help selecting a pellet stove with reasonable low maintenance requirements

[rickwai]

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.

yeah on the St Croix you have to fill the gap on the stove adapter prior to putting it on stove. With the Harman, the interior pipe liner goes inside the stove tail piece and the outer part of pipe goes over stove tail piece. So the stove tail piece is in the gap between inner and outer pipe

 

[fmsm]

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

Don’t forget that pellets play a major part in maintenance as well. I have a Harman Accentra for easy maintenance and a large ash pan. I burn Northern Warmth Supreme Douglas Firs and find my weekly schedule has been reduced to every 3-4 weeks. I scrape the pot while running every day or two, shut her down every week or 2 and scrape the pot, clean the glass and hit the exchanger with a quick brush/vac (takes 3 minutes). Here’s a picture one week after a fast clean.