# Giving up on pellet stoves



## at78rpm (Dec 19, 2015)

Quadrafire, Harmon, Heatilator: they all fail.  And when they fail, it's on a Saturday night, or Christmas, or Easter, or Thanksgiving.  Or when it's minus 35 out.  For 8 years, I've had pellet stoves and for 8 years, I've been damning myself for this foolish choice.  If it's not a pipe obstruction, it's wet pellets.  If it's not wet pellets, it's a bad augur motor.  If it's not a bad augur motor, it's a faulty vacuum switch.  In short, there are far too many things that can, and do, go wrong.  

Give me a propane furnace any day, and a little wood stove for some extra heat and for local color.  But anyone who asks me about a pellet stove will get a very definite negative answer from me.


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## ps50 (Dec 19, 2015)

Maybe you should have cleaned your stove.


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## at78rpm (Dec 19, 2015)

I wrote my post after having spent the entire day today doing just that.  And I had vacuumed and scraped the entire chimney system in late October.  If it's not working because of a clogged exhaust, believe me, it requires more work than any typical homeowner would want to put into it.


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## Dr.Faustus (Dec 19, 2015)

Sorry to hear this. My PDVC has been very good to us. I was down once due to an auger motor and even so i was able to limp it along until a new part arrived. Other than that i've been running just as long if not longer with no problems. Pellet stoves are not for everyone. The extra work you put into it is supposed to save you some money (perhaps not this particular year with pellets sky high), maybe add some nice extra heat - so you can run the propane a lot less. Or even enjoy a nice fire but still get heat out of it unlike the average fireplace which sucks out more heat that it puts in the house.

People always ask me about my stove, and i tell them the truth. It has been great for me, however the cleaner it is the better it runs, should not be your sole source of heat (although mine is) and you shouldnt mind occasionally having to get a bit dirty and or grab a wrench or multimeter and get behind the stove.


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## Cedarjunki (Dec 20, 2015)

Pellet stoves do require more attention than any other heat source. They are not everyone.  Myself, i dont mind the extra work. Woodstove is out of the question for me. Getting the same heat from a propane or oil  forced air burner is almost impossible without costing a fortune in fuel. I like the constant warmth.  I dont mind getting my hands dirty unlike 99% of the people who swear pellet stoves are junk..and i have noticed most people who ditch the pellet stove due to maintenace requirements and problems are people who have more money than they have in mechanical skills.  But i dont blame most of them since when they go shopping for a stove the seller stands there and explains how simple pellets are and  require no attention.. heard it too many times.

But since im fairly close to you at78rpm... what do you have for sale???


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## bogieb (Dec 20, 2015)

Sorry it hasn't worked out the way you would like and certainly sounds like you will be happier without pellets in your life. I find my pellet stoves less work than wood stoves. Although if I had someplace to store wood and it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to put in a chimney, I might have placed one in the basement for the sole fact that during power outages I would still have heat without having to go with a generator backup.

I went the pellet stove route specifically because it fit my circumstances better. I haven't had many issues with the pellet eaters - and what issues I have had were pretty much self induced (except that 25-PDVC thing - that was the stove).

If it isn't working for you, move on and good luck.


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## Bioburner (Dec 20, 2015)

As Rodney Dangerfield used to say "if it weren't for bad luck I would have no luck at all"
Same can happen to a ownership of a car etc. Couple of my best buys on stoves were from such people.


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## alternativeheat (Dec 20, 2015)

at78rpm said:


> Quadrafire, Harmon, Heatilator: they all fail.  And when they fail, it's on a Saturday night, or Christmas, or Easter, or Thanksgiving.  Or when it's minus 35 out.  For 8 years, I've had pellet stoves and for 8 years, I've been damning myself for this foolish choice.  If it's not a pipe obstruction, it's wet pellets.  If it's not wet pellets, it's a bad augur motor.  If it's not a bad augur motor, it's a faulty vacuum switch.  In short, there are far too many things that can, and do, go wrong.
> 
> Give me a propane furnace any day, and a little wood stove for some extra heat and for local color.  But anyone who asks me about a pellet stove will get a very definite negative answer from me.


Well have a Merry Christmas anyway !

3rd year heating with the Harman P61 ( well less use this year for the low oil prices), I clean it every couple of weeks, I brush out the 4 " venting twice a year, scrape the pot daily. That's all typical requirements of pellet burning. So far so good. No question wood stoves are simpler devices. Good luck with the Propane bills.


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## Bioburner (Dec 20, 2015)

Found a propain bill for everyones enjoyment


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## johneh (Dec 20, 2015)

Pellet stoves are not for everyone.
They are not plug and play
Good luck with what ever you use
Just one thing you say the stove always breaks down
My youngest son is an HVAC Teck . who does Oil, NG ,Propane
Wood and pellet appliances and this time of year he is run off
his feet with Propane and NG stove and furnace repairs so what
ever you use there are bound to be break downs


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## Tonyray (Dec 20, 2015)

"Set it and Forget it" is the sales pitch..
and it is Correct as long as you maintain it periodically.
drive and forget it as long as you maintain your Car periodically.  The List goes on....


