WHO MAKE THE BEST PELLET STOVE FOR THE $$$$$$

[bigblulbz]

I have to heat about 2500sqft two floors. Can it be done with 1 stove or should I be looking for 2? I like quality, longevity and ease of use for my wife also. The more feedback the better. The stove pipe will have to be through, for now, I think. All feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[jrsdws]

It can be done.

 

[Hoot23]

Harman P series. I heat two floors with my p61. Best thing we ever bought. Even with this cold snap we are still walking around in t-shirts and shorts.

 

[DexterDay]

Furnace. . . . . Pellet furnace

Is this Main floor? Basement?

What's the total sq footage??

 

[ByCo]

IMHO, the best bang for the buck is England's Stove Works. There are stoves that may be a little easier to use, and stoves that are prettier but they will cost you quite a bit more. They don't have much for dealer support but if your at all handy you'll be hard pressed to find a manufacturer that's more willing to spend time on the phone with you to get any problems solved. And they are made in the U.S.A.!

 

[jimmieguns]

IMHO, the best bang for the buck is England's Stove Works. There are stoves that may be a little easier to use, and stoves that are prettier but they will cost you quite a bit more. They don't have much for dealer support but if your at all handy you'll be hard pressed to find a manufacturer that's more willing to spend time on the phone with you to get any problems solved. And they are made in the U.S.A.!

I agree-- just got an Englander 1500 sq footer-------customer service is TOO TOO good-- very helpful and knowledgeable! wish my house wasnt so darn hard to hold heat--vaulted's bad insulation etc-----but the machine is a David vs. Goliath here and does a decent job--would def recommend one

 

[Brokenwing]

Im going to get the popcorn and site back and watch this thread!

 

[smwilliamson]

Best stove for the buck is a free one that works

 

[kcellwood]

Harman - put in in room temp/auto and never touch it. Well I guess you do touch it. You do need to feed it pellets once in a while. Oh yah, needs to be cleaned also.

 

[Bioburner]

Used Harman p series. Checking off your list. Quality. Ease of use for the wife. Easy to clean, easy to run- set temp,auto start, leave feed rate on four and fill with pellets.No draft to try and adjust.Lower maintenance,big ash hopper,no hidden passages and panels to remove. Can do a good cleaning after a time or two in lees than half hour. Straight forward room air fan to remove and clean. Good videos online for cleaning and maintenance. Has a room temp probe to keep temp where you want, not just where the feed setting puts your temp. My thirty years opinion at this time.

 

[P38X2]

Used Harman p series. Checking off your list. Quality. Ease of use for the wife. Easy to clean, easy to run- set temp,auto start, leave feed rate on four and fill with pellets.No draft to try and adjust.Lower maintenance,big ash hopper,no hidden passages and panels to remove. Can do a good cleaning after a time or two in lees than half hour. Straight forward room air fan to remove and clean. Good videos online for cleaning and maintenance. Has a room temp probe to keep temp where you want, not just where the feed setting puts your temp. My thirty years opinion at this time.

...or new. Well said.

 

[jtakeman]

Harman's have the largest following. But many of the name brand units are well worth their salt. Proper maintenance is key to any unit and as long as parts are available most are worthy.

More important to have a properly sized unit if you plan to be oil-electric-propain free. Too small a stove will still have you using the dreaded stuff in the cold! Size does matter!

 

[jtakeman]

she lied to me for 20 years

Mine too!

 

[Bioburner]

Harman's have the largest following. But many of the name brand units are well worth their salt. Proper maintenance is key to any unit and as long as parts are available most are worthy.

More important to have a properly sized unit if you plan to be oil-electric-propain free. Too small a stove will still have you using the dreaded stuff in the cold! Size does matter!

If the maintenance is not such a chore it will probably be done more often and without having buyers remorse of why did I get into something with so much work. I hate reading about removing panels and beating the stove and probing etc. The more detailed and intricate the job the less likely it will be done or done properly.Been there, done that. I got the skeletons(3 stoves for scrap) and scars of stove care.

 

[JohnRXL]

Read this article.
(broken link removed to http://www.forgreenheat.org/consumer_resources/reliablepellet.html)

 

[will711]

Im going to get the popcorn and site back and watch this thread!

What no Beer

 

[Bioburner]

Good article. Wish I could have read the whole thing. Interesting about Travis Ind in having to kiss a dealers butt for parts. May try a Englander for the shop.

 

[Stevekng]

I have to heat about 2500sqft two floors. Can it be done with 1 stove or should I be looking for 2? I like quality, longevity and ease of use for my wife also. The more feedback the better. The stove pipe will have to be through, for now, I think. All feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

You will find that most of the forum members have a Harman, U.S. Stove product, Quadra-Fire, or an Enviro product. Not surprisingly, each ownner will advance the stove they own. All of those brands are good bets but you want a dealer that knows how to install the unit and will service it . The dealer should also be just a phone call away for your problems. Believe me, you will have problems. There is a learning curve to owning and running a pellet stove and the dealer should be willing to help you along and not be contemptuous of your novice status. The dealer will look at your home and advise you of the size and BTU output you will need. If the dealer isn't willing to do this, then move on to one who will.

