Can You Heat a 2000 sqft House With One Pellet Stove? (Harman P68 Review)

We recently bought a Harman P68 pellet stove with the hope that it will completely replace our current oil radiator heat system. We live in Maine so winters here are very cold and we live in 170 year old house with variable insulation, so heating the whole house on one stove is a BIG ask. In this video we'll cover how the stove performs and the strategies we use to circulate heat throughout both floors of the house. Enjoy!

[@hippiewithacowboyhat]

I love the fact that he cherishes the fan his parents gave him as a kid. Good son.

[@janetsides901]

We heat our whole house with a Pellet stove. Ours is really a pretty stove! I use the bags for trash bags. Its a good use,and you don't need to buy trash bags in the winter. We use electric heaters to supplement if it gets below zero and windy.

[@MrHarryhere69]

I just found this out a few months ago. I always ran fans to pull the hot air out of the room, but someone "in the know" suggested to blow the cold air in the room with the stove. What a difference. Cold air will displace the warm air. The house is warm,

[@CarolGasses]

When I was a kid, we cut a hole in the kitchen floor and inserted an attractive adjustable floor grate. The wood stove heat came up from the basement as needed.

[@belladonnabookworks2278]

We did that too (back in the late 70s) but I heard that you shouldn't do that anymore because of fire codes. I haven't looked into it but it makes sense, the fire could go through the house faster with open vents in the floors.

[@MBarram]

@@belladonnabookworks2278 you can use a fire mastic or get fire-rated vents which will swell in case of a fire and block airflow.

[@tomyoung1705]

Great video! Box fans, brilliant. For what it's worth: We've been heating our old house in Rockport Me. with a pellet stove and one mini-split heat pump (its air flow is perfect compliment to pellet stove), for a decade. No central heat. Our interior was previously turned into apartments (destroyed!), so we were able to re-configure floor plans to enable a good airflow through our 3 stories. Still have our old restored windows now with wooden storm windows. Conquering air infiltration is my priority in energy efficiency(I'm a design-builder/restorer). That and a small footprint make point sources of heat comfortable with no central heat transfer losses. 1500' energy use: 3.5 tons of pellets and annual electric of $1300 includes ASHP, 50 gallon elec. water heater, 2 electric radiant wall heaters (bathrooms- these are German with timers-love them). We stay warm and comfortable. Good luck!

[@butterflybluffhomesteadsmi4601]

They took our radiators out before we bought it, now our house is so dry I get nose bleeds and had to buy several humidifiers. Your new stove is beautiful!

[@poppy2052]

I have used a pellet stove as my only heat source for 20 years. I just replaced my original pellet stove in Sept. I heat about 2000sq ft, 2 stories with no problem. Good luck

[@cassandra2685]

The pellet stove looks awesome It makes the room look very cozy

[@ericefitz]

Such a nice home you guys have! Also side note I live in Waterville! Nice to watch someone on youtube that is close haha

[@gailryan1035]

In my mothers farmhouse she has vents than are closable in the floor of her upstairs bedrooms that can circulate the warm air to upstairs. Enjoyed watching your video

[@bryanritts213]

I've had mine for about 10 years. Love it! Heats the whole house. Only thing I've had any problems with and was my own fault. Get yourself a power surge protector. I fried 2 mother boards on mine over the years.

[@janetsides901]

For your window in your laundry room,you can hang heavier curtains. Or we use those window kits,plastic,tape,and a hairdryer,makes it very tight and helps Alot! Our window in our bedroom is like that. You really don't notice the plastic,its clear. But again it helps so much.

[@robine916]

Those window kits work so well!

[@stantilton2191]

Thinking of going pellet for our old farmhouse in western Maine. This was very helpful and we'll check out Harmon. I'd hope to find a Maine made stove but, would settle for US made. Thank you.

