Decisions, Decisions on Mini Stove

[bogieb]

I have been looking into smaller pellet stoves to help heat my main floor which is 950 s/f. I prefer the thinner, stoves as this house has a lot of rooms in the square footage, which means there really isn't that much room; So I would like to save every foot I can. It will also be stationed in the living room, so I would like a quieter stove. I also require that it truly shut down, then restart at low temp. I'm also apparently spoiled by the Harman downstairs that needs cleaning and maintenance infrequently - and would like to stay spoiled if possible.

I have found three that I really like, and would like your opinions as to which one is the best for the money: the Enviro Mini, Lennox Montage, and the Piazzetta Monia. And, of course there is the recent thread that introduced me to the Fire Flame Blue Ridge, which I am not truly seriously considering just because if I buy new, I want dealer support if there are issues. I haven't seen a St. Croix Element in person and assume it is out of my price range. I would prefer to stay around 2k, but could go to 3k if there were truly a stand-out mini stove that warranted it.

I have researched these things until my head is spinning. I have looked at my three front-runners in person, and they all seem to be pretty good. I love the looks of the Piazzetta, but it is the most expensive and the dealer furthest from me (30 miles), so support may not be as good if needed.Which would you pick and why?

 

[JDenyer236]

If it were me I would go with the enviro. I owned a meridian for years and it was a great stove. Maintenance was fairly easy but not quite as easy as a Harman. Parts availability for enviros are excellent and they are really easy to work on. Just my thoughts. Good luck.

 

[bogieb]

Thanks for your vote JDenyer.

 

[bogieb]

Just want to bring this back up top to see if anyone else has some input / suggestions. Thanks!

 

[chken]

The Monia is a fine stove, but be aware it has a small hopper and a small ash pan. It'll save you space and it's pretty quiet. And, it'll do as you want, shutdown and restart when the thermostat hits a low temp. That's the Energy Saving mode. However, as I noted at first, it has a small 30 lb hopper, and a tiny ash pan. For me, the ash pan isn't an issue, as a PowerSmith ash vac can suck the ash out in 5 secs. The small hopper may not be an issue for you if it's a supplemental stove.

I've never had need for support from my stove dealer, but there have been a couple people on here with Monia's that have had issues with the fit of the backplate.

If you want to do as little maintenance as possible, I highly recommend you buy good pellets with low ash. The Blazers I've gotten from HD in Maine are Doug Fir from Oregon and have impossibly little amounts of ash. I can go 5 bags without having to empty the ash pan, easy.

 

[bogieb]

Thanks chken for your input. The salesguy did say that last year he used premiums in his, and his BIL used cheaper pellets (they both have Monias). In the end, they both spent the same amount of money, but amount of pellets were fewer and cleaning was less with the premium.

 

[Polar Bear]

For the love of god... please don't install the window mounted ones!