Piazzetta Wittus in Southwest

[EastMtn]

This is my first post but I've been lurking for 6 months and trying to gather research on a contemporary stove to buy.
New Mexico is swamped with traditional stove offerings like Harmon, Quad, Enviro etc. but I have a contemporary styled house in the mountains and these brands would stick out like a sore thumb. I have an open floor plan with floor to Ceiling windows covering most of the house with the exception of the garage, pantry, and laundry areas.
I've been contacting manufacturers and dealers and have finally found 2 who will sell to me even though there are no dealers in my State. I wanted to ask the advice of people who had either a Piazzetta or Wittus/MCZ on their pros and shortcomings. Also to those owners of any stove who don't have dealers nearby, how do you handle servicing and parts replacements?
I'm going to call a few stove servicing companies this week and see if I can find anyone who can work on these European models. Seeing as how there are no NFI certified techs in a 150 mile radius of me I'm trying to prepare myself with a plan on how to address servicing and repairs.

 

[smwilliamson]

I do not know much about Piazzetta, but I can tell you that MCZ offered by Wittus is agreat stove. Additionally, Wittus is a great importer and has been around the block for a long time here in the US. Go with Wittus and you have a great company standing behind the product.

 

[EastMtn]

Thanks. What else can you tell me about MCZ? Good to know they been around a while. I've heard that the Piazzetta has tried a few times to break into the US market. Wittus gave me a quote of $5100 and Piazzetta $4300 for their equivalent models. Both have the majolica ceramic side panels, programmable remote and look very similar. I'll take reliability and a manufacturer backing their product over price any day.

 

[Phil Do's fire.]

I have a Palazzetti. Very easy to service, efficient and mojlica tile. Best stove I have ever owned. Dealer in Oregon. check it out. A steal at less than $2500, great deal

 

[EastMtn]

I recall that you had one of those and I went looking for that person on Ebay. If the store you're referring to is fwsales out of Oregon, he emailed me back and says that he no longer carries that line and only has one more left to sell. It's an Ecofire Prima and the BTU output isn't high enough.

 

[Phil Do's fire.]

I recall that you had one of those and I went looking for that person on Ebay. If the store you're referring to is fwsales out of Oregon, he emailed me back and says that he no longer carries that line and only has one more left to sell. It's an Ecofire Prima and the BTU output isn't high enough.

Ok, just a suggestion. I have a Wittus dealer 2 miles from me and they are a very nice product. the only issue I found was way to many settings and the efficiency was not great, otherwise great!

 

[EastMtn]

Thanks, that's the kind of info and personal opinions I'm looking for. I'm at 7500' (2286m) elevation so the efficiency would decrease even further at my altitude even with the upgrade from 3" to 4" pipe. From what I've been told most efficiency ratings are tested at sea level. Piazzetta says it prides itself on simplicity of use for the customer but that's brochure talk.
Any other comments? They would be greatly appreciated.

 

[boomhour]

Have a look at Paromax which has some excellent features, ash removal system gasification, 12volt system runs on a solar panel if u wish, super quiet , and u can talk to the owner Claude. Am i happy? U bet your pellet I am!

 

[smwilliamson]

Have a look at Paromax which has some excellent features, ash removal system gasification, 12volt system runs on a solar panel if u wish, super quiet , and u can talk to the owner Claude. Am i happy? U bet your pellet I am!

looking at your sig...so you get 34 hrs out of every bag? That's hard to believe. Paromax makes an interesting stove at best. It's not more efficient by 100% than everything else. I work on many Dell Points which is the same stove. Regency also used that model for it's first Greenfire stove. Like I said, interesting stove, asks a little too much of the user if you ask me. Will burn great when you dial it in. Kinda ugly IMHO.

 

[boomhour]

looking at your sig...so you get 34 hrs out of every bag? That's hard to believe. Paromax makes an interesting stove at best. It's not more efficient by 100% than everything else. I work on many Dell Points which is the same stove. Regency also used that model for it's first Greenfire stove. Like I said, interesting stove, asks a little too much of the user if you ask me. Will burn great when you dial it in. Kinda ugly IMHO.

I believe I can get up to 38 hours out of every bag. The stove ran in position 2 and 3 a few times. As far as being 100% efficient over other stoves, you should call Claude and discuss it with him. As far as asking too much out of the user, it is very simple to operate and I rather enjoy the option to change settings when running low-grade pellets or premium ones. Sometimes being efficient is better than looking pretty. The stove just works. Time will tell.

