This is my first year burning pellets. I bought a heatilator ps50 last september and love it. I have done a lot of research on pellet stoves, and with my budget i decided to go with the ps50. I have read many reviews on different stoves on this site, and the heatilator stoves seem to have all good reviews, and mine has been running great. My question is, why spend 3 times as much on a stove that is just as reliable and puts out just as much heat? I have two friends with harmons. Because they are prettier?
heatilator vs. harman
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The PS 50 was what I looked real hard at until I saw the Harman P38+. Unfortunately my wife was with me and liked the Harman better, think of the wood stove look, so that was the end of that..and the dealer is close by, returns my calls, and great in home service..
dlavigne7324
Feeling the Heat
- Dec 30, 2013
- 273
tonyd
Feeling the Heat
Husky
Feeling the Heat
I don't know how long you researched but I spent over a year looking for a stove before deciding on the Harman. It basically come down to this. It's like buying a car. A Chevy or Ford will do the job but if you want top quality and refinement you will go with a Cadillac, BMW, Mercedes or the like. It really comes down to preference and what you are looking for.
Bioburner
Moderator
No daily tending of burn pot with Harman. Room temp probe that keeps the room temperature with a degree or two. Room air fan that's easy and cheap to replace. On idle the stove does not need to run room fan so all you hear is the pellet feed. Haven't seen a Heatilator in MN. Harman has a good resale value. Can buy used and sell it if clean for same or more.
rich2500
Minister of Fire
as long as your happy with your Heatilator what does it matter why other folks buy a Harman. I have a chinese stove that many on here frown upon,but I could care less what others think because I'm very happy with my stove.
Bioburner
Moderator
BE warm, be happy. That's what we are trying to do a bit more cheaply than using other fuels
yeah you are right. I was just curious to hear from the harman owners what they like about them, and why they have the reputation of being the best out there.
F4jock
Minister of Fire
Why? You have a stove you like. The time for debate has, in your case, passed. Enjoy your stove.
give us new guys a break.
good answer. this is what us new guys like to hear. a straight forward answer.
F4jock
Minister of Fire
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
What sold us on the Harman P series stoves was easy cleaning and maintenance, good reputation, several models with different outputs to choose from, burn any pellets on the market and not choke up, two local dealers with tech support if something did happen to whack out on it.. With all that in it's favor it was difficult to look at other models and brands of stoves that may or may not have this solid a reputation. We saved up an extra month and bought the P61A which was in stock at one of the dealers locally, never looked backed. We hear on here all the time about choked up stoves of other manufacture than Harman, extra passages that didn't get cleaned properly etc, some pellet it didn't like. What ever, I don't have that problem, there are no extra passages, it burns anything, nuff said !!
WNYJ2000
New Member
Some people want to pour pellets and push buttons . Some of us like to tinker a bit. I personally like the dumbest stove I can find. My j2000 has 6 feed settings and manual draft adjustment and I love it. No need to reinvent the wheel it's just a pellet stove. If I don't feel like cleaning it that day i just give it a little more air . That's not possible on some of the super smart high dollar stoves . Parts are also a concern I can replace any motor on my stove for under 150 can't be done with some fancy ones.
St_Earl
Minister of Fire
i've used this analogy before, heatilator is to harman as subaru is to range rover.
both are good machines. and there are obvious differences.
i love my subaru and my PS50, and am very happy with both in the dead of winter.
subaru>chevy and ford imo. but that's another discussion
both are good machines. and there are obvious differences.
i love my subaru and my PS50, and am very happy with both in the dead of winter.
subaru>chevy and ford imo. but that's another discussion
F4jock
Minister of Fire
I can tinker with my Harman to my heart's content and have gone 5 weeks between cleanings. Only parts I've replaced in seven years are a 68 buck ignighter and a 35 buck room temp sensor. You do your thing and I'll do mine and we both still like pellet stoves.
Bioburner
Moderator
How many times have we heard that someone has to leave the stove tending to someone else for more than a day or two and can't have a needy stove? Many. Be happy there is a good selection of stoves. What if all there was was Ford? Probably would still have a color option of Black and only manual start that would kick back and break your arm.
St_Earl
Minister of Fire
good post, but i'm just quoting this part because if there's one thing the heatilators don't have, it's extra passages.
four flat walls, 3 baffle plates and a straight, smooth and level exhaust channel.
not even any pesky exchanger tubes to clean. hey, it is a plus to the flat plate design.
i do like the open/flexible auger too. it's almost absolutely trouble/jam free
and i'm making no implications about harman augers by saying that. i have no experience on which to base an opinion.
rcook430
Burning Hunk
Only had mine for a little over a week but my brother in law who has a pellet stove couldnt believe that my Harmon could burn a ton of pellets before I had to empty ashes. He has to empty everyday.
WNYJ2000
New Member
Why would u think that post was aimed at u lol. Was just trying to give the op a few examples of why people buy what they buy . Enjoy ur stove brotha cause I don't care what u burn.
If money wasn't the issue i probably would have bought a harman. I just wanted to make the point for people out there looking at a stove to buy, there are many good stoves to choose from that are thousands of dollars cheaper.
F4jock
Minister of Fire
Ford? Black? I'll take two!!How many times have we heard that someone has to leave the stove tending to someone else for more than a day or two and can't have a needy stove? Many. Be happy there is a good selection of stoves. What if all there was was Ford? Probably would still have a color option of Black and only manual start that would kick back and break your arm.
railfanron
Minister of Fire
I bought a Harman because it's easy to maintain. Heck during dear season I can take off the end cap and shoot a dear through the exhaust. Gotta be careful of the esp though. Seriously it's a fine piece of machinery but there are others that are good also but there are some that aren't so good. Neighbors West point belongs in the latter category.Ron
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