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## bogieb (Dec 20, 2015)

Bioburner said:


> Found a propain bill for everyones enjoyment
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I would have loved it if the last delivery of 150 gals of propane was the total price you show. Still wouldn't be worth me running the propane boiler, but at least it would save me money on DHW


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## TimfromMA (Dec 20, 2015)

at78rpm said:


> Quadrafire, Harmon, Heatilator: they all fail.  And when they fail, it's on a Saturday night, or Christmas, or Easter, or Thanksgiving.  Or when it's minus 35 out.  For 8 years, I've had pellet stoves and for 8 years, I've been damning myself for this foolish choice.  If it's not a pipe obstruction, it's wet pellets.  If it's not wet pellets, it's a bad augur motor.  If it's not a bad augur motor, it's a faulty vacuum switch.  In short, there are far too many things that can, and do, go wrong.
> 
> Give me a propane furnace any day, and a little wood stove for some extra heat and for local color.  But anyone who asks me about a pellet stove will get a very definite negative answer from me.


Goodbye, good luck and don't let the door hit you in butt on the way out.


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## womaus (Dec 20, 2015)

TimfromMA said:


> Goodbye, good luck and don't let the door hit you in butt on the way out.



What did I miss? I see this in the upper right:

*TimfromMA, 10 minutes ago
Last edited by a moderator: 2 minutes ago

*


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## TimfromMA (Dec 20, 2015)

The word butt used to be the same word that means donkey.


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## womaus (Dec 20, 2015)

TimfromMA said:


> The word butt used to be the same word that means donkey.



Ahhh....very incendiary language there...


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## Bioburner (Dec 20, 2015)

No need to insight harm or insult the intelligence of a farm animal here


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## BrotherBart (Dec 20, 2015)




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## jatoxico (Dec 20, 2015)

wow


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## LocustPocust (Dec 20, 2015)

My father bought a Quadra-Fire pellet stove in 2003 and it's been good to him. It's more maintenance intensive than a wood stove, but cleaning isn't an issue. 10 minutes with a vacuum once a week and cleaning the vent pipe in the fall and that's about it. People who have issues with them from my experience usually:

-Don't clean it enough
-Install the ventilation system improperly
-Buy junk pellets
-Buy a $700 Tractor Supply special 

The Quadra-Fire my father bought was almost $2,000 when it was new. He's yet to even replace the blower though after 12 years it's nearing time for one. Basically, you get what you pay for.


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## Bioburner (Dec 20, 2015)

There's is always exceptions.
I spent a night trying to get someone's stove running that had been having issues for many years. Issue, the house wiring, not the stove.
Sometimes you have to get someone with a better or different understanding of things to get a handle on things and not throw out the baby with the bath water.


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## FirepotPete (Dec 20, 2015)

BrotherBart said:


> View attachment 169843


Hey! Everyone likes a little xxx! I'm with the OP. No pellets stoves for me, only corn burners.  
I just find it weird that someone would join a forum and only post 6 messages in the last year. None of the posts were asking for help or questions about getting any stove running. I understand that not all people are mechanically or electrically inclined, but, that's where a forum such as this one comes into play.
Most here will bend over backwards to explain, post photos, PM or even call on a phone to help someone.
It's mind boggling to me how many people come to these forums unprepared to give basic information of their stove/furnace/type/model/year, exhaust setup and expect to magically make the appliance work properly.
I know that some sales people are to blame for this happening, we have a dealer in the area that is terrible about that, locally called the pellet Nazi.
I just wish I knew where all these used but not used stoves end up.


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## shtrdave (Dec 20, 2015)

I have had mine for close to 3 years now no problems yet. I am not the clean freak. I do a fairly thorough cleaning once a year about once a month I brush the insides down and vacuum it out when I empty the ash pan. I scrape the pot every couple of days to get the carbon build up off and that is about it. Should I be doing more, probably but it works well and keeps me warm.


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## rich2500 (Dec 20, 2015)

I can understand the frustration  as my first stove in the 10 yrs. I had it I spent more on replacement parts then I payed for the stove new and it would always quit during the night,it started the first year I bought the stove and continued until I got rid of it.Stove was shutdown and cleaned daily and venting cleaned twice a year and I only burn 2 ton a year,so it wasn't lack of maintenance and cleaning causing the problems.It,s replacement has been flawless for the 3 yrs. I have had it .


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## alternativeheat (Dec 20, 2015)

We started out burning wood in this house, went about two seasons and I converted the stove to a coal burner and more than three decades later we bought the pellet stove. You just need one really good raging chimney fire to aid in a change of mind re wood.. Gets the heart really pumping I'll tell ya when you think a train is coming up your driveway and you realize "oh no" !! It popped mortar in the chimney too, had to re-point it and re-line it but it was salvageable structurally.. Today's chimney codes for wood burning are pretty severe for a reason and that kind of venting will cost way more than pellet venting. And you still get to clean it a couple of times a year too. One clue, never choke down a wood stove, give it some air let it run hot ! You're gonna get sick of tending it too. I found coal to be super reliable and super safe ( anthracite) by comparison. 

