New Pellet Stove Buyer

[jibberishballr]

I bought a Quadra Fire Santa Fe for a good deal at my local Costco, but didnt research enough before, and am now having regrets. I will only need a pellet stove for a 600 sq ft area, but the reviews have not been good for the Santa Fe. I am looking for a pellet stove that is quiet, burns efficiently, and has helpful features, like an on/off, auto ignite,etc. I spent 1800 on the current one but will get a rebate if i keep it of 30%. Basically what i am asking is for a list of the top 5 or so pellet stoves members on this forum would recommend for my specific needs.

Thanks in advance!

Josh

 

[Shortstuff]

I'm not sure what reviews you've read but the Sante Fe is a very reliable stove as long as you burn good quality pellets and perform regular cleaning and maintenance. I have a Castile that is equal in specs (according to their website) and I use it to heat an 800+ sq.ft. area. It has no trouble at all keeping up even during the coldest part of winter. Hopefully other Sante Fe owners will chime in to help you.

 

[Vinelife]

I love my Sante Fe... works great and very reliable.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

What reviews haven't been good?

Those done by someone who thinks you fill up the hopper, push a button and otherwise sit on their hind ends?

A lot of people are sold a bill of goods, then they discover they have to actually read, understand, and follow the manual. This is normally the root cause of a lot of bad reviews.

I ran into some folks discussing stoves at the local Wal*Mart there was a lot of incorrect information being passed.

What are your regrets?

 

[tjnamtiw]

I ALSO am skeptical about those reviews. In fact, I am wondering if you are a troll..................... My Sante Fe and Castile both work great. They HAVE on/off control and auto ignite, which you should know if you took the time to read the instructions. On the low setting, which you will be using for that small area, you will hardly hear the stove at all.

 

[thz123]

I have the Castile, which is exactly the same as yours except the housing. My castile is on its 6th year, I love it. The stove is in the basement of my 5 year old, 3200 sf (main level & B-ment) ranch home. Last night it was in the 30's outside, started the stove at 7pm and I ran my stove on medium all night. When I woke up the b-ment was 78 degrees, and the main level was 70 degrees. I maybe burned 25 pounds of pellets. My other option would be to burn my LP furnace setting the stat at 62 degrees. The cost of LP is greater than the cost of the pellets. They are great reliable units, that are easy to clean and operate. What's not to like?

 

[jibberishballr]

Thanks for all the replies. I had just read a couple bad reviews i guess. Do you think that the Santa Fe is the best choice within the 1500-2000 dollar price range?

I was also looking at this website and the Santa Fe wasn't listed, but there were other stoves around similar pricing that were in the top 10.

http://www.bestpelletstoves.com/top-10-pellet-stoves/

 

[pelletqueen77]

I am shocked that Costco has a Santa Fe stove because I thought only authorized dealers could sell them. I did alot of research and I bought a Santa Fe from a dealer and it does heat up my main living area quick.

I am heating around a 1600 sq. ft. area and I found it to be the best quality for the price. Just my opinion. There are cheaper stoves at Lowes and Home Depot but I looked at them for fun and thought they were junky, but if on a budget better than nothing.

 

[Fsappo]

A quad at cosco? If I was a quad dealer, Id be looking into that fast. If it was true, there would be a bunch of quads on ebay and I'd be shopping for a new line.

 

[jibberishballr]

Well they're sold through Costco, but the Quad dealers are there selling them. You get the Costco warranty when you buy it there which is nice.

 

[thz123]

I think what you paid for the unit is cheap. If you call a quad dealer and ask what they will sell one for, I bet it would be around the $2500 to $3000 range. I also thought a dealer could only sell Quadrafire stoves.

 

[thz123]

To give you a cost comparison. I paid $3400 installed five years ago for my Castile with all the options, maroon paint, fake logs, digital stat, and clean out trap door on the exhaust pipe. You did real well at $1800. Where will you have the unit serviced? Some dealers will only work on stoves purchased through them. Your unit should keep your 600 sf home toasty warm, even on low.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I bought my Sante Fe in the summer of 09 for $1600. quad was having a sale on them. Turns out it was made in 2006 so they were unloading old stock but, hey, it works great and has the new style control box. Knock on wood.

