Enviro Maxx??

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pe islander

New Member
Dec 28, 2007
31
PEI, Can.
Hi, I live on PEI Can. and I want to get away from burning so much oil. I have decided that a pellet stove is the route I'm going to take and have narrowed the brand down to Enviro. My only hang up is which product to get. My house is a modern 2 story contemporary 1800 sq ft. I plan on putting the stove in my larger living room with 15" cathedral ceiling (I have a large ceiling fan to circulate the air). The appearance of the stove is not so important to me as is the quality/reliability, efficiency and the ability to talk over the fan with company(I've heard the Maridian at it's highest level and have no problem with that volume level). So my questions are: Will the Maxx be over kill or will I be able to turn it down to a comfortable level and work efficiently? The store where I live just got the Maxx in and haven't heard the volume of the fans yet so I'm quite concerned that the fan will be too loud (unless it can be turned down to a bearable level). Also, I'm concerned that the Maxx will be too much btu's for my house and therefore, not efficient. My last concern is that the Maxx is such a new product, is there many people out there with much knowledge/experience with this product? I look forward to any suggestions and comments. Thanks.
 
I have had the Maxx for Since September. I was told that the fan is the same fan that is in the EF3Bi and I hear very little difference as I own both.

The stove heats extremely well, I am having a major issue with the burn pot and the only three people that have them installed that I know of at this time have the same issue. The stove cannot be left for more then a day while running or you run the risk of a fire starting in the ash pot which can cause your room to become smoky. Not sure of the risk of fire...I only use mine when I am home which defeats the purpose of a stove that holds three bags of pellets.

I have not gotten any help from Enviro on the matter, I have tried different pellets, the stove is installed to spec and have had a WETT tech install it and come back and service it to make sure it’s not something I am doing. Knowing that the stove is having the same issue with other customers makes me thinks it’s the stove. The store I bought it from has offered to take it back and replace it with a Napoleon pellet stove with a hopper extension.

Again I have no problems with its heat or the sound of the blower, really like the stove overall except I will not keep a product that does not work properly as well am concerned with how Enviro is standing behind the product.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. I think after hearing your story, I'm convinced not to take the Maxx route! I was scared it may be too much btu's for my place (therefore not giving me the efficiant heat alternative I was looking for). It's too bad it has this flaw, otherwise, I'd be buying it in the New Year! My house is 1800 sq ft, since you also have the EF3, do think it would do a sufficiant job or maybe the Maridian (45000BTU's). Seeing that you live on "the main land," it's fairly safe to say, we see similar winters! So far, how many bags of pellets do you go through with each stove? Thanks for the speedy reply as I am in the final stages of deciding what to buy, and this may have saved me from buying the Maxx as I couldn't find any reviews, good or bad! Thanks again and I look forward to anymore guidence. Kurt.
 
Started burning pellets in late September and have gone through about 60 bags of pellets ($263.40) with no other source of heat. (The stove upstairs used at times for looks only)

The Maxx will burn 3 bags of pellets a day on its high level but that heats the entire home and the outside too, only did it a couple of times and had to open windows, my home is about 2200SQft. On its low level I do not find it overly effective use of energy as the blower motor is automatic with the heat level setting and is turned almost off on this mode. The second mode is the one I usually use with the blower on a medium and it can do a good job on the house until the temperature drops at night. This burns roughly a 3/4 to a bag in a 24 hr period.

I have found I can keep both stoves on their lowest setting, about a bag every Day and a half combined and that heats the house no problem. Rarely do I have both stoves going other then cold morning to bring the home up to a nice temperature (the high level on the max takes about an hour) then they are set to low or off!

If you have one stove it will need to work harder and I will think you would burn a bag a day..maybe a little less depending on your comfort zone with the EF3Bi. 1800 SQft may be pushing it but I know on a low setting it has little to no problem heating the top floor of my home (1100 Sqfeet) and get two days out of a bag of pellets with the occasional crank up for an hour to offset colder wind that hits from the water from time to time.