Coal is still my preferred secondary heat , even though we went with pellet heat but that has more to do with regional problems with coal availability than anything else. Pellets have worked fine for us at any rate. All Stoves Take Attention And Work LOL !! Just it comes in different forms. There is one kind of fuel for stoves that requires very little work though, Gas. You don't get the heat of wood or coal but it takes little work.


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## bogieb (Dec 20, 2015)

FirepotPete said:


> I just find it weird that someone would join a forum and only post 6 messages in the last year. None of the posts were asking for help or questions about getting any stove running. I understand that not all people are mechanically or electrically inclined, but, that's where a forum such as this one comes into play.



Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing. Joined a year ago, 6 posts and one of them is to say goodby. Oh well, some people have trouble asking for help.


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## Jake86 (Dec 20, 2015)

O.k., as someone who has dealt with wood stoves and all the work that goes with one. I now am amazed at the warmth and comfort I receive from my pellet stove. So warm, easy, and convenient. I love it!  I suppose some day I may become burnt out, but not anytime soon. Maybe I'm on on my pellet stove honeymoon?  I know there's some work involved, but nothing like my old wood stove. I'm amazed at how much heat and warmth one  bag  of pellets goes in heating my entire house.  I'm hooked on my pellet stove and will use it even if other alternatives are cheaper. I'm just crazy I guess. Did I mention safety?


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## BrotherBart (Dec 20, 2015)

The OP only posted a few times in his one thread last year and it was all about not being able to get parts for his Bosca Spirit stove. Don't know where his bad mouthing for the other stoves he has never owned came from.

Oh well.


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## BrotherBart (Dec 20, 2015)

This must be the annual "I am done with pellet stoves." post.

Oct. 2014

  "I've had it with pellet stoves. It's back to oil for me."


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## Bioburner (Dec 20, 2015)

I moderated one that never even stated what stove also, so it went to the trash as when questioned they never responded.


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## FirepotPete (Dec 20, 2015)

Jake86 said:


> O.k., as someone who has dealt with wood stoves and all the work that goes with one. I now am amazed at the warmth and comfort I receive from my pellet stove. So warm, easy, and convenient. I love it!  I suppose some day I may become burnt out, but not anytime soon. Maybe I'm on on my pellet stove honeymoon?  I know there's some work involved, but nothing like my old wood stove. I'm amazed at how much heat and warmth one  bag  of pellets goes in heating my entire house.  I'm hooked on my pellet stove and will use it even if other alternatives are cheaper. I'm just crazy I guess. Did I mention safety?



Couldn't agree more. Grew up on a farm with a coal/wood boiler system. Had to hookup the old Farmall, attach the buzz saw to the hitch, go way out to the woods, hook up the PTO, swat skeeters and blackflies, pile the 8' lengths, haul back to the yard, cut the 8' lengths, rank and pile, cover, haul it in, clean it up in the basement. Couldn't bring it in to soon or the insects would warm up and crawl around. And that was after waiting 2 years for it to dry properly. Crawling up on the roof, chimney cleaning every year, chimney inspections.

The only two good things with it was that it was warm, which I get with my corn burner and the ashes where great in the garden as additional fertilizer, which I also get from the pellet stove just not as much.

Chimney easy to inspect and clean or replace if needed. Corn very cheap here and I don't mind if I have to work on the stove. I prefer that I don't but it is an option I can easily cover.


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## Tonyray (Dec 20, 2015)

going on 3rd year with Pellet stove.......
have zero complaints and tons of warmth... what's not to like...
carring a bag each day up from the basement is well worth it.. exercise helps too.


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## GeHmTS (Dec 20, 2015)

Let him have his propane.  I'll give up my stove when you can pry it from my cold dead hearth.


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## Former Farmer (Dec 20, 2015)

FirepotPete said:


> We have a dealer in the area that is terrible about that, locally called the pellet Nazi.



I haven't heard that one reference for a while.  Sting liked to use that phrase.


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## billb3 (Dec 20, 2015)

Geez, you'd think he was  criticizing  someone's political affiliation.   


Maybe he'll wake up on the other side of the bed tomorrow looking for a welcoming place.
Maybe not.
As long as he's not also walking into the closet with a hang man's rope if he wants to travel down another road for a while it might be best. You can always change your mind tomorrow and try again.


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## alternativeheat (Dec 20, 2015)

billb3 said:


> Geez, you'd think he was  criticizing  someone's political affiliation.
> 
> 
> Maybe he'll wake up on the other side of the bed tomorrow looking for a welcoming place.
> ...


People here get testy about their pellet stoves lol , I bet the OP knows that !


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## FirepotPete (Dec 20, 2015)

billb3 said:


> Geez, you'd think he was  criticizing  someone's political affiliation.
> 
> 
> Maybe he'll wake up on the other side of the bed tomorrow looking for a welcoming place.
> ...



I'd be willing to read what he says. IF, it wasn't just critical, without information as to the problems he had. Any one coming here to look at getting an alternative heat source could come upon his post, read it and run!

