Pipe dream burn times

[richg]

These days, I have given up on what manufacturers of any product say and instead rely on what users say. Manufacturers are pushing the envelope of credibility across the board. My suggestion would be that before purchasing any hearth appliance, take a look at the recent (emphasis added) reviews of the product.

 

[jweinhofer]

Here is the email I just sent Quadra-Fire customer service this morning:

_______________________

Howdy Folks.

I've had my Voyageur Grand installed for about 6 weeks now. I do love the stove and will keep it a long time. I hang around on Hearth.com and there is a LOT of great discussion regarding stoves, burning practices and product recommendations.

I thought you might be interested why I am not and will not recommend the Voyageur series to anyone looking for an insert.

Quadra-Fire has totally botched the ACC in the Voyageur series. While I personally like the feature (it is never a bad idea to have additional control over your burn), you are upsetting your new owners with the lack of instruction on how to operate the ACC control.
More accurately not exactly a "lack of instruction," but more a case of incorrect instruction. I know a new Voyageur owner with a Nov 2013 Voyageur who received an owner's manual dated May 2013 that describes operation of a different ACC than is in his stove. No problem, just go on your website and look at the "control" video for the Voyageur series. Oops, no ... the video describes ACC control for a free standing Quad stove with totally different operation protocol. Also, while researching the ACC, potential Voyageur Grand buyers get a description of the ACC operation but it is not until we actually get the stove do we find out that there is no way to manually turn off the ACC in the Grand Voyageur like there is on all other models with the ACC feature. We find this out not by reading the manual that never comes out and states this, we have to fiddle around with it and go through a lot of frustration. I know ... the dealer comes into the picture here somewhere but it all starts with the manufacturer instructions. Geez, fellas. Come on.

Your claimed burn times ... please. I have seen in different places burn time claims for the Grand of "12-14" hours and "up to 14 hours." Why make these claims when there is NO way to approach these burn times for most, if not ALL, owners? There is a cross style asterisk on this claim on your product info page, but NOWHERE ON THE PAGE is there an explanation of the asterisk. Now that I have my stove and see how it burns with my wood (Ponderosa Pine, moisture content 9 to 15%), I look at this claim on your page as being intentionally misleading. I know how to burn and my absolute ceiling on burn times is 6 1/2 to 7 hours, defining "burn time" as the length of time a fire can burn where you can use the coals to rebuild the fire. And "up to 12 hour" burn on the Voyageur? NO ONE is getting close to this, even with perfect hardwood and "ideal" burning conditions.

You can do better. Start with accurate documentation please.

Best Regards,


Paul Leach
Westcliffe, CO

I have a Voyageur Grand for 2 years now and with hard wood my average is 8 to 10 hours (coals hot enough to light a fire and keep the fan on set to auto) with 10 hours being perfect conditions. I cant imagine 12 to 14 hours but miracles do happen...

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Another factor is the amount of heat produced on the back end of those long burn times. You dont get much heat with a stovetop of 200-250 degrees no matter how long it lasts.

 

[Jeffm1]

Wow. 6-7 hours with ponderosa pine? Sounds pretty good to me....

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Most stoves have a burning curve, you get different amounts of heat over the span of that curve. A poorly insulated space will experience large temperature swings relying only on a wood stove.