Episode 340 – Dane Harman & Karen Harman-Smeltz – Build to a Standard—Not a Price (Live from the 2026 HPBExpo)

Audio Stream:

“It was my feeder and burn pot, they decided to make their own burn pot and change the design. That’s where things didn’t work very well for very long…”

In this episode, Tim sits down with Dane Harman (founder of Harman Stoves) and his daughter Karen Harman-Smeltz for a rare father-daughter conversation about building one of America’s most respected hearth companies from a basement workshop in rural Pennsylvania. From cutting stove parts with Gloria’s cutting board as a template to pioneering the pellet technology that powers today’s industry, this is the untold story of grit, innovation, and the $40 electric bill that changed everything.

In this episode, Dane and Karen cover:

• How a shocking electric bill jump from $40 to $100 sparked the idea to build their first wood stove—using a cutting board, T-square, and acetylene torch in the basement

• The evolution from welding corners by hand on the floor to precision laser cutting that’s accurate to ten thousandths of an inch

• How coal stoker technology accidentally birthed the pellet pro feeder system—plus the Vermont Castings partnership that launched Harman into the big leagues

Don’t miss this intimate look inside the mind of a true industry pioneer who went from three employees in a 40×80 building to revolutionizing an entire industry—all while never losing sight of the principle that you build to a standard, not a price.

——

Watch this podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pAb7YMvWWyQ

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fire-time-podcast/id1433804268

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4vHdzg48bE5qFf0KjMeMej?si=7b6cae3923d348f2

Read The Fire Time Magazine: https://www.itsfiretime.com/magazine

Subscribe to The Fire Time Magazine: https://itsfiretime.com/subscribe

Support The Fire Time Podcast financially: https://www.itsfiretime.com/join