Is Enviro Mini the stove for us??

[yogajohn]

I've been using this site to help me figure out a good pellet stove for our condo. It's seems like the Mini is it, but I'd love opinions one way or the other.

This is what we have now: 3 story condo that is 1150 sq/ft. We currently have a wood stove on the main floor (which is the second floor). The 1st floor has a 10K btu Empire propane stove that barely does the job to keep 1st floor warm, and costs a ton if we run as much as needed. 3rd floor is 2 beds and bath - 1st & 2nd floor have open floor plan.

Our plan: Replace Empire with Mini, and hopefully significantly reduce wood (or no wood) use as well. We are also doing an extreme energy efficient upgrade - so the condo should be very tight.

What do you think? Good plan? Other stove better? Will Mini do the job?

Thanks for any feedback!!

John

 

[imacman]

I have a friend who installed a Mini last year and loved it. VERY quiet and seemed to have no problem burning most any pellet he put in it.

Approx. how many sq. ft are you reasonably trying to heat with the stove?

 

[yogajohn]

Thanks for responding! Glad to hear your friend likes the Mini. So, my 1st floor is 350 sq/ft and the 2nd/3rd are 400 sq/ft. If we are able to keep the first 2 comfortable that would be great. The 3rd floor is 3 rooms - so I guess a strategy would be to keep those doors closed...but, the hope would be for the first 2 being really comfortable - 3rd
Floor doesn't matter as much.

 

[Easternshore Bob]

I have had our Mini for about 5 years. Great stove, we are in MD and have a 2 story house 1200 sq ft with 2 bedrooms and a bath upstairs with the mini at the bottom of the staircase in our living room. The house was built in 1930 and is not the tightest. When it is 35 and below or the wind is blowing good we have to keep the bedroom doors closed to keep the temps up down stairs. If I was trying to heat the first and second floor I would be at the upper limit with this stove. Alot has to do with the placement of my stove at the bottom of the staircase. If I could have located the stove on the other side of the room I think it would be better. That being said we chose the Mini for the small footprint and not needing a large base to sit on. The stove has 5 heat settings 1 the lowest and 5 the highest, I only need to run the stove on the 5 to bring the temp up and then our usual setting is 2 or 3 depending on the wind. When we first installed the stove it was in our dinning room, the following year we relocated it to the living room, heat was OK but much better in the living room.

Not sure if this helps but if I were to replace the stove I would get another Mini.

 

[jrsdws]

The Mini looks to get good reviews and has a nice small footprint. I wonder if the next step up to the Evolution might do better? At only 4" wider, but 1" more shallow on the depth, it is rated at 1/3 more output than the Mini. Something to think about should you want to heat that 3rd floor. Food for thought.

 

[LI-Mini-Owner]

Been happy with my Mini. I bought it the first season it came out, and it did have some shortcomings with the burn pot and control board design. I took care of this by upgrading to the newer components. These changes were incorporated shortly after in the "Mini-A", which AFAIK is still the configuration being sold today.

The only component failure I've had was an igniter.

My only gripe is with the OAK design, in that it does not terminate directly into air intake for the burn pot. Therefore, during a power failure, even with the OAK connected there will be some smoke that escapes into the cabinet (and house). It's one of the reasons I went for a UPS in hopes that most power outages are less than the 45 minutes that the UPS can handle.

 

[mikkeeh]

I was also considering a mini as a second stove......more for the "ambiance" than for heating ability. i was told by local dealers..(who dont carrry Enviro) that parts ar nearly impossible to get. Is there a problem obtaining parts for these?

 

[jtakeman]

I was also considering a mini as a second stove......more for the "ambiance" than for heating ability. i was told by local dealers..(who dont carrry Enviro) that parts ar nearly impossible to get. Is there a problem obtaining parts for these?

No, not at all. And trust me you won't need many spare parts anyway! Very dependable stove if treated properly!

A dealer that sells Enviro, can usually get about any part required quickly. If not stocked in house they can usually have them drop shipped right to you. The mini are pretty popular so they should have most items in stock. My less popular Omega is also very easy to get replacements for. Usually less than a week.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I was also considering a mini as a second stove......more for the "ambiance" than for heating ability. i was told by local dealers..(who dont carrry Enviro) that parts ar nearly impossible to get. Is there a problem obtaining parts for these?

