Possible Pellet Stove

All

Thanks in advance.

Our house was originally built in 1868. It's a granite foundation with the bottom floor originally intended to be the basement/walk out workshop. A garage extension was added in the 1910-1930's timeframe which extended the granite foundation. My dad bought this house in the late 60's and converted the basement/garage/workshop into the kitchen, dining room and a living room. The second floor which the back of the house is level with the backyard is mainly bedrooms. On the other end of the house, my dad added another garage with a family room above it in the late 1970's. He did a great job of tying in the granite foundation to make it look like it was always there.


Growing up we had a wood stove in the living room that shared a one flu chimney with our oil furnace and oil hot water heater. Yes it was out of code. When I bought the house from him, I removed the wood stove, a Soap Stone II, from the living room, and put it in the family room. My mom had been using that room as her work area, she was a seamstress, and heated that area during work hours with a single propane wall furnace. It cost her roughly 800/year to heat during the winter. The wood stove used around 2 cords of wood costing me only $400 to heat the room as a family room during the winter.


My wife has been running an at home daycare for the last 14 years. Which kept a wood stove out of the living room in fear that one of the daycare kids would get burned. Recently she closed the daycare down, and went back to work as a banker. Now that the daycare is closed, she wants to put a wood stove or a pellet stove back in the living room. The downstairs can be get pretty cold in the winter months as we try not to overheat the second floor. With the thermostat on the oil furnace set to 64, the 2nd floor stays at a good temperature. While the downstairs remains cold.


I cannot put a wood stove back on the single flu chimney, and I don't have the room to expand the chimney to add a second flu. With that in mind, I am considering a pellet stove as the clearance requirements along with the exhaust requirements are much more acceptable than what I'd need to do to put a new wood stove in that room. I'll add pictures so that you can get an idea of what I am dealing with. In order to put a wood stove in, I'd need to bore a hole through the granite to get to the exterior. There is an undersized window on the west side of the house that would allow me to convert to the exhaust for a pellet stove. Trust me when I say I'd prefer a wood stove. As I already process wood for the family room. Using the wood would keep my costs down.


I will be going to the inspectors office in order for them to give me conditional approval shortly on using the window as my exhaust for a pellet stove. If they approve it, I'll then be looking to purchase a pellet stove for that room.


Based on my research I am considering one of two Harman pellet stoves. The Accentra or the XXV. Both are fairly expensive, but it seems like Harman is the leader in pellet stoves.


I am looking on comments on either Harman pellet stove or other options around pellets stoves. Personally I'd love for the inspector to come in and tell me that I could use the window opening for a stainless steel triple wall pipe, but my cousin who is a mason tells me the window does not provide the proper clearances for a wood stove.


Thank you

Jason from RI

 

Both units are awesome. I have the XXV in my house. Don't settle for less, I know I just stirred the pot but I have done that in the past and will continue to do such in the future.

Eric

 

Are those stoves big enough to do the job? It's better to have more than enough then barely enough.

 

What's your overall budget for stove, pipe, install, etc.?

 

Usually pellet stove exhaust needs to be a distance from any window, that is unless it is a window which cannot be opened. You are going to have someone look at your situation. Almost always they default to the installation manual.
I have the Harman p68. Members here are partly responsible for that selection. This stove is a real heater. Hot hot hot!
Not as pretty as the other models, but by far the best heater in that line of pellet stoves. There are some other stoves that cost less and heat well, but there are also a lot of stoves that really are just good to heat the area they are in and not the house. I'm heating 2200 sq ft. My furnace is off.
Lots of Harman owners here and a few dealers so you have a good resource to ask questions.

 

Yes, with the layout these stoves would primarily heat the downstairs with some of the heat going up to the second floor. Our furnace would be off most of the time.


Jason from RI

 

Budget? I knew I went wrong somewhere along the way. Those stoves are 3700 and 3900 respectively. Add another 600+ for venting and you are in the ball park.


Jason from RI

 

I would be removing the window in order to pipe the exhaust to the outside. The next closest window is over 5' away.



Jason from RI

 

Went to the web site, http://www.pacificenergy.net/products/pellet/stoves/ps45-classic/
The stove looks a bit different from the one seen in the other link. Options for exterior. Hopper is 50 lbs. Max and the btu rating is 12-45 thousand.
Whatever you do, get the stove that you want for the job you want. I didn't the first time around. Huge regret.
The stove I have now isn't pellet picky, stays clean, and heats my home. Yes it was expensive as stoves go, but in the end it is the best choice for me.