A pellet stove has a blower that is the main source of heat transfer. If you have an older house with an ell, then there will be little heat at the other end of the house from the stove (or upstairs). If you have a newer house on two floors then you have a better chance of getting some heat at the other end of the house, but it won't be toasty warm by any stretch of the imagination. A pellet furnace is an alternative if you have existing ductwork to tie into for a hot air system. You will also need 24hr emergency service. A pellet boiler furnace is another alternative but an expensive way to go. Also, with the boiler, if it breaks down you will need 24 hr emegency service for it as well. Pellet storage and getting the pellets to the furnace are additional concerns. The furnaces have huge hoppers and filling them bag by bag can be a chore.

A two stove system is a good way to go; creating a two zone heating system if you connect them to thermostats. But you have twice the upkeep and two hoppers to fill. I have a Quad Castille at one end of the house and an Enviro at the other end. I have an oil fired Hot Air furnace for the middle portion of the house, creating a three zone set-up. This is for a 2100 sq ft. 1850 farmhouse with an ell and 2nd floor. I burn 4 tons(200 bags) of pellets and about 300 gallons of oil. The furnace allows me to take a vacation without worrying about heating the house with a pellet stove that won't stay running with a limited supple of pellets in the hopper.

I hope the helps

 

[titanracer]

I bought a englander 25 pdvc 6 years ago, (knock on wood), it has work flawlessly. The only thing I have replaced on this thing has been gaskets, every year before burn season. We lived in a 14 x 70 trailer and it heat the whole joint. I used about 20 gallons of propane the whole year and we cooked with propane gas stove, so much wasn't going into running gas furnace. We tore the trailer out in early october of 2012 and bought a new 2012, 28' x 64' manufactured home to replace it. We moved in the place, 2 weeks before christmas. Didn't get the chance to get the stove installed yet, do to the fact, I didn't want to take the chance, breaking up the outside siding do to coldness, while trying to get it off to put wall thimble in wall. We do have a open floor plan so stove will heat the whole place for sure. So we are heating with the new furnace in house. I did upgrade to a more efficent furnace (98 Efficent), when ordered house. It has been burning about 50 gallon of propane per month. It is still better then burning 125 gallons in old place. I do MISS my stove, something fierce though, but I will get her in over the warm season and start to hoard those pellets again.

 

[Mike D]

I can attest that my Lopi does just fine for my 2400sqft Colonial. I now only run oil for my hot water heater (which really grinds on me every time I hear it go on OR my daughter is in the shower for 25 minutes). I have no other experience with other stoves, but I am satisfied with my Lopi Leyden. They seem to burn anything I have put in there and the only issue so far (knock on wood) was that I had to replace the igniter. Best of luck.

 

[movemaine]

I have a 42k btu Harman Accentra insert that heats about 95% of our 2400 sq ft house. If we didn't have the fireplace, I would have gone for a Harman p61 or p68. Either one of those will heat your whole space. I have a friend with a p61, 2800 sq ft, 1800's house in Maine with 12 foot ceilings and it heats it all with no problem.

 

[smwilliamson]

Read this article.
(broken link removed to http://www.forgreenheat.org/consumer_resources/reliablepellet.html)

hey..what a great article

 

[Bioburner]

who wrote the BS ?

Second sentence, Scott Williamson of pelletstoveservice.com, data compiled from his records. Would like to see some of the rest of data having beat my head fixing others.

 

[shtrdave]

I am not an expert but depending on what heat you have now, a forced hot air system or hot water boiler I would be looking at the furnace option, only one place to drag pellets to and one unit to clean. Don't know much about them but that is where I would be looking.

 

[richg]

For your situation, a Harman P68 would be my recommendation. A Harman has so many advantages over other stoves, it's nuts. Bottom feed design can handle crummy pellets, corn, etc. It just pushes ash and clinkers over the burnpot lip and into the ash bin, and you don't have to shut it down to clean the burnpot . Huge hopper capacity means you don't have to worry about running out of pellets in the middle of the night. The stove regulates its feed rate based on room temp and it was bulletproof. Best of all, they are built like tanks....there may be more attractive stoves out there, but I wanted reliable heat, not a room decoration. My first pellet stove was a quad classic bay and it stank up the joint, from crappy construction to massive clinkers that required two daily shutdowns to chop out. Oscar, my beloved Harman P61, heated the house day in, day out and never let me down. It had a few minor hiccups, but that was it. How and why I ever sold it and wound up with a Quad 4300 woodburner is a mystery to me........