Funny Enviro is still in the Mini business: http://www.enviro.com/fireplace-products/pellet/freestanding-fireplace.html#mini

 

[jtakeman]

I was also considering a mini as a second stove......more for the "ambiance" than for heating ability. i was told by local dealers..(who dont c Enviro) that parts ar nearly impossible to get. Is there a problem obtaining parts for these?

Funny Enviro is still in the Mini business: http://www.enviro.com/fireplace-products/pellet/freestanding-fireplace.html#mini

Certainly sounds more like some dealer BS too me! They don't sell Enviro so its easier to bad mouth them so the people buy what they sell instead! Wonder why we don't trust many of these dealers! I had a dealer talk me out of a Maxx because he couldn't get them. So he said they had major door seal issues. Talked me into a Breckwell bigE. That had many issues and I learned quickly that he was full of chit!

Heck, You can even get Enviro parts online! Some big named stoves(no names mentioned on purpose!)! You don't have that option!

 

[hoverfly]

I've been using this site to help me figure out a good pellet stove for our condo. It's seems like the Mini is it, but I'd love opinions one way or the other.

This is what we have now: 3 story condo that is 1150 sq/ft. We currently have a wood stove on the main floor (which is the second floor). The 1st floor has a 10K btu Empire propane stove that barely does the job to keep 1st floor warm, and costs a ton if we run as much as needed. 3rd floor is 2 beds and bath - 1st & 2nd floor have open floor plan.

Our plan: Replace Empire with Mini, and hopefully significantly reduce wood (or no wood) use as well. We are also doing an extreme energy efficient upgrade - so the condo should be very tight.

What do you think? Good plan? Other stove better? Will Mini do the job?

Thanks for any feedback!!

John

If you are well insulated, the Mini should be adequate. The only thing is the cold air intake does not terminate at the burner.

 

[yogajohn]

So...from everyone's comments it seems like, in general, people think the Mini will work. Cool! Because we really like the look of the Mini. We did look at the Enviro Evolution, but we just really love the look of the Mini. We did go to a dealer and look at the Wittus that are really beautiful styling, but they are nearly twice as expensive.

The other thing, with tightening the house, having the air intake with the stove seems good -- right? I don't understand what you are saying about the OAK "does not terminate directly into air intake for the burn pot". Why does this matter? Also, will the OAK act as a fresh air circulator, which is recommend if the house is really tight.

Because our chimney already has a stove, we can't vent this through the chimney, so we are going to direct vent it. Is that part of the OAK? Don't understand to OAK I guess. I did see how the fan can be outside and I love that idea just because I'm used to a wood stove that is quite, so the quieter this can be the better!!

Thanks everyone. This is such a help.

John

 

[LI-Mini-Owner]

OAK=Outside Air Kit. 2" diameter flex pipe from outside the house to provide combustion air. Not required by code in all municipalities, but a good idea, especially if your house is "tight". Without it, things like bathroom fan, kitchen range hood can starve the pellet stove for air.

When you're at the dealer, have them open up the right side of the mini, and you'll see how the OAK just stops at the cabinet. Check other stoves, and you'll find that most if not all terminate right at the air inlet to the burn pot. Not a big deal, or a show stopper IMO.

It's probably a hundred bucks more for the external blower housing. It will make a quiet stove even quieter. It does need annual servicing, I might not go for that option if it's very high off the ground.

 

[yogajohn]

OAK=Outside Air Kit. 2" diameter flex pipe from outside the house to provide combustion air. Not required by code in all municipalities, but a good idea, especially if your house is "tight". Without it, things like bathroom fan, kitchen range hood can starve the pellet stove for air.

When you're at the dealer, have them open up the right side of the mini, and you'll see how the OAK just stops at the cabinet. Check other stoves, and you'll find that most if not all terminate right at the air inlet to the burn pot. Not a big deal, or a show stopper IMO.

It's probably a hundred bucks more for the external blower housing. It will make a quiet stove even quieter. It does need annual servicing, I might not go for that option if it's very high off the ground.

