So I'm in my first year with this stove and I can definitely say it's been a good investment. The girlfriend raves about how it keeps the house so much warmer than the 62 we dealt with last year with oil. The house gives the stove a run for its money on the single digit nights, but it's heating a basement and first floor space so I expected that. It generally keeps the house at a nice 70 with little problem. I've been able to identify any hiccups and fix issues pretty easily that it's had, but so far no major problems and no failing parts.
Positives: Easy to diagnose issues. Has saved on dryer usage as we can just hang clothes in the basement and it dries them overnight. Has been able to easily heat a 2 floor 1600+ sq ft area after initial air intake adjustments and mode adjustments. Daily cleaning is fairly straight forward and easy, the girlfriend can handle it no problem. DVD explains things well for maintenance.
Cons: I had to do a lot of screwing around with modes/settings to get it to burn well initially. I'm still not happy with some of the buildup I get into the burn pot after a full day of burning which means I have a little more fine tuning to do but can't quite figure it out. With the colder temps there is not a choice but to clean it everyday because I need to scrape the carbon buildup around the auger. I'm thinking this may be due more to the Timber Heat pellets than the stove though.
Overall I'm giving it a 4 out of 5 stars for ease of use, performance, and affordability. $2,500 investment between stove, install, and pellets for the year and I have 2/3rds of our pellets left to go for the rest of the season.
Positives: Easy to diagnose issues. Has saved on dryer usage as we can just hang clothes in the basement and it dries them overnight. Has been able to easily heat a 2 floor 1600+ sq ft area after initial air intake adjustments and mode adjustments. Daily cleaning is fairly straight forward and easy, the girlfriend can handle it no problem. DVD explains things well for maintenance.
Cons: I had to do a lot of screwing around with modes/settings to get it to burn well initially. I'm still not happy with some of the buildup I get into the burn pot after a full day of burning which means I have a little more fine tuning to do but can't quite figure it out. With the colder temps there is not a choice but to clean it everyday because I need to scrape the carbon buildup around the auger. I'm thinking this may be due more to the Timber Heat pellets than the stove though.
Overall I'm giving it a 4 out of 5 stars for ease of use, performance, and affordability. $2,500 investment between stove, install, and pellets for the year and I have 2/3rds of our pellets left to go for the rest of the season.
