OK Tough Decision on Stove

[dirtmcgirt79]

Ok, so I'm shopping for Pellet stoves to put in the basement. The house is 2700sqft (including the basement.) The basement ceiling is not insulated and is open. We use Electric heat now, which stays cold, and costs us a ton every winter..

A very close dealer to me has a Harman P61A for $2900 in stock. This was a VERY knowledgable shop, not really trying to sell me on any particular brand.. but they have very few pellet stoves in stock at all.. they had a Quadrafire MT Vernon for $2300. The good thing about this shop is that I could put one on layaway and and just pay what I want to every month, for as long as I want to..

Another shop that's a little further away has a Lennox Winslow in stock for $2500..

I know there are a ton of "which stove is better" threads..

My question is, feature wise, can the Harman be beat by these other two, for the price difference? Should I go get one now since it's in stock?

 

[webbie]

Well, Harman is a great stove.....and the price seems reasonable.

As far as doing it now - if you have to put it on layaway or pay interest on the money to buy it, then you may lose some of the savings! The idea of buying it now usually means using it now. So if you intend to pay for it before the winter and get it installed...and some good use out of it, then by all means go for it.

I won't go into the discussion of heating from the basement, but you can do some searches here on "basement" etc an read the threads. Bottom line is that unless you want to heat the basement, you will not save any money from burning a pellet stove in the basement vs. electric heat upstairs. Maybe there is somewhere in the living area you can put the stove?

 

[dirtmcgirt79]

Well, the basement will be a good part of our "living area", as soon as it's finished, which will hopefully be before I get the stove.. I may go the route of putting it in the living area upstairs We really don't have a good space for it.. but I think I can find somewhere to tuck one of the way..

I have a wood fireplace now, that I considered putting an insert in (woodburning). But I don't like to feel like I'm living in Hades when sitting in the living area.. I just hate feeling like my skins burning when I'm near the woodstove.. I may get a small pellet stove from Lowes for the basement, to heat the basement, and a bigger pellet stove for the main level before winter.

I hear what you're saying about Layaways.. It's not that I don't have the money right now, I just wasn't expecting such a major price, and would hate to pull it out of savings.. Plus the way Harman is lacking on manufacturing, I wasn't sure if I will be able to get ahold of one next year when the basement is complete..

With most pellet stoves, will I need wall protection behind a corner install? If not, the that will work much better for us..

 

[imacman]

With most pellet stoves, will I need wall protection behind a corner install? If not, the that will work much better for us..

Does the dealer have a pellet insert for your fireplace....that's a possibility. As for the corner install, most stoves don't require any wall protection.....see the pics in this thread:

www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/22901/

 

[dirtmcgirt79]

yeah.. I thought about the pellet insert, but to be honest, If I'm going to go with an insert, I would rather just use wood, since it would be free for me.. But that still doesn't help with the fact that in the living room, it would have to be pretty hot, inorder to keep the rest of the house at a warm temperature.. I have a nice area between my dining room and living room that I think would be a great spot for a free standing unit..