Need a pellet stove recommendation

[AndrewU]

Crazy SIL needs a new pellet stove. Existing one is just wore out.

1200sf house, poorly insulated. Willamette Valley location.

I know wood stoves decently enough but I don't know pellet stoves at all.

Need brand and model recommendations. She can run a simple pellet stove (has for years), but if it's overly complicated it might be beyond her capabilities.

 

[bogieb]

Harman P-series stoves are about as simple as you can get without being onerous in maintenance needs. Depending on how cold it gets in her area, a P43 would probably be good. Looking it up, seems if that area rarely gets below 20*F, so a P43 would probably work well.

She could go up a size (P61), just in case, since you can throttle down a pellet stove but can't get more out of it than designed for.

 

[shtrdave]

I would agree with the above, I looked at many different brands and then bought the P43, I heat about 1000 sq feet of living space built in to a large garage, It is insulated fairly well, but still have some drafts from places here and there. Only 4 rooms. I run usually run mine in manual once it fires up and use a Skytech 3301 remote thermostat to control it. If she works they have programmable versions also to have it come on in the morning before she wakes up and then again before she gets home from work.

As for running it, it doesn't get much easier. I turn the stove on and set the thermostat. Thats it. For maintenance every 2 days or so I open the door, use brush to clear the ash from the holes inside the door, and scrape the burn pot, since mine runs 24/7 I wait until is goes back to the maintenance burn and do it then. If ran in Auto, one could probably do this once a week.

Cleaning for me is about once a month, I shut it down and leave it cool, then brush the ash in to the pan and empty it, scrape the pot well, pull the plate off behind the ash pan, and brush everything, run the long brush in the exhaust hole to clean the ESP off some put the plate back on and loosen 2 thumb screws under the front of the burn pot and slide the cover off and clean out there, vacuum everything thing, put the cover back on tighten the screws, clean the door and the inside of the glass with a non ammonia cleaner, ash pan back in and close both front doors. Unplug the stove if I haven't, take 2 phillips head screws out of the control panel and pull it out, this is why I unplug so nothing touches and shorts anything, behind the panel there is a wing nut to loosen and pull a cover up and off, this is I believe a fines catch, and I vacuum it out and replace the cover and tighten the wing nut and put the control board back in and install the 2 screws. Then spray some Pledge on the outside of the stove and wipe all the dust off. All this takes me about 20 minutes and I work slow.

Once a year after it is done burning for the season, I do all the above but also remove the ESP in the back that goes in the exhaust. I run a pull through brush through the exhaust a few times to clean it out. Putting the ESP back in and getting the little bolt that holds it in the hole is the worse part for me because of where my stove in in relation to things around it, but a small piece of paper towel in the socket to help hold the bolt makes this easier.

Harmans are not cheap but easy to use and clean, and simple to work on if needed, I have replaced the combustion blower twice since owning mine, the bearing start to make noise. Depending on the weather I go through 3-4 ton a year.

 

[bogieb]

Unplug the stove if I haven't, take 2 phillips head screws out of the control panel and pull it out, this is why I unplug so nothing touches and shorts anything, behind the panel there is a wing nut to loosen and pull a cover up and off, this is I believe a fines catch, and I vacuum it out and replace the cover and tighten the wing nut and put the control board back in and install the 2 screws.

So, I did it that way the first time as the directions in the manual weren't really clear on exactly HOW to get to the fines cleanout cover. But after that I figured out how to make it much simpler and not have to worry about messing up the control board (because I'm a spaz). Also, even with this method one should unplug the stove and keep their fingers out of the area being cleaned.

Remove the right side shield that is below the control board - there are 2 screws that you just have to loosen (not entirely remove) and the holes in the shield are slotted to allow for lifting and removing the shield. Reach under the control board and remove the wing nut then remove the plate. Vacuum out that area, then replace the plate and wingnut. Then mount the shield, tighten the screws a little (they don't have to be tight, just enough to keep any rattling away)

The first couple of times is awkward because you want to see what you are doing. After that, you don't have to see it at all, just reach under and do it (muscle memory and the sense of touch are wonderful things ). You do want to be careful not to pull any of the wires down there, but once you get the hang of it it's easy.

 

[shtrdave]

So, I did it that way the first time as the directions in the manual weren't really clear on exactly HOW to get to the fines cleanout cover. But after that I figured out how to make it much simpler and not have to worry about messing up the control board (because I'm a spaz). Also, even with this method one should unplug the stove and keep their fingers out of the area being cleaned.

Remove the right side shield that is below the control board - there are 2 screws that you just have to loosen (not entirely remove) and the holes in the shield are slotted to allow for lifting and removing the shield. Reach under the control board and remove the wing nut then remove the plate. Vacuum out that area, then replace the plate and wingnut. Then mount the shield, tighten the screws a little (they don't have to be tight, just enough to keep any rattling away)

The first couple of times is awkward because you want to see what you are doing. After that, you don't have to see it at all, just reach under and do it (muscle memory and the sense of touch are wonderful things ). You do want to be careful not to pull any of the wires down there, but once you get the hang of it it's easy.

I will look at that, I had not cleaned it out the first year, because I didn't know it was there, who reads manuals. But when I needed to remove the ESP I pulled the board so I could see. and then saw that big shiny wing nut and wonder what was in there.

I have about 14" on the left side of the stove and about that on the right but it is more towards the front of the stove, TV stand is in the corner on an angle if that makes sense, so not much to work with when it comes to room, especially for a fat man