I have a St Croix Hastings that does a great job heating but requires a lot of maintenance. It takes my not well taken care of 82 year old body about 2 hours to do the weekly cleaning that must be done and there are other minor things to do daily! It looks like most everyone likes Harman but I don't have a reliable dealer near me. The only reliable dealer I have talked with is a 16 hour round trip away! I would appreciate all suggestions! Thanks
help selecting a pellet stove with reasonable low maintenance requirements
- Thread starter Boorus
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
I am partial to Harman. Buy I m sure there are others out there that run as good. Im sure someone else will chime in. On the P series Harman you can go 1/2 ton of pellets or more before needing to do much cleaning them the cleaning procedure is very easy
I am leaning towards Harman absolute 43 because I like the look. I burned wood for many years and like cast iron stoves but if p series harmans are better thats what I would get.
I can't compare it to any other stoves but I have the Absolute 63. I go through about 7 tons/year of cheapo big box store pellets and it's nearly my exclusive heat source so I might be higher usage. Now that I know what I'm doing, a quick clean takes 30 minutes and the a full clean which I do every 3-4 weeks takes about 45 minutes to an hour. If your usage is less and/or you use a higher quality pellet, I would imagine you could get away with only doing the full clean monthly.
Maybe i am missing something by owning an inexpensive englander but I spend 2 min a day twice a day. 10min on Saturdays and 20 min every 2 weeks to do a deep cleaning with a lbt. And i dont have an ash pan. Or I am blessed, not sure.
bogieb
Minister of Fire
I had a Hastings also and jumped at the chance to replace it with a Harman P43. Much less maintenance, easier to clean and I put a hopper extension on so I don't have to fill it as often. Be aware that the exhaust is not the same height between the two stoves so you would need to plan for that. Looking at the manuals, the Hastings is 11.375" on center and the P43 is 10" OC. Also the clearances to combustibles are way different. .
The Absolute 43 looks like it has a smaller ash pan than the P43 and the owner's manual says to empty weekly. The P43 I can go 2-4 weeks between ash pan cleanings (depending on pellets and outside temp). and I don't need to do a full cleaning for about a ton. I don't find an exhaust height for the Absolute, but the clearance to combustibles is only slightly over what the Hastings requires
Currently I have 2 Englander stoves a old turn the knobs 25-pdv from 1996 that heats my house and 25-pdvc that I recently put in my 14x28 lofted barn .
The 25-pdvc is a 2005 model and due to the simple heat exchanger it is very quick and easy to clean. About 20 minutes ounce a week with a ash vac. After fine tuning it will run clean maybe give the window a quick wipe down once a day and a puddy knife to scrape the ashes out of the wear plate. But after fine tuning there isn't much ash produced so every couple 2 or 3 days I remove the ashes from the wear plate and ounce a weak a good cleaning with a ash vac
The 25-pdvc is a 2005 model and due to the simple heat exchanger it is very quick and easy to clean. About 20 minutes ounce a week with a ash vac. After fine tuning it will run clean maybe give the window a quick wipe down once a day and a puddy knife to scrape the ashes out of the wear plate. But after fine tuning there isn't much ash produced so every couple 2 or 3 days I remove the ashes from the wear plate and ounce a weak a good cleaning with a ash vac
minux
Member
Harman is good. Save your $, go used. Check out craigslist and save the 16 hour drive time. Only person directing you new is a dealer...
I have had Harmon XXV for year or so. On 2nd Season. Daily Cleaning is very easy. Scrape the Burn pot (even when HOT), clean the glass (newspapers work). Turn it back on. Major Cleaning is for 1 Ton. Clean lots more. But still not that difficult. Harmon has video's posted. I got Floor Model for $3300. Go see your local dealers and tell us what stoves are available in your area. Also see if any Independent People in area. ie. Chimmeny Sweep People. They might do some maintence.
Sounds almost exactly like the cleaning of a tuned 25-pdvc.
