Need opinion / thoughts on Rika pellet stove in tiny house

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My wife and I are facing a hard choice and would appreciate any feedback. We are two months into using a new Rika Visio pellet stove purchased new upon the recommendation of the seller because it is supposedly so quiet compared to the competition. We liv e in a newly renovated, tiny (720 sq feet on first floor) cape where the stove is a dominating presence. While it is aa beautiful unit, my wife (and I) have been surprised by the noise - again considering the tiny space and the fact that there is no escaping it.

My wife is expressing regrets and wishing we had done a new wood stove there as a secondary heat source (the pellet is now our primary heat source) and use a quiet propane heater in basement ias primary.

Please, I know there are no petroleum purists!

I have two questions.

1. Can anyone comment on the rika Visio noise level compared to other models / brands on the market?

2. Has anyone else encountered similar situations of regrets with pellet stove (all the cleaning, noise, etc) and gone toward regular wood?

In general, I welcome any comments. I travel for work all through week and my wife has to manage the heating process. We've also had technical difficulties with the stove going out on its own with no clear reason that we could decipher. (we're burning cubex hardwood, super premium pellets). She almost can't watch tv sitting next to the unit (there is no where else to sit) because of constant pellet stove fans, auger, etc noise.

Thanks everyone ahead of time for your thoughts. Again, we're new to this and must weigh our best intentions with practical system maintenance and living realities.

Joe

 

[silverfox103]

Joe

Not familiar with the Rika Visio stoves, but pellet stoves make noise, plain and simple. They have fans, motors and augers that make noise, that's just how it is. They also don't have a self cleaning model, that means you have to clean them. If you expected it to work silently, you didn't do your homework before you purchased it.

Tom

 

[forya]

Get a louder TV. then you won't hear the stove

 

[[email protected]]

Okay, guys! Be gentle / patient with the new guys on the block! Can't grow a community without new-comers demonstrating their ignorance!

Obviously, we're aware that pellet stoves make noise . . . I served on a Navy frigate for a few years and the only time I ever noticed noise was when the blower fans suddenly turned off. So, I also understand about white noise "disappearing" after a while. No different than any other appliance.

We went with the Rika because, frankly, we trusted the wisdom ane experience of the person we were purchasing from because of his local reputation for "green energy" systems. So, when he said that he'd done the research and that the Rika was the quietest unit on the market, we believed him. And, this after checking a couple of other places . . . . But, again, our bust for not doing more research.

Now, here we are. And, this is what we've learned. The Rika Visio - at least compared with other stoves we've learned about - is very difficult (cumbersome) to clean. Meaning, I have to undo butterfly bolts and panels and other things just to get to the components that need cleaning. We looked at a Quadra-Fire Mount Vernon today that demonstrated a much easier and simpler cleaning process - much more user friendly. The Rika has also been failing on us - and the service techs seem unfamiliar with the unit - new to the area. These problems prompted us to go out and do the due-diligence that we admittedly should have done from the beginning.

We did look at Quadra-Fire's unit that has a super quiet auger system - at least compared to the Rika Visio. But, not familiar with Quadra-Fire reputation. Will search within this forum.

So, the question now gets to trying to understand what a reasonable expectation is around cleaning a unit and whether the units that are more quiet also have good reputations. Are there other brands we should look at? Are there auger systems (bottom versus top) that are quieter, but more trouble prone? Are there new technologies hitting the market today that are unproven and we should stay away from?

Again, just trying to get incorporate the wisdom of everyone's experience here to help us become responsible and happy members of the pellet stove community.

Thanks,

J

 

[kmapsrule]

I'm new to pellets too, and the noise took a bit of getting used to as i grew up with a wood stove. I can't speak to Quadra-Fire's pellet Stoves. But my parents heat their house with a Quadra-Fire Millenium Wood burning Stove, and that stove has been extremely reliable and well built, no problems with it whatsoever. It also put out gobs more heat for the same amount of wood than the previous Vermont Castings (I think)Defiant(/I think) that i spent my teenage years splitting and stacking and keeping fed .