The reason I went with two stoves is I had a wood stove that would heat close to 3000 Sq feet in my last home so I was used to 25+ degrees and did not want to be cold. I have nothing bad to say about the EF3Bi and do not see how it would have a problem to heat 1800 SQft that’s insulated well.
 
I have a 2200 square foot hgome, the great room has 18ft ceilings. the entire house is heated by my
Enviro Empress and it stays at about 72 degrees. Just for an example.

I bought the stove as supplemental heat. It performs well enough, my oil fired furnace is now my supplemental heat source.
 
Thanks for all the quick responses! I've done some travelling and found a dealer who has a harmon advance and/or acentra (both at the same price, advance=48000btu's; accentra=40,000btu's), for less than $200 more than the Enviro Meridian. So he's almost got me sold on it! He's also throwing in 20 bags of pellets with the sale! Again, thanks for the responses, and if anybody is reading this and has more advice, please sent it my way. Kurt.
 
I work for Concorde Distributing. We supply dealers with Enviro products in Western Canada.

The fan on the MAXX is much larger than the one in the EF3. It produces much more CFM, and therefore much more wind noise as a result. The MAXX is suited to heating large, open spaces like shops or big open basements. I would not recommend it for a smaller home with a confined floor plan. Due to the massive amount of air this stove is capable of moving, I would not suggest putting it beside your TV. If you do, you may need headphones in order to hear!!

As for problems you are having with the burn on your MAXX, it is possible you have one or more issues that could be contributing to the problem.

Could be the positioning of your burn pot liner. Could be the burn pot liner itself. It is also possible you may have a leaking door gasket.

I am sorry you feel your dealer is unable to help you with your issues. I have brought your concerns to the attention of Sherwood Industries (manufacturer of Enviro stoves), and I am confidant that they will respond quickly. I see that Al Campbell (Senior Tech Advisor) has already been in touch. In my part of the world, Sherwood has an excellent reputation, and a good track record for sharing information with dealers, installers, service techs, and stove owners. In fact, they are one of the only pellet stove manufacturers that I am aware of that openly shares their technical manuals online (www.enviro.com) for everyone to see.

I am confidant that these guys will help you get these issues resolved, and that you will end up satisfied.

DH
 
Thanks for the reply DH, I was wonderring what the CFM stood for and now I guess I can peice that together, the bigger the CFM, the more air it pushes, right? Anyway, very useful info, thanks.
Hopefully X96mn reads this thread, as he's the one with the Maxx and the issue with the fires in the ash pan. Hopefully he has that under control now too.
Thanks again. Kurt.
 
pe islander said:
Thanks for the reply DH, I was wonderring what the CFM stood for and now I guess I can peice that together, the bigger the CFM, the more air it pushes, right? Anyway, very useful info, thanks.
Hopefully X96mn reads this thread, as he's the one with the Maxx and the issue with the fires in the ash pan. Hopefully he has that under control now too.
Thanks again. Kurt.

CFM = Cubic Feet per Minute

sounds like the maxx has a big one in it(blower) , i havent seen the product so all i can do is sit back and watch , looks like enviro is stepping up and working on this. as a fellow manufacturer im happy to see it , from what ive heard and read enviro as a manufacturer has been a quality brand and seeing Al from the company come in here and back up his product line deserves credit. im sure with his support the issues at hand will be quickly remedied.
 
The fan on the MAXX is much larger than the one in the EF3. It produces much more CFM, and therefore much more wind noise as a result. The MAXX is suited to heating large, open spaces like shops or big open basements.
DH[/quote]


Concord

I have a 1650sq foot basement that we heat with a Big E. we have found the Big e is not big enough for the job. Are basement is damp and one wall is stick built(walkout basement).


We cannot use the Big E on number 5(the highest) because they do not recommend it for longer then an hour.


Will we be able to use your Maxx on high for extended period and how many bags will it use On high in a 24 hour period?

Thank you john.
 
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