[@paulrodriguez1282]

Thanks for sharing. Love your video. Thanks for being so honest. Very well explained video. Love your house too. You did awesome. The house looks great. Thanks. My wife and I just bought a house in Vermont that was built in 1870. We're were trying to figure out what heating do we use? This helps us a lot. Thanks

[@stargage13]

we are in southern ME. Just had our first winter. We have oil for primary heat and a woodstove we run 24/7 pretty much. Our home still is very cold. We are hooking up a pellet stove for this coming winter. as well as a propane stove to keep the basement a nice temp. We are trying to eliminate having to rely on the oil. We definitely need to play with different sources and things. drafty windows, only air vents to get heat upstairs. It is an adjustment for sure. thanks for the info

[@kathysiddons6469]

Highly suggest some thick drapes or silver bubble insulation for your windows! It will help hold in the heat

[@acdii]

I just installed a 2400 sqft one in our converted garage. It has a door to the kitchen which then flows into the den. It is heating 460 sqft, takes about 20 minutes to raise the temps 10 degrees, on first start, then runs about 10 minutes every 30 or so depending on how many times the outside door opens or outside temps. It is 20* today so good test. What I discovered is what others have said, when I open the door to the kitchen, I can feel the cold air from the house rush past my legs and the warm air blow past my head. I am going to put some vents in the wall between the rooms to help with circulation. Use natural convection to help move the heat through the rooms. Heat rises, cold sinks as you well know, so you need to push the cold air towards the stove, and the best way is if you have a natural flow through the upstairs to downstairs. Draw the cold air from upstairs down the furthest away from the stove, and move it towards the stove. Closing doors actually defeats a lot of the circulation, so open that door at the end of the house and put some low speed fans to pull the air through to the stove. Ceiling fans up stairs will help tremendously. As far as bags go, been fighting that one for 20 years as I live in the country and with horses, a lot of their bedding comes in the same bags, and no recycling around here at all. I wind up burning a lot of them as starter fuel for bonfires when clearing trees and branches. I roll them tight and stuff them into the paper bags the feed comes in, then pile the wood, which is still semi green on top, and then get them started. The only other solution around here is the landfill. Next year I will be looking around for a bulk supplier and put a storage bin in the barn for them, then wont have to deal with 50 bags per ton to get rid of.

[@adrianomeneses6683]

Great video love it like the set up👍

[@josephpolaski5835]

I heat my house with a pellet stove too. My house was built 1890. I got the same kitchen cart too Awesome house!

[@sissymurphy9620]

I like the pot belly ones . I had radiators in my first house and love them . even heat and the radiators stayed warm long after they went off plus nice humidity from them . dry heat is really no heat

[@katesutherland6088]

Those bags can be cleaned and then easily turned into 'plarn' (plastic yarn). Some people turn plarn into things like shopping bags, but there are charity groups that use it to crochet sleeping mats for the homeless!

[@xavieraxl1082]

Sorry to be offtopic but does someone know a tool to log back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb forgot my password. I would appreciate any tips you can offer me.

[@jonroland6780]

@Xavier Axl instablaster ;)

[@Bob-gy6ud]

Nice video. Initially if your willing to spend time shredding the bags you can use them as insulating material if you have the need anywhere. You’d be better off getting a ceiling fan(s) to move the air. Fast moving fans will create a negative effect especially if your not using an OAK. Hot air is higher up cooler air is at the floor. So using a ceiling fan on lowest setting spinning clockwise will move the hot air much better. Of course in theory if you mount the fans higher up it will do the same thing

[@karenhurd9792]

Interesting about the pellet stove....good to know. The room that has your washer & dryer in it was probably the home's "breakfast room". The window is the giveaway. Many older homes had morning rooms, or breakfast rooms. It would be nice if you could bring it back to that. The window may need some TLC but it would be worth it for the spring, summer, & fall months.

[@Bobrogers99]

In old New England farms, they didn't try to heat the "parlor" in mid winter and lived primarily in the kitchen. You might want to move a couple of comfy chairs into the dining room for the winter. You'll need to keep the pipes from freezing in your laundry room and downstairs bath, so you may need some supplementary heat there when it's bitterly cold or windy. Having backup heat for when the power is out is a must! As a belt-and-suspenders man I'd invest in both a generator and either a wood stove (depending on chimney access) or a propane heater. On your previous video I suggested that someday you may want to enclose a bit of the barn space behind the kitchen and install your laundry and downstairs bath there.

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

thanks for the tips! we’re fortunate that a generator came with the house. we’ve already had to use it once

[@pattycarol5191]

I saw your home tour and I instantly thought about how would you heat all those rooms.

[@kellymcfadden7514]

Nice to have the glass front too! So you can have ambiance too! ESP with the fireplace surround

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

that’s our favorite part!

