Hudson River Kinderhook vs Eco -Choice CAB50

[caucapon]

Most of my burning experience has been with wood and coal. I'm now considering a pellet stove due to various constraints imposed on me by my current environment. Manufacturer write-ups tend to be cursory. Spec sheets usually cover little more than the basics.

The Kinderhook retails for a bit under $3,000 retail. The Eco-Choice for under $1800. Both are cabinet style heaters with large hoppers and auto-start. Both will readily take a thermostat. I'm interested in comments from users who have experienced a number of different pellet stoves over the years.

- Are there significant advantages to forking over the extra $1,000 plus dollars for the more expensive stove?

- Minor cosmetic niceties are pleasant, but hardly justify major bucks. Do you believe the critical components (control board, motors, auger, etc.) are consistently superior in upper range stoves?

- Has your experience convinced you that they are much more reliable than their lower cost brethren?

- Do they offer important features not found on low cost stoves?

Thanks in advance for your considered comment.

 

[RyansCAB50]

I just completed first full year with the cab50. 6.5 tons burned with the recomened cleaning I heated my 1900sq.ft house no problems.

 

[railfanron]

Not all that impressed with Hudson River. My neighbor is a widow and I talked her into a pellet stove moving away from wood heat. She picked a Hudson River West Point ( the model before the Kinderhook). When 3 months old it burned up the Igniter (Dealer said she used it to much) so I got a replacement igniter for her and all was well. That was last year. This year the combustion fan went out and I had to replace that. Besides all that there was nothing in the manual on how to clean it and the dealer didn't say anything when we picked it up. That's when I found this forum. It had burning problems halfway through last season until I made a fix for the burn pot air. I found the hint to the problem here. Halfway through this season the burn pot developed a crack in it and my neighbor was concerned it would break more and cause more problems so we put in a new one. Now it seems to be burning fine but it is nowhere near the reliability and easy of use that my Harman is. I bought my stove a month after hers. She paid 2100 for the stove (it was a floor model with just a few bags run through it) 70 for the igniter, 190 for the fan and 180 for the pot in 13 tons burned.
Ron

 

[bmwon723]

I have also been shopping for a new stove for next heating season, and I think I have looked at all the models both online and at the dealers.I thought that cab50 looked like a well made stove and easy to maintain especially for the money. I have been burning pellets and corn since 2002,my first stove was an inexpensive unit and though it still burns today, I did get on a first name basis with the tech support department for about the first month I owned it. My second stove I bought was a corn burner I have been running since 2006. It was considerably more expensive than my first pellet stove, but it has run since 06 with no breakdowns, not talked to the tech support at all.So at least from my experiences the more expensive unit was better. After heating with pellet and corn stoves for years I now look at how easy they are to clean and also noise output as well as construction quality. I hope this help a little in you search for a new stove.

 

[bags]

caucapon,
I researched the cab 50 and it is a pretty good stove for the price from what I had seen. Another point is IF you are willing to spend $3,000 then definitely check out the Harman stoves. I believe a P43 lists for $2,900 or right around $3K.

They are an easy to clean and run unit. They have great reviews and many people here love theirs. Just another option IF you are considering spending that much on the Kinderhook. I know nothing about the Kinderhooks but also haven't read many positive comments on them.

Good luck and read and research here. It is time well spent. If I was going to buy another stove it would be a Harman hands down just from the experience I've had with mine but you will pay more for one. Well worth it in my opinion.

 

[railfanron]

I agree with Bags. The P43 is by far and away the better stove at almost the same price. Running it in room temp auto will probably save enough money in pellets to pay the difference. I wouldn't make this comment if I didn't have experience with both. The difference is in BTUs. The Kinderhook puts out 59,000 BTUs I believe and the P43 is only 43,000 that could be a deal breaker for you.
Ron

 

[Mpodesta]

Love my ps50, never has let us down in 3 winters and will burn anything i throw at it.

 

[stovelark]

The Kinderhook is made by Sherwood (Enviro), the West point and Saranacs were Inca metal stoves, big difference in the two companies. I'd have stayed away from the west point too, its a big heater prone to issues, once straightened out is an ok heater. The Davenport from Hudson River is also made by Enviro. The CAB50 is a pretty solid unit, if they did want 3000 for the Kinderhook, I'd get the Eco choice CAB50. Pretty good stove for the money. If money was not an issue, the Harman for 3000 is probably the best choice. If you want a large heater, the Enviro Maxx is a beast, has a huge convex blower, 60000 btus, retails for about 3300. The CB1200 from Quadrafire another good 50000 btu stove, solid performer. Good luck with your search.

 

[bags]

Once you step up into the Enviro Maxx then you are also in the $4,000 range. So is the Harman P68. Those were the two stoves I had it narrowed down to and went with the P68. Liked them both but after reading a lot I chose the Harman. It pumps out 68,000 BTUs. The cab 50 is 50K BTUs if I recall correctly and is also a good stove. Pretty many PS and Cab 50 people here that like them.

I was very seriously considering buying one and only a week or so away from that and then a very nice used PC45 popped up on Craigslist fairly locally and I picked it up for $1,600 so that's what I did for the second stove. I'd buy another Harman in a heart beat but was leaning towards the Cab 50 just because I didn't want to pay new price on another Harman back to back a month after buying the P68.

It's all in what one wants and is willing to spend. The Cab 50 is a great stove for the money but if you are thinking of paying $3,000 then definitely look into the Harman line too. Look at all of them and read up on all you are considering.

 

[St_Earl]

Love my ps50, never has let us down in 3 winters and will burn anything i throw at it.

same here. just finishing up the 4th season with the PS50. love this stove. simple, reliable and easy to clean and work on.
i've only had to replace an igniter, but it's kind of like an old car with plenty of room under the hood making all the bits easy to reach.
in four seasons, i've had exactly one auger jam (upper) easily cleared with a wire up the pellet drop.
the quad burn pot is a gem imo.

though i've never used one, i think the advice of getting a harman if you plan on spending $3k is probably sound.