Harman TL300

[Saucydog]

Any of you guys have any experience burning a Harman TL300 woodstove?I was ogling one at a local dealer's shop last week and I'm intrigued....Just hoping that somebody may have seen or run one...if so,what are your thoughts?

 

[Mike Van]

Not that stove, but I've had a Harman SF260 boiler for 10 years, absolutley trouble free.

 

[habanero]

I'm looking at that stove as well. I had my mind made up to buy an Exception, but then they came out with the 300 this year so I'm trying to figure out how much difference there is in the two. I haven't seen a 300 in person, yet, but was planning to take a trip to my dealer this weekend to see if he had one.

 

[Saucydog]

It's a better-looking stove than the Exception,but not as nice as their cast model....the Oakwood.More than anything, I want to know how well the downdraft burn is working for them with that rear"Firedome" refractory piece.A top-loading,3 cu.ft. firebox with 8 to 17 hr."claimed" burn times....What's not to like?

 

[rmihalek]

I like it

I've been running my Harman TL300 just about 24/7 since late October 2008. I really like this stove. It's easy to load and holds a lot of wood; 10 or 12 good size pieces easily fit into the firebox. The ash container is huge.

The other great thing about this stove is that it retains hot coals for a very long time. I'm not sure why this is, maybe it has something to do with how the air gets into the firebox. Whatever the reason, I have huge pile of kindling cut and stacked in my basement that I am not using because there are always enough hot coals in the stove to get a roaring fire going without having to use kindling.

I just push the ashes around to get the red hot coals exposed, lay some logs on top of the coals and then open up the lower (ash) door as if I was going to empty the ashes. When this is done, air is drawn up through the ash grate, turning the hot coals into a blast furnace. After about 30 seconds, I shut the ash door, open the vent all the way, and I've got a roaring fire.

I highly recommend this stove to anyone looking to heat about 2000 sq. ft or less in colder climates (I live in MA).

 

[Zodiac45]

I don't have one but I've looked at them and that TL300 looks like a very good stove. The fact that my boy rmihalek owns one bodes well for them too as I know he does his homework. Sounds like it's got a good sized firebox too for the overnight burns.

 

[MishMouse]

I own a TL-300 and been using it since March of 08.
Prior to it I owned a small Drolet stove which gave me allot of exercise running up and down the stairs to load it full of wood every 3-4 hours.

With the TL-300 I can easily get 8-12 hour burns depending on the type of wood I use and how high I have it set. It just amazes me how much heat it produces when you close the damper and send the smoke into the AB chamber. This thing slowly burns the wood and produces allot of heat.

One of the other features that sold me on this stove was the fact that I can grill over the open flame. Last week it was -36 outside, I was nice and warm in my basement grilling sausages over a wood flame. I cooked chicken, fish, steaks, hamburgers, and vegs on this monster. The flavor that it gives the food is something that you just can't compare.

This stove does have a learning curve to get it to burn effectively and efficiently. If you need more info PM me and I will give you a few links to another site that has more of my posts on this stove along with others who use it.

 

[habanero]

...It's easy to load and holds a lot of wood; 10 or 12 good size pieces easily fit into the firebox...

Those must be pretty small pieces to fit 10 or 12 in. My usual pieces I'm doing good if I can fit 4 or 5 in at a time (assuming a decent coal bed already in place). Of course my theory on splitting is if I can get in the door (top door that is), it's small enough. There's always plenty of small stuff around anyway for starting a fire.

Like Mishmouse alluded to, this stove isn't the simplest stove to learn to operate, but overall it's a great stove.

 

[ASEMASTER]

I've had the tl200 for 5 years and will agree to all above that the harmons are about the best you can get and some rugged. my brother bought the 300 this year after seeing how my 200 worked so well . you do have to learn how to run them and how to cut the wood to make them run well the largest pices that can fit in last the longest. man does a venison backstrap roast taste good cooked on the grate.

 

[Steve_in_SEMich]

We bought the Harmon Exception last summer - it heats the approx 1700 sq ft main floor, plenty warm in the living, dining, kitchen, and laundry rooms, keeps the 3 bedrooms at the end of the hall between 63-65 degrees. There was a learning curve (unless you like a lot of heat), but we haven't run the 3 main floor furnace zones at all this year. The top load feature, the non-catalytic re-burn system, and the HUGE ash bucket are the greatest features.

Unless your main room is huge, the TL300 seems like overkill. Nice looking stove though. Which ever one you get, you'll like the Harmon brand.

Steve

 

[habanero]

One thing I'd add to this thread for someone considering or having just purchased a TL300 is that there does seem to be some problems with the door gaskets not adhering well from the factory. I've read of the problem on some other forums, and though my loading door gaskets have been fine, the bypass door gasket did come unstuck about a month after I started burning mine last fall. It wasn't a big deal to fix; I just reached up through the firebox and spread some gasket adhesive in the track and restuck it. It has held up fine since then, but next summer I'll probably go in there and clean out the track better and replace the gasket.

I don't know if the gasket problem is a continuing deal or if it just affected some of the earlier production stoves, but it is something to keep an eye on.

 

[Zodiac45]

We bought the Harmon Exception last summer - it heats the approx 1700 sq ft main floor, plenty warm in the living, dining, kitchen, and laundry rooms, keeps the 3 bedrooms at the end of the hall between 63-65 degrees. There was a learning curve (unless you like a lot of heat), but we haven't run the 3 main floor furnace zones at all this year. The top load feature, the non-catalytic re-burn system, and the HUGE ash bucket are the greatest features.

Unless your main room is huge, the TL300 seems like overkill. Nice looking stove though. Which ever one you get, you'll like the Harmon brand.

Steve

The problem is that they really only make the one size stove? There is a cast iron version (nice) and the coal/wood version, an insert and the TL300, so yep it's easy too have too much stove in a smaller house or space. The other 'situation" as I see it is they are awfully pricey for a steel stove. Maybe it's the increase in steel prices recently (back down now though) but for the cost of the TL300 (over 2g) I can get a Woodstock Soapstone.