On an interesting note, my parents have been burning pellets in the wood stove with one of these (http://www.burnwoodpellets.com/) for the less cold(shoulder) season this year

 

[save$]

It would be good if some others who own that stove could comment. I will tell you that, with time, the noise just goes away. Not that it is gone, just that you no longer acknowledge it. It becomes the norm, and when it is off the silence become the, "hey, whats up?". For me, it is just fan and motor noise. A hum that is keeping us warm! My space the stove is in has a lot of stuffed furniture, some carpets, drapes etc. I think that helps absorb the stove sound. You might try having a radio on low for a while just to blend the sound out. Hope you will give it a while before you decide to jump out of pellets. Have any Pics of your set up?

 

[RKS130]

I am new to pellets as well and did not even run across your stove brand when we were researching the subject. Obviously my experience is VERY limited, but the Harman Accentra freestanding stove that we chose is pretty quiet unless the blowers are cranked up to high, and even then it is not particularly intrusive. Otherwise there is the quiet tinkle of the pellets entering the burn pot, a low 'white noise' kind of sound of the distribution blower and we are not aware of the combustion blower at all.

We live in a small house also - a total of about 1500 sq. ft., with more than half of that upstairs where the noise does not travel. But our main floor living area, where we are most days and into the evening, is smaller than yours and we are not aware of the noise at all. The stove is positioned in a foyer just off the main room (combo living room/dining room with a small kitchen beyond) at the bottom of the stairs.

Couldn't be happier and hope you can work it out as well.

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. We have been doing some additional research. We are committed to the pellet stove - really excited about being off petroleum as much as we can. We are very much okay with the fan noise . . . The only noise that is a pain is the auger system. Even up stairs, I can hear it going off every ten seconds. So, not constant enough - yet - to be background noise. But, as some say here, perhaps with time.

We are investigating alternatives - just checking around to see what else is out there. We've come across the Thelin Tiburon - which has a similar look as the Rika Visio . . . But, reading older posts on other sites and here, it seems as if some folks had lots of problems with other Thelin products - specifically bad motors. Also, were introduced to an Italian unit - Palazzetti EcoFire - which is an attractive unit that offers what appears to be a quieter auger system / approach. Going to look at that to check it out. We may come back to the Rika Visio and stay where we are. But, the research should at least help us feel more comfortable with that decision. Note that the Visio is coming to us through a full home heating system design that had good intentions, but the designer did absolutely terrible system specs on some other components. So, the Visio may be bearing some of the emotional scaring from that experience.

The service guy was out yesterday and fixed a manufacturing issue - air was getting in from above the burn-put, causing it to go out periodically and burn poorly. Since that repair, it has been going very well.

 

[[email protected]]

Here are a couple of pics of our Rika Visio installed. . . I'm taking these pictures from our kitchen on the other side of the house. Living room area is immediately to left and dining table immediately to the right. So, this thing is definitely in the center of our lives!

 

[lbcynya]

I would stick it out for the season and make your decision in the Spring. Sounds like you're really second guessing your situation, but cord wood stoves are a lot of work as well. Combine that with storage space, bugs, dirt, mold, fungus and everything else and your wife will get sick of it quickly unless she's a glutton for punishment. I burn both and I spend a lot of time making sure my wife has small easy and clean wood to burn when I'm gone. That combined with keeping the pellet stove full twice daily, she comments that we are "the little house on the prairie".

Anyway, try to disconnect yourself from the emotion you are working through and see if it becomes a part of the family over time. If you just can't stand it, then replace it with a "more conventional" brand. You'll see lots of Harmans, Enviros, Quads, Englanders, and many others. Stick with well known and conventional. You've found a great place to do much research, so review lots of old posts and see if something jumps out at you.

PS - Hard floors don't help. Carpet and upholstered furniture will help mitigate the sound and probably cost less that trading in on a new stove. Sitting 6' away from my XXV and I can hear it, but it's not too bad. Food for thought.

 

[imacman]

We went with the Rika because, frankly, we trusted the wisdom ane experience of the person we were purchasing from because of his local reputation for "green energy" systems. So, when he said that he'd done the research and that the Rika was the quietest unit on the market, we believed him.......

Just curious....was this the only brand the seller (aka as "dealer"?) has for sale? If not, what other brands did he sell?

Too bad you didn't find this forum before buying ......I would have steered you to the Enviro Mini. A friend of mine installed one on my advise, and loves it....it's whisper quiet.