Wet pellets? That's one thing posted! Ahh, maybe have a place to store them without the gully washer getting to them? Maybe buying from a good source that keeps the pellets in a proper storage area? To many questions without anyway to answer the poster.

I'm guessing he's an oil delivery guy or sells firewood and doesn't like his business taking a hit. Of course I'm not serious about this, but it is an option considering we have no other information from him.

I would hope he comes back and tells us more, even if he never intends to use a pellet stove again. The manufactures, dealers and users all can benefit from hearing what is good and bad, but not just the bad or good.


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## Woody1911a1 (Dec 20, 2015)

BYE


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## DneprDave (Dec 20, 2015)

I bought a couple of old Whitfield stoves about four years ago. I knew nothing about pellet stoves, this site really helped me get up to speed.

I put one in the house and one in the garage/shop.

I needed a burn pot and an auger motor and they were good to go. I haven't had any problems with either. I clean out the combustion space weekly and do the leaf blower trick every ton and that's all the maintenance I do. They've been trouble free since I installed them.

I also have a wood insert, it came with the house, The chimney is lined with tile. I haven't ever had to clean it, the tile looks almost new with no creosote build up.  I look down the chimney every year to keep an eye on it.

I also have a oil forced air furnace, all my heat sources compliment each other, I never use one exclusively.


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## rcook430 (Dec 20, 2015)

My Harman P43 is almost set it and forget it. Not meaning to rub it in but I honestly clean mine about once a month, about 1 hour, and it runs flawlessly.


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## scajjr2 (Dec 21, 2015)

rcook430 said:


> My Harman P43 is almost set it and forget it. Not meaning to rub it in but I honestly clean mine about once a month, about 1 hour, and it runs flawlessly.



Same here. Shut it down around noon every 4th Sunday, do a thorough cleaning and good to go for another month.

Regarding the OP, when we were considering going to pellet heat I spent a long time on this site reading through a gazillion posts to try and learn everything I needed to make an informed purchase AND to understand just what is involved in owning/running a pellet stove. Being an electro-mechanical tech by trade the ability to do my own repairs wasn't going to be an issue when needed and I came to the opinion that spending the $$ for the Harman was going to be worth it in the long run. 3 years later I have no reason to question my choices.

Sam


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## alternativeheat (Dec 21, 2015)

Third season on the P61, it misfired exactly once when I stretched my cleaning cycle to four weeks as a controlled experiment . On the third week I got the misfire, the igniter compartment had too much ash in it. From that I determined not to go past two week intervals. Here in New England we mostly get ashy pellets, now and then we get an affordable treat of something like AWF pure White Pine which are super low ash and very hot burning. I envy those in other parts of the country who don't deal with the ashy pellets and the low ash ones like Douglas Fir are affordable. But in the end it's not a huge deal to clean the stove anyway, I have it down to about 20 minutes if I don't do the vertical vent. I don't even wait for a full shut down to occur to get started shortening the overall time as well.


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## bostonfan49 (Dec 21, 2015)

I like to think of my stove cleaning as a part-time hobby! I can't say the actual cleaning is "fun" but the 6-8 days between my weekly clean is so wonderfully toasty! I compare my time cleaning to the days I spent tinkering with my car...changing plugs and filters, lieing on my back under the car, dropping the drain plug into the oil pan and then fishing it out later....and of course NEVER spilling a drop of oil on the driveway. Those days are done! But my stove, like so many tools, you take care of it and it will take care of you. Now if it would snow❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
Bill


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## alternativeheat (Dec 21, 2015)

bostonfan49 said:


> I like to think of my stove cleaning as a part-time hobby! I can't say the actual cleaning is "fun" but the 6-8 days between my weekly clean is so wonderfully toasty! I compare my time cleaning to the days I spent tinkering with my car...changing plugs and filters, lieing on my back under the car, dropping the drain plug into the oil pan and then fishing it out later....and of course NEVER spilling a drop of oil on the driveway. Those days are done! But my stove, like so many tools, you take care of it and it will take care of you. Now if it would snow❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
> Bill


You can keep every flake up there in the hills of Vermont LOL ! I fixed my snow blower back in the first week of Nov, new bearing and new belts, made sure it ran normally etc), good insurance that it won't snow here !! But if it does I'm ready.


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## F4jock (Dec 21, 2015)

Eight years with my faithful Harman and minimal problems. Only thing turning it off is the price of heating oil which is now below my break-even point for pellets.


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## moey (Dec 21, 2015)

I think a lot of folks have similar feelings. But they disappear when they are paying $4.00 gallon for oil or $3.00 gallon for propane. Your willing to deal with the headaches now and then. Im glad we got our pellet stove its basically just backup in case we lose power now. Glad it saved us some money though for the 3 winters we used it.


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## Marina1327 (Dec 21, 2015)

Being new to pellet stoves, I am not an expert but it sounds to me like the wet pellets caused alot of the issues...jamming the auger etc.  Where was he either buying or storing these pellets that they were wet?  I have had mine stored outside under the wood rack covers for months now...through rain and nary a wet pellet.


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## F4jock (Dec 21, 2015)

My Harman eats anything I throw at it. Never tried wet pellets tho.


