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burnout524 t1_j6koel8 wrote

Reply to comment by dirtyMETHOD in Saturday mornings forecasted low temperatures. -2 for Hartford. by Swede577

This is good advice. While I’m saving up for one, my in-laws have one and heat their 1,600 sq ft colonial almost exclusively with their pellet insert. They use about 3 tons of pellets (~$900 this year) and 1 tank of oil a year.

I was quoted $6800 for a Harman pellet insert and install - pricy, but the Harman is the best of the best. And when I looked into this in September, they were backordered until late Feb/early March. I was also looking into mini-split heat pumps too, which are a much more efficient electric heat source, but was quoted $28,000 for that system (which also turns out was too small for my house anyway).

If you don’t mind the hard work, a wood stove works good too - I had one at my old house (with electric heat) and heated almost exclusively with the wood stove - that was back during all those crazy October storms, so firewood was free and plentiful. Too much work for me these days though.

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dirtyMETHOD t1_j6kpcp8 wrote

I think the feed/burn system on the Harman’s are much better than the burn pot style(my first stove was a QuadraFire Classic Bay 1200, still running from 2008). I prefer the cleaning/maintenance of the Harman above other stoves, that for me is the best selling feature since I’m doing the maintenance anyways.

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burnout524 t1_j6kq0nv wrote

I was looking into a Comforbilt for half the price but maintenance sounded like a nightmare (not to mention Made in China vs. USA). Plus Harmans have been around a long time. My in-laws and brother in law both have them and they’ve both been solid units.

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dirtyMETHOD t1_j6kqot2 wrote

I’m looking to replace my freestanding Harman Advance with the newer Allure model.

I went down the rabbit hole of looking at other brands and saw some nicely designed European stoves, but after maintaining Harman stoves for several years…. I don’t think I’ll go for other brands. They have gotten it right for so long, for me anyways.

Maintenance is very important to get the best efficiency, I’m not lazy, but I don’t need Land Rover type maintenance, I’m a Lexus type of guy.

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