Need Advice: 2-story family room (MT Vernon AE Insert)

[Todd67]

Hello All,

I'm new to pellet stoves. I've searched this board and I've read about 10-pages of threads in this forum and can't seem to find an answer to my questions. So, here it goes . . .

I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a Quadra-Fire MT Vernon AE Insert. It would replace my Mickey-Mouse propane "fireplace" in my 2-story family room. My home is a 2,800 sq. ft. colonial that's 7-1/2 years old. We use our 500-gallon propane tank to heat the house, the water, and to cook with. In the last 12-months I've spent $2,700 on propane and it doesn't look like it's going down any time soon.

I've researched wood pellet stoves enough to think they're really awesome and quite economical. However, I have (2) major concerns that I need help with:

1) Will all/most of the precious hot air simply rise upstairs where the 4-bedrooms are and not keep thing toasty on the first floor? During the day we spend most of our time in the kitchen and family room.

2) How do I "integrate" the new stove with my existing propane furnace? I want them to complement each other, not fight. I'm looking for a sizable reduction in my annual propane bill.

Note: I've heard about running my furnace’s blower to move the warm area throughout the house. Also, I've been told a fan placed upstairs, overlooking the family room, would solve the problem.

Bottom line: i don't want to spend thousands of dollars and only get a pretty fireplace.

Your advice is very much appreciated. Thank You!

We've used a Mt Vernon AE pellet insert for the past 5 years in our 2 story farm house. We have had nothing but issues with this pellet insert every season. In April of this year we had a fire break out in the pellet hopper due to an electrical short somewhere near the auger motor. We have had electrical issues every year since we bought it, and every year we spend between $300 and $800 to get it working again. When it works, it heats our entire house better than our oil fired furnace. But the risk is just too high after this last fire. We were able to contain it and extinguish it by pouring water into the pellet hopper (after we unplugger the stove). We left the lid closed for several minutes but it kept smoking worse. This was at midnight, and my wife noticed it as she was getting ready for bed.

Quadra Fire customer service is nearly impossible to get in contact with. They have even given our stove retailer a run-around about this pellet insert. They haven't stood behind their product without a knock down drag out fight and it's just not worth the hassle. We chose this insert because it's supposed to be the best one on the market (in 2006), and because we lived in town at the time, so a wood stove wasn't legal to burn in the city limits. We will be un-installing our Mt Vernon pellet insert this fall and scrapping the whole heap! We are installing a wood stove this fall now that we live in the country and can legally burn wood. I HIGHLY recommend you not get this insert. There are too many parts that can and will break. We always had problems with our thermostat as well. We have replaced the circuit board behind the stove every year (I don't remember the exact name of the part). We thought that we would get what we paid for, but all we got was a $5,000 heap of junk! Look elsewhere and make sure the pellet stove sompany and retailer have a bullet proof, rock solid warranty, because you will probably need it at least once a year. Just my honest 2 cents worth...

Todd