What follows is the personal experience and opinion of one stove owner, so you should take it for just that...
I would not recommend Quadrafire to ANYONE who is looking for a quality product with high level of customer service, and want to deal with an entity that cares about customer satisfaction and quality.
I purchased a Quadrafire Santa Fe from an authorized dealer near me. I specifically wanted an expr, knowledgeable outfit that would stand behind this product from the initial install to the subsequent operation. My install involved a long 10+ foot horizontal run to the outside wall, and the initial information I gathered hear and elsewhere made me suspect that it was going to be difficult. When buying the stove, I was assured that the dealer had confirmed with the manufacturer that the stove would work in my application. And I guess since my house hasn't burned down, it technically did "work", but not to my satisfaction at all.
On the first actual heating day, even though both the dealer and the installer had "tested" it, the stove died a few minutes into the initial fire-up, leaving a smoldering mess of pellets in the burn pan with NO air for combustion and no power for the exhaust fan. It filled the house with smoke. It smoked for 30 minutes or more, and eventually I had to throw sand into the burn pot to stop the smoke. I was told that the reason the dealer tests these stoves is that occasionally they will get one that is completely DOA and they don't want to waste the time hauling around and installing a dead stove just to have to bring it back!
In my case, the stove was not DOA. It was determined that one of the crimp connections on the wire harness was not made tightly, so even though the wires appeared to be connected, the circuit had unexpectedly opened.
Which brings us to the first major criticism of these stoves. This is the type of stove that inspires do-it-yourselfers to start making their own stoves from used propane cylinders. There is nothing to it. No backup circuits. No intelligent sensor detection. Just a few timers and a few circuits with temperature or pressure sensitise snap-discs, and a fuse. Their control box is sealed up, and opening it will void your warranty. I suspect this is because the circuitry is not very advanced. Basically they use a ratio of air-flow (ie fan speed) to auger turns that runs in multiples of 1x, 2x and 3x. To change the ratio, you basically have to empty your hopper and clear the auger intake. Then there is a sliding plate that you can use to make the pellets "jam up" a little more at the start of the feed tube, so in theory there will be less fuel dumped in the fire pot per auger turn, thus increasing the air to fuel ratio. They do, at least, include a sensor that shuts down the auger when you open the lid, so the stove doesn't cut off your fingers.
The stoves also use a three stage temperature sensor and a vacuum switch to turn on or off a few moving parts (auger, convention blower, exhaust blower, and possibly one other part). The snap discs are not user serviceable, unless you want to spend all day taking apart the stove, and/or have hands the size of a 6 year old girl. In fact, even the fuse is not REALLY user serviceable, because it is 1/4 inch shorter than a standard fuse you might find at your local Radio-shack. And by the way, if your fuse blows during the initial combustion phase, expect a hopper full of smoldering pellets to fill your house with smoke (advice: keep a sand bucket near your stove).
Now on to the second criticism, which is more directly a criticism of the company. As you happily read through your manual, you will notice that no-one bothered to proof them for sure. Diagrams are printed over other diagrams, making them impossible to read. When you reach the "contact us" section, you'll also note that there is no phone number for customer support. Instead there is a snail-mail address and directions to contact them on-line. That to me is a joke. They are basically saying that real-time customer support is too expensive and/or a low priority for them. So that leaves you to rely on the local dealer/installer network.
A word about the installer/dealer I dealt with, in case you haven't seen the couple of posts I made about my experience. They leave more than a little to be desired in quality of workmanship. Basically at every stage the attitude of this outfit seems to be to push responsibility down the chain. The manufacturer will tell you to talk to the dealer. The dealer will tell you that really the installer is an "independent contractor", so you need to deal with them. The installer is a guy working out of a truck. This is the "best" installer who the dealer uses for tricky installs. I hate to see the "average" installer. The person who installed my stove was so unfamiliar with the product, that not only didn't he seal things up tight at the house thimble, but he didn't even connect the fresh air intake to the burn chamber. Instead he just ran it into the back of the stove, where the convection blower was circulating this nice cold outside air through the stove baffles - LOL. I was wondering WHY this stove, which is rated to heat an area nearly 50% larger than mine, was burning continuously to keep the temp at a mere 65 degrees! Too bad I discovered this issue only at the end of the season after opening the panels to change the fuse.
If I wanted to deal with this sort of headache, I would have bought a cheap stove from Loews or Home Depot for HALF the cost. So in closing - BUYER BEWARE.
