I'm in the market for a new pellet stove, need help!

[amber.pom]

Title basically says it all, however here is MORE! If you can get through this entire story, you're amazing.. anyway, here we go-

Like I said, I'm in the market for a new pellet stove. I have one already it's a mid 2000's model Englander which heats up to 1500sq feet. Now for our home layout- we live in a split level ranch however we've got a unique situation. The entire upstairs is where my parents live and we live in the bottom half and both of us have the same pellet stove so essentially we've got 2 heat sources for 2 levels with each level being fairly open concept and about 800-1000sq feet.

Being a split level ranch, our apartment is half "in ground" basement if you will, and the other half is "out in the open" to the front. We live in a pretty densely wooded area so not much natural light comes through and add to that the way the house faces, we get very minimal sun exposure = less heat.

Herein lies my dilemma. Having them both running all the time, more so at night, our apartment can reach temperatures over 85-90 and after 7 years I'm kind of over that. Even in the dead of winter cold snaps I have my settings on such that I only run it on 1/1 and we go through about 1 bag a day and it is still sweltering in here most times and for some reason it's really only at night. However, if we turn the stove off for 2-4 hours the temperature drops considerably due to not enough natural light and being half in ground, I'm talking I've seen it 58 degrees around 2am after it being turned off around 9pm.

IF I go with another pellet stove (vs 2-3 mini split ductless heat pumps and keep same stove as backup) I would like the option to have digital temperature control at a set ambient temp of say 70-72 and must have the ability to AUTOMATICALLY turn off and on once the temp is reached and eventually cools. I'm finding not whole lot of them have that ability but my knowledge is pretty limited to what I'm seeing online and you guys have helped me troubleshoot my current stove so I figured I'd "go right to the source".

Opinions on stoves? Opinions on other alternative heat sources to keep an ambient temp without being heated or cooled out? I'd also like to keep the price under $2k

TIA!

 

[dozerdean]

Title basically says it all, however here is MORE! If you can get through this entire story, you're amazing.. anyway, here we go-

Like I said, I'm in the market for a new pellet stove. I have one already it's a mid 2000's model Englander which heats up to 1500sq feet. Now for our home layout- we live in a split level ranch however we've got a unique situation. The entire upstairs is where my parents live and we live in the bottom half and both of us have the same pellet stove so essentially we've got 2 heat sources for 2 levels with each level being fairly open concept and about 800-1000sq feet.

Being a split level ranch, our apartment is half "in ground" basement if you will, and the other half is "out in the open" to the front. We live in a pretty densely wooded area so not much natural light comes through and add to that the way the house faces, we get very minimal sun exposure = less heat.

Herein lies my dilemma. Having them both running all the time, more so at night, our apartment can reach temperatures over 85-90 and after 7 years I'm kind of over that. Even in the dead of winter cold snaps I have my settings on such that I only run it on 1/1 and we go through about 1 bag a day and it is still sweltering in here most times and for some reason it's really only at night. However, if we turn the stove off for 2-4 hours the temperature drops considerably due to not enough natural light and being half in ground, I'm talking I've seen it 58 degrees around 2am after it being turned off around 9pm.

IF I go with another pellet stove (vs 2-3 mini split ductless heat pumps and keep same stove as backup) I would like the option to have digital temperature control at a set ambient temp of say 70-72 and must have the ability to AUTOMATICALLY turn off and on once the temp is reached and eventually cools. I'm finding not whole lot of them have that ability but my knowledge is pretty limited to what I'm seeing online and you guys have helped me troubleshoot my current stove so I figured I'd "go right to the source".

Opinions on stoves? Opinions on other alternative heat sources to keep an ambient temp without being heated or cooled out?

TIA!

Harmon pellet stove! I have the accentra on a thermostat set at 72 and it stays at 72. They're quite pricey but if you try Craigslist you can find one for a good price..

