I bought a Enviro Milan pellet stove insert that is loud, needs to be cleaned every three days and barely gets our 1100 sq ft upstairs past 63 on a cold day. I'm thinking about moving it to the basement and installing a better stove upstairs where we spend 95% of our time. When the guy came to service it, in the T in the back there was a buildup of soot that needed to be emptied at the bottom of the T. That was a couple of months ago. I'm wondering if it's already built up more. I also see some used Quadrafire stoves in my area. My FIL has a Harmon freestanding stove and he raves about how little he needs to clean his.
Not too happy with our Enviro Milan Insert
- Thread starter Joey_C
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Buyers remorse
Noise, by nature fan motors, are noisy. Some units are quieter than others
The pellet stove is a space heater how warm it keeps your space is reliant on
how tight and insulated your space is. your stove is rated at 34000 BTU
that is a small stove. A large heater is rated at 60 to 70 thousand BTU
Cleaning 2 to 3 days is normal for your stove (read your manual) Full
tare down cleaning normally once a year Pellet stoves are not plug and play
How much ash you get is reliant on the make of pellets you use. I normally get
5to6 gallons of ash for every pallet of pellets burned (75 bags).
Comparing a free-standing Harmon to a small insert is like comparing apples to oranges
Noise, by nature fan motors, are noisy. Some units are quieter than others
The pellet stove is a space heater how warm it keeps your space is reliant on
how tight and insulated your space is. your stove is rated at 34000 BTU
that is a small stove. A large heater is rated at 60 to 70 thousand BTU
Cleaning 2 to 3 days is normal for your stove (read your manual) Full
tare down cleaning normally once a year Pellet stoves are not plug and play
How much ash you get is reliant on the make of pellets you use. I normally get
5to6 gallons of ash for every pallet of pellets burned (75 bags).
Comparing a free-standing Harmon to a small insert is like comparing apples to oranges
Well I wish I had a larger BTU unit. I went with what the professional Pellet stove seller suggested. Buyers remorse. We clean it, we have it serviced. If my post can help a novice like me not make the same mistake I did then this thread will have been helpful. I buy the same pellets my father In Law uses. Spruce Point which are supposed to be pretty good. I store them in my dry basement.
Do you think there are inserts that will do a better job or is the problem that it is an insert.
Do you think there are inserts that will do a better job or is the problem that it is an insert.
jzm2cc
Minister of Fire
Quadrafire CB1200, Harman P61 or P68, St Croix Prescott are examples of good stoves that produce good heat and can be found used on CL or FB Marketplace.
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
i do nor know much about inserts other than the fact that I bought a free standing Harman more so due to 3 things:
tried and true reliability, ease of cleaning and a super large hopper and ashpan which is like a big square bucket..
tried and true reliability, ease of cleaning and a super large hopper and ashpan which is like a big square bucket..
Dabug
Member
Harman accentra 52i tc insert has been performing excellent for us. I can put fan on whisper mode if noise level bothers us. Haven't seen single digits yet but confident unit will handle it.
One thing I have noticed is that if you have 1600sq/ft for example and you buy a stove capable of heating 1600sq/ft you will have to run the stove on max to heat that space, not efficient. So you should buy a stove that will heat 3200sq/ft in this example so you will be running it half throttle ideally which is usually the most efficient setting on a stove depending on many other factors(vent size & configuration, pellet type, draft setting)of course, buying a stove so big that you have to run it on idle isn't very efficient either.
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
Have a harman P61A here. Never had it above half throttle but it is there if we need the xtra heat force. Always go bigger
