WHO MAKE THE BEST PELLET STOVE FOR THE $$$$$$

[Bioburner]

Used Harman p series. Checking off your list. Quality. Ease of use for the wife. Easy to clean, easy to run- set temp,auto start, leave feed rate on four and fill with pellets.No draft to try and adjust.Lower maintenance,big ash hopper,no hidden passages and panels to remove. Can do a good cleaning after a time or two in lees than half hour. Straight forward room air fan to remove and clean. Good videos online for cleaning and maintenance. Has a room temp probe to keep temp where you want, not just where the feed setting puts your temp. My thirty years opinion at this time.

I forgot, you won't have a list of pellets that you can not burn. Harman can eat most anything. My pc 45 can eat straight corn or other true biofuels, not just ground up premium wood. Love that feature. never know when a grain truck or train will tip over.

 

[jtakeman]

I forgot, you won't have a list of pellets that you can not burn. Harman can eat most anything. My pc 45 can eat straight corn or other true biofuels, not just ground up premium wood. Love that feature. never know when a grain truck or train will tip over.

My stove does the same, Ain't found nothin it won't burn and I have burned some odd things!

 

[Bioburner]

My stove does the same, Ain't found nothin it won't burn and I have burned some odd things!

It's a nice feature to consider IMO when choosing a stove. I notice your list is very short

 

[smithg]

Englander.

 

[mascoma]

Drolet has a bottom feed design too. Anyone have experience with them? They are alot less money than our Harmans.

 

[jtakeman]

Drolet has a bottom feed design too. Anyone have experience with them? They are alot less money than our Harmans.

Member DV seems happy

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/first-ton-and-a-half-gone.104421/

Also WNCbear likes his 2

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pellet-stove-homework-help-me-out-guys.104313/#post-1350973

 

[Ironhorse74]

Read this article.
(broken link removed to http://www.forgreenheat.org/consumer_resources/reliablepellet.html)

Hardly a scientific sampling.

Brad

 

[Stevekng]

It's a nice feature to consider IMO when choosing a stove. I notice your list is very short

Like I said, everyone recommends the stove they own as the best. I don't think it's so much the make as it is the installation, maintenance, and service.

 

[Cowdogz]

The dealer should also be just a phone call away for your problems. Believe me, you will have problems.

Two seasons, zero problems with my Quad. I guess that tells the OP what to buy, then, huh?

 

[Thaddius Wenderoth]

The key word here is "for the money" and what one views as "best".

To some heat in the house for the lowest dollar is best and for some heat in the house with minimal cleaning and maintenance is best. For some looks are best. If you want to go dollar per BTU while still being reliable and having a company stand behind their product, Englander is best in my opinion. Not the best looking, not the easiest to maintain but awesome support and an amazing price.

It is all about what is important to you. I personally would never buy a stove not made in the USA or pay a premium for looks. I would however pay a premium for function.

There is also situational "best" I would say financing a stove that is a little better than another that you do not have to finance changes the "best". But if you finance a stove that is ALOT better than one you can afford with cash again this changes what is "best".

For me my 25-PDVC was "best" for my situation. That is why after much research I ended up with it. If one variable changes in my situation I may have a different stove.

 

[rwthomas1]

I purchased a Lopi Pioneer, simply because it was small, fit the space really well, and excellent local support if needed. I didn't want any problems, didn't need to learn out to repair a stove the first year. Nice to read in the article that Travis Ind. products are so robust, that has proven true, the Pioneer has been completely trouble-free for the better part of two seasons.

That said, if I had it to do again, I'd probably go for a used stove to save some money. I'd probably lean towards Englander since I can fix most anything, and the price is hard to beat. A used used Harman is a no brainer too.

 

[harttj]

I have to heat about 2500sqft two floors. Can it be done with 1 stove or should I be looking for 2? I like quality, longevity and ease of use for my wife also. The more feedback the better. The stove pipe will have to be through, for now, I think. All feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Either a pellet furnace or boiler would be my recommendation. Lot to heat from one or two points.

Tim

 

[stoaf88]

I purchased a Lopi Pioneer, simply because it was small, fit the space really well, and excellent local support if needed. I didn't want any problems, didn't need to learn out to repair a stove the first year. Nice to read in the article that Travis Ind. products are so robust, that has proven true, the Pioneer has been completely trouble-free for the better part of two seasons.

That said, if I had it to do again, I'd probably go for a used stove to save some money. I'd probably lean towards Englander since I can fix most anything, and the price is hard to beat. A used used Harman is a no brainer too.

Where are you getting local service for Lopi in Wakefield?

Just wondering because I also have a pioneer and as the article said, they are a bit** to get parts for. You can only get travis parts from a dealer. Love the stove, but hate the whole dealer exclusive parts network. Another way to jack the price on what should be cheap parts.

 

[Stevekng]

Two seasons, zero problems with my Quad. I guess that tells the OP what to buy, then, huh?

Once my quad was installed correctly, I've had 5 seasons with out a problem. But I wouln't recommend it to someone without looking at where it was oing to be put in the house.

 

[richkorn]

I can attest that my Lopi does just fine for my 2400sqft Colonial. I now only run oil for my hot water heater (which really grinds on me every time I hear it go on OR my daughter is in the shower for 25 minutes). I have no other experience with other stoves, but I am satisfied with my Lopi Leyden. They seem to burn anything I have put in there and the only issue so far (knock on wood) was that I had to replace the igniter. Best of luck.

X2

Great stove!

 

[MSmith66]

Im going to get the popcorn and site back and watch this thread!

I like that. Should we use the popcorn over the fire or use the Jiffy?

