Hidden costs when shopping for pellet stove

Tough this time of the year, particularly in the middle of a harsh winter, to drive a pellet stove bargain. Dealers know they have us by the short hairs. Maybe wait until the spring for an end of the season when dealers are more likely to want to move their inventory?

Consider it my 'Yankee frugalism', but I'd keep an eye on Craigslist or E-bay, if you're willing to watch for a gently used stove, or someone wanting to up-size from a Castile to a larger model. A buddy of mine going through a nasty divorce recently had his ex sell 'fire sale' their Quad Classic Bay on Craigslist - it had less than 1 burn season on it and included all the venting, hearth pad, stove accessories, etc for $700. Someone got a heckuva deal on that, but I'm sure it wasn't up on CL for more than.a few hours before it got snapped up.

Any sales tax or shipping costs. Mine had these costs added to the quoted price.

Hello,
I was wondering how the reviews have been on the Castile. I have tried to look for a decent used stove for a couple of years on Craigslist and I have a hard time finding anything that is not much less than a new stove. I am really only up on the general pricing of the Harman line and I tend to look only that brand. I just looked at the prices on Craigslist and I see them again the same as a new one. I have seen so many reviews that can be scary on the stoves that are sold in the big hardware stores. What other brands do you guys recommend that I look at for a second stove? When I bought my Harman I almost went with an Enviro based purely on price. I think that it was around $1600 with the trim.

I can tell you that over the 6 years that I have owned my Harman P38+ I have had my share of strange things that I have had to learn to repair. My Brother in Law on the other hand has had his share of huge repair bills. I think he bought his P68 at least 10 years ago and it was a lot less than they are now. I believe that he paid around $2200 loaded with all the trim options. My P38 was around $2200 with the trim pieces but then the day I picked it up they hit me with okay so you are installing this yourself you really should put the Harman vent kit. I forget how much that cost me. I installed the stove myself in my new addition a few days after running it I had all kinds of problems, first thing to get replaced was the control board, then the next week the esp probe then about a month later the combustion blower. All under warranty. The first tech that came out said I see that you had us install it. I told him no I installed it. A couple of years ago a co-worker bought a stove and got a $900 energy credit but the bad thing is that is what he paid to have it installed. That was for the install and pipe directly out the back.

Finding a good deal on Craigslist or E-bay is all about timing, good luck and patience, as well as being willing to travel out of your immediate area to get a good price on the stove you want. A buddy of mine went through a divorce this past fall, and his ex sold their Quadrafire Classic Bay that had less than 1 burn season of use on Craigslist for $700, including all the venting, the hearth pad, stove cleaning accessories, etc. I'm sure it got snapped up in a heartbeat at that kind of price, probably 1/3 the price of what it was worth, so 'timing is everything' when you're shopping for a good deal on a used stove.

Having a good local dealer who is service oriented is a huge help. My local Quad dealer is great, he helps me trouble shoot problems and has even swapped parts from his floor models to see if it fixes the problem on my stove. So I buy all my parts through him and will certainly buy a new stove from him to replace mine when it finally wears out. You're correct that you 'get what you pay for' when you go the used route, so going on the good reputation of a Quad or Harman is a good thought.

The main complaint I've heard of on the Castile's is their tendency for rattles and harmonic vibrations, and perhaps louder blower noise than the Harman's, at least that I have read about. I don't mind the 'white noise', and our stove is far away enough from our bedrooms and family room where the background noise isn't a big issue for us. My stove is a 'first generation' model, over 10 years old now, so I bet the newer models are quieter. They don't have much adjustment for the fuel / air mix ratio, so burning decent quality pellets and keeping up on routine as well as periodic 'deep cleaning' is important to keep it running optimally. I'd buy another Quad in a heartbeat, but will get the next bigger size up, as the area we are heating is at the the top of the Castile's BTU output.

DMKNLD, great feedback and information. The dealership and product are the 2 biggest points to me. Thank you very much

hidden cost.....gas, time, impuslsive secondary purchases like coffee, snacks and useless home furnishing bought while out sho[ping for said pellet stove X 4 trips out to different places and you have 200-300 there on top of the stove. Those are the true hidden costs.

You're most welcome, and welcome to the Pellet forum! As I'm sure you have already found out, you will find many knowledgeable folks who 'share the passion' for pellet stove particulars.

Though not as visited as this message board, the i burn corn forum is another excellent source of info and trouble shooting on brand specific pellet stoves. http://www.iburncorn.com/index.php/forum/index

cocey2002 said:

So I went to look at some pellet stoves yesterday, really got my eye on the castile. Tried to get a ballpark for total cost of everything. Of course the guy estimated the full msrp of the stove and $1200 for venting and installation. Simple venting straight up through sunroof 10ft. So with the hearth another 4-$500 I'm almost at 5k. I'll be shopping around as I have three other shops that sale the Castile. I heat the house with wood - hampton insert and just want the castile for the sunroom. I think with the help of my neighbor we can install this no problem but I will wait until I find a decent deal. I know quad usually has a $300 off coupon at some point. I learned from shopping for the Hampton that timing is everything and some of these shops try to squeeze every penny out of you as they can. With the internet I know what people have paid and none have paid the full msrp that I have seen.

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I just had anew one installed 3 weeks back. was told $500-800 str8 up through roof. that went to $1000, Stove is in FRONT room, so had to run out wall (into garage), then up and back. 22 ft run cost me almost $1400. I was pissed, got into with the owner who did the install. I did not want to install myself. what are you going to do?
I love the stove though, not looking back. -2 here now->1300 sq ft is 71 deg, has been all night
Piazzetta Monia stove

Do you plan to put an OAK - outside air kit - on your Quad ? Lot's of threads on that topic on this forum. Not so sure that an OAK on the Quads is as efficient as other more 'air tight' pellet stoves, but would certainly cut down on the drafts. Something to consider.

Was going to argue, but why bother? Open a window for all I care...

cocey2002 said:

Not sure at this point. I think I'll probably try to go without it at first. Would be easy to add later on in my situation. For me this pellet stove is basically a 1 room heater. I heat my house with wood and love it. Just need the pellet for the sunroom.

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Be careful when choosing a stove to heat one room. Even with poor insulation it can overheat your room, even at its lowest settings. Determine your room size and heat loss based on window losses, door size between your sunroom and ajoining rooms, etc and calculate the BTUs required to heat it comfortly. That will determine the size of stove you will want to buy based on its BTU output operating range.

Not sure if anyone is still looking for reviews of the Castile (I have an insert), but I second the rattly nature of the stove. That said, it does a dandy job of heating our 1,900 sq. foot raised ranch - stoves in the basement fireplace opening. When the stove has been running for a while, the basement gets to be about 78 degrees and the upstairs stays a nice toasty 72 or so when it's 10 degrees outside.

I recently had my stove out of the fireplace opening for repair and ended up putting small tabs of velcro between the metal contact points (I read somewhere on here of someone doing that). It's much quieter now, though I suspect the velcro may need replacing at the end of the season.