Need some stove advise

[moralleper]

I have pretty much narrowed down my selection of a pellet stove to 2 stove. The two I am seriously considering are the Harman Accentra and the Quadra-Fire SantaFe. I am heating about 1500sf, and this is the only heat source in the winter besides the oil filled radiator heater in the kid's room, and the little bit of sun we get. I live is SW Washington State so our winters are fairly mild, maybe a couple of weeks with temps in the 20's and 30's. I would say average are 30's and 40's in the winter. I currently have an older Breckwell P24FS that would be replaced. Also do most dealers take in trades? If so is this worth while or should I try to sell it on my own. My other question is the feed mechs are completely different between the two so I am also looking for thoughts, likes, dislikes, advantages, disadvantages of the two stoves. Thanks in advance.

ml

 

[begreen]

Both stoves are good stoves. The dealer will not likely take the Breckwell in trade. Try craigslist for selling locally.

The Harman may be a quieter stove. It is well built, but they seem to take more user interaction deciding burn rates, etc. The Quad is pretty much a set it and forget it stove. It seems the Quads also require less frequent cleaning if that is important to you. Given that this is your only source of heat you might want to look at larger stoves. The Breckwell P24FS puts out more btus and has larger capacity. I'd look at the Quad Mt. Vernon for it's extra heat and pellet capacity or the Harman P68 unless your home is well insulated and you found the Breckwell oversized. The Quad Mt. Vernon is being updated so you may be able to bargain a good deal for the current older model. Shop around.

 

[moralleper]

I think the Breckwell is a little too much stove, although I could be wrong? We generally cannot turn it up over 2 or the house is 80 inside. Is it better to get more stove then you need? I have been looking around and I can get the Quadra-Fire SantaFe for $1699 +$170 for the top vent conversion kit. Another yestion about the SantaFe, can I run it off of a thermastat so all I need to do is add pellets and cleaning out from time to time?

 

[begreen]

If the house is well-insulated, then a smaller stove may work. What is wrong with the Breckwell? Just curious about how well it has performed for you. Also, with the Breckwell, how many bags of pellets per day or week are you going through when it is around 35 outside?

We had a 1200i in the same climate to heat a leaky 2000 sq. ft farmhouse. This stove has a bit more output than the SantaFe. It was working hard on high when the temps got below 30. But it was fine for the average 35-45 winter temps here. However, this wasn't our sole source of heat. For that reason I would want a bit of reserve.

PS: Can you add the word "pellet" to the title of this thread. It will make it easier for future searches. Thx.

 

[moralleper]

this is actually the first year we have had the breckwell. I got for free although we have had to replace both fans on it already, as they were the original fans and the stove it from 1991. so far we have burned 5 bags of pellets, but it does not run 24/7 regularly. we did run it all night on 2 the other day when it dipped into the high 20's and it was 71 in the morning when I got up. now that I replaced the combustion blower I can run it on 1 so that will help. I guess I am thinking about another stove for the set it and forget it factor. also since most of the other motor related things have gone out I am figuring that the auger motor is next, or the control board. maybe it is worth while to replace these parts instead of replacing the stove? I guess there is a conversion kit for the stove that updates the control board and adds an igniter to the stove, I think it was something like $500-$700. It just seems like replacing all of this stuff will add up to a new stove, maybe that is okay.

 

[begreen]

Yes, I can understand your perspective. I am amazed that only 5 bags have been burned. By now I would have consumed about 20. It seems like your place is well insulated if you can run the Breckwell on its lowest setting, so maybe the smaller stove would work out fine. The Quads are really nice for the thermostat operation, especially on a digital thermostat with nightime setback. They are pretty low maintenance too and shipping is low from eastern WA which helps western pricing.

It sounds like you can either complete the rebuild of the Breckwell or move on. I think it's great that you are still able to get parts, but unless you enjoy the process, I'd not put any more money into the Breckwell proceed with a new stove. If you want to wait until Feb? (ask your dealer) the new Mt. Vernon will be out. It is a major upgrade that might appeal to you. But the best bargain will likely be buying the current model.

 

[moralleper]

Just out of curiosity what is the major upgrade Quadra-Fire is doing on the Mt. Vernon?