Newbie and just started my search - Some basic question

[md2002]

Hello -

I've spent a few hours on this forum and have learned allot! I'm looking to buy a pellet stove insert in the next few weeks and had a few questions. I was hoping I could pick your brains and get some advice.

1) I hear Harmon is the best you can buy and that's what I was going to get originally. Doing some shopping I realize that these are very pricey! I was wondering if not Harmon what is the next best thing, or a few other brands to look into. Other than Harmon I have not read that one manufacturer outweighs others. I've seen one for $1700.00 (timberwolf) but I believe you get what you pay for. This seems very inexpensive.

2) I'm moving from 1100 sq. ft gas heated condo to a 2200 sq ft. colonial with oil heat. I am not looking forward to the oil truck coming. I have no expectation that a pellet stove insert will heat the whole house but am looking for it to be more of a space heater for the living room and possibly travel through the 1st floor. The bedroom is above the LR so I assume some heat will rise naturally and help with the heat. In people's experience, for the price I will pay, do pellet stoves help with heating costs? In other words is it worth the investment?

3) The stove will be in the living room, I went to one shop where the had a Harmon running and it was noisy, not too bad but you could hear it. Our there certain stoves that are louder than other or are they all the same.

4) I've been told that free standing does a better job than insets, and free standing are less maintenance. Is this true or false?

5) What are the top few things I should be looking for in a stove. Hopper size? BTU's? Ash tray size? I'm in a jam because I happen to be moving in to the new house in October before the northeast winter starts and don' want to rush into a purchase then regret it. Just want to be sure I'm getting the right stove.

Thanks for an help you can give. I REALLY appreciate it!

 

[smoke show]

...don't want to rush into a purchase then regret it.

Only you can decide which stove is best, fits your budget, has features you like, noise level, apperance, customer support, etc, etc.

And I agree a stove purchase is not something you wanna rush into.

If you can list available stoves in your area, maybe we can give some opinions.

 

[FyreBug]

Hello -

I've spent a few hours on this forum and have learned allot! I'm looking to buy a pellet stove insert in the next few weeks and had a few questions. I was hoping I could pick your brains and get some advice.

1) I hear Harmon is the best you can buy and that's what I was going to get originally. Doing some shopping I realize that these are very pricey! I was wondering if not Harmon what is the next best thing, or a few other brands to look into. Other than Harmon I have not read that one manufacturer outweighs others. I've seen one for $1700.00 (timberwolf) but I believe you get what you pay for. This seems very inexpensive.

2) I'm moving from 1100 sq. ft gas heated condo to a 2200 sq ft. colonial with oil heat. I am not looking forward to the oil truck coming. I have no expectation that a pellet stove insert will heat the whole house but am looking for it to be more of a space heater for the living room and possibly travel through the 1st floor. The bedroom is above the LR so I assume some heat will rise naturally and help with the heat. In people's experience, for the price I will pay, do pellet stoves help with heating costs? In other words is it worth the investment?

3) The stove will be in the living room, I went to one shop where the had a Harmon running and it was noisy, not too bad but you could hear it. Our there certain stoves that are louder than other or are they all the same.

4) I've been told that free standing does a better job than insets, and free standing are less maintenance. Is this true or false?

5) What are the top few things I should be looking for in a stove. Hopper size? BTU's? Ash tray size? I'm in a jam because I happen to be moving in to the new house in October before the northeast winter starts and don' want to rush into a purchase then regret it. Just want to be sure I'm getting the right stove.

Thanks for an help you can give. I REALLY appreciate it!

1) Harman makes fines stoves. If you are looking for inserts many will jump in here with alternatives

2) You can find many heat comparison calculators online. Here is one... http://www.drolet.ca/en/web-advisor again many will jump in with 'real life' cost savings
and advice. (just hold on its coming). Have you considered a pellet furnace instead? Mind you if your budget is limited this will be much more expensive.

3) Most pellet heater make some noise. Some more than others. They are not very 'romantic' units. If its near a TV you might find it annoying.

4) That's debatable. Usually that's the case with a wood insert vs a free standing. but with pellet you have forced air convection heating so the results are pretty close.

5) In an insert, hopper size will be limited no matter what. Also due to the form factor they are usually limited to 35K to 50K BTU and the ash pan size is limited so in order to avoid doing too much maintenance you want to burn low-ash pellets.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of pellet inserts - again many will probably come on and tell you its just fine - listen to them since they probably use one and I dont. Since you are heating with oil, this is what I would recommend if you had the budget for it. Go with a wood insert in the fireplace and a separate pellet heater in a central location. This should take care of a lot of your heating requirement for the winter.

 

[md2002]

A very reputable dealership in the area carries Avalon ( Astoria and Newport Bay) Others in the area carry Enviro and St. Croix that I've seen. Then there are the Harmon's. I've been to a couple of places that talk to me like a used care salesman. It's tough to figure out if they're telling the truth or just trying to make a sale. One place said I should put down $250 that day to hold the stove because the prices are always rising.

Which is why I came to this forum. I needed to start doing my own research.

 

[Pelleting In NJ]

Look into the Enviro line, they seem to be a high quality stove at a more reasonable price (versus Harman or Quad). If contemporary looks, high quality, quietness, and higher (some) efficiency are your goals, (but these tend to cost more $)take a look at Ecoteck, Thelin, or Wittus, and Austroflamm/Rika. Also check out BOSCA stoves, made in Chile, but uses common US stove internal parts, seem like a low price decent quality unit, the few reviews here have been very positive.