 

[MSmith66]

hey..what a great article

Now I know why, good for you. In my area I would have rated differently, but that is a start.

 

[3650]

Im going to say the best stove I've had for my money has been the Cumberland 3650. I got it refurbished for $650. Its been an amazing workhorse. Would I pay what they ask for a new one? No. But I wouldn't pay new price for a Harman or a Quad or probably any other new stove for that matter. I think new stove prices are ridiculous. Im a cheap bastard though. If I had to pay new price and could afford it I'd be in the same boat you are in, scratching my head wondering what is the best way to spend $4000. Id have to be pretty well off to be in that situation though. There are just way too many people letting good stoves go for cheap because they dont want to put in the effort that is necessary to make one of these things work right. Good luck with what ever you choose. My advice is cheap, used, refurbished or end of season blowout.

 

[bigblulbz]

Furnace. . . . . Pellet furnace

Is this Main floor? Basement?

What's the total sq footage??

Its in a furnished basement. The plus is that I put in a nice new staircase that has a nice big opening that allows the heat up to the main floor. The total square footage is 1800. Probably about 100-1200 upstairs. Open floor plan too.

 

[Mike D]

Im going to say the best stove I've had for my money has been the Cumberland 3650. I got it refurbished for $650. Its been an amazing workhorse. Would I pay what they ask for a new one? No. But I wouldn't pay new price for a Harman or a Quad or probably any other new stove for that matter. I think new stove prices are ridiculous. Im a cheap bastard though. If I had to pay new price and could afford it I'd be in the same boat you are in, scratching my head wondering what is the best way to spend $4000. Id have to be pretty well off to be in that situation though. There are just way too many people letting good stoves go for cheap because they dont want to put in the effort that is necessary to make one of these things work right. Good luck with what ever you choose. My advice is cheap, used, refurbished or end of season blowout.

As I was reading your post I couldn't help but think that what you are describing could also be said for automobiles.

 

[Cowdogz]

If I had to pay new price and could afford it I'd be in the same boat you are in, scratching my head wondering what is the best way to spend $4000.

My Santa Fe heats the entire house, and I paid just over half that, installation included. At current oil prices, it will have paid for itself before the end of its second season.

 

[Cowdogz]

Its in a furnished basement. The plus is that I put in a nice new staircase that has a nice big opening that allows the heat up to the main floor. The total square footage is 1800. Probably about 100-1200 upstairs. Open floor plan too.

I've got a ranch,1800sf upstairs. The stove is centrally located in the basement, 900sf of which is finished. I cut my oil bill by about 2/3 last year with the Santa Fe. Not telling you what to get, just saying that you don't need to spend $4000 to heat your house.

My only disclaimer: Somebody is always home at my house, so the heat never gets turned down. Others might not see as much savings as I do. I used to go through a tank of oil every 3-4 weeks, between 800 and 1000 gal a season. I used just about 2.5 tons of pellets last year, and maybe 300 gal of oil. My oil man came about 2-3 weeks ago, and I have only used a quarter tank since then to heat water and one bedroom that the stove doesn't reach. My math may be a little fuzzy here because I've never actually sat down to figure it all out, but I know I'm saving a boatload of money heating about 2500sf with a 34,000 BTU stove.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

We are heating 2400 ft on one floor and have 3 stoves. One is an Quadrafire 1000 and its only a backup.
The other two are Whitfields, one large and one tiny one.

Careful placement of the stove/s can really make heating your house a simple task.

I would look seriously at the two stove approach.

Running one hard enough to heat the entire house will be much tougher on the unit than splitting the duty between two macines and running them on a low setting.

I never run my stoves above the lowest setting, as the thermal stress on the entire heat exchanger system is way less, thus lengthening the life span of the stove exponentially.

Also, a large stove in the lower level in your case may well do fine during moderate weather conditions, but having the second stove on the upper level will allow you to heat that space well during cold weather without having to run the large unit downstairs balls to the wall and frying the area so you can keep the upstairs warm too.

In the event of a stove failure (either) you can run your air handler. (furnace fan only) to pull the air through the house.

I dont favor this as a first choice as the cost to run the large air handler tends to decrease the savings of the pellet stove.

Two stoves placed well will serve you best, plus in the event of a failure, you can still get by until you can effect repairs.

Just my thoughts

Been doing the pellet stove thing for over 20 years and still looking to make it better.

Snowy

 

[briansol]

Get one that a local dealer sells and services, and make sure that dealer isn't a crook. Most stoves are fairly equal in most regards... some settings some power, etc are different, but in general, they all work. And they will all need service at some point in their lives. Establishing a good relationship with a dealer who isn't scum is my main regret of the stove.

and INSIST on getting an Outside Air Kit installed at time of install.

 

[Chain]

I owned a Lopi pellet stove prior to my buying a Harman P61A this past April. Short of needing a new ignitor, I never had a problem with my Lopi. It's only draw back was that it's ash pan was too small and a thorough cleaning could be a pain in the ass. But it's built like a tank and would burn any brand of pellet I put in it. It's the FoxFire model and not the Leyden referenced in the above article.

This winter is my first with the new P61A. So far I love it. Very easy to clean, throws some serious heat, and only needs a cleaning about every 2 weeks despite burning 24/7. My only complaint is that what are referred to as "Harman Speed Bumps," can be a bit of a pain in the ass to clean if you let them build up for too long. They're basically carbon build ups that occur in the burn pot. Not a big deal really as every stove gets these and you just need to stay on top of them.

So, in my experience, Lopi and Harman are good quality stoves and you wouldn't go wrong in buying either brand.