Ravellie Pellet Stove

[sharon26]

Hi there,

Does anyone know if the Ravellie 100 pellet stove is any good. A local retailer said it is his favorite.

Or can anyone recommend a pellet stove that is good?

Thanks.

Sharon

 

[Bioburner]

Sharon I think you have been a member longer than I.
A good stove can be more subjective to what is your needs and wants. Like auto ignition and a large hopper and ash bin. Where your placing the stove and how it looks and how much area your trying to heat of course.
Give us some of your wants&needs and we may give you some ideas. Retailer saying that a stove is his favorite may be because it makes him the most $$$.

 

[sharon26]

Sharon I think you have been a member longer than I.
A good stove can be more subjective to what is your needs and wants. Like auto ignition and a large hopper and ash bin. Where your placing the stove and how it looks and how much area your trying to heat of course.
Give us some of your wants&needs and we may give you some ideas. Retailer saying that a stove is his favorite may be because it makes him the most $$$.

Sharon I think you have been a member longer than I.
A good stove can be more subjective to what is your needs and wants. Like auto ignition and a large hopper and ash bin. Where your placing the stove and how it looks and how much area your trying to heat of course.
Give us some of your wants&needs and we may give you some ideas. Retailer saying that a stove is his favorite may be because it makes him the most $$$.

So we presently have a St. Croix - an older model. Still works but does have its issues.

We are looking for something with better an lower maintenance - heats over 2,000 sq. ft. and where parts are available.

We heard that the Harman P68 was a good stove to get - put you can read reviews till your blue in the face and still not sure that the Harman is the way to go.

Thanks

 

[Bioburner]

The P series while not the most pretty have far better attributes. Big hoppers with available hopper extension and 1 ton before needing to empty ash bins and about the same for a total cleaning interval, just a quick scrape of the exchanger and pot on a regular basis. Hot sided stove so one can get some radiant heat and a couple of operating modes to suit the seasons. I never liked the St.Croix's room fan because its hard to clean and replace.(I tried an Auburn) Plenty of help getting your stove going with help here and some aftermarket parts available reasonable.

 

[Peterfield]

Hi there,

Does anyone know if the Ravellie 100 pellet stove is any good. A local retailer said it is his favorite.

Or can anyone recommend a pellet stove that is good?

Thanks.

Sharon

Every dealer will have their favorite, and coincidentally, it will be one that they sell. I remember when looking when a dealer trashed Harman, said they were getting sued for an accident someone had and their quality was terrible and the Hampton GC 160 was the stove for me. Took my wife to another dealer that carried Harman among other brands and as soon as my wife eyed the Accentra 52i in Majorca brown enamel, she said I could buy any stove I wanted, as long as it was that one. I am the happy owner of a Harman 52i. I have read the posts about quality control with the Enviro family of stoves so I am glad I looked around at different dealers before buying.

 

[sharon26]

The P series while not the most pretty have far better attributes. Big hoppers with available hopper extension and 1 ton before needing to empty ash bins and about the same for a total cleaning interval, just a quick scrape of the exchanger and pot on a regular basis. Hot sided stove so one can get some radiant heat and a couple of operating modes to suit the seasons. I never liked the St.Croix's room fan because its hard to clean and replace.(I tried an Auburn) Plenty of help getting your stove going with help here and some aftermarket parts available reasonable.

Thanks for your reply...so you are recommending the P63 then? Any other stoves you like?

 

[sharon26]

Every dealer will have their favorite, and coincidentally, it will be one that they sell. I remember when looking when a dealer trashed Harman, said they were getting sued for an accident someone had and their quality was terrible and the Hampton GC 160 was the stove for me. Took my wife to another dealer that carried Harman among other brands and as soon as my wife eyed the Accentra 52i in Majorca brown enamel, she said I could buy any stove I wanted, as long as it was that one. I am the happy owner of a Harman 52i. I have read the posts about quality control with the Enviro family of stoves so I am glad I looked around at different dealers before buying.

It does get overwhelming to try and find a goo stove to purchase. I will continue my research. Thanks.

 

[Bioburner]

You have not said what space your trying to heat. The P series with a couple models not in production now, starts with the 38 and end with the largest being the 68 with the 43,45 and the 61 being in the middle. Many of us don't need the full force of the P68 and have one of smaller versions. I have a P45 that has a removable burn tray and a pressure ignition system allowing to burn straight corn that is very plentiful and usually cheap here in Minnesota. If your St.Croix did the job heat wise, get a model that is close to it BTU wise or a bit more.

 

[Cranky Yankee]

I'm looking at the Ravelli RV100 also, I burn 5-6 tons a year and the dealer recommended the Ravelli to cut my consumption by 33 to 50%. Anyone else using the Ravelli RV100?

