new w/ questions

[kcdr18]

I'm wanting to get a pellet stove installed on the main floor of our home. I believe our house is between 2400 and 2600 sq feet. It's a big old house and I want to install a stove to reduce our utility bills. Due to install location, I can only do wood pellet or gas. My initial choice was pellet to avoid future high gas bills. I foresee running the stove 24/7 throughout the winter.

The only local dealer sells Lopi, Avalon, Regency, and Quadrafire. I was initially interested in the Mt. Vernon, but I've read tons of bad reviews about this model, however all the reviews are several years old. Have these issues been resolved? The Mt. Vernon looks very nice, but I want reliability most of all. I want to be able to load the stove and let it run. Is the Classic Bay 1200 model Quadrafire's ol' faithful?

So I think my three options are the Mt. Vernon, Classic Bay 1200, and the Hampton GC60 by Regency.

I know natural gas prices are low, but I'm hesitant to go with a gas stove in the event those prices sky rocket in the near future.

Any help and guidance is much appreciated! Tim

 

[Bioburner]

Why are you looking at local dealer. My local dealers for Harman are about 100 miles plus but the numbers of them are high in my area.
If your mechanically inept then a pellet stove may not be a very good fit and calling a dealer every time a stove has a hiccup will make you very unhappy, cold and broke.
I would look to see if you can get some corn too. Your in one of the largest corn producing states also the highest priced crop land.

 

[Peterfield]

I went to my local dealers and of course, they want to sell you what they have, not necessarily what you want or need. There was a local dealer 10 miles away but were acting like they were doing me a favor by even talking to me, I could just imagine what it would be like if I did need service. One of the dealers bad mouthed Harman so bad I decided to check them out. In the end, I bought my Harman from a stove shop 50 miles away because of their reputation, both the stove and the dealer.

 

[kcdr18]

I know the owner of my local store. I feel comfortable buying from him. I'm some what mechanical, however I'm not in the market for a toy to constantly be tinkering with. My main concern is it having an issue while I'm gone during the day. My wife stays home and I don't want her to deal with constant issues.

 

[DAKSY]

A clean pellet stove is a happy pellet stove.
Do your due diligence, maintenance-wise,
& you shouldn't have any issues.
If your dealer sells Harman Stoves,
they are some of the most reliable on the market.
You STILL hafta keep em clean, tho...

 

[bags]

You are going to need a heat throwing beast to cover your needs as described. I was in the same boat and I did go out my away from some local dealers to get what I needed. It was well worth it. Plus being handy and having a dealer next door is somewhat pointless when you do not have to work on a dependable proven stove.

I understand your friend is the local dealer but let me put it this way. If he had a good deal on a small two seater sports car and you needed a 4X4 truck would you still buy the sports car? You have to buy what fits your bill and needs regardless of friendship or a comfy connection.

"Big old house 2,400 - 2,600 SQ FT and RELIABILITY." That's it in a nut shell. I am doing 2,350 SQ FT house core on two levels with high ceilings and tons of big glass windows and doors with one stove here. The smaller stove is set up in another area of the house which is larger than the 2,350 SQ FT.

Best of Luck any Happy shopping. Do yourself a favor and research. Read a bunch here. This site was probably THE most important tool I used in my decision making. I have zero regrets. I'll also point out some comments left above are by some very knowledgable and seasoned pellet burning veterans that know their stuff so think about what they have stated and advice they offered. They didn't steer me wrong and I Thank them daily every winter now.

Let me add that I was in a very similar situation house wise and on the home front. I was working out of town and the wife had to manage all alone except on weekends. Pretty easy for her and she loves our heat throwing beast. Dependability was key here also along with ease of use and the ability to handle high heating demands. I went from an OWB Outdoor Wood Boiler that can do 10,000 SQ FT to a pellet stove. Again zero regrets because I bought the right one.

 

[kcdr18]

So "bags"...what did u end up installing in your house?