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## vinny11950 (Dec 21, 2015)

rcook430 said:


> My Harman P43 is almost set it and forget it. Not meaning to rub it in but I honestly clean mine about once a month, about 1 hour, and it runs flawlessly.



HARMON owners just rubbing it in the face of lesser stove owners... Just plain wrong!


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## FirepotPete (Dec 21, 2015)

F4jock said:


> My Harman eats anything I throw at it. Never tried wet pellets tho.



Well you have to put up a little more money for the pellet/hydrogen fueled stove. Just add pellets and water.


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## alternativeheat (Dec 21, 2015)

F4jock said:


> My Harman eats anything I throw at it. Never tried wet pellets tho.


I've never burned wet pellets in my P61 but I have burned water damaged pellets ( puffed up) that dried back out. It burned it all up even though they crumbled down like sawdust in the hopper. Wet pellets might be a notch over the top though !


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## tonyd (Dec 21, 2015)

If you are the person that takes the car to get the oil changed, you may not want a pellet stove.


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## Tonyray (Dec 21, 2015)

scajjr2 said:


> Same here. Shut it down around noon every 4th Sunday, do a thorough cleaning and good to go for another month.
> 
> Regarding the OP, when we were considering going to pellet heat I spent a long time on this site reading through a gazillion posts to try and learn everything I needed to make an informed purchase AND to understand just what is involved in owning/running a pellet stove. Being an electro-mechanical tech by trade the ability to do my own repairs wasn't going to be an issue when needed and I came to the opinion that spending the $$ for the Harman was going to be worth it in the long run. 3 years later I have no reason to question my choices.
> 
> Sam


pretty much posted a word for word example same as you a while back...mine is P61A and I spent weeks going over all the posts from years back to get familiar and also confirm that I would be getting a Harman Free standing stove.. too many positive posts about them.


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## tonyd (Dec 21, 2015)

With the heat exchangers over the flame it does get way hotter then my insert. Its not an option for me.


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## alternativeheat (Dec 21, 2015)

Tonyray said:


> pretty much posted a word for word example same as you a while back...mine is P61A and I spent weeks going over all the posts from years back to get familiar and also confirm that I would be getting a Harman Free standing stove.. too many positive posts about them.


I took about 3 months to decide and buy.  Did the same as you guys, came here asked questions, read old postings etc...


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## rich2500 (Dec 21, 2015)

vinny11950 said:


> HARMON owners just rubbing it in the face of lesser stove owners... Just plain wrong!


come on vinny get the spelling right it's hormone owners


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## Pellet-King (Dec 21, 2015)

Cedarjunki said:


> Pellet stoves do require more attention than any other heat source. They are not everyone.  Myself, i dont mind the extra work. Woodstove is out of the question for me. Getting the same heat from a propane or oil  forced air burner is almost impossible without costing a fortune in fuel. I like the constant warmth.  I dont mind getting my hands dirty unlike 99% of the people who swear pellet stoves are junk..and i have noticed most people who ditch the pellet stove due to maintenace requirements and problems are people who have more money than they have in mechanical skills.  But i dont blame most of them since when they go shopping for a stove the seller stands there and explains how simple pellets are and  require no attention.. heard it too many times.
> 
> But since im fairly close to you at78rpm... what do you have for sale???


I could see this claim last yr, but oil at $1.40 gallon and propane at 99 cents dont see where your coming from dude


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## alternativeheat (Dec 21, 2015)

rich2500 said:


> come on vinny get the spelling right it's hormone owners


Silly


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## Cedarjunki (Dec 22, 2015)

Pellet-King said:


> I could see this claim last yr, but oil at $1.40 gallon and propane at 99 cents dont see where your coming from dude



For 1, i have electric for main heat. I ditched the old oil burner years ago.  I dont have the luxury of switching between whatever fuel is cheaper each season as most of you do.  
 No way is lp or oil heat going to compare to the amount of heat given from a pellet stove.  With it on low keeping the living room at 79-81 degrees at the stove, puts other rooms at 72ish and my bedroom the farthest at 66.   No way in hell i would be able to keep up with oil having it set to a comparable setting ... i dont live in a new tightly sealed house with new costly high efficiency heaters as some do. 
Oil is around $2.   No clue about delivered propane.  $2.29 last time i filled a bottle


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## smwilliamson (Dec 22, 2015)

at78rpm said:


> I wrote my post after having spent the entire day today doing just that.  And I had vacuumed and scraped the entire chimney system in late October.  If it's not working because of a clogged exhaust, believe me, it requires more work than any typical homeowner would want to put into it.


Entire day to clean your stove? Gosh I typically clean 4-5 stoves in an entire day.


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## GeHmTS (Dec 23, 2015)

F4jock said:


> My Harman eats anything I throw at it. Never tried wet pellets tho.



I tried Maine's choice premium wood pellets the other day from Home Depot.  One of the bag of pellets were wet.  I said,  "what the heck". I threw them in the hopper anyway and the pellets burned!  The flame was a little retarded, and they were crumbling but it still produced heat.  I will go back to Home Depot and let the staff know their pellets were wet and asked them to store their pellets  in that dryer place.


