Knowing what you know now about pellet stove would you have bought the stove you have now or a diffe

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cold front

Member
Mar 3, 2009
137
western,NY
This is my 4th season with a pellet stove and I am happy with the performance of the St. Croix. Saying that If knew what I know now back then I would have bought a stove that was more multi-fuel capable like the Enviro Omega seems to be.
 
This is my fifth season with my Harman Accentra and I pretty damn happy with it. Although, I do like the look of the XXV!
 
Great minds think alike. I love my Quad. Heats my entire house and does it well.. Really well...

But... I want a Multi Fuel also. The Omega, Maxx-M, M-55 (steel), and Englander 10-CPM are all at the top of my list. By this time next year, I will have one of the above.

Quad makes a great unit. I want a more user adjustable stove. Something with High/Low and On/Off, a Damper would be nice to, the agitator is the main reason though... I have had a good go with my Quad. But look forward to a stove that I can tinker with.
 
I wouldn't change a thing - I bought a used Europa 75 made by FPI. I got it for under $2000, and all of the problems these seem to have had been fixed previously.. Very lightly used too. It heats my 1100 sq ft split-entry from the basement even on windy -40c days.

The only desire to change I have is to get a thermostat to control it with.
 
cold front said:
This is my 4th season with a pellet stove and I am happy with the performance of the St. Croix. Saying that If knew what I know now back then I would have bought a stove that was more multi-fuel capable like the Enviro Omega seems to be.

What exactly are you trying to do with the St. Croix that an Omega would do better? Personally, I'd prefer any stove over a St. Croix when it comes to maintenance or operating noise....but for multi-fuel, the prescott will do alright with the versa grate. No stove is without some issues.
 
StuartQF said:
I wouldn't change a thing - I bought a used Europa 75 made by FPI. I got it for under $2000, and all of the problems these seem to have had been fixed previously.. Very lightly used too. It heats my 1100 sq ft split-entry from the basement even on windy -40c days.

The only desire to change I have is to get a thermostat to control it with.

For my house I had to have a pellet boiler, but if I were to buy a stove it would have been the Europa 75!
 
No I would not have bought my Harman. - Small hopper, noisy auger system, blowers noisy... + Dealer is close by and been there long time. Really looked hard at the Austroflamm (Rika), Enviro, St Croix.
 
gfreek said:
No I would not have bought my Harman. - Small hopper, noisy auger system, blowers noisy... + Dealer is close by and been there long time. Really looked hard at the Austroflamm, Enviro, St Croix.

Austroflamm...now you're talking. Awesome stove.
 
smwilliamson said:
cold front said:
This is my 4th season with a pellet stove and I am happy with the performance of the St. Croix. Saying that If knew what I know now back then I would have bought a stove that was more multi-fuel capable like the Enviro Omega seems to be.

What exactly are you trying to do with the St. Croix that an Omega would do better? Personally, I'd prefer any stove over a St. Croix when it comes to maintenance or operating noise....but for multi-fuel, the prescott will do alright with the versa grate. No stove is without some issues.
I will agree that the versa grate system in st croix stoves is a bit noisy,but maintenance is very simple.
 
Very Happy with my Timbers Ridge/Englander 49-TRCPM. Yes I would buy it again. I'm actually thinking of getting another one for the basement. Thinking of the 25-PAH refurb for $975. Maybe next year.
 
j-takeman said:
As much as I love my Omega! I wouldn't mind a multifuel furnace.

I wish we lived closer. A trade would be in order. I just fired the Fahrenheit up yesterday. I got the Wifes approval to keep it, but I still want to sell it. So I can get my Multi Fuel this yr. Rather than next yr. I was going to sell the Quad at the end of this season. Still split on what to do...... Either way, I will always have 3 pellet stoves, and the woodstove (2 pellets in the house and wood stove, one in the shop) Just a matter of what I sell to get what I want. Would rather sell the Quad, but that means I would have to find a buyer FAST!!! So I guess I wait......
 
cold front said:
This is my 4th season with a pellet stove and I am happy with the performance of the St. Croix. Saying that If knew what I know now back then I would have bought a stove that was more multi-fuel capable like the Enviro Omega seems to be.