[@monsieurbojangles2336]

Beautiful house

[@nipplesnot]

We burn pellets and had the same bag problem. My solution was to switch all my trash cans to 5gallon buckets which the pellet bags fit perfectly. Now I not only use almost all of the bags I never have to buy trash bags for the house. One small hitch is the bags have a tendency to leak so just carry out the bucket then hit it with the hose or rub some snow in it.

[@KimFsharpHarp]

Beautiful hardwoods and great house. Thanks for the information. Not sure how long your pellets last, but you are looking at $5 vs. several hundred.

[@mrb0985]

cool fan! but also wanted to add, try the fans reverse, if you blow the fans towards the heats it will create a vacuum and pull in a lot more heat in my opinion. anyways, give it a go it worth a try!

[@triciasklodowske5653]

Check into replacing the radiator's with base board hotwater heating system. Next to infloor heat the baseboard system is the best. An outdoor wood furnace to heat it , the barn and the domestic water all at the same time. Nice house. Good luck with all the work.

[@pepperroni4016]

We don't know if the radiators are steam or hydronic. We don't know if it's only supply line or if there is a return. The amount of plumbing would be minimal as you can double run the copper to loop around inside the slant fin baseboard. The price is ridiculous just to upgrade. The price is $10 per foot minimum. If he can't do the plumbing himself. It will cost thousands. Those radiators work excellent. You just can't regulate temperature with precision. If they are steam you can't do it. But it sounds like he uses oil to heat and there is the problem. They do make conversion kits for Harman pellet stoves. To replace an oil boiler or gas boiler. It's absolutely genius use the existing houses heating system , same thermostats , and the best part is , the pellet stove also heats the basement, which means heat rises and heats the room above it etc. So it's a win / win

[@janiefox3458]

I used to have a pellet stove - my problem with it was I got to the point where I could no longer lift the bags and bring them in from the garage. Then one day I went into the family room and it had turned the ceiling and the walls black. Never figured it out but switched to propane - $$$. Used the bags as trash bags. I bought it in the early 90's and it cost about $1,000. with a ton of pellets.

[@chris2790]

Stove top can get up over 200 if you're running it at higher temps. Also, it's not a thermometer, it's a thermistor or temperature probe. As far as aesthetics, they make some pretty elegant, enameled stoves. But not that have the heat of the P68 which is more of a workhorse like a standard woodstove. As you know, you could get the fancy silver trim kit for it.

[@robine916]

Ask where you bought them if they take the bags. Sometimes the manufacturer takes them, too.

[@Dooguy]

I put a p68 in my basement...cut a hole in the floor for the heat to radiate up to our first floor. Heating the floors are the most important.....I added a smaller stove in the upstairs if it get super cold, below 20 degress stuff. Works well.

[@Random-rt5ec]

I attach 20 X 20 X 5 HEPA furnace filters to the back of box fans to filter the air as it moves it. You would be amazed at how much dust a pellet stove puts in the air & these filters remove all of it. I got the idea from a person in California who needed an inexpensive way to filter all the smoke from the air due to California fires that burn all summer every year.

[@musiccirclegreece]

Yes I would love to know what the colour codes for your walls are Gorgeous saturated and warm colours.

[@jkmcp45]

You should look into two things first bulk pellets that works a couple ways in certain areas a truck will come and fill a hopper that can be augered directly to stove or a big 1 ton bag on a pallet second there’s a boiler conversion kit that you could heat hot water for house and also your existing hot water radiators good luck brother keep that chimney clean

[@scottgould294]

If your in China, you may be able to get a permit for Hatch Hill transfer station for the bags. For getting more heat to your living room, I've had good luck in the past by putting the box fan in the living room door pointing towards the stove. The theory or physics is that as you blow the cold air out, the warm air gets pulled in. It may also pull cold air down from your "front" stairs. Every house has a learning curve.

[@matthewalley1140]

We use our pellet bags in the trash cans.

[@erinporter1774]

We’re in Maine too and we heat our two story with a Harman and we absolutely love it! Works so well, the only bummer is when the power goes out but other than that it’s been awesome!

[@arleyronsonet989]

Small solar system would fix that power outage!

[@miguelfilo962]

Get a secondary heat source for when the power does go out. That way you don't freeze to death. A small wood burning stove or a radiant propane wall heater will work.

