Questioning decision to buy Drolet Eco-65, Opinions needed

There are so many brands and posts why each one is great. Will you chime in so I can choose the best ones for my needs? We are long time wood burners, hoping that a pellet stove will be easier. Last winter in our new (1952) home was harsh! Two wood stoves as our only heat became taxing.

I already bought the backup generator, I got in on the Honda sale @ Overtons.

Specifics and Questions:

I need 78* even in -20*, yes, negative 20* for the main room.

Main room is 600 sq feet, 8' ceilings. The home is 1800 sq feet.

Not too concerned about the other rooms, we will camp out by stove if electricity is out which is often.

Majority of plumbing is either in or close to main room so freezing shouldn't be an issue.

Half the home is concrete block which is hard to keep warm, even in the summer.

Blaze King insert on the other side of the house (concrete block part) in addition to Pellet.

I have mobility issues, I am hoping scooping pellets will be easier than stoking logs while he is at work.

I need the stove that is the easiest to clean because of mobility issues.

Planning on installing it where an ancient wood stove is, 6" pipe. I am assuming I need a liner? Is it less expensive than new pipe? I think I will miss the fast blast of heat when he gets that stove hot for me...

OAK accessible to 3/4 enclosed porch.

Some of 8 tons pellets will be in attached garage. The rest will be a block away stored in pole barn. How hard will that be for my husband to move bags by hand in mud vs splitting and bringing in wood (in mud)?

Storing Pellets? 90 mph winds here blow snow through barn doors and seams (and my house ), so I assume into pellet pallets as well, shrink wrapped or not. Can that ruin the remaining 7 tons of pellets? (he has to wear ski goggles to split wood sometimes to protect him from fierce winds with dust and ice pellets)...


How to heat my home?

We contemplated a propane or pellet boiler or outdoor wood stove but all are too costly since we would have to install baseboards or ducting. I went to consumer reports. Based on that we chose the P68. Its 120 miles away and two trips if they have to order it. I bet most husbands do not want to make a 240 mile round trip twice!

What about the Drolet? Or a Napoleon for 1/2 the price of a harman, and all the other brands out there. I don't have US Stove or Summers here but I can pay someone gas and time to bring me one. I guess it goes down to easiest stove to clean and maintain with a good price that will keep me at my unusally high temp needs.

Thank you for replying

 

Are you still gonna use one wood stove?

I am with Smokeshow. If you are only gonna use one pellet stove? It may not work well. If your still gonna run a wood stove and a Pellet stove? Then you and your husband will be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Most people tend to think that pellet stoves don't throw the heat that Wood stoves do. My Quadrafire and my Enerzone Crank the heat! Can't hold your hands in front of the convection tubes.

I would look at something 50,000 BTU and up.

If you want to stay on the budget side of things, Drolet (Eco 65) and Heatilator (PS-50, or CB-50) make solid units. But overall the Harman P-61 and P-68 are solid stoves. Environmental Maxx and Maxx-M are awesome units. Enerzone Euromax (almost the same as the Drolet 65, but a fee more bells and whistles).

The nice thing about the Enviro Maxx, Drolet eco-65, and the Enerzone Euromax is they have the ability to be ducted. The stove will pump about 30%-40% of the heat into the room it's in, then take the remaining heat and pump it into the two rooms that you run ducts to.

These images are of a Drolet in a basement. But you can use the stove upstairs and run the duct through the wall to an adjoining room. It doesn't have to be in the basement at all.

 

How big is the wood stove you plan on replacing? I'd try to stay close to the BTU output of that unit. You can go slightly smaller in net BTU's as a pellet stove has no heat swing like a wood stove. But staying close should assure having enough to keep the area warm. Too small and you'll over work the stove.

Every pellet bag has small vent holes that allow the bags to vent out and they will let moisture in if not covered/protected. The protective wrapper on the skids keeps most moisture out as long as its not broken or removed. Any water that can contact the pellet bags can ruin them. A tarp placed over then and kept secure should cure that. Frozen water shouldn't effect them if removed before it has a chance to melt.

 

Yes, we will still use the other woodstove on the other part of the house along with the P68 in the main room.


