stove buying decision- input appreciated

[bas157]

Hi!
First post, been reading lots on here to educate myself as much as possible...

I'm looking to get a stove to help cut down on my oil usage. If its just me, I keep it cool in my house and bundle up, my GF says its COLD so she cranks the heat up when she is here.
House info (northwest suburbs of Philadelphia):
The house was built around 1855, ~3000 sq ft, with about 1500 on the first floor, 900 on second floor and 600 on third floor.
Its a long relatively thin house and I plan on having the stove as close to centrally located on the first floor as I can and it'll be close to the (narrow) stairwell.
Third floor is mostly used for storage, only go up there to clean the litter box, feed the cat and add to the Lego collection, so not too concerned about that floor being heated too much
4 zone oil baseboard heat (2 zones on the first floor, 1 on 2nd floor and 1 on third floor). Boiler will still run some as I have an indirect hot water heater for domestic hot water.
Most of the house has around 13" thick field stone walls, with stucco on the outside, newer windows so I feel its sealed pretty good.

Just trying to decide what stove to get. The dealers I've gone to all say Harman or Quadrafire.
I like the look of the XXV but for just a little more money I can get the P68 or save money vs the XXV and get the P61 and still get more BTU than the XXV, so probably will end up with the P68 or P61
I know people say go by BTU and not sq ft rating, but why is the XXV rated for 50K btu and 2300 sq ft but the PC45 is 45k btu but rated for 2400 sq feet. Less BTU but more sq footage doesn't make sense to me?

Is it worth getting the P68 over the P61 even though the P61 should be enough to heat the sq footage of the house? The extra heat could be good if it gets really cold (but could also use oil if it gets too cold).
Say they both are theoretically pumping out 35,000 BTU, will they both(P61 and P68) be burning the same amount of pellets?

The one shop liked the Classic Bay 1200, saying good stove for the money. I looked at one and but really like the P68 or XXV more (of course they are a good bit more money). Money is a concern but I plan on being in this house for a long time so can justify the additional cost.

Any input or answers to above questions GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks
Bruce

 

[Buc White]

buy what you like and can afford. This is my first heating season with a pellet stove (Quad Classic Bay 1200 FS) and after I got everything sorted out, it heats my 2300 sq/ft house, not including the basement which is an additional 900Sq/ft. I have it in the basement and for example, its 35 degrees out now, 55 during th day today. I turned my stove on at about 830 tonight. My basement is 76 right now, my main floor is 71 and the 2nd floor with the bedrooms is 68. I am running the stove on low setting with low fan speed. I've been more than happy ( the past few days) with the quad. Cranks out the heat, easy to clean and maintain.

I've also learned that members here have all the information for whatever stove you purchase. They can troubleshoot and fix anything

 

[kobalt]

I have a quadfire CB1200FS and am going into my fifth year heating with it without any problems. As the above poster said it cranks out the heat and is easy to clean and has heated my 2000 sq ft house for the last 5 years.

 

[JBiBBs5]

I like the look of the XXV but I live in a raised ranch so a 50k BTU unit would have no problem heating my home. If I lived in your home I would probably go with the most powerful of the three (P68). You're getting a top of the line unit no matter what choice you make.