How did you find your stove?

[Speedyrev]

I have a 1300ft cabin style home. I am looking at the possibility of either a Pellet or Direct Vent Gas stove. The main reason for this route is efficiency and being able to vent through the outside wall instead of the roof.

Looking around in my area, I'm having problems finding anything except online from big box stores. I've used the dealer locator on several sites and the only store that is near me had someone in the showroom that knew less than I did, which isn't much. Other locations seem 150+ miles away.

Should I call outside my area and just have one shipped to me? I am pretty handy and do a lot of my own work. Also, if there are any threads with recommended brands, newbie hints, etc, please point me in the right direction.

 

[Mt Bob]

If you are going to buy a lower price/quality stove, get new, with local support. If you are a bit handy, buy a used,higher quality stove. Farm stores and hardware stores sell pellet stoves. Newspaper, craigslist, facebook marketplace. If you cannot maintain and repair it, and there is no local service, go with gas.

 

[bogieb]

My P61a I bought from a dealer about 20 miles from me. They delivered and installed. The P43 I found on CL and set up myself. Most manuals are online - read it before buying a pellet stove to ensure you know the clearances required. The differences can be quite startling - a P-series Harman needs more clearance to combustibles than a lot of other stoves unless you buy get heat shields also (which are not cheap).

Before getting a pellet stove, find out if you have pellets available in your area. If pellets are 150 miles away, then a pellet stove probably isn't feasible/practical. Also, as far south as you seem to be (going by the location in your signature), I'm thinking you wouldn't use it much so if you are already hooked to gas, a gas stove might be better for your needs.

 

[tbear853]

I visited a couple dealers, first was a tractor place that dabbled in Whitfield stoves, was "word of mouth" that sent me there. Second place was a "Fireplaces and Things" store just shopping. It was 1992, I had just finished building my home. "F&T" had this one new Vermont Castings "Reliance" pellet stove on the show floor, he offered it at roughly 50% off MSRP, it was still Summer, I jumped on it. He dropped the pellet stove part of his business shortly after I took possession. He didn't think pellet stoves were gonna sell very good. Both places were roughly 25 miles one way.

 

[tlc1976]

We got one stove dealer nearby but they’re closed when I’m off work. I don’t even know what exactly they sell besides custom work. I just knew I had to do something. The previous owner said he would go through about 3 tanks of propane a season and I couldn’t afford that.

So I went to Family Farm and Home. At the time they had many different stoves in stock. I figured the rated square footage x2 would be good enough to heat my house in the cold north. I also chose one that would fit in the small corner which was the best place for it. I also wanted a simpler stove, because I would be the one working on it. So I chose the 5770 that was on sale for $850 on New Year’s Eve, along with a basic hearth pad that just covered the recommended dimensions. I got the pipe using a good coupon at Lowe’s.

Parts were gonna have to be purchased online in any case. So I bought spare motors, boards, igniters, and snap discs.

I could get pellets from many places around here, and the Kirtland factory was about 10 miles away. Too bad they burned like crap. I started getting Pro Pellets downstate during my visitation travels. Eventually all the stores up here that sold Kirtland switched to Pro Pellets and I’m very satisfied.

 

[mr meener]

My P61a I bought from a dealer about 20 miles from me. They delivered and installed. The P43 I found on CL and set up myself. Most manuals are online - read it before buying a pellet stove to ensure you know the clearances required. The differences can be quite startling - a P-series Harman needs more clearance to combustibles than a lot of other stoves unless you buy get heat shields also (which are not cheap).

Before getting a pellet stove, find out if you have pellets available in your area. If pellets are 150 miles away, then a pellet stove probably isn't feasible/practical. Also, as far south as you seem to be (going by the location in your signature), I'm thinking you wouldn't use it much so if you are already hooked to gas, a gas stove might be better for your needs.

I have a P-43 and I dont see where a lot of clearance is needed.

 

[bogieb]

I have a P-43 and I dont see where a lot of clearance is needed.

16" to each side is not a small amount when you don't have a large house/room. Considering that my old St. Croix Hastings only required 4" to each side, the P43 side clearance is huge.

 

[gfreek]

16" to each side is not a small amount when you don't have a large house/room. Considering that my old St. Croix Hastings only required 4" to each side, the P43 side clearance is huge.

View attachment 310180

Same as my P38+, I have the side shields...

As for how I ended up with my Harman, I read all specs and install manuals for the stoves we were considering, so it would fit in our area.. Drove many miles, looking at stoves, asking questions, etc. Ended up at the Harman dealer 16 miles away, and that finalized the decision.. and 12 years later still chugging along..