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## SXIPro (Dec 23, 2015)

Hmmm. Had my Harman 16 yrs. and it has never left me without heat. Sure I've replaced a couple parts as necessary, but it never died. I've since had a heat pump and new furnace installed though, and am thoroughly enjoying the peace and quiet and the ability to go away on weekends without having to bribe a neighbor to keep my hopper loaded, and enjoy having even heat distribution throughout the house. But, I knew going into the game that a pellet stove is just a space heater, and enjoyed it for the most part. I still use it on and off for the ambiance of a fire, or if everyone else is away and I don't need to heat the whole house.


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## Jake86 (Dec 23, 2015)

It seems that pellet fireplace  inserts act more like a space heater, only heating one room for the most part. As oppoosed to a free standing pellet stove.  My serenity ps, which is a free standing stove heats my entire 1,500 square foot house. Maybe im wrong about inserts.
What say you?


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## bostonfan49 (Dec 23, 2015)

Jake86 said:


> It seems that pellet fireplace  inserts act more like a space heater, only heating one room for the most part. As oppoosed to a free standing pellet stove.  My serenity ps, which is a free standing stove heats my entire 1,500 square foot house. Maybe im wrong about inserts.
> What say you?


Only had an insert, but I can say that my M55 heats all of my downstairs with ease on fan 3 and pellet feed 1 and occasionally 2. In fact I have never run settings higher than that except experimenting. Now to be fair, our main family room, eating area and kitchen are the warmest and as you venture away into other rooms the temp drops. During the cold weather my downstairs rooms vary anywhere from 69-70 up to 74 with enough residual heating spreading upstairs to hold about 65....Like most folks, I need to figure out the best way to distribute the heat more evenly throughout the house.
Bill


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## ps50 (Dec 23, 2015)

tonyd said:


> If you are the person that takes the car to get the oil changed, you may not want a pellet stove.


Really?


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## TimfromMA (Dec 23, 2015)

tonyd said:


> If you are the person that takes the car to get the oil changed, you may not want a pellet stove.



I do and I do.


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## ChandlerR (Dec 23, 2015)

I've been heating with pellets for 8 years using one of the cheapest pellet stoves made. Sure it takes some maintenance but so far it has never let me down. If I had nothing but trouble, I can certainly see the OP's point. I do have to wonder how much trouble was man made though.


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## ps50 (Dec 23, 2015)

If you take your car somewhere to get your breaks done a pellet stove may not be for you


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## Bioburner (Dec 23, 2015)

ps50 said:


> If you take your car somewhere to get your breaks done


What kind of breaks? Most vehicle stopping systems now are more of a swap of parts and one can get pre painted panels and bumpers and youtube can get one through many repairs. A $6 blue tooth OB2 adapter and a app can get into detailed diagnostics


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## Wilbur Feral (Dec 23, 2015)

ps50 said:


> If you take your car somewhere to get your breaks done a pellet stove may not be for you


I no longer lift a finger on car maintenance aside from checking fluids and tire pressure maybe once per month, and don't even cut my own grass any more (all because of time spent running a business, and the fact that I don't much enjoy those things anymore).  Yet I still find time for the two pellet stoves in our house (soon a third, as my beloved old Whit moves out to heat the garden shed, where I'll putter around a bit on weekends.

I basically dump pellets in the top once per day (30 seconds each, and with recent weather its more like every three days), vacuum out ashes once per week (5 minutes, if I stop to check things over while I'm doing it) and then a more thorough cleaning about once per month (30 min each).  Once each year I clean the vent and stove thoroughly (90 min each).  It's harder than just touching a dial, but it's still about as easy as home maintenance tasks can go.


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## bogieb (Dec 24, 2015)

tonyd said:


> If you are the person that takes the car to get the oil changed, you may not want a pellet stove.


Don't have the time, space, tools or desire to change my own. Plus, when I take it in, they rotate the tires and can check other stuff over. Back in the 70's and early 80's I did my own oil changes, but that was before engines became more complicated and I didn't have skid plates in the way - and oh yeah, I was much younger and didn't have money to pay anyone else to do it. And the days were much longer, they have gotten so short as time has gone on 

Pellet stoves are much easier to maintain


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## bostonfan49 (Dec 24, 2015)

If you take your car somewhere to get your " breaks " done a pellet stove may not be for you He He
Give me a brake.....geez!
Got to go moe the lawn...
Bill


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## TStark (Dec 24, 2015)

Some people just shouldn't own boats


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## ps50 (Dec 24, 2015)

tonyd said:


> If you are the person that takes the car to get the oil changed, you may not want a pellet stove.


I was being sarcastic. From the comment above.


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## Bioburner (Dec 24, 2015)

ps50 said:


> I was being sarcastic. From the comment above.


Lot of tongue in cheek in this thread. Best has got to go to BB with Santa clad donkey's


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## bostonfan49 (Dec 24, 2015)

TStark said:


> Some people just shouldn't own boats


...your right


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## Harmanizer (Dec 24, 2015)

bostonfan49 said:


> ...your right
> View attachment 170056


I don't know what the hell this is but I want one.


