New Harman Stoves Junk???
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alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
I'll time it next winter but I'd guess that the daily pot scraping takes about all of 20 seconds to perform, assuming you are burning pellets that require the scraping in the first place ( here in the North East pretty much all the affordable pellets are crappy, so I scrape). It's that sort of level of "labor intensive" though. You can see it in the daily maintenance video at Harman and the guy is taking his time to speak clearly and I don't know about anyone else but I don't turn down a thing, I crack the door the flame dies, open the door wide, scrape and close the door. Done deal.. Go put the coffee on. I had pure white Pine pellets and they required 0 scraping but didn't see those around this year.
bogieb
Minister of Fire
Exactly what I do too. If I had to guess, unless I'm burning really chitty pellets, less than the 20 seconds you mention. When burning Hamers, Vermonts or DF's (which I only got a few bags of each) - I had zero scraping also.
I scrape my P68 most every day, but there was a week or so this past winter when I let the burn pot grow a big fat ash mustache. I just left it for several days. As far as I could tell the mustache had no effect on anything. It got to a certain size and then just stayed at that size, because the advancing ash just kicked the most forward ash over into the ash can. I was using some of those end of season $200/ton pellets so they were ashy anyway. I suspect the main benefit of the scraping is to scrape the build-up off the burn pot rather than snowplow a bunch of ash into the ash can. I do scrape it out mostly every day, but I am not too sure why I am doing it, as it seems to run pretty good whether I do it or not.
By the way, to the OP's original question, I have a Harman but have never had any other pellet stove, so maybe my opinion is not as useful as someone with more exposure to other brands. That said, we are really happy with it. It throws some serious heat. We got ours in 2007 or so, and have never had any serious problems.
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
Same here...
we have only owned a Harman so maybe our Opinion is not useful either so we Will keep it to ourselves that we Prob have the Best you can buy for many reasons..
jackhammer
Burning Hunk
My first stove was a Breckwell installed new when my wife and I had our house built in 1997. It was a great stove, and very frugal with the pellets. Never needed repair, not once. Had it professionally cleaned once, I followed the pro's technique from then on out. It heated our 2000sf no problem with forced hot air oil supplementing the pellets. The only reason I replaced it was I wanted something easier to clean. I do like the Harman, with only one season in, the only thing I don't like is the quantity of pellets it takes to run it. I think there is a learning curve there and that's ok. With that said, I have read lots of bad reviews on the Breckwell stoves of today and am glad I went with the Harman as a replacement. Easy to run, clean and plenty of heat.
obviously he doesn't sell Harman. He's just sore because Travis discontinued its entire line of pellet products and replaced it with kinda an ugly looking box.
Hello
The Harman Absolute was plauged with software bugs in the new design color digital touch screen controller and that maybe what the dealer was talking about. I am sure they will be fixed in due time. While most of the other parts are the same high quality parts, the new Absolute P43 burn pot design is very similar to the AGP burn pot and SBI stoves latest burn pot design! Who copied who?? LOL It does not have WiFi which is very upsetting because it is due to all the safety standards, rules and regulations that our government is emposing so the foreign made stoves are way ahead in that category! HHT the company that owns Harman, Quadrafire and Pelpro has found some Chinese Manufactures to build parts to very minimum specs. Fortunately Dane will not put those parts in his Harmans but watch out for the other HHT brands. Therefore the other long standing Harman models are the same tried and true machines that they have always been!
The Avalon AGP had some initial issues with the top auger motor and cutter wheel not being strong enough but Travis came up with a fix.
If you want to save money like I did, a used Harman might be a way to go. Usually you save when buying a used stove because a new stoves price includes approximately $500 for warranty work and $500 for just being brand new never used. So for at least a thousand dollars less and maybe more, with some TLC you can have a Harman stove that will perform like new and look like new if you can clean, paint and replace a few parts yourself, just my 2 cents.