 

[Tonyray]

I spent couple weeks every night reading posts and back posts going back quite a few years at this and another pellet stove site.
Almost like a homework assignment.... read all the fixes, complaints, the good bad and the ugly about stoves and pellets...
this lead me to what I thought as the leader being Harmans... from there it was just a matter of finding right BTU size.
narrowed it down to a free standing as Inserts seemed to be more hassle involved in the cleaning aspect and very important, smaller hopper capacity. Harman also had Largest Ashpan with the P series.. 9yrs ago and still working the P61A 24/7 when needed.....

.

 

[Prometeo]

I have a 1300ft cabin style home. I am looking at the possibility of either a Pellet or Direct Vent Gas stove. The main reason for this route is efficiency and being able to vent through the outside wall instead of the roof.

Looking around in my area, I'm having problems finding anything except online from big box stores. I've used the dealer locator on several sites and the only store that is near me had someone in the showroom that knew less than I did, which isn't much. Other locations seem 150+ miles away.

Should I call outside my area and just have one shipped to me? I am pretty handy and do a lot of my own work. Also, if there are any threads with recommended brands, newbie hints, etc, please point me in the right direction.

personally, I first identified the stove brands of my interest, and then through their site, I found the closest dealers. If I hadn't done it this way, I don't think I would have ever found the jotul seller by looking only generically

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

personally, I first identified the stove brands of my interest, and then through their site, I found the closest dealers. If I hadn't done it this way, I don't think I would have ever found the jotul seller by looking only generically

My father in law introduced me to pellet stoves back in the early 90’s. He had two Whitfield stoves so I bought two of them. Years later I wanted to upgrade to a better stove.
A local dealer I was buying pellets from was selling stoves called Country something. She tried to sell me on these stoves and I asked if she had them installed at her house. She said no, she had a Harman stove. She went on to say they are the best pellet stoves but she couldn’t get Harman to approve giving her a dealership as there are three covering the metro Cincinnati area already. I picked the best dealer and purchased two Harman’s from them.

 

[Prometeo]

My father in law introduced me to pellet stoves back in the early 90’s. He had two Whitfield stoves so I bought two of them. Years later I wanted to upgrade to a better stove.
A local dealer I was buying pellets from was selling stoves called Country something. She tried to sell me on these stoves and I asked if she had them installed at her house. She said no, she had a Harman stove. She went on to say they are the best pellet stoves but she couldn’t get Harman to approve giving her a dealership as there are three covering the metro Cincinnati area already. I picked the best dealer and purchased two Harman’s from them.

very nice, But it's not always like this, for obvious reasons!

 

[johneh]

My first introduction to pellet/corn stoves was at the Perth Ontario fall fair.
I sent the next year doing research. I looked at 4 stoves from different companies
It came down to a Harman and an Enviro. really did not like the look of the Harman
looked and still does like a wood stove with a fuel hopper stuck on the back.
I bought an Enviro ef 3 off-the-showroom floor at a 40% price cut because it was a floor model.
I have been using and maintaining the same stove for 21 years. The only thing I ever replaced
was a combustion fan/motor. I still like it better than a Harman My stove is not fancy. It is
a manual stove with few adjustments. Feed rate from 0 to blow you out of the house with heat,
convection fan speed and a slider for combustion air. It does have an igniter which is original to
the stove. Easy to clean, simple to use, and keeps me warm. As close to plug and play I have seen a stove.
Just my Nickles worth.

 

[mtnbiker727]

Can you find wood pellets in Mississippi? I can't imagine there's a huge market down there.

From a purely economic standpoint, natural gas (at least up here in the Northeast) is way cheaper than any other fuel type. Except maybe sometimes coal, but handling coal is wholly different from getting gas piped into your home.

Also my understanding with a gas stove, there is very little maintenance. Wood pellet stoves require cleaning at least weekly during the heating season.

 

[Speedyrev]

Can you find wood pellets in Mississippi? I can't imagine there's a huge market down there.

From a purely economic standpoint, natural gas (at least up here in the Northeast) is way cheaper than any other fuel type. Except maybe sometimes coal, but handling coal is wholly different from getting gas piped into your home.

Also my understanding with a gas stove, there is very little maintenance. Wood pellet stoves require cleaning at least weekly during the heating season.

Mississippi is a big forestry state. There are pellet manufacturers here. Probably going with Gas, but having problems finding a dealer.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

With the heating needs you're likely to have down there I'd probably choose a mini-split heat pump. It would heat in winter, cool in summer.

 

[Speedyrev]

With the heating needs you're likely to have down there I'd probably choose a mini-split heat pump. It would heat in winter, cool in summer.

Thanks, we have a heat pump. This is for supplemental heat.