 

[jibberishballr]

To give you a cost comparison. I paid $3400 installed five years ago for my Castile with all the options, maroon paint, fake logs, digital stat, and clean out trap door on the exhaust pipe. You did real well at $1800. Where will you have the unit serviced? Some dealers will only work on stoves purchased through them. Your unit should keep your 600 sf home toasty warm, even on low.

They have a dealer that is about 45 mins from where i live so ill have to take it there. I haven't even taken it out of the box yet, since i have some carpet and tile work to do first. I think I still need to get piping correct?

We used to have a wood stove where the pellet stove is going. Would it be wise to connect it though that (a 6 inch vp to 3 inch adapter would be neccesary i believe) or to remove that and run it out the side of the wall. Whats the typical cost for parts if i do the install myself?

 

[geek]

another stove option in the low $2k is the Napoleon NPS45, very nice unit and performs very well, so far for me. The air wash system keeps the pot very empty at the end of the shut down cycle.
I also have the santa fe and has been very good unit so far, very quiet.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Thanks for all the replies. I had just read a couple bad reviews i guess. Do you think that the Santa Fe is the best choice within the 1500-2000 dollar price range?

I was also looking at this website and the Santa Fe wasn't listed, but there were other stoves around similar pricing that were in the top 10.

http://www.bestpelletstoves.com/top-10-pellet-stoves/

LOL, that top ten rating is a joke.

 

[jtakeman]

Thanks for all the replies. I had just read a couple bad reviews i guess. Do you think that the Santa Fe is the best choice within the 1500-2000 dollar price range?

I was also looking at this website and the Santa Fe wasn't listed, but there were other stoves around similar pricing that were in the top 10.

http://www.bestpelletstoves.com/top-10-pellet-stoves/

LOL, that top ten rating is a joke.

Wow, That's kind of funny. A top ten of the only ten stoves you looked at maybe. 3 of the listed stoves could be in the worst 10(no not the Englanders). I picked 2 maybe for top ten. Listing a top ten by price range should be more accurate. Hard to put an economy stove up against one with all the bells and whistles.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Thanks for all the replies. I had just read a couple bad reviews i guess. Do you think that the Santa Fe is the best choice within the 1500-2000 dollar price range?

I was also looking at this website and the Santa Fe wasn't listed, but there were other stoves around similar pricing that were in the top 10.

http://www.bestpelletstoves.com/top-10-pellet-stoves/

LOL, that top ten rating is a joke.

Wow, That's kind of funny. A top ten of the only ten stoves you looked at maybe. 3 of the listed stoves could be in the worst 10(no not the Englanders). I picked 2 maybe for top ten. Listing a top ten by price range should be more accurate. Hard to put an economy stove up against one with all the bells and whistles.

What is even funnier is I think we just found the magic pellet stove or maybe it only burns magic pellets.

Check out the #2 rated stove.

130 hours of 70,000 BTUs from 140 ponds of pellets, hey, those must be the nuclear pellets that Pook tries to burn in his dragon.

 

[jtakeman]

Thanks for all the replies. I had just read a couple bad reviews i guess. Do you think that the Santa Fe is the best choice within the 1500-2000 dollar price range?

I was also looking at this website and the Santa Fe wasn't listed, but there were other stoves around similar pricing that were in the top 10.

http://www.bestpelletstoves.com/top-10-pellet-stoves/

LOL, that top ten rating is a joke.

Wow, That's kind of funny. A top ten of the only ten stoves you looked at maybe. 3 of the listed stoves could be in the worst 10(no not the Englanders). I picked 2 maybe for top ten. Listing a top ten by price range should be more accurate. Hard to put an economy stove up against one with all the bells and whistles.

What is even funnier is I think we just found the magic pellet stove or maybe it only burns magic pellets.

Check out the #2 rated stove.

130 hours of 70,000 BTUs from 140 ponds of pellets, hey, those must be the nuclear pellets that Pook tries to burn in his dragon.

I think they goofed on the math. Only slightly though! hehe It might get that at the lowest feed rate, But that might even be a stretch!