Buying a pellet stove...HELP!

[alternativeheat]

I'll have to check that out...
made in upstate Pa here... like to know myself..

Oh I bet somewhere deep in the bowels of that P61 of yours is a Chinese something or other, be it a capacitor, a piece of pot, dip switch, motor winding, maybe a bearing. Something.

 

[Edsson]

I researched for 2 years and finally went with a Quad E2. There were some issues with them, which have now been corrected, great stove. Manufacturers build according to where they are sold, We sell power equipment and a Home Depot Stihl chainsaw is not the same as what we sell. Go with your gut, if sounds too good to be true......it probably is.

 

[rona]

Yeah but the Japanese had some kind of work ethic and eco ethic. I don't think the Chinese are doing so hot in those areas. Low prices is one thing, slave labor to get them is another, and spewing junk into the environment, the control and cost of which is why our companies are going off shore. Someplace in all this needs to be a compromise, me thinks.

I would venture to say very few American made stoves actually can say everything in it is made in America. Most are farmed out to different countries. Electronics and wiring to one country with low bid, metal and weldment to a different source also low bid. Igniters also are low bid.
Look at US made autos as another example.

 

[Mt Bob]

I researched for 2 years and finally went with a Quad E2. There were some issues with them, which have now been corrected, great stove. Manufacturers build according to where they are sold, We sell power equipment and a Home Depot Stihl chainsaw is not the same as what we sell. Go with your gut, if sounds too good to be true......it probably is.

Home depot does not sell Stihl

 

[Tonyray]

Oh I bet somewhere deep in the bowels of that P61 of yours is a Chinese something or other, be it a capacitor, a piece of pot, dip switch, motor winding, maybe a bearing. Something.

if so I hope it's a small. un-assuming, non-electronic not so very important component..
like maybe a hinge pin or the Ash pan.

 

[Mt Bob]

I heard all the steel in p61's is chinese?

 

[alternativeheat]

Home depot does not sell Stihl

if so I hope it's a small. un-assuming, non-electronic not so very important component..
like maybe a hinge pin or the Ash pan.

But Tony, it's the same stove it was before you got up this morning and running fine, LOL !

 

[bcarton]

No stove is bullet proof but if you take the time to read posts here from owners of different stoves, you'll see there are happy owners of both low cost and high cost stoves. What you need to ask yourself is do you like to tinker. An Englander and others like it require adjustments to air and fuel feed depending on the pellets quality while most Harman owners will tell you it's more set it and forget it and they chew through just about any pellet without much adjustment. Also, a P-series Harman will go between two weeks to a month without needing to empty the ash while other stoves require attention every few days to a week for ash removal and cleaning.

Truth. Especially the "do you like to tinker" part.

My thoughts: Santa Fe has a solid rep, but might be a little light on the heat for your needs. Cab 50 I wouldn't hesitate, almost bought one last year but it won't fit on our stupid raised brick hearth. Meridian I dunno. If It was the EF3 I would say go for it, mainly because it's the same as my stove but with a bigger heat exchanger. Meridian might be a good stove but I've never looked at it.

Keep in mind that people come here for help, so when you read nightmare stories, it's not necessarily an indication of stove quality. This site is sort of like a support site for computers that happen to burn wood.

 

[rich2500]

I heard all the steel in p61's is chinese?

for all any of us know it very well may be

 

[They Call Me Pete]

Enjoying my $1200 CL St Croix Hastings.

 

[sarahandr]

We bought the cab50 and it will be installed on Monday. Looking forward to it! We got home tonight and it was 50 degrees in the house ⛄️

 

[Pellet-King]

Why?, WV must be almost 60-70 degree's daily, your wasting money, think about this, the price of a stove and install can buy alot of whatever you were using to heat your house for several yr's, your buying when 90% of us are NOT BURNING EXPENSIVE PELLETS

 

[BrotherBart]

Because you ain't gonna believe what is gonna happen from mid January through February.

BB - Who forecast here what is happening now. In July.

 

[Peterfield]

Because you ain't gonna believe what is gonna happen from mid January through February.

BB - Who forecast here what is happening now. In July.

I did. Gotta love El Niño. This mirrors two other winters where El Niño conditions in the Pacific were this strong. One of those winters we had hardly any snow in the Northeast and it stayed milder than normal and it only got cold in February. Can't recall what happened in Jan and Feb in the other one, other than I was fishing right before Christmas in local ponds with no ice in sight.

 

[sarahandr]

The nights are in the 20's. Zero heat, no insulation, and only running a space heater for about 2 hours in the evening, the house never gets a chance to warm up. We used to use a regular wood stove, but working 10 hour days, you get home and the stove is long out. Plus most years it's already snowed by now. We're bound to get slammed with cold weather soon, and I want to be ready!!

 

[Pellet-King]

Your saying your home has no central heating system?

 

[sarahandr]

Your saying your home has no central heating system?

Absolutely nothing. We only rent right now. We were also looking into the future when we bought this. When we build our house this unit will come with us.

 

[alternativeheat]

Truth. Especially the "do you like to tinker" part.

My thoughts: Santa Fe has a solid rep, but might be a little light on the heat for your needs. Cab 50 I wouldn't hesitate, almost bought one last year but it won't fit on our stupid raised brick hearth. Meridian I dunno. If It was the EF3 I would say go for it, mainly because it's the same as my stove but with a bigger heat exchanger. Meridian might be a good stove but I've never looked at it.

Keep in mind that people come here for help, so when you read nightmare stories, it's not necessarily an indication of stove quality. This site is sort of like a support site for computers that happen to burn wood.

Absolutely nothing. We only rent right now. We were also looking into the future when we bought this. When we build our house this unit will come with us.

In that case I suggest something like the Quad Classic Bay ( 50,000 btu) edit: I see you bought the Cab50, enjoy the heat when you get it !! It's got good user reviews here. And it looks like the eastern US is catching a break here on temps, at least for the near future.

 

[Hot Foot]

We bought our Englander PDV 25 3 years ago. Yes, I had to learn how to change the burn mode from D to C to meet our needs. I also had to learn how the lower 3 buttons effect the burn. To me, that's standard stuff. We've only had one real issue and that's the lack of air to the unmodified burn pot. That issue was solved by plugging the top and bottom holes with Hillman plugs. That cost me $3.00. I did all that in our first year. The last 2 years we've had zero problems. No parts breakdowns, noises in the night, nothing. I just keep up on my regular ash maintenance, lube the auger bearings once a year and that's it. Some pellets burn hotter or cleaner than others but generally we get plenty of heat from all of them. We purchased the stove to save money. We would love to have a Harman but that's for down the road. In the meantime, you can count me as one of those people who help to give Englander it's good reputation.