[@hrcnick11]

The radiators should have a flow adjuster so you can make other rooms warmer and some cooler. If not get the baseboard heaters so nice to heat with out drying the air. We have a pellet stove to back up our air to air heat pump and keep a humidifier running right next to it or the whole house gets tons of static. The bags would be nice if they did not have the perforations in them, then they would not leak as trash cans. Also I am a bit surprised you did not go with a insert that would have fit in the fire place, the hoppers are a bit smaller though.

[@colleens1878]

As someone that also lived in Maine I would highly recommend looking into a generator such as a Generac propane generator we lose power a lot up here and unfortunately when you run a pellet stove they require electricity actually I think most will require electricity I could be wrong But it is something to consider not sure if the wood stoves in the house are usable would definitely want to have them service have your chimney cleaned It looks like a beautiful house lots of projects but definitely a lot of care went into it that was a house that was loved you guys were very lucky to find it Good luck with your

[@colleens1878]

Adventure and also not sure if you have looked into seeds for spring yet Here in Maine we have Johnny's Seeds and Fedco Fedco has a few sales and sell amazing trees and plants Longfellows nursery is outside Augusta and they are amazing for plants Best wishes

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

we are fortunate that the house came with a generator! as far as seeds go I’ve heard from colleagues that Johnny seeds and fedco aren’t selling to home growers this year because of seeds shortages so I had to buy my seeds elsewhere sadly. hopefully that changes next year!

[@colleens1878]

That is wonderful that it came with one And Johnny's is only doing that temporarily :) they will start back selling to non commercial the end of this month beginning of next Good luck with everything have fun :)

[@motherthemis344]

Thanks for this. How long does a 40 lb bag last?

[@patmurphy389]

Why did you decide not to use the radiators, besides adjustment? Ty for the video

[@conniegoodlin6263]

Thanks

[@KatjeKat86]

I know nothing about the model of pellets stove you have but I do know there are ones that you can run ducks from that way the heat is not just coming from a central point outward.

[@jasonmartindale3171]

I'm wondering, if you don't mind doing a little creative duct work, if you have a central room in the basement (not necessarily talking about YOUR house, as many old farm houses don't have finished basements, more of a crawl space or cellar, but this is a general question) could you create a series of ducts from that basement room thru and up inside the wall cavities to an adjustable wall register? Seems to me with the radiant heat and how heat rises, you may not even need duct fans if the duct work is direct enough.

[@PistonHonda17]

Thanks for the content! You need to purchase a new roof or new plumbing ASAP.

[@adventuresofvictoria6411]

I live in Maine also. Try Hannaford or Shaws or if you shop Market basket they have recycle boxes for bags

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

oh really? great tip!

[@anthonyman8008]

Beautiful home! What does it cost per day in pellets? Seen white oak recommended

[@aberd1144]

With a remote thermostat, you should never change the temperature on the stove, it should be set to the highest setting on the dial, and if the top of your stove isn't getting hot it's probably dirty, I have a p-61a and the top of mine will easily reach 300 degrees.

[@sachdevalamin3174]

Maybe you can buy in bulk? (e.g. have a pile of pellets delivered. With respect to the living room's heat. It seems as though you're going against the flow. The hot air would raise up the stairwell; go through your office, down the other stairwell (because it is cooler); through the living room to the dining room and then reheat. If you want to increase the circulation, just put a fan in the 'down' staircase, pointing down and in the dining room pointing towards the stove.

[@Tracey-The_Momma_Bear]

You seem eco-friendly; Google KZbin how to make a braided rug and use the bags for this!

[@johnm5714]

Ceiling fans would help you immensely and also benefit you in the summer. In heating season-run them in reverse to pull the heat down off the ceiling and spread it out across the house.They also make what’s know as”Corner fans” basically a small electric fan you Mount in the door way of the room the stove is in-also running in reverse so it’s pulling air out of the room and propelling it outward. Next suggestion-look for 100% OAK Hardwood pellets.they burn hotter and make less ash.I’ve found them to make a huge difference in heat output,ash build up and also smell.Those soft wood pellets stink like a bowl of Doritos- Final consideration-explore a system to power it if the electric goes out.There are a few ways of dealing with that depending on your budget.I have a very large capacity Solar Generator on Standby.You can also get by with a power inverter and a 12volt deep cycle marine battery to get you by for about 8 hours.The power Inverter MUST be a Pure Sine wave unit.Using a cheap one will fry the control board in the stove.----Stay Warm young man…

[@sticks0012]

Running the cieling fan in reverse pulls up cold air to mix with warm air then runs down the outside walls.Warm air is very hard to push down if at all possible.This is what i have seen and used and seems to be what happens.