The Harman Absolute was plauged with software bugs in the new design color digital touch screen controller and that maybe what the dealer was talking about. I am sure they will be fixed in due time. While most of the other parts are the same high quality parts, the new Absolute P43 burn pot design is very similar to the AGP burn pot and SBI stoves latest burn pot design! Who copied who?? LOL It does not have WiFi which is very upsetting because it is due to all the safety standards, rules and regulations that our government is emposing so the foreign made stoves are way ahead in that category! HHT the company that owns Harman, Quadrafire and Pelpro has found some Chinese Manufactures to build parts to very minimum specs. Fortunately Dane will not put those parts in his Harmans but watch out for the other HHT brands. Therefore the other long standing Harman models are the same tried and true machines that they have always been!
The Avalon AGP had some initial issues with the top auger motor and cutter wheel not being strong enough but Travis came up with a fix.
If you want to save money like I did, a used Harman might be a way to go. Usually you save when buying a used stove because a new stoves price includes approximately $500 for warranty work and $500 for just being brand new never used. So for at least a thousand dollars less and maybe more, with some TLC you can have a Harman stove that will perform like new and look like new if you can clean, paint and replace a few parts yourself, just my 2 cents.
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Government regulations and safety standards are the obstacle to WiFi access? Oh my.....that sounds kinda made up. NEST, Homeywell and Ecobee found a work around. So did Windhager and Orkefen and Kedel. Seems more likely that HHT doesn't want their support lines to be plagued with questions regarding network errors. FYI, Dane doesn't have final say anymore, I think he sold that option quite a while ago.
Nest, Honeywell and Ecobee are not stove Manufacturers. Foreign stoves do not have to work with the FCC when incorporating wireless devices and controls, those are the facts. Dane is working on engineering new designs the last time I spoke to him.
Your talking about a Bluetooth connection from a stove to wifi....there is already an assigned bandwidth these things operate on....and yes, foreign stoves have to work with the fcc if they want to sell here but the point is mute....it's the same technology my iPhone is using right now, but in a stove controller and there aren't any standards or regulations preventing that from happening.unless of you're going to provide a link...id be interested to know.
Seems heating a 2900 sq ft home with a 43,000 btu will be a little wishful thinking to me regardless of the brand. As you can see most of the people here agree Harman has the best reputation. As far as having to stop and clean I have seen the Harman PC45 burn a ton of pellets non stop before you have to stop and dump the ash bucket. Quality pellets will play a part. Cleaning the stove and how often it is done is something to look at before you purchase any unit. Usually I would suggest talking to someone who has owned the model you are interested in and has owned it for at least 2 or 3 seasons. By then they know all the good and bad features and if they seen a better unit they might say why a different model is better.
I have owned 3 different brands and worked with a dealer who sold Harman and St Croix and been in contact with a lot of people who owned several different brands. I have heard a lot of comments that go like this: Yeah, I bought brand X from Menards for only 990.00 on special as its dumb spending three times that amount for a name brand. Two years later they stop in and want to buy that one that cost three times more. I asked why do you want to spend all that money buying a new stove? The standard reply is we should have listened because the old one uses more pellets and the heat goes right out the exhaust instead of in the house. So sometimes you get what you pay for.
There is a fine line between making a stove that is easy to maintain and making one that captures as much heat as possible before the exh is blown out of the house.
One last comment is it used to be said purchasing a pellet or multifuel stove would pay for itself. When fuel oil got up close to 4.00 and corn was only worth 1.50 a bushel- pellets cost about 2.25 a bag it was easy to pencil out savings. My theory is if it pays for itself I may as well go first class and buy a proven stove with the convenience features such as auto ignition -thermostat control. Even going as far as having the ability to start it or shut it off with my smart phone. Yeah, you can do that too.
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
Can't wait till I get my Smart Refridge and it alerts me that I need milk/eggs etc
Can't wait till I get my Smart Pellet stove and it alerts me that I am low on pellets.
Can't wait till the wife sez do you really need any more Alerts on your phone ?
Can't wait till I realize just cause they build it doesn't mean I Actually need it..
[Although Apple always had Great success at convincing us we needed everything they built]
Can't wait till I get my Smart Pellet stove and it alerts me that I am low on pellets.
Can't wait till the wife sez do you really need any more Alerts on your phone ?
