Hi all,
I discovered hearth.com while googling'up pellet inserts and there appears to be a deep breadth of knowledge here, so I thought I'd try to tap into some of that. So here goes!
Circumstance:
I have an existing fireplace that is entirely less than efficient. When the house was built in 1995 the builder decided not to install a blower and the manufacturer of the pre-fab fireplace went belly up shortly after construction of my home. I tried an after market blower with less than positive results. After researching alternate heating sources to my existing natural gas furnace, I decided on a pellet stove insert for a couple reasons.
-- Efficiency
-- Relative ease of operation, when compared to a traditional wood burning stove (I am aware of the maintenance requirements)
-- I am unwilling to part with the floor space required for a free standing stove
-- No more dealing with cords of wood
-- I am concerned that natural gas prices will only continue to rise, slowly if we're lucky
I understand and accept that my entire home will not benefit from a pellet stove, as it's a two story with basement. However, it appears that if I buy an adequate model, I can at least provide acceptable levels of warmth to my living room, family room, kitchen area and bedrooms upstairs. For reference my home is 2,500 sq ft. including finished basement, basement being roughly 600 sq ft. give or take. I don't care two hoots if my basement is cold, maybe then my kids and wife will stay out of it!
With that conclusion in mind I started researching vendors and models for a pellet burning insert. What I can deduce so far:
-- Harman & Accentra make pretty good inserts but are on the pricey side of the market.
-- Napoleon/Continental/Timberwolf are ok stoves, but appear to be from the same company that has really bad customer service.
-- Don't buy a US Stove, Summers, or Breckwell as they're poorly built and regularly fail
-- Quadra makes an ok stove but the ignitors regularly fail
Question(s):
-- In my estimation of vendors where have I gotten it right and where have I gotten it wrong?
-- I want to buy an efficient, well made, stove that will last, which manufacturer will most likely provide me with those qualities?
-- If you were in my situation, from which vendor would you purchase a stove?
I wholly intend on taking care of my pellet stove so it can in turn, take care of me. I understand mechanical components fail, that's just the way things are. However, my overriding concern is I buying a stove that was poorly designed or manufactured, that no amount of owner maintenance can overcome.
I discovered hearth.com while googling'up pellet inserts and there appears to be a deep breadth of knowledge here, so I thought I'd try to tap into some of that. So here goes!
Circumstance:
I have an existing fireplace that is entirely less than efficient. When the house was built in 1995 the builder decided not to install a blower and the manufacturer of the pre-fab fireplace went belly up shortly after construction of my home. I tried an after market blower with less than positive results. After researching alternate heating sources to my existing natural gas furnace, I decided on a pellet stove insert for a couple reasons.
-- Efficiency
-- Relative ease of operation, when compared to a traditional wood burning stove (I am aware of the maintenance requirements)
-- I am unwilling to part with the floor space required for a free standing stove
-- No more dealing with cords of wood
-- I am concerned that natural gas prices will only continue to rise, slowly if we're lucky
I understand and accept that my entire home will not benefit from a pellet stove, as it's a two story with basement. However, it appears that if I buy an adequate model, I can at least provide acceptable levels of warmth to my living room, family room, kitchen area and bedrooms upstairs. For reference my home is 2,500 sq ft. including finished basement, basement being roughly 600 sq ft. give or take. I don't care two hoots if my basement is cold, maybe then my kids and wife will stay out of it!
With that conclusion in mind I started researching vendors and models for a pellet burning insert. What I can deduce so far:
-- Harman & Accentra make pretty good inserts but are on the pricey side of the market.
-- Napoleon/Continental/Timberwolf are ok stoves, but appear to be from the same company that has really bad customer service.
-- Don't buy a US Stove, Summers, or Breckwell as they're poorly built and regularly fail
-- Quadra makes an ok stove but the ignitors regularly fail
Question(s):
-- In my estimation of vendors where have I gotten it right and where have I gotten it wrong?
-- I want to buy an efficient, well made, stove that will last, which manufacturer will most likely provide me with those qualities?
-- If you were in my situation, from which vendor would you purchase a stove?
I wholly intend on taking care of my pellet stove so it can in turn, take care of me. I understand mechanical components fail, that's just the way things are. However, my overriding concern is I buying a stove that was poorly designed or manufactured, that no amount of owner maintenance can overcome.
Welcome to the group!
Banner
thanks imac
