Home Depot Stoves

[rleshane]

I just bought a new Harman which I like. My sister has now caught the pellet stove bug and would like to buy one, but she is tight on cash. I know the harmans are a bit pricey, but seem to be good stoves. Has anyone bought a stove at places like Home Depot or Lowes that can share their experience. Are they decent stoves? I see on Home Depot's web site that they carry the "Englander" brand. Ok stove? I dont' want her to buy a piece of junk, but don't want her to spend any more than she has to for a reliable stove. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Also, she has an older home. Should she get a model that is rated for more square footage than the manufacturer recommends?

Thanks!

 

[MrWinkey]

Englander is what Home Depo sells and they are a nice stove for the $$$.

One of my co-workers has one and is very pleased with it. It throws good heat and englander support is great.

 

[Metal]

If your sister is "tight on cash" do her a favor and run the cost calculator to ensure a pellet stove is in her best interests, she may be ahead spending the extra cash on more insulation, new windows, etc.

 

[rleshane]

If your sister is "tight on cash" do her a favor and run the cost calculator to ensure a pellet stove is in her best interests, she may be ahead spending the extra cash on more insulation, new windows, etc.

Excellent point Metal. I know her home has decent windows (replaced in the last 10 years), but im not sure about the insullation. An energy audit as the first step certainly makes sense.

 

[Gooserider]

I see very few complaints about Englander stoves on here, and the ones that do show up get taken care of QUICKLY - Two of our regular posters here (Mike and Corie) are Englander employees, with the powers to make things happen if needed. They do a very professional job of taking care of issues that come up here.

That said, Englander is a "self service" type stove - their market plan is to sell a reasonably priced product through the mass merchanisers such as Lowes, HD, etc (and many smaller hardware type stores as well) targeted at the DIY market. They don't have fancy dealers with factory trained service techs and so forth, as that is a different market. The Englander customer has to be reasonably competent at home repair type stuff, Englander will send you parts and walk you through the repair process, but you need to turn the screwdriver yourself. If this is fine with you, then I think the Englander model is great, you probably get faster service and it certainly saves money. (and Englander designs their stoves to be "home tech" friendly, so they may be easier to work on than other brands)

OTOH if you aren't sure which end of a screwdriver to hold, then Englander is probably not a good match for you, go for one of the fancy full service dealer brands like Harman, where you can get a dealer to come do your service work for you.

Not saying either approach is better or worse, just that you need to pick the right one for your personality / talents.

Gooserider

 

[elkimmeg]

Ever look at a Cheap Charlie pellet stove another one sold and hardware chains for about $1500

 

[rleshane]

Thanks all for your posts. Very informative and just the thoughts and recommendations I was after. I'm starting to wish I had bought an Englander stove as I very much enjoy fixing stuff myself whenever possible. My sister should be fine with an Englander as she is very much a DIY kind of gal (and my dad and I help her out whenver needed). I went with the Harman mainly because my wife found the "look" she was after in the Harman Accentra. Does Englander make anything that doesn't look like the typical big black box? My home depot has 3 different Englander models, but they all have the same big black box look.

Thanks again all!

 

[babalu87]

At $250/ton and 85% efficiency pellets Cost per million BTU=$17.93
At $2.90/gallon (and going up) Fuel oil at 85% efficiency Cost per million BTU=$24.72

I know pellets arent cheap but they are still cheaper than oil at the current rates. Of course buying the appliance is a big expense but at least it is a step in the right direction (getting away from oil)

 

[Corie]

Does Englander make anything that doesn't look like the typical big black box? My home depot has 3 different Englander models, but they all have the same big black box look.

I know, I know. I'm working on it!

 

[Rick]

My first stove was an Englander. It easily paid for itself in the first year. The few problems I had with it were quickly taken care of by Englander.

 

[thephotohound]

At $250/ton and 85% efficiency pellets Cost per million BTU=$17.93
At $2.90/gallon (and going up) Fuel oil at 85% efficiency Cost per million BTU=$24.72

I know pellets arent cheap but they are still cheaper than oil at the current rates. Of course buying the appliance is a big expense but at least it is a step in the right direction (getting away from oil)

Babalu is right. Another comfort in heating with wood, pellets, corn, coal, etc, is that once you have your supply for the winter, there is no panic in whether or not prices will escalate throughout the heating season, like there is with oil, gas, or electric. I have never been up at night worrying how the overnight markets affected my ability to keep my family warm.

 

[tac592]

For what it's worth...I had a bad experience with an Englander Pellet stove. I bought it 3 years ago, so perhaps they have changed the design. The one I purchased had 2 augers; one that turned intermittently to drop pellets into another feed auger that turned constantly and dropped pellets into a firebox. I went through 2 auger motors and later discovered that I had to clean out the feed tube every 72 hours with a sharp instrument to keep the buildup at the end of the feed tube from impinging on the auger and causing annoying squeeling noises to start and then later on motor failure due to the extra stress. I tried everything....external air, internal air, 5 different types of pellets, etc with no luck. The local store ended up taking it back from me and making it right, commenting that I wasn't the first unsatisfied customer with this unit.

Perhaps they have moved the auger further up from the burn area to alleviate the problem of buildup...but I'd be cautious. In the long run I wish I'd have spent the extra cash on a Harmon or equivalent.....but again...that was 3 seasons ago......as I said- perhaps they've modified some designs.

