HELP US PICK, Mt. vernon or Harmen acc.

[chipraynor]

We have finally choice to go witha pellet stove over a wood burning stove.

Some background, i have a large area on the first floor that has a masonery fireplace. I'm adding a 2nd floor to the home so, i was looking at adding a class a pipe to continue the chimeny, it got $$$ when i could get a pellet stove for the same heat.

So that being said, I like the Mt. vernon from Quad...it's very quite, looks greats can't find any real neg. only the price.
she likes the harmon acc. for no real reason. just the look.

maybe i'm missing something, but can you guys out there with more experience tell me which one is better for heating 2500-3000 open floor plan, and over all maintance. the Mt. vernon was 600 more then the harmon.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

They're both good brands and large stoves that should heat that area. I would choose by which one is more affordable or looks better in your house.

 

[rona]

Mt Vernon needs igniter replacement fairly often as it has to reignite every time it dumps the pot. Some people get by with one every three years but some people need two each heating season. The remote control which is also the thermostat can be troublesome. It also has a small ash container compared to other stoves. If you are burning corn and are running it at full heating capacity the ash container will have to be dumped both morning and night.
One last thing is every-time it needs to dump the pot it has to take time to cool off and let the fire go out before it dumps. Then it takes time to get refueled and ignite and get back up to speed. In the mean time your house is cooling off. This isn't very important if you have a smaller house but if you are expecting to use 60,000 btu and need it you will be disappointed.
I had a Harman PC45 that was rated at 45,000 btu and replaced it with the Mt Vernon expecting 60,000 because the Harman was to small. The house was colder with the AE then the PC45 and the reason was it was either ramping up to the rated btu or slowing down in order to dump the pot.
They probably will do better burning pellets then corn but consider this- If you add a kit costing 25.00 to a Harman PC45 you will get a continuous 50,000btu of heat and the stove can burn a ton of pellets without stopping to empty the ash bucket.
I have used a Mt Vernon one season, a Harman PC45 for two seasons and two Bixbys for 5 years and am not a salesperson for any brand but have the above experience that I chose to share.

 

[chipraynor]

thatnks for the info...this exactly what im looking for..keep them coming

 

[DexterDay]

Welcome to the Forum. There is a lot of info on here. A simple search can turn up a million answers.....

Mt. Vernon does have a lot of moving parts. More mechanical parts, mean more failure. I got 3 yrs out of my ignitor in my Quad CB 1200. But it uses a different ignitor. I love Quads, but if given the choice between a Mt. Vernon or a Harman P-61 or P-68???? I will take the Harman all day long. If its between a Quad CB 1200 and a Haman P-43 (Fill in the blank with any harman with close BTU's/ Advance,etc) I would choose the Quad. Quad makes a good product. But like rona stated above, the "auto-clean" function, or the dumping and cleaning of the pot/ is just something else that many people have had problems with. You can only use the Quad thermostat with the Mt. Vernon and the overall unit itself, is Pricey. Do some shopping and do a search on this Forum for the Mt. Vernon and the Harman you are looking to buy (which exact model are you looking at?). Then make a solid decision afterward. Again I love Quads( CB 1200, Santa Fe, Castile), just not the Mt. Vernon.

Good luck and keep us updated..

P.S.-- I have heated almost 2,200 sq ft on its Lowest setting with my CB 1200, for 3 years. Its about 47,000 BTU's... If its open and you run it on Low 24/7, you don't need a huge stove. I have burned 4 tons plus or minus over the last 3 years.... Again, go with what you like. You are the one that must look at it every day.

 

[rona]

One other thing that should be mentioned is where are you located, your winter temp extremes. I am from Minn where we get -30 once in a while and -20 fairly often so we need serious heat.
When you make your choice make sure you buy enough BTU's to heat your house. The prettiest stove I owned wouldn't keep the house warm so I wouldn't put looks at the top of the list.

 

[CJ-SR4ever]

IMO the Harman Accentra will not be big enough to heat your 2500-3000 sq ft. You will need something in the range from 60,000 to 70,000 BTUs to be able to heat that big of a space. I would suggest looking at the Harman P-68 or the Enviro Maxx / Maxx-M ( if you dont mind the plain look of the Maxx )