 

[EastMtn]

I went with the Piazzetta Sveva today. I found a chimney/stove service company that can install and work on it and will come out to my area. The dealer frankly offered good customer service from the beginning with prompt emails, and follow up phone calls. They spoke to the manufacturer on my behalf, made themselves available to provide parts, and answered every question I had to my satisfaction.
Wittus also showed excellent customer service and a willingness to help the few times that I contacted them. I went lurking on a few of the Italian forums and UK websites and found Piazzetta to have a good and reliable name. This, and the price of course, is what eventually swayed me.

I will say that this has been an eye opening experience and I appreciate the successes and lessons learned from others in this forum. Just a side note to the dealers, distributors, and manufacturing sales reps out there. Whether you are honest, pompous, act with integrity, or with a perceived disregard to your audience, it makes ripples that others can see. Your market share may not increase or decrease dramatically with your actions but it definitely has lasting effects.

I'll be starting an install thread soon, complete with pictures, some burn tests, and most likely beer. Maybe someone out there will learn from my STAR moments better known
as "S*** that ain't right" to my Navy Nucs out there.

 

[smwilliamson]

I believe I can get up to 38 hours out of every bag. The stove ran in position 2 and 3 a few times. As far as being 100% efficient over other stoves, you should call Claude and discuss it with him. As far as asking too much out of the user, it is very simple to operate and I rather enjoy the option to change settings when running low-grade pellets or premium ones. Sometimes being efficient is better than looking pretty. The stove just works. Time will tell.

The average visitor to this forum have no idea what this is. I barely know what it is. You should explain it out. I'm willing to bet a lot of readers here have never seen the word "Stociometric"

86% efficient using the B415 test is impressive, I will give the stove that. However, I do know the stove and if you give it to the average owner and run it for three months using average pellets...you aint gonna be getting anywhere near that target with that stove. Lab tests and real world tests are quite different.

 

[webbie]

I know this much - a burn rate of 1 KG + per hour (the test) means 2 full bags of pellets in 34-36 hours.....
Dang thing looks pretty efficient, though. I suspect a lot of stoves don't publish much except "epa default" values.

 

[papa bears stove]

The Paromax stoves are capable of burning less than one pound of fuel per hour. I have sold, repaired and installed many of the Paromax stoves. Since its inception of the Dell-Point and Regency days the stoves have seen numerous changes and improvements. I just spoke to Claude and his son Max at the NEHPBA show in Albany where they were displaying and the new control board is really nice. It shows flu temp and the magnahelic reading on the digital display and is much more simplified. If you get a chance to talk to Claude or Max, I'm sure you'll be a believer in what they're doing. A really nice burning stove that takes advantage of gasification and the heat that comes into the home is extremely impressive. Its the only stove I can actually grab hold of the exhaust venting while its running and not burn my hand.

 

[smwilliamson]

Perhaps it is time for a revisit..thanks!

 

[boomhour]

I went with the Piazzetta Sveva today. I found a chimney/stove service company that can install and work on it and will come out to my area. The dealer frankly offered good customer service from the beginning with prompt emails, and follow up phone calls. They spoke to the manufacturer on my behalf, made themselves available to provide parts, and answered every question I had to my satisfaction.
Wittus also showed excellent customer service and a willingness to help the few times that I contacted them. I went lurking on a few of the Italian forums and UK websites and found Piazzetta to have a good and reliable name. This, and the price of course, is what eventually swayed me.

I will say that this has been an eye opening experience and I appreciate the successes and lessons learned from others in this forum. Just a side note to the dealers, distributors, and manufacturing sales reps out there. Whether you are honest, pompous, act with integrity, or with a perceived disregard to your audience, it makes ripples that others can see. Your market share may not increase or decrease dramatically with your actions but it definitely has lasting effects.

I'll be starting an install thread soon, complete with pictures, some burn tests, and most likely beer. Maybe someone out there will learn from my STAR moments better known
as "S*** that ain't right" to my Navy Nucs out there.
View attachment 102930

Congratulations EastMtn on your purchase of the Palazzetti Sveva! May you have many years of warmth!