OK -- good to know. Why do you say you might not go for it if it's high off the ground? Though, it won't be. The stove will be right on ground floor.

 

[hoverfly]

OAK=Outside Air Kit. 2" diameter flex pipe from outside the house to provide combustion air. Not required by code in all municipalities, but a good idea, especially if your house is "tight". Without it, things like bathroom fan, kitchen range hood can starve the pellet stove for air.

When you're at the dealer, have them open up the right side of the mini, and you'll see how the OAK just stops at the cabinet. Check other stoves, and you'll find that most if not all terminate right at the air inlet to the burn pot. Not a big deal, or a show stopper IMO.

It's probably a hundred bucks more for the external blower housing. It will make a quiet stove even quieter. It does need annual servicing, I might not go for that option if it's very high off the ground.

OK -- good to know. Why do you say you might not go for it if it's high off the ground? Though, it won't be. The stove will be right on ground floor.

To be able to service the blower from the outside, if you choose to use the external blower option.

 

[1Dtml]

You can go here and click on the technical manual pdf to familiarize yourself with the terminology, and the actual install information, so you can plan out the install location.

http://www.enviro.com/fireplace-products/pellet/freestanding-fireplace.html#mini

I hope this helps,

1D

 

[skinanbones]

You will love the Mini. We sell about 20 a year and almost no issuses with them and most people are heating upwards of 2000 sq ft most of the year.

 

[yogajohn]

Thanks for all the info and feedback about the Mini from everyone -- I'm learning stuff. It's nice to hear about the fact that people like it and sounds like a really good stove, as well as the OAK information -- something I didn't know about. I'll check out the technical manual so I'm more on top of things when I go back to the dealer.

WELL...with that -- I guess in buying the stove do you think there is room to negotiate the price? When I went to a place to talk about price they said $2600 for the stove, $195 for vent kit (is think that isn't OAK) and $375 for installation. Just wondering if this seems ok. I know nothing about what this should cost.

 

[jrsdws]

Always room to TRY to negotiate. I see it advertised for as low as $2329 on one store's website. That doesn't mean much, but would make me want to compare prices with other stores at the very least. $195 for the vent kit is probably pretty standard IF it will work for your situation. Make sure that kit will work for your site. I'm sure that's a standard up and out kit. The OAK is probably seperate but can be done with flexible aluminum dryer vent and is pretty cheap. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[skinanbones]

If you want to take a drive to Ontario Canada a few of us dealers are selling Mini's for $1899 plus 13% Hst

 

[yogajohn]

If you want to take a drive to Ontario Canada a few of us dealers are selling Mini's for $1899 plus 13% Hst

Wow! Well, actually, I'm only an hour from the Canadian border, then another hour to Montreal. It's quite a ways to your place, though. Do you have any dealers you know between Montreal and the US border area who are doing that price? I'd seriously think about going across the border and buying it.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If you want to take a drive to Ontario Canada a few of us dealers are selling Mini's for $1899 plus 13% Hst

Wow! Well, actually, I'm only an hour from the Canadian border, then another hour to Montreal. It's quite a ways to your place, though. Do you have any dealers you know between Montreal and the US border area who are doing that price? I'd seriously think about going across the border and buying it.

Watch out for customs duty fees if any.

 

[Brokenwing]

I looked at the mini also here in Maryland, The dealer was selling it Brand new for 1800.00. Plus there was 100.00 off from enviro. It was a big sale they were having which ends this month! If you were not so far away I would tell you to come to MD Lol!

 

[hoverfly]

I looked at the mini also here in Maryland, The dealer was selling it Brand new for 1800.00. Plus there was 100.00 off from enviro. It was a big sale they were having which ends this month! If you were not so far away I would tell you to come to MD Lol!

Grab those Minis!! That's a good price!

 

[skinanbones]

there might be some dealers closer to you that would be in on the deal. Its something our distributor The Foundry and Enrivo put together, if i order 6 units i get the $1899 price for the year. I would check out dealers around Ottawa as The Foundry only sells Enviro in Ontario i beileve. By the way the Mini and the M55 cast are what made us Enviro's top dealer in Ontario last year.