 

[bags]

Look in my signature. I don't want to get my balls busted brand promoting here any longer but others have already said it. Here's a clue. I was born in 1969 and the stove model is the year before which is 68. LOL! It will burn a 50% corn and 50% pellet mix too or just all pellets.

Runs like a bullet proof tank to boot. Requires very little attention if any at all on a daily basis. It will run for a long while all by itself.

 

[kcdr18]

Thanks. I should also clarify I'm not intending for this stove to heat the entire home. If it does, that's great, but our main issue is our second floor. We have a large two story foyer leading to three bedrooms upstairs. I want to put the stove in the foyer so the warm air will circulate to the upstairs.

 

[bags]

The right stove will probably heat your space better than you might think. I bought mine mainly for the shoulder season (fall and spring) but wound up heating everything with the one stove without a problem and you know how cold and crappy last winter was. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.

What is your main heat source or central HVAC system? Do you have natural gas and that is why you are considering a NG stove too? I'll add that whichever pellet stove you decide on it will help reduce your heating costs overall long term even if fuel prices stay low. The low price there as we both know is an unpredictable and short lived thing regardless. It is also nice to have alternative fuels for an option so you have choices as to what is most economical at that given time.

Another thing to consider is tightening up your homes exterior envelope. Fix leaky areas, insulate, caulk and seal windows and doors etc; That cheap money goes a long way.

 

[kcdr18]

Our main heat source is central hvac and we're on natural gas. Our main floor is comfortable for the most part. We gutted our entire house 5 years ago and insulated, etc but we ended up not gutting the foyer because the walls are so tall and I didn't want to damage the nice wood staircase. Our upstairs doesn't get much air from the vents because the duct work travels so far. Pellet is my first choice because I don't want to end up trading a high electric bill for a future high NG bill. Although we insulated when we gutted the house, in the next few years I'd like to blow in more from thru the exterior wood siding.

 

[Marina1327]

I'm wanting to get a pellet stove installed on the main floor of our home. I believe our house is between 2400 and 2600 sq feet. It's a big old house and I want to install a stove to reduce our utility bills. Due to install location, I can only do wood pellet or gas. My initial choice was pellet to avoid future high gas bills. I foresee running the stove 24/7 throughout the winter.

The only local dealer sells Lopi, Avalon, Regency, and Quadrafire. I was initially interested in the Mt. Vernon, but I've read tons of bad reviews about this model, however all the reviews are several years old. Have these issues been resolved? The Mt. Vernon looks very nice, but I want reliability most of all. I want to be able to load the stove and let it run. Is the Classic Bay 1200 model Quadrafire's ol' faithful?

So I think my three options are the Mt. Vernon, Classic Bay 1200, and the Hampton GC60 by Regency.

I know natural gas prices are low, but I'm hesitant to go with a gas stove in the event those prices sky rocket in the near future.

Any help and guidance is much appreciated! Tim

Welcome to the forum. I am not heating anywhere near the space you are wanting to heat but let me tell you...the stove I went with pumps out the heat. I have never been this warm...love it and I have a 100 year old, no insulation two floor house. I was surprised at how good of a job they do and I don't have a top of the line stove due to budget and space restrictions. I found alot of good info on here when I started looking, everyone is very helpful.

 

[Lake Girl]

Welcome to the forum. I am not heating anywhere near the space you are wanting to heat but let me tell you...the stove I went with pumps out the heat. I have never been this warm...love it and I have a 100 year old, no insulation two floor house. I was surprised at how good of a job they do and I don't have a top of the line stove due to budget and space restrictions. I found alot of good info on here when I started looking, everyone is very helpful.

What brand and model stove are you heating with? Most members put their stove info in their signature line....

kcdr, welcome to the forum! You will find that many stoves may fit your desire to heat. The heat output, look, amount of maintenance, budget etc. also factor into the equation. I didn't want a woodstove look so went with the Elena (no longer in production) due to second ducting option, BTU output and the majolica sides. With a large central staircase, you will get heat upstairs. How well insulated is your ceiling space? You may want to beef that up to keep that heat in your living spaces.