 

[seaken]

I have never come across a completely trouble-free pellet stove. Make sure your sister understands that pellet stoves need attention. Regardless of where and what she buys it will require some personal care. In my experience, the level of personal care changes with the price of the stove. In general, if she needs to spend the very least amount she will end up with a stove that requires more personal care and attention. But even Harman, known for more advanced features that require less active personal attention, supplies some lower cost models. Check out the P38 or P61. They are not as fancy but they still handle a wider range of fuel than most of the other lower cost models.

 

[rleshane]

I know, I know. I'm working on it!

ROFL. Sorry Corie. I'm new to the board. Sounds like I'm not the first to make the comment about Englanders selection of styles.

 

[rleshane]

At $250/ton and 85% efficiency pellets Cost per million BTU=$17.93
At $2.90/gallon (and going up) Fuel oil at 85% efficiency Cost per million BTU=$24.72

I know pellets arent cheap but they are still cheaper than oil at the current rates. Of course buying the appliance is a big expense but at least it is a step in the right direction (getting away from oil)

Babalu is right. Another comfort in heating with wood, pellets, corn, coal, etc, is that once you have your supply for the winter, there is no panic in whether or not prices will escalate throughout the heating season, like there is with oil, gas, or electric. I have never been up at night worrying how the overnight markets affected my ability to keep my family warm.

The above quotes are basically why I got a pellet stove. Even if oil was equally affordable compared to pellets (which it's not), I know I for one would rather sit next to a warm pellet stove in the living room than a smelly oil furnace in the basement. There's just something satisfying about it (which I suppose anyone who burns anything in their living room can relate to). I've never been accused of being a tree hugger (I've never even thought about it much in the past), but knowing I'm using a renewable source of energy is just a nice extra on top.

 

[Xena]

RonL, most of the people who will tell you that
a pellet stove won't save you money, have never
had a pellet stove. I've done the math comparing
what I've paid for oil in the past to heat this house,
and what I'm spending now on pellets to keep the
same house at the same temps. It's a good
chunk of change less.

That said, from what I've read here I'd buy an Englander in a heartbeat if I
needed another stove. The stoves seem to work well and the support...well,
two guys from ESW are here on the forum almost every day. Imo the
support from them is unbeatable.

 

[elkimmeg]

LEt me say this. A pellet stove is part of the solution. It burn renewable bio fuel and lessens dependencies on foreign imported fossil fuel,

whether it makes economic sense or not. At this point ,where home heating oil is at $3 per gallon, pellets could be a cost savings

 

[swestall]

And, with the present world oil price set to break the $100/barrel mark you can bet that next year will be even harder. We are going to reach a price sensitivity just like in the 70's and MANY folks are going to turn to alternative energy just to keep even.

 

[KeithO]

Ron, your proximity to a pellet fuel factory is key when thinking about a pellet stove. Just remember, if oil goes up, pellet processing cost goes up, transport cost / distribution goes up all of which is inflationary. I have noticed that the east coat has a lot of oil furnaces (very few in the midwest). I think those with oil furnaces are in the same boat as those on propane. They are both expensive fuels unless you enter into a year long contract which means you are committing to a price that may be higher or lower than curent pricing - so it is a gamble.

I am on natural gas, so it is a really inexpensive fuel by comparison, but of course our winters are fairly cold and quite long, so it adds up. This year, after trying corn last year, I went to a straight wood stove and since I had it planned, I scrounged firewood all year which cost me nothing. This winter alone I should recover about 75% of the installed cost of the stove in utility savings and from next year out it is all gravy. The corn stove stands idle in the corner as I write, since it is more expensive to run presently than natural gas. The farmers are harvesting corn right now and if the price improves this year (might not due to the drought) I may run it in our finished basement. I may also sell it and get a small woodstove for the basement, I like the independance of having heat even if we lose utility power after ice storms etc.

The type of stove is a very personal decision, but I would always urge prospective pellet stove buyers to consider a regular wood stove as an alternative.

 

[Equalizer700]

I just bought and installed my 2nd Englander stove from Home Depot. The first one paid for itself in the first year, and the 2nd one will too. I have had the first one for three years and the only maintenance I did was the normal cleaning per the manual. I lost a part of the 2nd one before it was even installed (don't ask!) and Englander Service was quick to ship it. Great stoves, plenty of heat, economical to operate, no problems whatsoever.

Pellets at my local Home Depot are only $235 a ton this year...down 20% from last year, even with oil skyrocketing. 5 or 5 1/2 tons will do my 5000 square foot house for the whole New England winter. Oil was $2000 last year, propane was another $2000 before I got the first stove. So my $4000 oil/propane bill is now $1300 for pellets. These stoves are saving me big bucks!

 

[mgambuzza]

...and likely you are considerably warmer with the pellet stoves than with the other heating devices you described earlier - and still saving money!

I live in a 100yr old home, and while running two pellet stoves, I still save hundreds per month and I am very comfortable vs the 90% efficient gas furnace that I replaced two years ago and living in sweatshirts and sweaters.

 

[Equalizer700]

You bet! I was keeping the house at 58 at night and 65 in the daytime...it's now a comfortable 70 with both stoves on low. It's still over freezing outside, but even when it's zero outside it will be comfortable inside.

 

[95yj]

keeps me at 78 all day/night, can get close to 2 days out of it on one load, i have an old englander bottom feed stove. so i can mix 50% corn

corn is $160/ton
pellets here are $199/ton