Swapping a Dutchwest wood stove for a Harman Pellet Stove

[Engineer2]

Hi folks,
I'm thinking of replacing my 6 year old Dutchwest wood stove with a Harman (likely a P61A) pellet stove.
From reading many postings in The Pellet Mill, I can easily see that there are some obvious differences. I'm liking the convenience of pellets. Also, I
like the ease of use and temperature control.
I still have some concerns.
I have heard that because of the different kind of heat pellet stoves produce vs. the wood stoves that the pellet stove may not produce the same amounts
of heat that a wood stove does.
I use my Dutchwest in a fairly large 3 level house (2600 Sq Ft). The wood stove is in my finished basement. I have a common open stairway that connects all 3 levels.
The Dutchwest has given me issues in the past and continues to be a PIA. Although its rated for 70,000 BTU I very likely have never gotten anywhere near this output.
When the temperature in my finished basement is between 70 and 75, ( and it has been running more than 8 hrs) the second floor can get to 64 - 68 and the top floor will be between 64 - 66. All of these temperatures can get a bit higher once the stove gets to 80 or so. The 75 range is most normal.
Will this Harman P61A rated at 0 to 61,000 BTU be able to produce the same or possibly more heat?
I'm hoping to run the pellet stove more often that the wood stove but would hope to run it in the low to mid range, (as opposed to running the thing full blast)

Thanks,
John

 

[DexterDay]

3 floors is alot.. Pellet stoves are alot of maintenace. Cleaning is at least weekly to bi-weekly. You said you have the wood stove? Is that your Primary source of heat? Do you run your furnace, heat pump, etc? Do you have any natural draft vents installed? (code issues)Do have any corner Entreeair fans or ceiling fans installed to move the air around? Harmans have more radiant heat than others, but most of it is forced air. Can't tell you if you will have better luck with the pellet stove, but i can tell you that i am happy with mine. I burned wood for awhile and never solely relied on it. With the pellet stove, I dont even think about using my LP furnace. Every situation and application is different. More people will chime in soon.

 

[Dr.Faustus]

dont swap them! keep both by all means. your wood stove will work without electric.

also for those times it gets REALLY cold like 20 below, you can run both things moderatly instead of 1 stove on full blast yet really get the house cranked.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Interesting because I did a very similar change!

I had a 19 year old cast iron Consolidated DutchWest Federal Design Extra Large Cat Coal/Wood Stove (Model 288C) with the blower in the basement of my 2 floor 2,000 sq ft split located near the stairwell. This wood/coal stove was rated at 60,000 BTU and 15 hour burn time with wood. It did go all night and I refilled in the morning.

I felt that even though it was rated at 60,000 BTU it was more of a local heater and I was not getting as much heat upstairs.

So I sold it and got an Avalon Astoria Large Pellet Stove rated at 45,000 BTU. However the heat is more continuous than a wood stove because it does not burn down like wood logs.

I did not measure the temp with the old DW but with my new Astoria, it is 80 - 85 deg F in the basement and 68 - 72 upstairs. I now have a corner fan in the doorway to the upstairs and I measure 87 Deg F coming out and up the stairs!

I also have the ductwork above both stoves that go to 2 registers, one in the living room and the other in the kitchen. There is a fan in the ductwork and I measure 80 Deg F or so using the pellet stove upstairs in the living room coming out of the ductwork.

So in my case I am much happier with the pellet stove and the ease of use by just dumping in 2 bags into the 115lb hopper and letting it fly for a couple of days!

The heat does depend on how the house is insulated and I have added a ton of insulation in the last few years.

If you could have both stoves for a while it would be a good migration, I did not have the space, however I am very happy with the pellet stove.

See Pics of each stove in the same spot below! Good luck with your decision.

 

[Engineer2]

Hi All,
As for the 3 floors, yes I agree its a tall task, but the reality is that we are happy with the second and third floors in the mid 60's. Actually the 2nd and 3rd
floors are very open. Third floor is a master loft. It has a bedroom, bathroom and small lounge area. The 3rd floor loft overlooks the second floor on both sides.
We use a large ceiling fan in the loft to draw down the warmer air from 3rd to 2nd. In the basement we do have an EntreeAir fan to move the warm air
toward the stair well. Our primary heat is a 5 ton heat pump backup to this is electric heat strips. We are in RI and its actually pretty amazing what the heat pump
is capable of. When we use the wood stove though the heat pump does not go on too often as I set it on 65. We do not solely rely on the wood stove, this is part
of our problem. Our work schedules mean the wood stove almost always goes out during the day, when the wood stove is out the heat pump takes over.

20 below! not here thank god! It does get to zero occasionally though.

 

[DexterDay]

If you can keep the air moving and its that open then the P61 or P68 "Should" keep you heat pump off all day, according to your work schedules.. These are very efficient machines, if they are kept clean and in good working order.

 

[Engineer2]

It will be a culture change for us to have an appliance that can actually burn continuous and maintain a set temperature. I'm think we can even burn it very
moderately during the day so that when we get home the house is already on the warm side.

 

[Don2222]

Hi All,
As for the 3 floors, yes I agree its a tall task, but the reality is that we are happy with the second and third floors in the mid 60's. Actually the 2nd and 3rd
floors are very open. Third floor is a master loft. It has a bedroom, bathroom and small lounge area. The 3rd floor loft overlooks the second floor on both sides.
We use a large ceiling fan in the loft to draw down the warmer air from 3rd to 2nd. In the basement we do have an EntreeAir fan to move the warm air
toward the stair well. Our primary heat is a 5 ton heat pump backup to this is electric heat strips. We are in RI and its actually pretty amazing what the heat pump
is capable of. When we use the wood stove though the heat pump does not go on too often as I set it on 65. We do not solely rely on the wood stove, this is part
of our problem. Our work schedules mean the wood stove almost always goes out during the day, when the wood stove is out the heat pump takes over.

20 below! not here thank god! It does get to zero occasionally though.

Hi Engineer2
You can connect a wood pellet stove right to your Heat Pump just like this guy did!!
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/70115/