As to insulating your entryway, you may want to look at blowing in from the interior as it's easier to repair plaster than wood siding

 

[Jonkman]

Did you see this post? Should answer your questions about the Mt. Vernon. IF you buy a brand new model you should be happy.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/mount-vernon-ae-opinions-please.120297/

 

[Marina1327]

What brand and model stove are you heating with? Most members put their stove info in their signature line....

Okay...put it in my signature...let's see how it looks....

 

[Lake Girl]

Marina, Good heat without a huge price tag ... I think they got most of the kinks worked out of them from the earlier models (internal exhaust pathways would be tough to clean with fly-ash build-up. They added clean out ports...)

 

[kcdr18]

Jonkman, I read thru the thread u sent. It sounds like Quadrafire has fixed the issues. That thread was from 2013...I couldn't find any more recent threads.

Other question - if u get a pellet jam, how do u know it's jammed?

 

[kcdr18]

What's the difference between the Mt. Vernon AE & E2 models?

 

[Jonkman]

Jonkman, I read thru the thread u sent. It sounds like Quadrafire has fixed the issues. That thread was from 2013...I couldn't find any more recent threads.

Other question - if u get a pellet jam, how do u know it's jammed?

I haven't had one yet, so I can't answer that one for you unfortunately, hopefully Kap ( I guess he is a Quadra-fire expert on here...) will see this and answer, or you could send him a message.

 

[Jonkman]

What's the difference between the Mt. Vernon AE & E2 models?

I believe the main differences are that the AE is multi-fuel which means it will burn just about anything, not just wood pellets (corn, wheat, etc), also, the AE has the auto-clean feature and the E2 does not. I think the AE is the top of the line, and the E2 is a step down...but still nice. Maybe somebody can add more info...

 

[Bioburner]

E2 had a very explosive roll out too. Pun intended. They changed its programming and seem to have solved the issue but lowered its output.
The main issue with the AE was the main controls are at the wall thermostat. For a cleaning cycle the unit shuts down completely and then goes through a restart and some find the time it takes allow the home to cool down a lot.

 

[alternativeheat]

As Bioburner stated ,the E2 had that explosive start or one might say Introduction ! Of course I suppose the same could be said about NG heat, I know memories of houses turned into a game of pick up sticks is exactly why my wife doesn't want NG in this house. .About a year ago we had a small rash of owners in here who had the glass blow out of their E2's though. It was rectified, the AE is a 53,000 BTU machine and the E2 is 55,000. It's not a huge difference but it is a difference.

In terms of raw heat the order might go something like this:

Harman P68 @ 68,000 BTU
Harman P61@ 61,000 BTU
Quad E2 @ 55,000 BTU
Quad AE @ 53,000 BTU
Quad Classic Bay @ 51,000 BTU
Harman XXV@ 50,000 BTU

Not many NG stoves rated at over 37,000

Additionally, if it's important to you, Harman P series stoves radiate a fair amount of heat as well.

Now, you really wouldn't want to have to feed any of these stoves at max output for very long in terms of pellet consumption. Most of us don't come close to doing that but it's nice to have reserve heating capacity if you do need it. And when a stove is playing catch up on heat it could tap out on max for a bit. So recovery potential is stronger with more BTU. In reality, long steady burns are the home for pellet heat, it takes a while for heat to infiltrate a whole house or whole space situation with pellet heat. So long and steady tends to work best.

.

 

[Bioburner]

E2 had the issue. Search Hobokenkitchen

 

[alternativeheat]

E2 had the issue. Search Hobokenkitchen

Hmmm, screwed that up. It's edited now.

 

[kcdr18]

So if the AE has the auto clean cycle and wall thermostat...both which seem to have lots of complaints on here, is the E2 a safer buy? Or is it too new of a model with issues?

Is the Hampton GC60 worth considering?