[@jackiepuddister9694]

Hardwood gives you more heat. We enjoy the hardwood on the colder days and the softer board on the warmer days that’s how we do it merry Christmas.

[@ellenvoyage594]

Plastic typically is only recycled once so maybe you could find pellets sold in another packaging and go with that option? Hope you figure something out! :)

[@lancerudy9934]

The exhaust pipe how did you seal the exhaust up the flue.

[@chadhummel8496]

I've used and tested st croix, Bixby, harman and comfirtbilt. Harman is the only one I don't recommend. In the same house it used 30 percent more fuel. It has an exhaust temperature twice as high as the other 3. After 7 years and many issues, mostly the esp probe I got rid of it. It's the only one I don't recommend to my customers.

[@sigglass2183]

Question, do you know or do you think there are thermal eletric generators you can attach to the pellet stove where the stove would make it's own eletricity to power itself?

[@hipoink1615]

We live in eastern Maine and dump takes our bags. We use them in place of trash bags.

[@johnmcneal9477]

What is your monthly cost for the pellets? We burn wood in our stoves at the rate of around 1/3 cord a month. It is a lot of work and a bit of a mess but we have a good size wood lot so our costs are essentially the labor to handle all of the wood. We are considering a pellet stove as a back up heat source if we want to leave the house over night or a weekend.

[@jennmacfarland6965]

If you have a Facebook community page, I’d offer your bags on there. Lots of people repurpose them and make reusable shopping bags with them!

[@CurvyGirls]

You could cut the plastic bags into same length strips and create matting for your home gym or possibly for resale.

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

interesting idea!

[@judywilson2020]

Will this work if the power goes off? If not, I think I would stick with a wood burner.

[@Sml4UTB]

You'd have an even better distribution of heat if you blew cold floor air towards the stove room! The warm stove air will conversely rush away from the stove at ceiling height. Could put a fan in the kitchen blowing into the stove room at the floor to get air to flow in there as well

[@brentlloyd7908]

Yeah, I have to agree, I'm heating an approx 200 year old house in NB, actually spitting distance from Crabbe's Lumber who make your pellets. Hardwood gives a bit more heat and less ash vs softwood, but the burn time per bag is essentially the same.

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

hmmm interesting. do you have a preference between the two?

[@brentlloyd7908]

@@ravenbrookfarmstead9284 Not really, I buy softwood for the most part, but will buy whatever is on sale.

[@almanacaa]

We have a drafty 200 year old 2800 sq house and run two pellet stoves. 👍

[@tonycavez]

i have 3 pellet stoves 2 in my 6 car garage 1 in the main floor of the house , know how to repair them , they work great , but nothing compares to my wood furnace it's hooked up to the oil furnace(never used it in 10 years) and air ducts warms 3 floors without electricity , i completely modified to harness the heat that otherwise goes to warm the outside Lol wood is more work but is KING

[@ginamaria2579]

Partner ? Do the pellets have a pleasant odor ? I think a garden supply might take your bags 🤔 Your animals are so sweet 🤗💕

[@jonnormandin3285]

I use my empty pellet bags as lawn and leaf clean-up bags.

[@jackvonfeld1178]

Is there an air circulating fan in the pellet stove? If so how noisy is it?

[@mark43294]

How often do you fill the hopper

[@cbcsucks2205]

You will pay it off faster than that. I installed one last year in half my house. Received a $2,000 credit on my oil bill only $600 in pellets.

[@belladonnabookworks2278]

I had a condo with all electric heat in CT and was able to install a pellet stove a few years ago that paid for itself in about a year! best investment EVER!

[@ralphblackburn7528]

Do you have a chimney liner all the way up or just part way?

[@lowkeyloki77]

Try putting a fan to push cold air towards the pellet stove...someone recommended this to me and i gained 2 degrees to my 2nd floor.

[@m.rhinehart3561]

Do the pellets need to be stored indoors?