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## Bioburner (Dec 24, 2015)

Looks like something the Finns put together to get out of a sauna.


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## Harman Lover 007 (Dec 24, 2015)

79 posts and the OP hasn't logged on since he posted the original message......


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## Bioburner (Dec 24, 2015)

Harman Lover 007 said:


> 79 posts and the OP hasn't logged on since he posted the original message......


With a total of 6 posts the OP never really got past asking where to get parts for an extinct stove.


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## Enigma869 (Dec 24, 2015)

Jake86 said:


> It seems that pellet fireplace  inserts act more like a space heater, only heating one room for the most part. As oppoosed to a free standing pellet stove.  My serenity ps, which is a free standing stove heats my entire 1,500 square foot house. Maybe im wrong about inserts.
> What say you?



All pellet stoves are space heaters, whether an insert or free-standing.  I think how it heats your space has far more to do with how open your floor plan is, versus insert versus free standing.  My floor plan is very open...right up to having an open staircase to the second floor from the family room (where the pellet stove is located).  If I had a more closed off floor plan, where the heat from the stove would get mostly trapped in that one room, I probably wouldn't even own a pellet stove.


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## tonyd (Dec 24, 2015)

Sorry If I offended anyone. I still change the oil, rotate the tires and do my breaks on my car and my wife's. I don't have the time to, take my car, wait for them to get done and drive home for something that takes 15 minutes.


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## Bioburner (Dec 24, 2015)

I have the time to do it right. I have heard of so many screw ups on oil changes etc. Have a good mechanic close and will valet if need be.
I have a sports car that I got from a friend that had to have a complete rebuild as they had a lot monkey change the oil(dealer charges double or better) and failed to put oil back in before driving out of shop. Over 3k job and dealer wanted to get another engine of unknown history to replace. Had to go to court to get the $$$$. Judge didn't even blink at making dealer pay as all the vehicles service work had been done and recorded(at a premium) from dealers shop.


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## tonyd (Dec 24, 2015)

I hear you. Blown turbo here. What I was getting at was, tending to the stove requires some attention. More then some imagine. Its a chore. and you either do it, or hate it.


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## Lake Girl (Dec 26, 2015)

Harmanizer said:


> I don't know what the hell this is but I want one.


Not far off a snorkel hot tub ... same concept but someone must have had an old boat around https://snorkel.com/hot-tub-info/snorkel-and-scuba-stoves.php

Our pellet stove has proved more reliable than the Outdoor Wood Boiler or the oil-fired hot water radiant heat.  Our heating oil would freeze up in the line when we got the usual -40 to -50 below around Christmas.  We had to use magnet block heaters to keep things flowing.  Cost for heating fuel and electric heat would not be as economical.  But, can't please all the people all the time.


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## rich2500 (Dec 26, 2015)

Our heating oil would freeze up in the line when we got the usual -40 to -50 below around Christmas 
-40 to -50.


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## Bioburner (Dec 26, 2015)

Our old farm house had to have a tank in the basement and would then lift to another to feed a Jungers oil stove to prevent such issues. Can remember a time when the propane would not gas and was a real bear for heat for a while huddling around the Jungers in the kitchen.


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## FirepotPete (Dec 26, 2015)

It was so cold one time in the early '80's that the flame in the Jungers froze in mid air.


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## bogieb (Dec 26, 2015)

rich2500 said:


> Our heating oil would freeze up in the line when we got the usual -40 to -50 below around Christmas
> -40 to -50.



I remember the oil "gelling" several times at my old place - don't miss that as I'm sure that last winter that would have been an issue.


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## Lake Girl (Dec 26, 2015)

rich2500 said:


> Our heating oil would freeze up in the line when we got the usual -40 to -50 below around Christmas
> -40 to -50.


Usually have about two weeks of that kind of temp ... not this year which is a nice change


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## Bioburner (Dec 26, 2015)

Lake Girl said:


> Usually have about two weeks of that kind of temp ... not this year which is a nice change


I wouldn't temp fate, it's only the 26th of December. It has dropped over 20 degrees here so far today. I have to drive to Fargo Monday morning. Glad the car is in a garage and has good synthetic oil.


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## Lake Girl (Dec 26, 2015)

Didn't say winter was over but it has been warmer than usual up until now...


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## Bioburner (Dec 28, 2015)

FirepotPete said:


> It was so cold one time in the early '80's that the flame in the Jungers froze in mid air.


Probably got stopped by a little Arizona Cardinal


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## FirepotPete (Dec 28, 2015)

Bioburner said:


> Probably got stopped by a little Arizona Cardinal



No, that flame was totally blown out! At least the Pack doesn't have the curse of Ed Thorpe hanging over their horns. 

Sitting in the middle of the big storm right now. 61mph wind gusts just down the road from us. Snow blowing nothing but sideways here. Old 6039 at mid range, keeps the drafts warmer!


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## Bioburner (Dec 29, 2015)

Will see how much cheese I will have to eat come next weekend. Two of the biggest blowout games were of the two teams meeting up next weekend.
The ugly weather went south of me by over hundred miles. was really looking for another half foot of snow to cover the snirt.


