Hello all, I am new to the forums and I have been browsing it over the past few months to help me in making some decisions with stoves. I have had so many issues recently. I must say what an educated group of people there are in this forum. You have helped me by learning through others experiences. I'm hoping to ask for some advice and hopefully offer some to others after reading how these problems have been resolved.
Some brief history. I now live in Northeast Pennsylvania. Just moved here from Colorado. Previously I had a quadra fire freestanding stove (I forget the model) that I used and loved for about 12 years. So I know how to work a fire.
When I moved to this ranch house, It had two stoves already in it. Each floor is about 1800 square feet. The main floor had a really old kodiak insert coal stove rusted to all heck and downstairs was a small freestanding vermont castings soapstone somewhat undersized.
I had the rock chimney rebuilt from the roofline up and the rest of it repointed. It has two 13x13 clay liners. I had them install two 6" double walled insulated liners for each of the runs. One is 16' to the first floor and 32' to the basement.
I replaced the coal stove with a Harmon Accentra 52i pellet stove. Amazing stove. Really just amazing.
I love the ease of use, the automation, everything. Heats up the entire floor, around corners, to a comfortable 72-74 degrees. Wonderful.
In the basement I replaced the vermont castings wood stove with a Quadrafire 5100i Insert. That's when the fun began.
It looked great, but I had a very hard time starting and maintaining a fire. Opened windows, doors, heck, I even cut a hole in the ceiling and ran a pipe up to the attic to draw some more air into the room. No help. Wet wood they said. (they love that excuse) Hardly. 3 years seasoned, sitting in a pile. Light as cork. My dealer refused to replace the stove. They wanted to add a draft kit to the harmon upstairs first to see if that would alleviate the "negative pressure" in the home overall. $400 Then if that didn't work, they would try to add the draft kit to the Quadrafire (more difficult) $800 to see if that would do the trick. I felt I was getting swindled. I refused.
After some really loud vibration issues and them replacing the blower twice, the dealer finally acknowledged something was up with the stove. He said he was going to pull it, send it to his welder to bend and reweld some loose metal "fins" underneath the firebox. It was then I reached out to the manufacturer DIRECTLY and they agreed to take it back and refund my $. I must say that the customer support hearthandhome extended to me was fantastic. I dealt with very understanding woman who enabled me to circumvent my dealer issue. Kudos.
I didn't care for the blackening side windows the model had, or the crumbly vermiculite baffle they used. The ceramic blanket was a royal pita to put back contrary to the instructional video they provided that makes it look as easy as sliding your foot into an old leather shoe.
Anywho, After visiting 5 other dealerships and doing as much research as I possibly could, I found out that other users were having draft issues with that stove. One guy ended up yanking the ceramic blanket to solve his problem. So besides not having a good fire, and seemingly not enough heat output, I opted to go freestanding after reading many different opinions both here and on youtube comparing the 2 varieties.
I also wanted the biggest stove possible using a 6" liner (at least 3.0 cubic feet to match the seemingly underperforming quadrafire.) I had it down to a Hearthstone and a Jotul. My problem was also in having to accept the fact that I had to use a rear venting stove that I've never had any practical experience with. I was nervous that maybe it wasn't the stove at all causing my burn problem.
I opted for the Jotul 500 because of the reviews, it looked nice, and was as big as I could go in keeping a rear vented 6" flue with a 42" wide 30" high fireplace opening. I really wanted the 600 but it wouldnt fit..bummer. I love the look of the soapstone but I read about it having a soft heat, and was hesitant, wanting as much radiant output as possible.
The good part is that I do not have a drafting issue, AHA! and my gut feeling was correct. No problems starting or maintaining a fire, although it just doesn't seem to heat the space well enough. As crummy as the quadrafire was able, with 3.0 cubic feet, and the fans blowing on high, it kept the room about 68. The jotul at 2.54 cubic feet and 600 degrees with the blower on high has yet to hit 69. I really want the 72-74 range. So I'm not overly impressed so far.
I am disappointed with the fan. For the money, you would think this thing would put out some cfm. It's all but a trickle and blows heavier on one side more than the other. My dealer says that's as good as it gets but would double check with jotul and get back to me. Thats was two weeks ago. yeah. right. thanks.
After going through the stinky curing process (really now, invest in some better paint, quadrafire's curing wasn't near as bad) I had the stove up to 600 and noticed after loading it up in the dark before I went to bed, that there was a glow coming out from one of the rear corners.
I let the stove cool down began shoveling out the ash. My grating doesn't sit flush and my shovel hits the edge preventing me from reaching all the way to the back (quite annoying) So I had to use a dustpan instead and then cleaned the remainder with my ash vac. I removed the firebrick from the back. When I did, I found a washer! Yes, it seems they forgot to put one on and were kind enough to leave it for me underneath one of the bricks. I also found two small "pockmarks" or holes if you will, behind the firebrick on the iron backing.
One, I'm afraid if I take the bolt off and reinstall the washer where it belongs I'll further crack some of their factory cement seal. making it worse.
Two, There are small holes in the iron! Theoretical weak points just waiting to crack and spread. Can it be filled with something as strong to guarantee it won't spread?
Three, The space in the back right, can it be filled with their industrial cement to repair it or maybe something isn't sitting right by not having the washer in place, causing it to go out of whack?
