newbie looking for pellet insert in central ct

I live in central CT too. 1700 square feet and heated my whole house with a pellet insert only last year. I did have a floor fan to blow the heat out of the room, but that's it. No oil.

I got the Quadra Fire Classic Bay insert and it's been great. I bought them from After Glow in Meriden which I thought was a great place. They were patient with me ( I was a know nothing about pellet stoves too last year) and answered all my questions.

One of the reasons I bought this is for zone heating. I have 3 kids too and someone is always home at my house. I like the fact that when we need heat in the non-freezing months I don't have to heat the whole house with oil.

I got a Harman p35i from these guys.
http://www.mainlinehs.com/

Give me a call - Ask about Enviro on this forum, very good reviews.

Hi, I live in central CT also. I have an Enviro Empress insert. We are on year 3 with it and we enjoy it a lot. We purchased it from Cedar Mountain Stoves on the Berlin Turnpike. They have a showroom. Talk to Craig, he's a knowledgeable guy. My only complaint and its common with most fpi's is that the hopper fill is kinda small. You have to push the pellets back a bit to fill it good. A pellet stove is an investment for sure but the added comfort is a plus.

You should be able to warm at least 75% of your house. If you have multi-zone thermostats, you will easily save 50% of your oil bill. I used to get 4-6 fill ups, now i get 2-3 of 150 gallons or so (note, my hot water is on my boiler as well).
I figured it all out once and at 2.32 a gallon and higher, it is cheaper to run pellets (assuming $250/ton pricing) than just oil.

I got mine from Deans in southington. Ok dealer.... just don't buy the one i got. it's temperamental at best.

GenghisJon said:

I live in central CT too. 1700 square feet and heated my whole house with a pellet insert only last year. I did have a floor fan to blow the heat out of the room, but that's it. No oil.

Click to expand...

You may want to try blowing the cold air towards the stove instead of blowing the hot air away from the stove. it works much better.

I have an Avalon Astoria Bay insert and as you can see by these two posts:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/48933/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/48949/ (pics of the installation etc.)

I was new last year too. This thing has worked flawlessly. It is American made and is a beautiful insert. It is in the fireplace on the second floor. This year we cut a hole in the floor next to it and put in a vent with an 8'' fan to suck some of the heat downstairs and start a convection too. It has used more pellets since then but we are heating our 2000+ sq feet home entirely. I do have a baseboard on electric heat in one of the downstairs bedrooms in case in gets chilly (kids room).

Whatever you do though, make sure the insert self ignites.

Hey I recently got a P35i from Fireside Supply in Hebron. They were very professional! Highly recommend. We really like the stove so far.

You may want to check out Afterglow Energy in Meriden CT. They carry both Quadrafire and Harmon Pellet Stoves.

You may want to check out Afterglow Energy in Meriden CT. They carry both Quadrafire and Harmon Pellet Stoves.

You may want to check out Afterglow Energy in Meriden CT. They carry both Quadrafire and Harmon Pellet Stoves.

Jafo said:

I have an Avalon Astoria Bay insert and as you can see by these two posts:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/48933/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/48949/ (pics of the installation etc.)

I was new last year too. This thing has worked flawlessly. It is American made and is a beautiful insert. It is in the fireplace on the second floor. This year we cut a hole in the floor next to it and put in a vent with an 8'' fan to suck some of the heat downstairs and start a convection too. It has used more pellets since then but we are heating our 2000+ sq feet home entirely. I do have a baseboard on electric heat in one of the downstairs bedrooms in case in gets chilly (kids room).

Whatever you do though, make sure the insert self ignites.

Click to expand...

Hey Jafo, I remember "talking" to you last winter during your install. Glad to see the Astoria is still running well....they are a real good, solid stove.

Yes Imacman! I remember! I still stop by occasionally and lurk around picking up information. I still would love to be able to make my own pellets from leaves lol..

i've been reading this forum on and off for about a year or two but haven't registered yet. this thread made me want to register.

if you are living in CT I would STRONGLY suggest you steer clear of More Than Stoves in Colchester. we lived in CT previously and had a pretty negative experience. everything from the initial consultation (salesperson did not know what she was talking about and us not knowing anything originally ended up with an insert we could not put in our non-masonry fireplace, etc)...won't go into a lot of detail but the owner (the Mrs) is pretty difficult to deal with and they rarely called back or made good on 'promises' of reimbursement for dud parts, etc...lost many work hours waiting around for them to show up (the repair guy once called the house at about 10PM when he was supposed to be there at 3PM 'Hey I am in the neighborhood')

don't want to seem like I just registered to make a personal attack on a business, but seriously stay far away from that place.

PS - do love pellet stoves even with the hassles we encountered with that dealer, and we are currently in the market for one at the new place - right now thinking about a p35i ourselves.

I live on the shoreline in CT and purchased my Quadrafire at Afterglow Energy in Meriden. They are very knowledgable and I purchased from them because I was confident in the information on the stoves that they provided me. I dealt with one of the sales people and one of the owners (Dave) and they were a pleasure to deal with. I highly recommend them.

I would second Afterglow, I hope even more after my new insert is installed 12/10. I called all the local Haman dealers. Most dealers would give me a price installed over the phone and wanted me to come to their shop. Dave at afterglow not only gave me a price over the phone but e-mailed me a written quote. Also when asked a couple of other dealers about an OAK kit, they made feel stupid for asking and one wasn't sure if it was an option. Drove down to Afterglow tonight bought the insert and scheduled the install, all very painless.

One additional comment about Afterglow -- I bought my quad when oil was going through the roof three years ago. All the dealers wanted a huge deposit (something like 50% down). Afterglow asked for a minimal deposit compared to everyone else.