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## FirepotPete (Dec 29, 2015)

Bioburner said:


> Will see how much cheese I will have to eat come next weekend. Two of the biggest blowout games were of the two teams meeting up next weekend.
> The ugly weather went south of me by over hundred miles. was really looking for another half foot of snow to cover the snirt.



Ya on the game, I wouldn't bet either way and I sure won't bet either to go to far in the playoffs although I think the Vikes are rolling at the right time, just not enough experience yet. Pack are on the down side IMO, a lot of turmoil not being reported but I know a few people in the org and they've been whispering since last year.

I've been shoveling and snowthrowing since 04:30, officially 13.8". One snowthrower that is only a couple of years old had a complete workover this summer, all ready to go! NOT!! While I've had it running off and on the last few weeks, this A.M I got it going and was working fine and then started running funny. Found a leak on the primer bulb, push it and gas came out, while running was sucking air. Got out my older thrower that didn't get a total tuneup this last season, 1 pull and has been a savior. This is real weird snow, not packy but heavy. 

Opps, enough of untracking the post. Sorry.


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## Bioburner (Dec 29, 2015)

FirepotPete said:


> Ya on the game, I wouldn't bet either way and I sure won't bet either to go to far in the playoffs although I think the Vikes are rolling at the right time, just not enough experience yet. Pack are on the down side IMO, a lot of turmoil not being reported but I know a few people in the org and they've been whispering since last year.
> 
> I've been shoveling and snowthrowing since 04:30, officially 13.8". One snowthrower that is only a couple of years old had a complete workover this summer, all ready to go! NOT!! While I've had it running off and on the last few weeks, this A.M I got it going and was working fine and then started running funny. Found a leak on the primer bulb, push it and gas came out, while running was sucking air. Got out my older thrower that didn't get a total tuneup this last season, 1 pull and has been a savior. This is real weird snow, not packy but heavy.
> 
> Opps, enough of untracking the post. Sorry.


Not to far off subject. I started the detour.
More snow means more cold, more cold means more stoves needing to be used, more stoves needing to used means more traffic to site.


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## maple1 (Dec 29, 2015)

Actually - more snow means more insulation around the outside of the house and lessens the heat load. That's what I seem to experience anyway - even with my sill area insulated on the inside.

I still don't want too much of the stuff though - last winter was a nightmare from mid-January to about the end of April. This winter is starting out somewhat the same, here. Not a good sign....


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## Bioburner (Dec 29, 2015)

I try and blow some snow up around the house and it really helps the garage with some exposed slab that I get covered with some leaves.


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## Polar Bear (Dec 30, 2015)

bostonfan49 said:


> ...your right
> View attachment 170056



Didn't "Brojects" make this? LOL maybe it's them.


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## the cug (Jan 4, 2016)

Jake86 said:


> O.k., as someone who has dealt with wood stoves and all the work that goes with one. I now am amazed at the warmth and comfort I receive from my pellet stove. So warm, easy, and convenient. I love it!  I suppose some day I may become burnt out, but not anytime soon. Maybe I'm on on my pellet stove honeymoon?  I know there's some work involved, but nothing like my old wood stove. I'm amazed at how much heat and warmth one  bag  of pellets goes in heating my entire house.  I'm hooked on my pellet stove and will use it even if other alternatives are cheaper. I'm just crazy I guess. Did I mention safety?


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## the cug (Jan 4, 2016)

Jake86 said:


> O.k., as someone who has dealt with wood stoves and all the work that goes with one. I now am amazed at the warmth and comfort I receive from my pellet stove. So warm, easy, and convenient. I love it!  I suppose some day I may become burnt out, but not anytime soon. Maybe I'm on on my pellet stove honeymoon?  I know there's some work involved, but nothing like my old wood stove. I'm amazed at how much heat and warmth one  bag  of pellets goes in heating my entire house.  I'm hooked on my pellet stove and will use it even if other alternatives are cheaper. I'm just crazy I guess. Did I mention safety?


your dog, tree walker?


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## Bioburner (Jan 4, 2016)

FirepotPete said:


> It was so cold one time


That the Vikings beat the Packers at Green Bay


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## smalltown (Jan 4, 2016)

Haven't been burning much this season it's my 5th year with my Quad Castile. Like most with the cost of oil so low I've been sitting on my pellet stash.
A few weeks ago I decided I missed seeing the fire in the living room so I am burning a little to get that back.
It's 7 deg F. right now and dropping quickly (not counting the wind chill factor) so after walking the dog it sure feels good.

Do have to agree that burning pellets is different than wood, but like most I asked questions here, and learned. it's really easy once you understand how to maintain your stove. 

What does surprise me is why pellet prices haven't plummeted. I see pallets of them sitting in store lots.

Saw a local hardware store sign the other day "all our wood pellets are stored inside", and if you looked to the right of the store there are tons and tons that have been sitting outside in the elements for some months.


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## Bioburner (Jan 4, 2016)

I would take a picture of the sign and the piles of pellets outside and ask them if there is a new definition of inside storage we don't know about


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