 

[Bioburner]

A reduction of 33 to 50% is a very big reduction and IMO a hard one to believe but would need to know what stove your now trying to keep fed. There are some old stoves that are real hogs and a PIA to keep feeding and cleaning.

 

[Cranky Yankee]

I have a 14 year old Whitfield Profile 30 that's tired, I'm heating about 1200 square feet with the back of my house all glass and my family room overhangs a lake and open underneath for the wind to blow across and whale away

 

[Peterfield]

I'm looking at the Ravelli RV100 also, I burn 5-6 tons a year and the dealer recommended the Ravelli to cut my consumption by 33 to 50%. Anyone else using the Ravelli RV100?

Did you expect the dealer to say anything else? Most ratings and BTU specs are in the eyes of the beholder, namely, dealers and manufacturers. Don't get fixated on one brand as you are now. Take time to look around. The weather is going to be seasonably warm for a while so you have plenty of time.

 

[Cranky Yankee]

I've been researching stoves since May

 

[Bioburner]

I think it would be hard to get a reduction of half that much against the old Whit when its burning low to medium and kept clean. Theres a lot of Whit owners on the site that have an excellent working knowledge of them.

 

[Cranky Yankee]

Even if it's just 33% it saves 2 tons.

 

[Arti]

Cranky.. I think I would ask the dealer what happens if you don't save 30% on your pellet consumption.

 

[Lake Girl]

Looks like Ravelli (formerly Ecoteck) has made some changes on this stove design. http://usa.ravelligroup.it/UserFiles/files/pdf/Opc_RV100.pdf
They are still a good looking stove but I prefer the full majolica sides on the Elena. Besides using the cast burnpot, the ash pan looks to be larger than the ones on the Elena but not positive as it still says empty every two days. Hopper size is comparable. The combustion fan is oriented differently. It has upper and lower clean-outs vs. just the lower ones on the Elena so cleaning should be easier. Efficiency 87.5%, 44,000 BTUs (Elena is 48000 BTUs @85%).

Whitfield stats: 38,000 BTUs per hour with an overall heating efficiency of 81%. Our patented UltraGrate™ achieves nearly 100% combustion, allowing you to use economical grades of fuel. And, it emits just 1.9 grams of particulate per hour.

What price tag do they have on the RV100?

 

[Peterfield]

I've been researching stoves since May

I've been researching stoves since May

Meant for Sharon, wasn't clear in my post.

 

[Cranky Yankee]

Lake Girl thanks for the reply, price is $3200, is your Whitfield info for a tired needs to be totally rebuilt 14 year old Whitfield? Did you experience a pellet savings in your Ravelli?

 

[Lake Girl]

The info for the Whitfield was from a brochure for a new one. From what I understand, Whitfields are fairly simple and dependable stoves. Snowy Rivers uses 2 of them with shells to heat her home. Just wanted to point out that the dealer is "blowing a bit of smoke" with his statement of 33 to 50% less usage as efficiency is not that far off between the two when new. I'm sure you will get some reduction in efficiency on an older stove but eventually the Ravelli will be old too As for my savings, it's an apples and oranges comparison as we switched from oil.

Something else I noted, the Ravelli stoves no longer allow horizontal installation it seems. Configuration is up and out or out and up; wondering if that is responsible for lowered particulate emissions as more may be caught in the venting. More cleaning?

Only you can decide what works for you .... it sounds like you've already convinced yourself you need a new stove. Your money and decision to make. Not sure how much of a hard line the dealers are taking about selling parts to owners or if they require only their service techs to work on them... something else to think about for long term costs. The initial North American distributor is where I purchased mine (hour away) - no longer there and no dealers anywhere local so "dealer only" service is not a consideration for me.

Whitfield parts seem to be readily available.

 

[Cranky Yankee]

Info from users of Revelli's is hard to come by, the dealer I went to sells almost every kind of pellet stove known and what he doesn't have a dealer downthe road does. He recommended 3 different stoves on my needs and consumption. I'm not a fan of Harman but I'm open to all others

 

[Cranky Yankee]

I'm actually leaning towards a Quadrafire CB1200

 

[Bioburner]

I would like to know where it is now made(CB 1200) now that HHT has had the company for a couple years now. Heard that the Santa Fe's are made in China now

 

[CleanFire]

I'm heating about 1200 square feet with the back of my house all glass and my family room overhangs a lake and open underneath for the wind to blow across and whale away

Sealing up that space would afford an immediate heating improvement - even thin OSB w/ a rigid foam insulation backer to seal up the air space under the family room would help.

 

[killie11]

To the OP good luck. My trip for a pellet stove started a HD and ended at a harman dealer. I did research for a bout 6 months before I bought a P61a and really enjoy the stove its a pretty good one. I doubt you need the 68 with your SQ I think my buddy heats the same with a 43.