Four, What's the deal with the fan? 120 CFM is terrible. Is it replaceable with something stronger?
I haven't reached out to the dealer yet. I want to hear what the pros think first. ; P
Thanks gents!
Some brief history. I now live in Northeast Pennsylvania. Just moved here from Colorado. Previously I had a quadra fire freestanding stove (I forget the model) that I used and loved for about 12 years. So I know how to work a fire.
When I moved to this ranch house, It had two stoves already in it. Each floor is about 1800 square feet. The main floor had a really old kodiak insert coal stove rusted to all heck and downstairs was a small freestanding vermont castings soapstone somewhat undersized.
I had the rock chimney rebuilt from the roofline up and the rest of it repointed. It has two 13x13 clay liners. I had them install two 6" double walled insulated liners for each of the runs. One is 16' to the first floor and 32' to the basement.
I replaced the coal stove with a Harmon Accentra 52i pellet stove. Amazing stove. Really just amazing.
I love the ease of use, the automation, everything. Heats up the entire floor, around corners, to a comfortable 72-74 degrees. Wonderful.
In the basement I replaced the vermont castings wood stove with a Quadrafire 5100i Insert. That's when the fun began.
It looked great, but I had a very hard time starting and maintaining a fire. Opened windows, doors, heck, I even cut a hole in the ceiling and ran a pipe up to the attic to draw some more air into the room. No help. Wet wood they said. (they love that excuse) Hardly. 3 years seasoned, sitting in a pile. Light as cork. My dealer refused to replace the stove. They wanted to add a draft kit to the harmon upstairs first to see if that would alleviate the "negative pressure" in the home overall. $400 Then if that didn't work, they would try to add the draft kit to the Quadrafire (more difficult) $800 to see if that would do the trick. I felt I was getting swindled. I refused.
After some really loud vibration issues and them replacing the blower twice, the dealer finally acknowledged something was up with the stove. He said he was going to pull it, send it to his welder to bend and reweld some loose metal "fins" underneath the firebox. It was then I reached out to the manufacturer DIRECTLY and they agreed to take it back and refund my $. I must say that the customer support hearthandhome extended to me was fantastic. I dealt with very understanding woman who enabled me to circumvent my dealer issue. Kudos.
I didn't care for the blackening side windows the model had, or the crumbly vermiculite baffle they used. The ceramic blanket was a royal pita to put back contrary to the instructional video they provided that makes it look as easy as sliding your foot into an old leather shoe.
Anywho, After visiting 5 other dealerships and doing as much research as I possibly could, I found out that other users were having draft issues with that stove. One guy ended up yanking the ceramic blanket to solve his problem. So besides not having a good fire, and seemingly not enough heat output, I opted to go freestanding after reading many different opinions both here and on youtube comparing the 2 varieties.
I also wanted the biggest stove possible using a 6" liner (at least 3.0 cubic feet to match the seemingly underperforming quadrafire.) I had it down to a Hearthstone and a Jotul. My problem was also in having to accept the fact that I had to use a rear venting stove that I've never had any practical experience with. I was nervous that maybe it wasn't the stove at all causing my burn problem.
I opted for the Jotul 500 because of the reviews, it looked nice, and was as big as I could go in keeping a rear vented 6" flue with a 42" wide 30" high fireplace opening. I really wanted the 600 but it wouldnt fit..bummer. I love the look of the soapstone but I read about it having a soft heat, and was hesitant, wanting as much radiant output as possible.
The good part is that I do not have a drafting issue, AHA! and my gut feeling was correct. No problems starting or maintaining a fire, although it just doesn't seem to heat the space well enough. As crummy as the quadrafire was able, with 3.0 cubic feet, and the fans blowing on high, it kept the room about 68. The jotul at 2.54 cubic feet and 600 degrees with the blower on high has yet to hit 69. I really want the 72-74 range. So I'm not overly impressed so far.
I am disappointed with the fan. For the money, you would think this thing would put out some cfm. It's all but a trickle and blows heavier on one side more than the other. My dealer says that's as good as it gets but would double check with jotul and get back to me. Thats was two weeks ago. yeah. right. thanks.
After going through the stinky curing process (really now, invest in some better paint, quadrafire's curing wasn't near as bad) I had the stove up to 600 and noticed after loading it up in the dark before I went to bed, that there was a glow coming out from one of the rear corners.
I let the stove cool down began shoveling out the ash. My grating doesn't sit flush and my shovel hits the edge preventing me from reaching all the way to the back (quite annoying) So I had to use a dustpan instead and then cleaned the remainder with my ash vac. I removed the firebrick from the back. When I did, I found a washer! Yes, it seems they forgot to put one on and were kind enough to leave it for me underneath one of the bricks. I also found two small "pockmarks" or holes if you will, behind the firebrick on the iron backing.
One, I'm afraid if I take the bolt off and reinstall the washer where it belongs I'll further crack some of their factory cement seal. making it worse.
Two, There are small holes in the iron! Theoretical weak points just waiting to crack and spread. Can it be filled with something as strong to guarantee it won't spread?
Three, The space in the back right, can it be filled with their industrial cement to repair it or maybe something isn't sitting right by not having the washer in place, causing it to go out of whack?
Four, What's the deal with the fan? 120 CFM is terrible. Is it replaceable with something stronger?
I haven't reached out to the dealer yet. I want to hear what the pros think first. ; P
Thanks gents!
