Are drolet stoves any good?

[KeithD]

Hi folks. Trying to get a wood stove installed at our place and it hasn’t been easy working with contractors. We like the look of the drolet deco ii stove but the most recent installer said they are low quality and won’t install it.

I’ve read as much as I can and there seems nothing wrong with them. This is a stove in a basement to provide a little warmth, not a primary source of heat or something running 24 hours a day. Not looking for a Cadillac here.

Any experience with drolet stoves?

 

[EbS-P]

Hi folks. Trying to get a wood stove installed at our place and it hasn’t been easy working with contractors. We like the look of the drolet deco ii drove but the most recent installer said they are low quality and won’t install it.

I’ve read as much as I can and there seems nothing wrong with them. This is a stove in a basement to provide a little warmth, not a primary source of heat or something running 24 hours a day. Not looking for a Cadillac here.

Any experience with drolet stoves?

I like mine. Consensus is they are well built and designed with good customer service. No frills but good value.

Your installer may not like them because they will sell it to directly to you and you know the price leaving him no or little room for markup.

 

[guylavoie]

I have a Escape 1800, by Drolet. Fine stove, made near Quebec city. A good value and easy to light. No regrets here.

 

[Newbie78]

Yes. And their customer service is excellent too.

Your contractor is either a liar, or ignorant.

 

[Gearhead660]

Have 3 of their stoves, no complaints here. Would recommend to anyone.

 

[begreen]

SBI makes some of the best value stoves. Their Drolet, Century, and now Englander lines are in many homes.
Perhaps the contractor had a previous experience in a home where the house or installation was the issue and not the stove? Or they installed one of the early models that had a welded baffle that was hard to repair? The current generation of Drolets are fine and the company stands behind their products. It's hard to beat their value and diverse product line.

 

[brenndatomu]

Stick with the stove choice, ditch this installer.

 

[moor]

I ordered a stove and insulated liner kit from SBI. When it arrived the 20 ft of insulated pipe was not there. I waited another day and called their customer service and somehow the liner was just never shipped. The initial delivery time was like 2-3 weeks. They asked where I was and 2 days later my pipe arrived from a more local supplier with a receipt in the box billed to an employee at SBI.

 

[10-cc]

I have a Drolet HT2000 for 4 years now as a replacement of the old PE Summit. The Drolet works for me better than the Summit, so it gives you the quality of the stove.

 

[GrumpyDad]

well most installers have prejudice toward certain products ingrained into them from their co workers or because they have a certain standard they hold to and look at anything otherwise as inferior without true first hand knowledge. Trust me, Ive been dealing with contractors and manufacturers of products for many years, and I can tell you without a doubt that there is about 51% incorrect knowledge floating around in the heads of most, most of the time. I know someone that got a drolet and they love it. The escape 1500 or 1800 I cant remember. It just works. I wish I would have gotten that stove to be honest. I like that the steel stoves heat up quickly, which is great for a weekend camp or when you just want it to work quickly. They also will burn a decent amount of time, but Im not sure if they will do a long overnight burn based on what I heard from my friend. In reading about them, I heard their service is great so, that's a big deal for me. Find a chimney person and let them know you want a drolet and help installing the stove.

 

[Jonathco]

I have a Drolet HT 3000 and while this is my first year using it, so far I am impressed. Great stove, easy breather, and Drolet's customer service was fantastic.

 

[Autonomous]

The Drolet HT 3000 is an excellent woodstove - well built and high value. I have been running this stove for 3 years now and it produces substantial BTU output. It starts easily and can run for hours if calibrated correctly.

However, I should warn that this thing is a beast weighing 525 lbs. I installed it in a basement myself by using a combination of a trailer, crane, dolly and electric hoist. The shipper rolled the palletized stove off a lift gate and onto my trailer. Then I positioned the trailer next to the external basement door and lifted the stove off the trailer with a crane, onto a heavy duty dolly and rolled it into the basement. Then I installed an electric hoist to the floor joists and lifted the stove off the dolly and onto the basement floor. No contractor was necessary but the operation took some time to setup correctly.

This Drolet HT 3000 is connected to a 45 ft double stainless steel liner. During the first fully loaded test it produced a 40 ft high vertical column of light smoke that resembled an industrial smokestack.

 

[Woodrow Vanwoodmen]

Hi folks. Trying to get a wood stove installed at our place and it hasn’t been easy working with contractors. We like the look of the drolet deco ii stove but the most recent installer said they are low quality and won’t install it.

I’ve read as much as I can and there seems nothing wrong with them. This is a stove in a basement to provide a little warmth, not a primary source of heat or something running 24 hours a day. Not looking for a Cadillac here.

Any experience with drolet stoves?

I love my Drolet stove. Had it for 3 years now and it is very decent quality. Burns very clean. The one you are wanting is very similar to the one I have. I installed the blower in the back of it and it heats our house. Infact as I type this it is in the teens outside and we are enjoying the mid 70s inside just burning wood.

 

[oilcan1001]

I installed my Drolet Escape 1800 myself last fall and have been LOVING it. After all my research and questions here on this forum I am confident in my purchase and look forward to many years of heat and happiness.
BTW, the knowledge gained from the real world experience of others is invaluable.
Thank you to everyone here on Hearth.com