[@chrisklein9144]

Many plastic bags can be brought to Hanfords for recycling. there is a container for plastic bags at the store entrance.

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

Great tip! thanks!

[@dethmaul]

Are the bags made of HDPE? People buy that to melt and mold into things.

[@garnetfrechette1569]

How cold does it get there?

[@matthewalley1140]

What part of maine are you in we’re downeast.

[@LeBlancfirewood]

Try turning fans towards the stove

[@scottwasik79]

How much a month does it cost to heat your house?

[@thegrantdanielsband]

Simply answered is yes with a Comfortbilt the best in the industry will do this easily not to mention the easiest to do maintenance on as well this is important as most stoves are a joke to maintain!! Do you research for yourself and you can be guaranteed to find a good stove Cheers :-)

[@eatwhatukiii2532]

What’s your electric bill? I heat my 1900 sq ft house with a wood stove that is in my kitchen. My wood is collected from culled dying trees from my woodlot. The pellet stoves seem tempting, but my town looses power for 4 days sometimes after big storms (year round), so I’d need a generator to run the stove and, and, and...LOL. Regarding the plastic bags. I discovered they do indeed break down under certain situations. I have horses and cut plastic bags into strips to mark the electric fence. Over the course of several months the constant sunlight and wind eventually made them thin and brittle as paper ash, so they fell apart at the slightest touch so when I took them down to throw away they crumbled into nothing. Some people braid rugs with them. I would expand that to include coasters for drinks or under plant pots to prevent staining of woodwork. They can also be twisted into cordage (cordage twisting instructions can be found on KZbin), for crafts, perhaps for macramé plant hangers and such.

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

yeah we have a similar issue when we lose power. fortunately a generator came with the house so it wasn’t something we had to buy. we’ve only lost power once this year so far fortunately. it was before we put in the pellet stove - but our old system also required electricity so we would have been in the same boat either way

[@sabinakhoor]

Interested to know how you're getting on a year on? Particularly heating the upstairs please? Also, I noticed a few people in the comments also have these installed but with varying opinions - would really love to hear your thoughts.

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

We just wrapped up our second season with it as our only heat source with no issue! It effectively heats the whole house upstairs and downstairs no problem so long as we have a little fan going to help with circulation. The only downside I’ve noticed is that my office which is upstairs has a hard time getting heated because I must keep the door closed when I am working. so on cold days it will get progressively colder in there as my work day goes on but it warms right back up once the door is open.

[@putheflamesoutyahoo1503]

Can get pellets in bulk bags right from a manufacturer(maybe team up with a guy with trailer and a stove. Or become a dealer(have truck/trailer will travel)......can get bulk trucked in-to a bin. There is a deposit on the bulk totes.....on other hand glue cubes and other things come in same and you might pickup from one industry and use for pellets......could even get so many they will pay you the core charge(value) if you can get enough, therefore you could just trade for pellets rather than cash.....and pay for the trip.

[@nickboucher7339]

Just an idea but maybe you could melt the bags into bricks to make them more manageable until you find a place that will recycle the material.

[@johnsmithfakename8422]

All stoves work a little different because of reality. Pellet stoves work opposite of conventional stoves when it comes to wood. Because pellets are compressed they have similar density. As they have similar density, other things can contribute to BTU's. Softwoods have more resins in them and have around 10%-20% more BTU per pound than hardwoods. My pellet use rule of thumb is When it comes to fuel, softwoods are the way to go. When it comes to cooking, use hardwoods. Considering just about all plant matter can be turned into pellets and a surprising variety of biomass pellets can be burned, this rule of thumb will not work for other biomass pellets (such as grass pellets).

[@izabelabajno654]

How many bags do you burn per day?

[@tomn3610]

Great video, as I am debating between Quadra-Fire and Harman pellet stoves. I have a Quadra-Fire pellet stove (for about 14 years), and still works perfect. Knock on wood .... the only thing that ever went bad was the firepot, which developed a hole in the side .... still don't understand why that happened ... .considering the walls of the firepot seem to be at least 1/4" cast iron. It was easy to replace, but still set me back about $190. As far as heat output, I should have bought the next model up, as the one I have (The Castile model), does not do a very good job heating the entire home, thus I have to shut a few of the bedroom doors in the house. (My home is about 1300 square feet.) Regarding the plastic pellet bags.... I use them to gather garbage from inside the house each week, just prior to garbage day. Several of my rooms have small trash containers, so I just walk throughout the house, and empty them all into one of the pellet bags.

