Asking for recommendations on a budget stove.

70marlin said:

Plus some pimple faced kid was trying to advise me.

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Aint that the truth. I take my advice here (hearth.com) before a dealer or a box store employee and go in armed with knowledge. If I found a dealer I REALLY liked and trusted, then I'd be very willing to go that route. I've never heard of a company you can deal directly with as easily as Englander, though. They really take the need for a dealer out of the mix because they are willing to work with you so well.

Danno77 said:

70marlin said:

Plus some pimple faced kid was trying to advise me.

Click to expand...

Aint that the truth. I take my advice here (hearth.com) before a dealer or a box store employee and go in armed with knowledge. If I found a dealer I REALLY liked and trusted, then I'd be very willing to go that route. I've never heard of a company you can deal directly with as easily as Englander, though. They really take the need for a dealer out of the mix because they are willing to work with you so well.

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No direct dealings with them . . . but I'm guessing the good folks at Woodstock might be as good as the good folks at Englander in terms of dealing with them directly and getting answers to questions solved quickly and easily.

Englander customer service was the best I've ever had. If I had to sum up Englander stoves in a slogan it would be:

ENGLANDER STOVES, SAFE, DEPENDABLE, NO FRILLS JUST HEAT!

That's all I got to say about that.

I'll buy another one from them no questions asked.

My Napoleon 1400 with the blower will roast me out of my 2300SF house in Michigan if I let it....

It was OK without the blower, but now that I have it installed, I would never use this stove without a blower gain.....

If you are really looking for budget . . . shop craigslist for a high quality used stove. I just picked up a seldom used 9 year old Lopi Freedom with blower for about $500.

As for "cheap" vs. "inexpensive" . . . cheap is a measure of quality while inexpensive is a measure of price. You should be able to get good results on a no frills, good quality stove that doesn't break the bank.

Remember . . . if you do buy used, no matter how new the stove is, hold out for at least 40%+ off of list since you can get the 30% tax credit on a new stove until the end of 2010.

Good Luck.

+1 on the craigslist. you must know what your getting into, or expect worse than you think. I purchaced a hearthstone mansfield and 30ft flex liner for 500. I had to dissasemble the stove halfway and re mortor the joints, no big deal. I am working on a woodstock from 91 I bought for $250. needs some stone, and needed to be dissasembled, sand blasted, and repainted. I stuck $300 with shipping ($100), a little more than what I wanted to spend but I will have a new stove with some blood and sweat for cheap. Now I have to many stoves and not enough chimneys. it helps to know the stove and know what to look for, overfireing and neglect is more common than you think with a used unit.