 

[Dataman]

I have Harmon XXV and I set it for 75f and it's 74f in the Hallway. It does what it's told and no more, unlike woodstove which overdid it. It will cut back on pellets when not needed. I burn about 1/2 bag a night. Since Sep gone thru about 1/2 my pellets or 2.5T out of 5T I started with. Easy to clean.

Downside I spent about 6k on the whole setup.

$3500 for stove (Floor Model). old XXV not the XXV TC
$1200 Install (I used 8" pipe had mounted for WS)
$700 for Inverter/Charger and 100AH Battery for Backup
$1000 for Pellets vs Free Wood

It's so much cleaner in the house now.

 

[Connecticut Yankee]

My stove (Hudson River Chatham) has the option of attaching a thermostat, if desired. There are two thermostat modes, on/off, and high/low. The former shuts the stove off when temperature is reached, the latter keeps the stove going on low between calls for heat.

Can't your Englanders be hooked up to a thermostat? Seems to me that would be a cheaper option than buying a new stove.

 

[amber.pom]

My stove (Hudson River Chatham) has the option of attaching a thermostat, if desired. There are two thermostat modes, on/off, and high/low. The former shuts the stove off when temperature is reached, the latter keeps the stove going on low between calls for heat.

Can't your Englanders be hooked up to a thermostat? Seems to me that would be a cheaper option than buying a new stove.

Yes, I supposed that is an option but it will turn it off and on automatically not just turn down to the lowest setting? It's run on the lowest setting already all the time? (its about 17 out right now give or take and its 80 in the house.)

Also, if this is the case, with my stove anyway, if the igniter isn't completely cleared of ash it will not get up to temp in order to even light and will throw an error code pretty much every time so the pot gets dumped daily so I could assume it would make a difference as to whether or not the thermostat would actually work. I also have the stove on 1/1 like I said, at all times and have the suggested blow, air, feed speeds which I can't recall off the top of my head and I know that makes a difference but I'm not sure what would be the lowest settings I could get down to on those in order to make it throw less heat then it already does.

 

[Connecticut Yankee]

Well, given all that, I can see why you want a new stove. I would, too!

 

[jerrieric]

Ravelli can be programmed to turn off then on for each day of the week or you can have it turn off when temp is reached and turn back on when it goes below the low temp you set. I have mine set to change the temp to 66 at 11pm then to 71 at 5am so its toasty when wife gets up. There are all kinds of temp and time settings you can program. Only issue may be it's only 44k btu. Check out the rv100c at ravelli.com.

 

[tbear853]

I supplement my 27 year old pellet stove on low settings with a couple infared heaters for comfort all over, my regular house heat only comes on when we are away for long periods and pellet stove and IR heat not in use.

We also use flannel bed sheets, etc. Works well.

 

[jerrieric]

I live in Maine is now 14 degrees outside 77 in the house and my oil furnace never comes on except when I call for domestic hot water

 

[Mt Bob]

Under 2k?There are some used Harmans on craigslist in your state,buy one and put it on a programmable t/stat.

 

[klincker]

I think the Englanders can now take a thermostat to auto-ignite. If you like Englander and don't want to buy a used stove.

I'll throw these out there because I have them in my house.

Castle serenity-can be programmed to turn on and off throughout the day. (also a smaller stove that might not cook you out on lower settings) I love mine and a lot of others on here do as well.
(broken link removed to https://www.acehardware.com/departments/heating-and-cooling/wood-and-pellet-stoves/wood-and-pellet-stoves/4539102)

Pelpro90- bigger, but in you price range with a true thermostat that will shut down and auto ignite
(broken link removed)

 

[Darkwing]

We have a US Stove 5500m KP130, which came with Remote control and Thermostat for 850 at Tractor surprise. But even without the Black Friday deal its only a grant...
The hopper holds 48 hours of pellets, and the thermostat turns it on and off at will...
Mine needs to be cleaned, depending on pellets, once a week
Fairly noisy bugger if you come from no-blower wood stove but ok for us...

 

[dtaylor628]

2nd season a a Serenity, been flawless so far. Parts appeared to be plentiful and cheap too. Amazon....