 2-3 hundred bucks unless the dealer is willing to deal.If it comes down to the difference of 2-3 hundred I would spring for the Allure.

 

[Swed]

You are absolutely right. Just leaving a dealer and the rv100 is 3500 and change. I thought they were much less for some reason. About 400 less, not a huge difference. Except the other dealer wants to charge 500 for delivery on the Harman which is insane when they are less than 2 miles away. I guess the Harman it is. Oh one thing worth mentioning the Ravelli dealer said parts are not hard to get at all. She said there is one parts dealer in NY but they are fully stocked and more dealers are coming to the table

 

[Pelleting In NJ]

My opinion is that the Ravelli is a better made stove, with better quality motors. But, parts and dealer support is iffy compared with a Harman. I have had no issue buying parts, and I don't care about dealers, as I do my own repair and maintenance. Parts actually might be cheaper for the Ravelli, for example a new ignitor is $50, burn-pot is $90, control board is $165. The combustion and room blower motors are more expensive ($300 to $500), but that's because of the better quality (German made EB Pabst motors with ball bearings).

 

[rich2500]

No way I would give them 500 bucks to haul the stove 2 miles, dont you have a vehicle or a friend with a truck or something that you can pick it up too save 500 bucks.

 

[Swed]

Oh I wont. I am heading to a different dealer this week, out of principal.

 

[rich2500]

My opinion is that the Ravelli is a better made stove, with better quality motors. But, parts and dealer support is iffy compared with a Harman. I have had no issue buying parts, and I don't care about dealers, as I do my own repair and maintenance. Parts actually might be cheaper for the Ravelli, for example a new ignitor is $50, burn-pot is $90, control board is $165. The combustion and room blower motors are more expensive ($300 to $500), but that's because of the better quality (German made EB Pabst motors with ball bearings).

I agree, only reason I recommended the Allure is because of parts availability

 

[jread23]

We recently bought an allure. I was familiar with Harmans since we previously had an 'Advance'. The internals on the Allure are the same as the Advance, for the most part, but arranged a bit differently. My familiarity, along with the availability of parts and the fact the dealer converted the $100 coupon available on the Harman site to a 10% off coupon were the deciding factors for me. Initially I was going to have it delivered to the hearth for $150 and install it myself (dealer is about 1 mile from my house). Instead i rented a truck for $19.99 from home depot along with a pallet jack. Dealer loaded it onto the truck for free, used a couple of tie downs and drove home. I had 2 people at my house to help unload it and had the truck back to home depot in time.

I've had the Allure for a couple of weeks now. It does a great job heating the house and is super quiet and we really like the scheduling feature. I'm sure the Ravelli would be just as good at heating and just as quiet.

 

[bags]

Harman parts are readily available about anywhere and all over online. They are very dependable stoves and require minimal cleaning comparatively speaking. Compare ash pans and hopper size because those are important.

Harman are assembled with top notch robust parts that last a very long time too. I'd pick a Harman hands down but that is me and my situation. No Ravelli dealers around and I'm not familiar with their stoves. Harman are great quality stoves and everyone that has them likes theirs.

Maybe some Ravelli owners will chime in. I see Rich has already. It's really personal preference and what works for the individual and the deal you get. Saving a few hundred bucks on a major purchase is not money well saved in my thought. Kind of like buying a more expensive new car and doing without AC and power windows to save a nickel.

$500 bucks is a bit steep for just a delivery. Does that include hooking the stove up? Installation is simple and easy if you are handy and have a few tools.

 

[Lake Girl]

My thought on the Ravelli is the fact that many dealers do not appear to learn the software parameters(goes for the Piazzettas too). I'm thinking the Allure may fall into the same problems with the digital screen and programmable features.

The only fault I have found with the Ravelli (Ecoteck is the predecessor) is the small ash pan size and the openings on the top majolica to allow heat to escape the body of the stove (pellets have escaped when loading the hopper). The beauty of the majolica is what sold us and we can live with the minor annoyances.

For the Elena Air model, it is capable of distributing heat to other areas of the house through the blower under the firebox... that is the reason for the small ash pan on this model. The second blower, when used, does make it louder. Unfortunately, they no longer seem to carry this model or it's under a different name/number.

I have looked at the Harmans and found many of them wanting in looks. Since the stove is a prominent feature in our living room, we didn't want just a squat black box. The Allure is closer in looks to the Ravellis... not sure whether I would pay the extra money for them though.

Where are the Allures made?

Just looked for the manual on the website and not there... wanted the dimensions on the ash pan of the Allure. Appears to hold more pellets than the Ravelli. Approx. 60 vs. 92 lbs.

