Quad Santa Fe and Harman P38

[geek]

my friend can't decide between these 2 models, both running at about the same price with the promotion.

The Quad dealer told him that the promotion has been extended one more time until the end of May, not sure about the Harman but assuming the same.

Stoves are very different in different things, specially the bottom feed auger in the Harman vs. the top feed on the Quad.
The P38 looks to be easy to clean with the removal ash pan and dealer says it may need less maintenance than the Santa Fe.
One con in the P38 is the look, basically it looks like a toilet.....LOL

All parts in Santa Fe are made in China, the whole stove pretty much, not sure about the P38.

He asked me to get more opinions, he liked the Avalon Newport but there's no promotion and it's $2,400 new.....yikes...

So the P38 and the Santa Fe are the candidates.

.

 

[www_godzilla]

My dealer told me that the Sante Fe is made in the USA and China. Luck of the draw on which one you get. I received the one made in the USA. I love my stove and it is very easy to clean.

 

[MCPO]

I have the Harman P38. I just happened to buy it used. ( for a paltry sum).
Actually I can`t find enough good things to say about it since it burns so well and so trouble free . It`s a well designed stove that burns just about any pellet brand or type you choose and it burns them well. The controls are simple and fool proof and cleaning is rather simple. My P38 can burn for 36 hrs continuously on a single bag on the lowest setting but it is also quite capable of putting out a tremendous amount of heat when turned up accordingly.
The cons:
1.........Many of the the Harman stoves do in fact look like a toilet bowl and have that old design look and the P38 is no exception.
2..........it`s a manual start. It can run on a thermosat but only on high and then cuts back to low or whatever preset selected when room temp is reached. From what I`m told the auto start feature (P38 is lacking) will save money and pellets since it turns the stove on/off.
3........It`s expensive at around $2,100. Harman stoves are very good and on the high side in cost but when you get up into the $2K + price range I think it makes sense to look at something more attractive and one with the auto start feature.
Even the dept store Englander stoves feature auto start these days.

 

[LewLasher]

I had the same decision, and ended up choosing the Harman P43. The P43 is essentially the P38 but with automatic ignition.

 

[geek]

gio,

both the Santa Fe and the P38 have that promotion running, which brings the price down to about $1599.

He was also told the promotion has just been re-extended till the end of May, at least the Quad.

 

[jtp10181]

I cannot say this for most things made in China, but I can say the few pellet stoves we have gotten that said that on the box we have not had any issues with. I think for the most part the Santa Fe is "assembled" in USA which then it is labeled "made in USA". A lot of the HHT electronics (control boards, blowers, etc) come from China and are then put into the units (wood, pellet, and gas) here in the USA. The steel parts and welding for Quad wood and pellet products should all be done in Colville, WA as far as I know. I thought initially only the CB1200 was being assembled in China, not sure if they are doing anything else over there or not.

 

[ducker]

I love my little toilet bowl

Now, I don't mind using a blowtorch to start my stove... that being said when winter really kicked in, I think there were quite a few times where I wouldn't have to re-start my stove for over 2 weeks. I'd just turn it down, clean out the pot, and keep it going.

I viewed the electric start as an added expense that might potentially break in the future.

As this is my only stove, I don't have any opinions about top feeders personally from experience; but based on what I've read, I don't believe I'd want one; the fact that I could potentially leave my stove running for 3-4 days with out touching it aside from adding more pellets to the hopper is crazy talk for people with top feed systems.

 

[smoke show]

not true I only shut my mt vernon ae down once a week to clean it, if it needs it or not.

 

[MCPO]

not true I only shut my mt vernon ae down once a week to clean it, if it needs it or not.

I`ve let my P38 go 6 weeks without shutting it down to clean.
The ash drawer was full but that the only pressing reason to shut it down.

 

[smoke show]

the mt vernon ash pan would never hold 6 weeks worth, but on that note I wouldn't let the heat exchanger get that dirty anyway.

 

[geek]

not true I only shut my mt vernon ae down once a week to clean it, if it needs it or not.

I`ve let my P38 go 6 weeks without shutting it down to clean.
The ash drawer was full but that the only pressing reason to shut it down.

gio, that's a lot.....I was shutting down and cleaning my englander 25-pdv daily....lol

In those 6 weeks I assume not all the ashes got pushed over in the burn pot, you had to help and scrape the pot once in a while, right?

.

 

[MCPO]

not true I only shut my mt vernon ae down once a week to clean it, if it needs it or not.

I`ve let my P38 go 6 weeks without shutting it down to clean.
The ash drawer was full but that the only pressing reason to shut it down.

gio, that's a lot.....I was shutting down and cleaning my englander 25-pdv daily....lol

In those 6 weeks I assume not all the ashes got pushed over in the burn pot, you had to help and scrape the pot once in a while, right?

.

Yes , at least every 2 days I scrape the burnpot and pull the ash buildup over the forward lip while it`s running.Takes a few seconds.
Sure, 6 weeks is an extreme and to be honest I normally don`t go that long but the Harmans are good in this respect.
AND, they have large ash drawers.

 

[geek]

gio,

my friend asked me to mention/ask about how noise is the P38, while at my house he said my englander is like an airplane, even in lowest setting is very noisy.

 

[MCPO]

gio,

my friend asked me to mention/ask about how noise is the P38, while at my house he said my englander is like an airplane, even in lowest setting is very noisy.

My friend also has an Englander and we both like the stove. It does put out some good heat.
It`s somewhat noiser than the Harman but not unusually loud either. The P38 is probably average when compared against others and definitely not among the exceptionally quiet ones.

 

[stoveguy13]

i think all the santa fe are coming out of china now but as said before the stove runs great and i dont think you beat it from a dollar stand point 1999 less 400 withe cold cash deal