 

[St_Earl]

i hope you can find a good solution to your situation.

is there any chance of having the dealer work with you on switching to a different stove?
i think i've read here of one or two folks who did that. i can't remember what their situations were though.

i'm brand new to this too. had the stove a week. but have been doing my best to learn about them since the middle of september.

one thing i notice straight off is how narrow that door and firebox looks compared to my no frills heatilator ps50.
i can get my head and left arm in the box when i'm scraping the fire pot.
of course the blower isn't exactly quiet. especially on high.
but i don't hear the auger at all. just hear the pellets dropping.

i'm a total newb to this. but imo if you're going to live with a stove long term, you might want to find one you are more happy with.
i'm sure there are some stylish ones out there that would fit the bill.
the folks here are amazingly helpful and can at least point you in good directions on your way to your ultimate decision.

best of luck. i hope you and your family end up with the same feeling i have for my stove.
pure love.

edit- on the other hand, that stove definitely has a small footprint. and i can see the value of that in a small area like you are talking about.

i'm using a wire wheel on my drill to do most of the fire pot cleaning. and finishing w/ the scraper.
but i'm considering trying a dremel tool.
that may work well in a smaller firebox like your stove has.
i'm thinking with the right bit/tool(s), you could do it by feel and just look at it in between.

 

[flynfrfun]

If your dealer has one of your stoves, have him fire it up and listen to it. If it's auger is quieter than yours, ask for a replacement auger motor under warranty. It's possible yours is defective. I had 2 auger motors replaced under warranty on mine, but I had done my homework/research and knew right away there was a problem. My auger motor is so quiet you can't hear it.

 

[Roadstar]

Joe,

Have you looked at the Bosca pellet stoves? I cannot vouch for them but what little I have heard about them was positive. I have included a couple of links below to threads on this site. If you go to ebay and search for ‘bosca pellet’ you can see what the posters are talking about. Personally I like the design of all their stoves.

Since you’re not happy with what you currently have you’re probably not in the mood to take a chance on a relative unknown product. I can’t blame you but I wanted to at least make you aware. After all, the more people that buy them and post their experiences on this site the more information I will have when I get ready to buy.

Here is the Bosca home page:

http://boscastoves.com/

Here are the Bosca threads I am aware of.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/63078/P0/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/81933/

Good luck

 

[petemal]

JOE Try to stick it out, i have a rika integra and in the beginning it was tough getting use to and i think i made a mistake but then i compared it to other friends stove and i was really happy, volume of heat and technology is incredible, try using a ash vac for cleaning it maybe easier you can get a cheap one at northern tool for 100 to try out. you can go wood but deal with a mess of logs, stacking it splitting it bugs constantly going outside to get more, n since you are out most of the week the ease of pellet is key

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Well, in my case I put the wood pellet stove in the basement and cut registers to the 1st floor. This works really well because I can keep 1.5 tons next to the stove and the other 1.5 tons 5 steps away in the garage!!

The noise upstairs is very little. However for backup only when there is a power outage, we installed a zero clearance gas fireplace! This also works great when hanging the kids stockings for Xmass

(I know in the pic the TV has a better looking wood fire and nice Xmass carols, but the fireplace puts out 30,000 BTU when it gets going!!)

See pics below

 

[Millsk]

We have an enviro 55. I did look at the mini while shopping and if you're up to spending money then I would encourage you to look into one of these. There is a setting that allows the auger to not run every time the feeder runs. On the 55 it runs for 1 min every 30 mins. Not sure the enviro timing is the same but I'm guessing it would be the same.
On the low setting the stove is very quiet. Again ifyou're in the market go check one out.

 

[NW_oriented]

I bought one of these stoves 4 years ago under the same premise, quiet and of good quality. The Mercedes of pellet stoves... Not a good stove, its not quiet, its high maintance, parts are expensive and hard to find, and so far its been breaking down about once per year (sensor, blower fan, unexplained burn-outs). The design is such that it requires extensive cleaning every 500 pounds of pellets. It would be one thing if the stove was really cheap to purchase but these things are among the most expensive for their size. It puts out good heat but so don't most stoves these days.