I would not recommend Quadrafire to ANYONE who is looking for a quality product with high level of customer service, and want to deal with an entity that cares about customer satisfaction and quality.
I purchased a Quadrafire Santa Fe from an authorized dealer near me. I specifically wanted an expr, knowledgeable outfit that would stand behind this product from the initial install to the subsequent operation. My install involved a long 10+ foot horizontal run to the outside wall, and the initial information I gathered hear and elsewhere made me suspect that it was going to be difficult. When buying the stove, I was assured that the dealer had confirmed with the manufacturer that the stove would work in my application. And I guess since my house hasn't burned down, it technically did "work", but not to my satisfaction at all.
On the first actual heating day, even though both the dealer and the installer had "tested" it, the stove died a few minutes into the initial fire-up, leaving a smoldering mess of pellets in the burn pan with NO air for combustion and no power for the exhaust fan. It filled the house with smoke. It smoked for 30 minutes or more, and eventually I had to throw sand into the burn pot to stop the smoke. I was told that the reason the dealer tests these stoves is that occasionally they will get one that is completely DOA and they don't want to waste the time hauling around and installing a dead stove just to have to bring it back!
In my case, the stove was not DOA. It was determined that one of the crimp connections on the wire harness was not made tightly, so even though the wires appeared to be connected, the circuit had unexpectedly opened.
Which brings us to the first major criticism of these stoves. This is the type of stove that inspires do-it-yourselfers to start making their own stoves from used propane cylinders. There is nothing to it. No backup circuits. No intelligent sensor detection. Just a few timers and a few circuits with temperature or pressure sensitise snap-discs, and a fuse. Their control box is sealed up, and opening it will void your warranty. I suspect this is because the circuitry is not very advanced. Basically they use a ratio of air-flow (ie fan speed) to auger turns that runs in multiples of 1x, 2x and 3x. To change the ratio, you basically have to empty your hopper and clear the auger intake. Then there is a sliding plate that you can use to make the pellets "jam up" a little more at the start of the feed tube, so in theory there will be less fuel dumped in the fire pot per auger turn, thus increasing the air to fuel ratio. They do, at least, include a sensor that shuts down the auger when you open the lid, so the stove doesn't cut off your fingers.
The stoves also use a three stage temperature sensor and a vacuum switch to turn on or off a few moving parts (auger, convention blower, exhaust blower, and possibly one other part). The snap discs are not user serviceable, unless you want to spend all day taking apart the stove, and/or have hands the size of a 6 year old girl. In fact, even the fuse is not REALLY user serviceable, because it is 1/4 inch shorter than a standard fuse you might find at your local Radio-shack. And by the way, if your fuse blows during the initial combustion phase, expect a hopper full of smoldering pellets to fill your house with smoke (advice: keep a sand bucket near your stove).
Now on to the second criticism, which is more directly a criticism of the company. As you happily read through your manual, you will notice that no-one bothered to proof them for sure. Diagrams are printed over other diagrams, making them impossible to read. When you reach the "contact us" section, you'll also note that there is no phone number for customer support. Instead there is a snail-mail address and directions to contact them on-line. That to me is a joke. They are basically saying that real-time customer support is too expensive and/or a low priority for them. So that leaves you to rely on the local dealer/installer network.
A word about the installer/dealer I dealt with, in case you haven't seen the couple of posts I made about my experience. They leave more than a little to be desired in quality of workmanship. Basically at every stage the attitude of this outfit seems to be to push responsibility down the chain. The manufacturer will tell you to talk to the dealer. The dealer will tell you that really the installer is an "independent contractor", so you need to deal with them. The installer is a guy working out of a truck. This is the "best" installer who the dealer uses for tricky installs. I hate to see the "average" installer. The person who installed my stove was so unfamiliar with the product, that not only didn't he seal things up tight at the house thimble, but he didn't even connect the fresh air intake to the burn chamber. Instead he just ran it into the back of the stove, where the convection blower was circulating this nice cold outside air through the stove baffles - LOL. I was wondering WHY this stove, which is rated to heat an area nearly 50% larger than mine, was burning continuously to keep the temp at a mere 65 degrees! Too bad I discovered this issue only at the end of the season after opening the panels to change the fuse.
If I wanted to deal with this sort of headache, I would have bought a cheap stove from Loews or Home Depot for HALF the cost. So in closing - BUYER BEWARE.