i guess i'm the only one that likes mine. I'm on season #2 with it, and I haven't had any problems whatsoever. Near as I can tell, the people that are having problems with these things aren't cleaning them out. It has a small pot. You MUST clean it out either every day or at the very longest, after you burn a bag of pellets. Then you have to flush out the spark arrester once per month. Maintenance! it's not hard!
These are not for everyone. They will not heat your entire house if you have a big house. I live in an 800 sq ft house. It heats 1/4 of it great, 1/4 so so, and not at all in the rest of it. This is due to the wall placement. Space heater in the bathroom used for 15 minutes a day or so, and flannel sheets on the bed at night and I'm good to go.
If you have a small house, or just want a space heater in a larger room, then consider this unit. If you're looking for it to heat your entire 3,000 square foot house or have no willingness to clean out the burn pot every day, then this isn't for you.
I bought extra insurance, just in case. I have a CO detector in the room where it's burning, a floor protector, and a fire extinguisher close by. But after running this thing all season last winter, I haven't had a single problem with it, and don't really anticipate one. I don't want my house to burn down, so I clean it out daily. I've also never had the setting above 2. I'll get about 24-30 hours out of a bag of pellets. And I don't generally run this thing if I'm going to be away from home for more than a few hours (it will only go about 12-15 hours before you have to either add pellets or help push them into the auger anyway).
I've figured out how to change my lifestyle to accommodate this thing, and I'm ok with it. I'm frugal, so I've run the numbers on this. Wood pellets cost me between 12 and 15 cents per hour to burn. Fuel oil costs me between 56 and 65 cents per hour to heat - and the furnace is on only when I'm not home, set at 52 degrees. Imagine what it would cost if I had it set at 70 degrees and used it full time.
I've been running it for two weeks now (off and on), and have used 2 bags of pellets, plus what was left over from last season. It'll heat my (poorly insulated) main room to just south of 80 degrees when it's 36 degrees outside. It's burning right now (47 degrees outside) and I'm sitting inside in shorts and a t-shirt and I feel just fine.
Fuel oil cost me $2000+ the first year I was in this house. It would have cost at least that much the second winter, but then I got this stove for $1400, plus 2 tons of pellets at $185/ton. I used less than 60 bags of pellets last winter and less than $300 in fuel oil. So the first winter, I saved some money. I topped off the fuel oil tank in April, bought 3 more tons of pellets at $190/ton at the end of the season. I just cancelled the fuel oil delivery. This year, I will save a ton of money vs. fuel oil. And I think I actually have enough between pellets and fuel oil (with stabilizer) to go for two winters without spending any more money.
This is a rental house for me for 18 more months - two more winters. When I move, I can take it with me and put it in an outbuilding or garage... or use it as supplemental heat in another place. It's portable, I don't have to repair any holes in walls and it hardly uses any electricity. And the $4000 I'll not give the oil man over the next two winters will certainly help with the down payment on my next house.
For me, it's a great deal. For you? who knows.