 

[boomhour]

The Paromax stoves are capable of burning less than one pound of fuel per hour. I have sold, repaired and installed many of the Paromax stoves. Since its inception of the Dell-Point and Regency days the stoves have seen numerous changes and improvements. I just spoke to Claude and his son Max at the NEHPBA show in Albany where they were displaying and the new control board is really nice. It shows flu temp and the magnahelic reading on the digital display and is much more simplified. If you get a chance to talk to Claude or Max, I'm sure you'll be a believer in what they're doing. A really nice burning stove that takes advantage of gasification and the heat that comes into the home is extremely impressive. Its the only stove I can actually grab hold of the exhaust venting while its running and not burn my hand.

Thank you papa bear for reiterating what I have been trying to get across in the very short time that I have been here. On my first firing of the stove, I was ecstatic that I was able to continually place my hand on the stove pipe and not burn myself. This was after a good two-hour run time. I was able to achieve 320 deg. F at the front of the heat exchanger in level 1. I was using curran pellets, hard/soft mix which for the most part I have read that many do not prefer them.

 

[boomhour]

Perhaps it is time for a revisit..thanks!

Perhaps it is....

 

[smwilliamson]

Placing a hand on pellet vent isn't that hard to do and isn't necessarily an indication of a stove's efficiency. I can do that on any of my stove too across all 5 heat levels...except for maybe the Ecoteck on 5

 

[Augie]

Just a thought, what about the Avalon Camano?
Specification
Heating Capacity 750 to 1,400 Sq. Feet
Steady State Efficiency 75+%
Weight 300 Lbs.
Heat Output 66800 BTU's / Hour
Maximum Burn Time 8 Hours
Firebox Size 1.6 Cubic Feet
Maximum Log Size 18 "
Emissions 4.4 Grams Per Hour
Construction 5/16" to 3/16" Steel Plate

 

[begreen]

Thank you papa bear for reiterating what I have been trying to get across in the very short time that I have been here. On my first firing of the stove, I was ecstatic that I was able to continually place my hand on the stove pipe and not burn myself. This was after a good two-hour run time. I was able to achieve 320 deg. F at the front of the heat exchanger in level 1. I was using curran pellets, hard/soft mix which for the most part I have read that many do not prefer them.

Got my curiosity up about this stove. According to Paromax's website its low feed rate is 1 lb/hr. Are you able to dial it in lower than that? 34 hrs is a lot longer than factory spec.

I suspect that in addition to a nice stove you have a well insulated house. How many sq ft are you heating?

 

[papa bears stove]

Yes the Paromax stoves can be dialed in to lower than one pound of fuel per hour.
A simple adjustment on the control board is all that is needed.

 

[Don2222]

This is my first post but I've been lurking for 6 months and trying to gather research on a contemporary stove to buy.
New Mexico is swamped with traditional stove offerings like Harmon, Quad, Enviro etc. but I have a contemporary styled house in the mountains and these brands would stick out like a sore thumb. I have an open floor plan with floor to Ceiling windows covering most of the house with the exception of the garage, pantry, and laundry areas.
I've been contacting manufacturers and dealers and have finally found 2 who will sell to me even though there are no dealers in my State. I wanted to ask the advice of people who had either a Piazzetta or Wittus/MCZ on their pros and shortcomings. Also to those owners of any stove who don't have dealers nearby, how do you handle servicing and parts replacements?
I'm going to call a few stove servicing companies this week and see if I can find anyone who can work on these European models. Seeing as how there are no NFI certified techs in a 150 mile radius of me I'm trying to prepare myself with a plan on how to address servicing and repairs.

Hello

I am now a Piazetta dealer. They have a 700k square foot manufacturing facility in Italy and the electronic and electrical parts are made in Germany. They are high end stoves with high quality parts. The exhaust blower is super quiet and retails for $545 USD!

The Piazetta Sveva you got is a pretty well made stove!

This one company has more model pellet stoves than I have ever seen for one company!
See the italian site here
http://www.piazzetta.it/it-IT
See the North American site here
http://www.piazzetta.com/

 

[EastMtn]

Hello

I am now a Piazetta dealer. They have a 700k square foot manufacturing facility in Italy and the electronic and electrical parts are made in Germany. They are high end stoves with high quality parts.

The Piazetta Sveva you got is a pretty well made stove!
/

Why couldn't Mazzeratti do the same thing and have the car designed in Italy and parts made in Germany? I was so close to buying one of their cars used until I discovered how much of a lemon it was.

Thanks Don for doing all the leg work on this. I feel better about the purchase now. Stove should be arriving by freight any minute now.