 

[St_Earl]

I bought one of these stoves 4 years ago under the same premise, quiet and of good quality. The Mercedes of pellet stoves... Not a good stove, its not quiet, its high maintance, parts are expensive and hard to find, and so far its been breaking down about once per year (sensor, blower fan, unexplained burn-outs). The design is such that it requires extensive cleaning every 500 pounds of pellets. It would be one thing if the stove was really cheap to purchase but these things are among the most expensive for their size. It puts out good heat but so don't most stoves these days.

shout out to portland oregon!
my hometown for over 40 years!
left in sept. 09.

the fire in my pic burned on 31st. and s.e. grant.

 

[aburress1223]

Owning/using a pellet stove has been a learning experience for me and I would venture to say for most first time owners. It took me a big part of the first two seasons to realize what the stove would do and what I needed to do to make that happen with the generous help of people on this forum. Living in S W Virginia there were not many dealers or owners to gain info from. I did a lot of research on the internet(did not find this forum until after the purchase). I am now very satisfied with my purchase and the noise is something that has become nearlr non-intrusive over time. Wishing you the best with your purchase.

 

[Ridge]

We have had pellet stoves now for 5 yrs, on, we are on our 3rd as we moved once and now have 2, our first was a Afton Bay, nice stove but glass would get dirty quick if on low and I thought it was fairly noisey so we would turn it off when watching tv. After moving we decided to try something else and after going to a dealer who sells many brands we decided on a Harman P61a and after installing it it too seems noisey in our finsihed basement but this stove lets us turn off the distribution fan while still having a flame up to heat setting 4-5 out of 7 with only the exhaust fan running, that helps to keep the noise down when you are in the same room and the glass stays cleaner much longer. But I personally don't like the time it takes to shut it off (1-2hr) so I can do a clean out as i like to vacuum it good. Well we decided to add a second stove to a room we have above our garage (18x26) so i found a dealer that was going out of business and selling way, way below normal prices ($1095)and we decided on a New Breckwell P2000 after reading reviews as they said it was fairly quiet- I disagree it seems noisey but we still don't have carpet in the room or anything else yet so that stuff will absorb some noise I hope.

 

[BradH70]

We went with the Rika because, frankly, we trusted the wisdom ane experience of the person we were purchasing from because of his local reputation for "green energy" systems. So, when he said that he'd done the research and that the Rika was the quietest unit on the market, we believed him.......

Just curious....was this the only brand the seller (aka as "dealer"?) has for sale? If not, what other brands did he sell?

Too bad you didn't find this forum before buying ......I would have steered you to the Enviro Mini. A friend of mine installed one on my advise, and loves it....it's whisper quiet.

The Mini also has an external blower option that make it near silent in operation. The thing to remember with a Mini, though, is that they need cleaned EVERY day unlike other stoves that can go several days to a week before needing a cleaning.

 

[bcb1]

Auger motors on pellet stoves seem to be the topic of a lot of threads here. The fan noise easily blends into the background, but I agree with you that the cyclic auger noise is much harder to get used to since it doesn't run constantly, it's only an on & off type of noise so it's always getting your attention.

Some stoves seem to have very quiet augers (my old QuadraFire stove did), and some have more noticeable augers (like new new Harman stove). The good news is that auger motors are fairly cheap, so even if it's not under warranty, you can try swapping it out with a new motor and see if that helps. The other advice I've seen here is to take out the auger motor, take the cover plate off and add some grease inside. That's certainly a cheap option, it would only cost a little bit of your time and a few cents worth of grease.


@BradH70: My old Quad Santa Fe required daily cleaning as well. I had to scrape out the burnpot, use my cordless dewalt drill with sanding wheel attachment, and vacuum out the burnpot and stove floor every single day. On the plus side it was a very simple stove, easy to clean and maintain, quiet, and it never gave me any problems in the 8 years I owned it.

 

[Pelleting In NJ]

My Ecoteck Elena is very quiet. The auger motor is barely audible. It is mounted with rubber vibration/noise absorbers. I think most other pellet stoves just bolt the motor to the metal frame of the stove, which transmits the motor vibration into stove frame, which is effectively a large "sounding board". I also find this stove easy to clean, about 3 minutes with a shp-vac, and done.

 

[TLHinCanada]

Perhaps the OP can clear up for me whether its the auger motor or the auger rubbing on the shaft that is making the noise.