Harman Super Mag Cold Air Return Question

Looks fantastic - and effective. I really do appreciate, not just the input, but the good and helpful insight! Eric

Good luck in whatever you decide to do however I suggest you research two points. I think your stove choice scores highly on looks (my DVC is the prettiest and as it is in the living room that is a good feature) but ask board members opinions on customer service and the fact that the gears appear to have been now changed to plastic over the first magnum (have they just taken the parts from a pellet stove?). My experience with Harman is less than satisfactory. So many stove choices and so much expertise here for free.

I own a Super mag, and if you look at the install manual, you'll see there is a knockout round hole that is used for an outside air attachment. You may be able to tie that in with a cold air return. I thought about doing that myself. However, they advertise it as a "space heater", not a furnace. The blower motor is not strong enough to move air throughout your entire house. But that's not to say it can't heat your entire house, provided that you have good air flow. Mine is in the basement, and I'm heating 2500 sq. ft. with it and it does just fine, even in January. Downstairs is around 80-85 and upstairs is always at 70. The stove actually produces more BTU's than my furnace, and it does well. Some have expressed concern about the fact that it uses electricity, but that is really not a problem. You can buy a battery backup with this stove so it will still run if the power goes out. Or you can buy a generator and plug the stove into that as well as have other things run like your refrigerator and TV and really be set. If the power does go out on you, the stove will still run up to one hour of power loss. Any longer than that, the embers will be too cool to relight, and you'll have to start it again. So I would recommend the battery backup feature with your stove or the generator only if you frequently loose power for an hour or more during the winter time. If that's not the case, than you really don't need it. Stokers are much better at keeping the inside temp of your house regular, whereas hand fired stoves have no temp comtrol. I would highly recommend a stoker over a hand-fed because of this. My house is set at 70 and it stays there all winter. All I have to do is fill up the hopper and empty the ashes. The stove does the rest. But no matter what you decide, get it professionally installed! I've done mine myself, and had a few issues. It's like an extra $600 it have it installed, but I think it's worth it to avoid headaches later on. Good luck!