 

Not exactly sure how many sq. ft. you're trying to heat with a pellet unit, but if you want to save some $$, one of these might fit the bill.

http://www.amfmenergy.com/55trpep--epa-certified-pellet-stove--2000552000.html

http://www.amfmenergy.com/55epacepest22.html

http://www.amfmenergy.com/49trcpm--multifuel-stove--2200492200.html

 

Interesting that they advertise a dual level cooking surface. My cat could lay on top of the napoleon. The p68 is much hotter. Don't know if it is suitable for cooking.

 

The downstairs is my primary concern, and it' about 750 sqft. Should be a no brainner for the models I am looking at. As I said before, I am not overly concerned with heating the second floor. Though some of the heat will make it's way upstairs.

Let me give you an idea of temps right now in my house:

Family room - 78 with wood stove going.
Son's bedroom right off family room on the second floor is 74.
My study just down a short hall from the family room on the 2nd floor is 68.
Our bedroom on the second floor as far on the second floor as possible away is 64.
First floor - 62 degrees in kitchen, dinning and living rooms.


Hope that helps.


Jason from RI.

 

Well, the EP model that Englander makes should be a good choice. It's the more modern single auger design, looks good, and the refurbed unit is a pretty good value.

They come w/ full warranty, OAK kit, and Englander's second to none Tech Service. Mike Holton is their Senior Tech and is a member here. Free shipping from AMFM Energy to a freight dock near you. And at $1199, that leaves a lot of $ left over for exhaust pipe & pellets.

http://www.amfmenergy.com/55trpep--epa-certified-pellet-stove--2000552000.html

 

Is you wife set on a stove style. Some want that Franklin stove look and colored ceramic clad. The box look of most of those stoves will turn off some folks. My stove is in the family room so I wanted heat over looks. The Harman has a big flame that is fan shaped. I looked at a few stoves, but my heating needs the fact that I had a 3 inch flue installed already
were contributing factors for my selection. If I had it to do over, I would go with the 4 inch pipe. That gives you more options should you change out. I paid over $900 for my "professional" joke! Install.
While you can't harvest you own pellets as you can firewood, pellets burning has its pluses. Long burn time and ease of loading it are amoung them. The big draw back is they are dependent on electricity. You can run them off a geni as long as it is one that gives clean sine.

 

I have and LOVE this stove. And I fix/repair pellet, gas and wood stoves daily of many brands http://www.vistaflame.ca/VF-100-CB-FPS.html
One thing I love is the High/low and auto/off option when used with a thermostat. During shoulder season I use auto/off mode. It will warm up until it satisfies the thermostat at whatever temp you choose and also the heat output you choose (5 settings). Once it satisfies the thermostat it will go into low burn mode for 30 minutes and if the thermostat doesn't call for heat in that 30 minute period it will go into shut down mode. This is good in the way that it gives the igniter a break compared to some stoves that will just shut off when the thermostat is satisfied, and kick on when it drops 5 degrees in the room.

In High/Low mode, it will burn at whatever high (pilot) setting you choose whether it be low, medium or high heat. Once it satisfies the thermostat it will burn in low mode until the thermostat calls for heat. I use this stove to heat an A frame with tall ceilings and a bedroom/bathroom/laundry closet built off the side of it all winter long with no additional help other than a thru wall fan pulling air from the stove room into the bedroom which circulates towards the bathroom into the kitchen where the remote thermostat is. I use this during the cold part of winter because it's the only source of heat I use. Doing this, when it's -10f out I may go through 1.5 bags of soft pellets a day.

Also if you don't like the looks of this stove their sister company is Enviro which is more the Cadillac where as mine is the Chevy work horse. Same guts really, just not as dressed up.

This is in a home built in 1967 with single payne windows and poor insulation for the most part. The crawlspace isn't even insulated very well.

Not one stove that has been suggested is a bad stove, or even a slightly bad stove. My suggestion is to look at as many as possible, and hopefully in the showroom and see them burning and go from there. Choose the one with the creature comforts and options you like and ask A LOT OF QUESTIONS.

Good luck and happy hunting, Harman makes a great product as do many other manufacturers. The only thing I will ever like less about some stoves than others is working on them but that has no sway on their function lol.