I almost picked up a used Harmon p61 or p68 cant remember but it was a 60 something series . No doubt Harmon makes a good stove. They were asking $1000 for it .
minux
Member
Thanks for the very helpful info! I have been leaning toward the Absolute 43 because I burned wood for many years and like that style stove but it sounds like the P43 may be the better choice. I fortunately have a expandable section of 4" Duravent in my piping so the height difference should not be an issue but may need a Harman adapter to replace what I have. Thanks again for the help!!
Thanks to all for the good info regarding stoves with less maintenance. I have been checking Craigs list but there is seldom anything available in Michigan. After reading all the replies it appears that Harman is the way to go!! Thanks again
2011 GT/CS
Member
Love my Harman P43. As the other people said , quick and easy cleaning. Very low maintenance. The only thing I replaced on the stove in 5 years is the flame guide. And that is considered a wear item. Super quality stove. I’ve had a Englander Pvdc, Us stove 6039 Now the P43.. my opinion, it is the best of the 3, all things considered.. last year a dealer offered me 2000.00 on a trade in on a new Harman Allure 50. I decided to stay with the tried and true P43. Harmans are an expensive stove for sure, but remember to only make it hurt once. Good luck in your choices
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Also if you search face book or craigslist as pellet or pellet stove instead of harmon sometimes you'll come across a harmon cheap
bogieb
Minister of Fire
I too came from wood stoves and loved the look of the Hastings, and it ran great. It just had some things that I preferred not to deal with (the biggest being the hopper size, many times I cam home and it had run out of pellets in 13 hours).
Glad I was able to give real-life experience and helpful information. Having that adjustable piece certainly makes the switch easier.
jzm2cc
Minister of Fire
Maybe try dialing back on the maintenance or change how it's done to save time. We use an old St Croix Prescott as main home heater on main floor and a Harman P61 in basement if needed to heat pipes when really cold.
The Prescott is similar to your Hastings except for a larger hopper and ash pan. We run the heater exchanger rod and firepot bottom rod in and out about twice a week, as well as scraping burn grate (all usually done with stove running). Dump ash pan once or maybe twice a week depending on which Michigan made pellets used and bags burned. Every 25 bags I'll use the leaf blower on exhaust to suck out soot. Every 50 bags I'll drop heat baffle and vacuum behind it then use leaf blower. Once a season I'll clean behind ash trap doors with a bottle brush and once again use leaf blower. The most time intensive task on a daily basis is loading pellets and she's run great for many years (2004 model).
If your able to, try using leaf blower trick and reduce the other little cleaning tasks a bit to save time.
The Prescott is similar to your Hastings except for a larger hopper and ash pan. We run the heater exchanger rod and firepot bottom rod in and out about twice a week, as well as scraping burn grate (all usually done with stove running). Dump ash pan once or maybe twice a week depending on which Michigan made pellets used and bags burned. Every 25 bags I'll use the leaf blower on exhaust to suck out soot. Every 50 bags I'll drop heat baffle and vacuum behind it then use leaf blower. Once a season I'll clean behind ash trap doors with a bottle brush and once again use leaf blower. The most time intensive task on a daily basis is loading pellets and she's run great for many years (2004 model).
If your able to, try using leaf blower trick and reduce the other little cleaning tasks a bit to save time.
I’ve been pulling both rods twice a day, removing the fire pot- shaker plate- baffle plate and both clean outs in the box and behind the ash tray once a week and vacuum ing all. I bought the stove from a elderly lady that purchased it from a dealer down state who installed it - started it- didn’t even give her a manual and left never to seen again! She ran it for less than two months without doing anything until it clogged up so bad it shut down. When I got it the shipping screws were still in the grates and it was a mess. After seeing that I didn’t want that to happen again and wasn’t sure how long I could without though cleaning? I’m burning pro pellets and I think after reading your post I will start stretching the times between cleaning out a little and see how it goes . Thank you
jzm2cc
Minister of Fire
Sure thing. We run ours on thermostat, typically in Smart Stat mode with high being #3 setting, maybe #4 if it's like 20F below zero.
Using Pro Pellets now, but have burned just about any Mi made pellet we can find on sale.
Using Pro Pellets now, but have burned just about any Mi made pellet we can find on sale.
Similar threads