Wow! This is what I need to replace the Blaze King Insert next year, perfect, thanks!! We are in the midst of remodeling this sturdy old house and toddlers new bedroom and our new 2nd bathroom will be within ducting distance from a pellet stove capable of ducting. Perfect!

I tried to add photos but received error codes, posting to see it worked. I am satellite internet so it may not work...

 

thank you! I have not identified the wood stove that is being replaced except it says "englewood" on the door, no other labels... It looks like a fireplace insert that is standing on concrete block lol! I will try to attach pic but I have not had success so far.



Got the pic!! Used copy and paste instead of upload!! Here is the stove as the home sat for sale a few years ago. This is where the major remodel is happening, it will be our "main room" and where I will put the P68. We plan on using cement board under and up the wall instead of the drywall in this pic.

I appreciate the pellet storage information. The wind here is so harsh I might lose a few bags or partial bags to tiny snow pellets and flakes in 90 mph gusts, but hopefully not! We have tarps and can rope or use bungie cords to secure the tarps. The remaining pallets will be stored in this metal pole barn

 

B R I L L I A N T ! ! I couldn't have thought of a better idea for transporting the pellet bags, its like a scene from Monster Trucks spinning tires in mud out here many times LOL. I cant thank you enough for the tip. Can I share this tip? I imagine many others can benefit from this be it minor or significant mobility challenges!! It will also benefit me in so many other ways while in the event I need to transport something other than pellet bags.

Insulating. We are currently remodeling, and that particular room, the "main room", which is also the the drafty one, is down to studs on the walls. Dear husband is armed with expanding spray foam cans, and then will insulate well, and we have a drywall contractor scheduled! He will do the same on the floor. It blows my mind this house is so loose and drafty, our last home of over 20 years was in a milder climate but was better insulated...

Thank you @savemoney[/quote]

 

Agreed! In the process as we speak!

 

Thank you for you input I was 5th generation Colorado native (1860) and spent the last 20+ years in the foothills nw of FTC, so I think we have a good idea of eachothers climates. My new residence is like the flat eastern plains of colorado only at a higher elevation with harsher weather with a mountin view instead of being in the mountains, but just as beautiful!

WOW... Just looked up Vistaflame and the brochure is impressive! It looks similar to D Eco-65, any relation? As @mithesaint put it, I need the biggest baddest pellet stove I can get. And I can get any of them, I just need help to determine the right one for us!

Can you advise if the Vistaflame is as easy to clean as the Harman? Also, the Vistaflame has almost quadruple fan cfm compared to P68, and I LOVE warm air blowing around.

Our local dealer that carries Harman (and Blaze King our other wood stove) is disagreeable, so we will be doing our own maintenance. Though, we are diy capable and dear husband can get advice from a chimney sweep friend. Would self maintenance change your opinions on the best stove for us? We are versed and capable of maintaining wood stoves but on a learning curve with cat stove, and new to pellet stoves.

And yes! Paying for propane is costly! I just left 21 years of paying for it and lost my local loyalty discount when I moved. No thanks at almost $4 a gallon now.

Along with ease of emptying ash pan, I am looking for something easy to load for my mobility issues. No doubt, in a jam I will scoop pellets if I have to, but I heard some hoppers are easier to load than others?

Thank you for your opinion

 

The Vista Flame 170 and the Enviro Maxx (that I spoke about above) are the same stove, just branded under a different name. The Enviro is also capable of having a twin duct system added on to the stove and using it in a furnace type fashion. That is why they have the Convection blowers that are around 450 CFM. Compared to the Harman which is 135 CFM

The Drolet eco -65 and Enerzone Euromax are same stoves, just sold under a different brand. As is the Vista Flame VF-170 and Enviro Maxx. The Vista Flame and the Drolet are the cheaper variations of those models, but still use the sale quality components. Kinda like a Chevy truck and a GMC truck or a Ford and Lincoln. Same vehicle, one is just a dressed up version.

I just went and Googled the Maxx and 170? I can't find anything on the ducting and kit? I swear I remember this unit offering a dual duct kit from the manufacturer?
I know the SBI stoves ( Enerzone and Drolet ) offer it, but I swore the Sherwood stoves (170 and Maxx) did also?

Jay? RockyMtn? Any input on the duct kit from Sherwood Industries stoves? Or did I imagine that one?