[@nanasewdear]

Try reusing your pellet bags. I believe you can plant potatoes in bags.

[@belladonnabookworks2278]

we use pellets for cat litter and reuse the bags when we clean the cat box

[@nanasewdear]

@@belladonnabookworks2278 Excellent idea.

[@pepperroni4016]

You asked about the plastic bags . You want to do something useful with them and recycle. You complain You have a wall that is not properly insulated? I suggest cutting a 16 inch wide rectangle between 2 studs, as small as possible maybe 6 inches tall. And just stuff as many as possible above and below until you're column is at full capacity. 4 sheet rock screws, put the piece back into the rectangle hole, joint compound, sand and paint. Move over to the next column between 2 studs 16 inches on center. Repeat for the next 1 ton of Pellets. 2 birds, 1 stone. You're welcome

[@kbullwinkle]

Was watching your latest video..I'm a retired Maintenance Director...you said your not using your hot water system...even with the wood stove ...You must run the hot water system to cycle the water...or it will freeze...frozen boiler and radiators is not fun...I recommended using it during cold days and nights with the wood stove...hopefully the thermostate for the water system is not in the same area as the wood stove...best of luck

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

even if the radiators are all internal in a warm room? the boiler is still getting used for hot water to sinks and shower and such so that plumbing is in active use. we just aren’t using the boiler as a heat source.

[@kbullwinkle]

@@ravenbrookfarmstead9284 the basement pipes and the boiler should be cycled when its below 32°to keep the system from freezing...pipes travel through floors and walls...without seeing your system i would suggest the pump cycling at a minimum

[@kbullwinkle]

@@ravenbrookfarmstead9284 most systems don't allow the owner to do that without using the boiler...I'd set the thermostate to the lowest setting.. if its in a different room from the wood stove

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

I'm still confused -- our boiler is still in continuous use to provide hot water to the house.

[@kbullwinkle]

@@ravenbrookfarmstead9284 supply water on demand..not all the time...like 3am when its 20°....moving water is less likely to freeze...

[@michaelr.williams8176]

My house is 2400 sq feet my pillit stove heats my house great I have. Thoes pie shape fans from Home Depote in each door way to move heat from my. Liveing room it does a great job never had heat before like gas or electric that would keep my house worm like the Pillit stove. And it cut my cost by. 60 percent gas and electric shy rocket over the last few years. My investment in this stove has all ready payed for its

[@eduardorojas2366]

How do you heat the upstairs, especially your bedroom??

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

So when we turn the fans off all the heat from the stove floats straight up that stairwell into the upstairs and it heats everything up there in about 10 minutes. We surprisingly havent had a heat issue or needed supplemental heat in the bedroom even with some nights hitting negative temperatures. We thought it would be a challenge keeping the bedroom warm when we got it, but it hasnt so far. I think this is because there is a door on the other side of the bedroom that goes to a second stairway so the circulation throughout the whole house is good.

[@marywalker2896]

I have read comments from people who have great ideas. But I want to add..offer them on Craigslist or marketplace for free..a group who makes rugs out of them for homeless is wonderful idea..but Iu could also use those rugs for art rooms or children's playrooms also.but put them up for free..u may get offers from someone or a group like I said that uses them for something..good luck .

[@avlisk]

New Mainiac here, close to North Conway, NH. Just had a garage built (24' X 24') with a loft. Only one side will be an unheated garage, and the rest will be living space. Is the P68 too large for 550 sq. ft.? Thanks for any help.

[@ravenbrookfarmstead9284]

Yeah I’d think it might be overkill. It is on a thermostat so you could set it low and it just might not be on most of the time, but you could probably get away with a smaller less expensive unit for a space that size.

[@JW-kh9bm]

You can offer them to your neighbors and ultimately they will never have to buy trash bags again.

[@gracewampold1285]

Did you know that the wood pellets for your stove are the most eco-friendly and cost effective cat litter? you can use that hopper for more than just the stove!

[@belladonnabookworks2278]

been using pellets for cat litter for a couple of years now! so much better than clay litter, and convenient since we have them for the stove anyway :)

[@Lamboghini76]

Did you know there are pellet boilers out there