There are a few stoves that run with the Omega. Most of them are made by Sherwood Industries. See list below. And the one imacman has Englander 10-CPM/Timber ridge 49-TRCPM/Summer Heat 49-SHCPM. I also think the new St Croix multifuelers should do pretty well. Probably missed a few others

imacman's 10-CPM burned over 50 bags without opening the door. Member hearthtools Omega ran for 40 bags untouched.

smwilliamson said:
What exactly are you trying to do with the St. Croix that an Omega would do better? Personally, I'd prefer any stove over a St. Croix when it comes to maintenance or operating noise....but for multi-fuel, the prescott will do alright with the versa grate. No stove is without some issues.

Scott,

Have you got a chance to play with any of the Enviro's with the self cleaning burnpot? Just curious on your thoughts!

Omega, M55, M55 cast or New Maxx M have it. Vistaflame VF 55 also. Regency GF60 Hampton is new this fall!
 
I would not have bought an enviro empress. Not unhappy with the stove as such, just the frequency with which I need to turn it off for cleaning the burn pot compared to some other stoves I've now witnessed. I love the looks, and it is my only real complaint with it.

Going with some new pellets this year, so we'll see how that goes in terms of their ash production.
 
I would buy my Afton Bay again, but would use a vertical exhaust. Easy to clean, burns well, lots of heat, just kinda noisy for my taste. Very easy to work on, too. We get used to the noise, though.
 
I spent many hours/days on this website doing my research before purchasing our Quad Castile and after 3 full seasons of use we are very pleased with our choice and would buy another one. It has already paid for itself in fuel oil savings.
 
There is no perfect stove as each and every one has something that is not ideal. However, after doing exhaustive research and watching my top 3 selections in action, I'm still glad I made the decision to get my Enviro M55 after 1 year of use. The self cleaning burnpot is great. I just dump the ashes during my once weekly cleaning and I'm good to go. Probably don't even need to clean it once a week...only dump the ashes and clean the door glass.
 
My St Croix Pepin has been bulletproof since '06... no reason to change...
 
I can't say I have any complaints about my Castile other than some fit and finish issues. I wish it was a bigger stove but it does a really good job. I got a good deal on it used and have not put a dime in it other than cleaning time and pellets since so its hard to complain.

I think my next stove will be a multi-fuel Englander or some thing similar.
 
We like our Castile but should have bought a larger stove also doesn't hold enough pellets. I think it has paid for its self in saved propane bills.
 
like mine, won't be using it much though as I moved and this house has a wood stove, the Maxim will be used to keep my old house warm until it sells, if the buyer doesn't want pellets, the Maxim is coming with me.
 
The only stove I have any experience with is my Whitfield Profile 30, dealers and stove brands are far and few between in this area of VA. Starting my third season with this stove with a great deal of satisfaction, I have no experience with any other brand. The second year was a little rough, dirty burning, burn pot clinkering etc. but thanks to the people on this blog for giving me an understanding of how to properly clean one of these stoves, after a good cleaning and the "leaf blower treatment" the stove was as good as new. My summation may be a little over simplified but imho there are certainly differences in characteristics of brands but more important than the brand is the cleaning and care of these stoves. I now give my stove the "leaf blower treatment " 2-3 times a season. This method of cleaning is truly unbelievable until you have seen the results first hand.
 
mpcm said:
I would not have bought an enviro empress. Not unhappy with the stove as such, just the frequency with which I need to turn it off for cleaning the burn pot compared to some other stoves I've now witnessed. I love the looks, and it is my only real complaint with it.

Going with some new pellets this year, so we'll see how that goes in terms of their ash production.

If you can afford it there is a high ash burnpot available for the Enviro stoves. It should reduce the amount of pot scraping by quite a bit.

Correction: After checking the Empress FS and Insert only have a standard burnpot available. I'm pretty sure if we could check the available high ash to standard burnpot liners we would see its either larger air holes or more of them. Might be a good thread to start on this topic. If I get some time I'll check to see what is different on the EF3 Standard #50-474 vs High ash #50-587.
 
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