Know-it-all installer

[FiredUp]

I purchased a Harman p68 yesterday. It's going to be installed in the corner of my living room because the installer who came to size things up said that my hearth which is on the side of the room wouldn't be the optimal location as far as air flow through the house. OK - I can understand that. But next he told me to buy a standard hearth pad with 2 cuts rather than a corner pad because that way he can "nudge it into the corner" and provide better floor protection for the exhaust. Now the only possible way I can see that being done is if puts the pad in backwards and sort of butts the diagonal cuts against the baseboard. I told him I wanted a corner pad but he was adamant that this is the best way. Am I missing something? Also, he insists that I do not need a vertical rise outside the house, just a direct horizontal vent. He's installed a million of these pellet stoves and I suppose I should just assume he knows what he's doing, but...HELP! Any advice??? Thanks!!

 

[gw2kpro]

Congrats on the new stove!

No installer should ever be telling you what you want. Their role is to make suggestions based upon their experience and install to code (i.e. provide you with a safe install).

Ultimately, YOU, not HIM, has to live with this install for (hopefully) the next 20 years.

If he won't give you what you want, find someone that will.

I ran into the same thing. I had an existing brick hearth that used to have a wood stove on it, I wanted the pellet stove on it (since it was, after all, a hearth, with really no other use), with new dedicated venting for the stove. The first installer gave me such an issue over it (he wanted to put it in the other corner of the room and vent through a different wall) that I got someone else.

Turns out that the first installer didn't want the hassle of venting through the brick in the hearth -- it was going to be more difficult for HIM, he really didn't care what I wanted.

Also, insist on the vertical rise. This is your install, not his. You will never be sorry that you put it in, it will help with drafting if you lose power.

 

[Xena]

I'd literally run from this installer.
He doesn't want you to put the stove
on the hearth because he wants to
make fast money by putting it in the
corner and venting it straight out.

I'd find someone else like the other poster said.
If your hearth doesn't extend out enough you can
always get a hearth pad extension. Regardless, you
can get this stove installed the way you want it.