 

[RiddleMasterMorgon]

Free standing being better than insert ? I dont think so, the idea is to put the heat on some heat exchanger rods and from there into the room. The better that works, the less the stove actually acts as a thermal heat block as you know it from a wood stove without ventilation. I would think free standing and insert are about the same BTU output (as many catalogs show when giving the same version in either free standing or insert) - HOWEVER, you have much more space with a freestanding, meaning you usually have bigger hopper sizes reducing the need to reload and the whole thing can be build bigger...and than indeed can have more btu output.

Oil vs Pellets. Last year, before my season ended and all numbers were in, I was pretty sure pellets would beat oil around 4 USD (caluclating stove maintenence costs you dont have for furnace into it as well, pellet delivery charges you dont have for call on demand oil, ect.). However, now I am pretty convinced that pellet beat oil down to the 2.50 USD/gallon level - obviously depends on your region.

If you have the chance think about natural gas to replace your oil furnace ? Or consider coal stove if you want to go for cheap heating source ? I dont want coal for environmental reasons and I dont like the associated smell either, I think pellets are renewable on a more reasonable time scale (as would be wood), but that does come with a price.

As an alternative brand, have a look at BOSCA stoves - I fell for this thing just by the design and I was able to convince my local dealer to get me one and install it. I think it was his third install of a BOSCA and they now have one in their showroom as well - so I figure he was happy with what he saw at a couple of sites. The price was very good and the heatoutput is decent (its not quite enough for my 2000 sqf for the dead of winter in the northeast, but it reduced my oil use a lot). I kind of doubt that the stove places are terribly busy this year. After the tax credit fell away, I think they are happy for any work right now, so if you demand to have another brnad installed...I would think they will do it.

Investmentwise, I think this whole affair (installation, chimney repair I needed and stove in my case) will pay for itself in about 4-5 seasons, depending on how the oil price goes. So its not a cash cow, but it certainly helps reducing the oil consumption a lot.

Going with a high price stove first, just to figure you might not like it is not so smart I think. Going with a cheaper one and maybe upgrade later (using all the existing installation) seems a more reasonable approach to me.

As for noise, yes there are hughe differences and if I would have to do it again, this would be something I would pay much more attention to in the future. Some are so load on their higher settings that you can not have a decent conversation in the living room anymore...its not the romantic fireplace crackle that your get, its more the industrial hot air blower IMO. Hughe field for improvements for the manufacturers if you ask me. THAT might be a reason to consider a freestanding and put it in a smart place, rather than using your fireplace in the living room (where it usually is). By and large the same issue with a wood stove or wood stove insert since they have convection blowers as well to get to better efficiencies. I heard lopi prides itself with being the best in that regard - not sure.

my 2 cents

 

[md2002]

Thanks for all the info so far. This is a huge help!

If you have the chance think about natural gas to replace your oil furnace ? Or consider coal stove if you want to go for cheap heating source ? I dont want coal for environmental reasons and I dont like the associated smell either, I think pellets are renewable on a more reasonable time scale (as would be wood), but that does come with a price.

I looked into Gas and the closest gas line is about 100 feet away from my house. The gas company says it would cost me $50 - $100 a foot to get the gas to my house. That would be 50 - 100K to get the line to my house so that's not an option. I'm still researching but this is a good start. I actually started my fireplace last night just to see if it warmed anything up. I found that fireplaces are useless... seems they're more for show than heat. I was about 4 feet away and felt no heat coming from it. So, as you said I obviously need to get something with a blower to put the heat out.

 

[Pelleting In NJ]

To get the gas line to your house, 100 feet at $100 per foot is $10,000, plus another 3000 to 5000 for a new furnace. Natural gas is so cheap, compared to oil, that you could probably get to a $ break-even point in 8 to 10 years.....I would not discard the gas option so quick. Plus, gas furnace efficiency can't be beat, up to about 96% AFUE.

 

[md2002]

To get the gas line to your house, 100 feet at $100 per foot is $10,000, plus another 3000 to 5000 for a new furnace. Natural gas is so cheap, compared to oil, that you could probably get to a $ break-even point in 8 to 10 years.....I would not discard the gas option so quick. Plus, gas furnace efficiency can't be beat, up to about 96% AFUE.

LOL... I guess my math was off. Maybe it is an option.

 

[Jason]

hi there, im not sure if im at the right place to post this.
this is my second winter with my eco45 and i have a few question. Last year i burned around 1200$ of pellet for 5 to 6 month my house is 24 years old with old windows. now this year im trying to get to know my stove better. im trying to figure out how to get the most heat out of it at full at setting 6 with a t-stat upstair and trying to figure out how to open my damper to get the most btu.

im running with inside air do i need to get outside air to get better heat and less pellet.
how many celcius should a get out of the fan.

so right now at setting 6 the damper is open half way getting like a yellow flame.

if anybody have some tips i would like to ear them please
thanks.

 

[hossthehermit]

hi there, im not sure if im at the right place to post this.
this is my second winter with my eco45 and i have a few question. Last year i burned around 1200$ of pellet for 5 to 6 month my house is 24 years old with old windows. now this year im trying to get to know my stove better. im trying to figure out how to get the most heat out of it at full at setting 6 with a t-stat upstair and trying to figure out how to open my damper to get the most btu.

im running with inside air do i need to get outside air to get better heat and less pellet.
how many celcius should a get out of the fan.

so right now at setting 6 the damper is open half way getting like a yellow flame.

if anybody have some tips i would like to ear them please
thanks.

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