 

[jread23]

The ash pan on the allure is about 12" long by 7" wide by 8" deep. With the 10% discount given to us by the dealer, the price of the allure was $59 higher than the Ravelli 100 and a couple hundred less than the Ravelli 120.

 

[Lake Girl]

The ash pan on the allure is about 12" long by 7" wide by 8" deep. With the 10% discount given to us by the dealer, the price of the allure was $59 higher than the Ravelli 100 and a couple hundred less than the Ravelli 120.

Dealers being what they are, it is always best to check local pricing...
Ash pan is bigger on the Allure compared to my Elena. Not sure what sizing is like on the newer Ravellis.

 

[rich2500]

The RV 100 has a pretty good sized ashpan
http://usa.ravelligroup.it/prod/46-rv100.php

 

[Swed]

Well happy to say today I picked up the Allure in the Gloss black with glass door, total price delivered (he will bring the stove in the house, place it where it is going, just wont connect the pipe) is an even 4k. (list price is 4400 with the upgrades) . It may not be a full 10% off but I think its a good deal and the dealer couldn't of been a nicer guy... definitely check around before buying. We were talking about sales volume (it is very low for pellet stoves) and about dealers... he knows about some of the crazy dealers out there.... i.e the one right by my house who I refuse to deal with.

 

[Lake Girl]

Is there still a tax credit?

PS Guess I should have congratulated you too Pics or it didn't happen!

 

[rich2500]

Congrats and enjoy

 

[bags]

$4 K and delivered for a new Harman you did fine. Get it hooked up, fire it up, and snap some pics to post up. You'll forget all about the money you just shelled out when you get warm. I did and have zero regrets on taking the money beating up front. Well worth it.

Looking at these computerized models makes me think that they are trying to get away from the infamous pot switches that wear over time which is a smart move. Although I prefer simple mechanical stuff for ease of maintenance etc; I can see where a smart phone touch screen deal might have some serious advantages over the knobs. Plus they offer more running options and so forth already built into the units.

Let us know what you think when you get that puppy throwing some heat. It's good you have also had an old pellet stove for some comparison.

 

[Iburnslow]

Congrats on the new stove! I've had a Harman for years and love it!

 

[NorthoftheQuabbin]

This may sound like apples to oranges, but I currently own two Piazzetta stoves that have turned out to be a nightmare. And, I've heard even worse stories about the Ravelli brand from both owners and dealers.

Having said that, now that Harman finally makes a good looking European stove, I'm seriously considering replacing my two Piazzettas.

 

[Swed]

Sorry about the problems you are having. Sorry I took so long to get back to this post as well. I am very, very pleased so far with the Allure. The dealer brought it out to my house I guess it was on the 15th, I quickly realized I needed to redo the wall thimble due to height differences from the Englander I had. Picked up the Harman wall thimble on the 16th, the 17th got started on putting up new plywood on the outside of the house, residing, sheet rocking, etc.

Long story short.. got it hooked up Christmas Eve Day. The Allure is a really great stove so far. The ash bin, the "computer" with the schedule.. the lack of maintenance compared to my previous one. So far I run the stove from about 7:45 am to midnight at about 70-77 degrees. Outside temps have been in the 20s to high 40s. I find it uses 28-30 lbs of pellets to run the stove like this for 16 hours. That is a noticeable difference from the Englander that used about 40-50 lbs of pellets in 16 hours. Also the room never gets to hot. My only complaint, sometimes I smell a bad odor coming out of the heat vent in the front. I am not sure if the burn rate needs a tweak but its not a constant smell. It could be coincidence but usually I scrap the burn pot and it seems to go away. Anyway, the side panels were on backorder, picked them up at the dealer on New Years Eve day, noticed I had originally ordered the stove on Nov 28th so it was a lengthy process. The dealer had for the delay offered up a wireless sensor which he quoted as saying they sell for 159, when I look them up online I see them priced closer to 190 so that was a nice bonus. All said and done, 4000 final total with wireless sensor, the gloss black panels, glass door, delivered, uncrated and put into the spot, but not hooked up (did tell me a better configuration for the pipes so that was nice as well to see a pro offer advice on site about a better hookup without 90 degree bends which apparently "strain" the stove) , the previous stove taking to the curb (where someone was passing by later in the day and so happy to take it and give it a home which I was happy about).

Very happy so far. I would totally recommend this stove based on the limited use (only 1.5 weeks into using it so cant speak of its longevity)

 

[Swed]

Oh the one thing its missing is an App... Wi-Fi hookup to remotely control it. It would be nice to see this with wifi/ smart homes being so common... if my locks, thermostat, lighting, etc can do it, I would like to see Harman get caught up with the times with this.