Can't wait till I realize just cause they build it doesn't mean I Actually need it..
[Although Apple always had Great success at convincing us we needed everything they built]
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Samsung has Refrigerator with a camera in inside that you view the contents of your Fridge from your smart phone. I guess the light inside doesn't go out when you close the door after all. Glad we figured that age old question out.
I need a Pellet stove with a camera inside the pellet hopper so I can check it from my smart phone and call the wife to add more pellets.
If you have the Lowes Iris system with a camera and a Harman with the glass lid hopper, you can mount the camera above and just point it down! Bingo!
The new Harman absolute series stoves tell you how many hours more you can run the stove with the amount of pellets left in the hopper!!
Thanks for the advice. Not sure my 2008 Harman is reliable by other folks standards. I simply put pellets in it and clean it when necessary. I did replace the igniter last summer which means Harman is not perfect and has room for improvement.If you have the Lowes Iris system with a camera and a Harman with the glass lid hopper, you can mount the camera above and just point it down! Bingo!
The new Harman absolute series stoves tell you how many hours more you can run the stove with the amount of pellets left in the hopper!!
My dog on the other hand costs me about $600 in vet bill each year.
Tonyray
Minister of Fire
How the heck did we get along without our stoves letting us know how long we had to burn remaining pellets.If you have the Lowes Iris system with a camera and a Harman with the glass lid hopper, you can mount the camera above and just point it down! Bingo!
The new Harman absolute series stoves tell you how many hours more you can run the stove with the amount of pellets left in the hopper!!
great Techno ideas but useless if no one is home to refill the hopper maybe.....
I think I would just laugh if I heard someone say Harman doesn't make a good pellet stove anymore........ As a salesperson myself, I cringe when I hear a fellow salesperson degrade another pellet stove co espec one that they themselves don't sell (isn't that it always??). There are many good pellet stoves out there, just like there are many nice automobiles. The most important part always is how they are installed, ran and who maintains their cleanliness. I happen to like Enviro, but my goodness I hope I never say its the only good stove made..... there are so many. Getting chilly here in SE CT tonight, feels good out, strange as it may seem.... sounds weird to say in June, but everybody stay warm.....
So do we have to separate out the absolute 43 from the rest? Looking to replace my Enviro Mini with a stove that is easier to clean. Seems like the verdict is still out on the absolute.
The Absolute 63 will be released soon which will be one of the largest cast pellet stove on the market. So I am sure they are working on the bugs as we speak!
Do you have the Mini or the Mini-A?
Since the Mini came out they have upgraded the control panel, have a larger burn pot and added a latch to the ash door. (That is the most effective upgrade)
They still have one more important upgrade to do! Add larger impeller blades on the exhaust blower so it burns better on heat level 1.
Just my 2 cents...
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Honestly I have not heard nor seen any bad things or reviews on the Absolute 43. Maybe I am wrong. I prefer simpler machines myself and obviously the more tech and razzle dazzle wigets things have then the larger the possibility of something going wrong. More things = more things that can head south.
I stopped by my dealer awhile back and there was one in the showroom and it looked like a nice set up. He said he has not had any issues and has sold numerous Absolutes. I think many (myself included) just like simple and easier to figure out and work on.
I stopped by my dealer awhile back and there was one in the showroom and it looked like a nice set up. He said he has not had any issues and has sold numerous Absolutes. I think many (myself included) just like simple and easier to figure out and work on.
% seasons on a Harmon P43. After the 3rd season the exhaust got noisy (just replaced, could not believe how quiet). Now the auger motor and fan motor is getting noisy. Also, I have a slow pellet feed issue. Just tried an esp with no luck. I also purchased a used 2011 P43. Both blowers a little noisy as well. With the same pellets and all settings maxed, the used one is outputting 75 degrees hotter at the air output to room.
Gavin641
Member
Nothing wrong with my 4 year old Harman,must be the dealer can make more money selling the Avalon.
Husky
Feeling the Heat
My 3 year old Harman is working like a champ. No problems with anything as of now. I put about 5 ton a year through it. Already burned a ton this year. I do keep up with maintenance on a regular intervals.
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