Hi Guys,
I’m new to the forum but have been burning wood pellets for about 9 years. My current stove, an Englander 25-PDVC, was in the house when we purchased it (made in May 2000). For the past almost 9 years, the stove has worked very well, required minimal upkeep, and been great. I burn about 2-2.5 tons per season and live in central Ohio.
So far this year, I feel like there has been a decrease in performance, and I’m not sure why… It seems as though the stove does not keep the house warm as it did before. Within the past year, I’ve replaced the door, window, and burn pot gaskets. It could be the pellets too – I’m using EasyHeat pellets (they are dry, kind of ashy, but seem like quality pellets to me), but I don’t have a go-to brand that I think works best. In so many words, it could be the stove or the pellets causing my perceived decrease performance, but I can’t say which. Who knows, it could be the house (windows, insulation, etc.). I do have a fresh air intake hooked up.
Now the question… I have the opportunity to purchase a 1 year-old (used one season) MagnuM Countryside 3500p corn/pellet stove for $1,000. I think it retails for around $2,000, although the seller stated they paid $2,100. The seller is a co-worker’s son who added a basement to his house and installed a wood burning furnace over the summer (thus not wanting the MagnuM). Would this be worth the ‘upgrade’ considering the 25-PDVC may continue working indefinitely? The obvious upsides are: newer (1 yr versus 12 years old); more btus (25-PDVC is hard to find a range, but the 3500p has a stated range of 10,000-56,000); 1,500 sq. foot heating capacity versus 3,500 sq. foot capacity; and multi-fuel versus wood only.
It seems to me it boils down to spending a grand that I don’t need to necessarily spend, but is this too good a deal to pass up? I would probably keep the 25-PDVC in hopes that I may be able to use it in a shop at some point, or to throw back in use if we sell the house and take the newer stove with us.
Thank you so much for your input and responses.
Mark
I’m new to the forum but have been burning wood pellets for about 9 years. My current stove, an Englander 25-PDVC, was in the house when we purchased it (made in May 2000). For the past almost 9 years, the stove has worked very well, required minimal upkeep, and been great. I burn about 2-2.5 tons per season and live in central Ohio.
So far this year, I feel like there has been a decrease in performance, and I’m not sure why… It seems as though the stove does not keep the house warm as it did before. Within the past year, I’ve replaced the door, window, and burn pot gaskets. It could be the pellets too – I’m using EasyHeat pellets (they are dry, kind of ashy, but seem like quality pellets to me), but I don’t have a go-to brand that I think works best. In so many words, it could be the stove or the pellets causing my perceived decrease performance, but I can’t say which. Who knows, it could be the house (windows, insulation, etc.). I do have a fresh air intake hooked up.
Now the question… I have the opportunity to purchase a 1 year-old (used one season) MagnuM Countryside 3500p corn/pellet stove for $1,000. I think it retails for around $2,000, although the seller stated they paid $2,100. The seller is a co-worker’s son who added a basement to his house and installed a wood burning furnace over the summer (thus not wanting the MagnuM). Would this be worth the ‘upgrade’ considering the 25-PDVC may continue working indefinitely? The obvious upsides are: newer (1 yr versus 12 years old); more btus (25-PDVC is hard to find a range, but the 3500p has a stated range of 10,000-56,000); 1,500 sq. foot heating capacity versus 3,500 sq. foot capacity; and multi-fuel versus wood only.
It seems to me it boils down to spending a grand that I don’t need to necessarily spend, but is this too good a deal to pass up? I would probably keep the 25-PDVC in hopes that I may be able to use it in a shop at some point, or to throw back in use if we sell the house and take the newer stove with us.
Thank you so much for your input and responses.
Mark