Any Recommendation for a Woodstove and a Good Dealer In Spokane?

[erice]

Good Morning,

About 19 years ago I bought a VC / Dutchwest Large Convention Mod 2461 from Country Homes in Spokane, WA. The stove has performed pretty well as my primary heat source in a 3,000 sf home. The last few years it seems to have become less efficient and creates a lot of soot on the window and takes a long time to come up to heat.. I suspect over time the air conduits may have become blocked? The cast iron assembly that surrounds the catalytic element were distorted when I bought it and Country Homes never did a proper fix. Bottom line is I'm considering getting a new woodstove.

Can anyone recommend a woodstove dealer in Spokane who can provide good, skilled, honest, fairly priced service on what they sell?

Secondly, anyone have a recommendation for a good replacement stove - hopefully marketed by the recommended dealer(s)?

Thanks in advance,

Eric

 

[begreen]

Other side of the state, but I have found the ChimneySweep to provide a fair price and excellent service. He carries quality products. Sells with no BS and will ship to your area. If you would like to stay with a cat stove, check out local BlazeKing dealers in the Spokane area. And take a look at the Lopi Cape Cod too.

http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/

 

[Sprinter]

Other side of the state, but I have found the ChimneySweep to provide a fair price and excellent service. He carries quality products. Sells with no BS and will ship to your area. If you would like to stay with a cat stove, check out local BlazeKing dealers in the Spokane area. And take a look at the Lopi Cape Cod too.

http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/

Even if you don't want to buy from chimneysweep.com, look over the website to get an idea of models available that may suit you. Sounds like you'll be looking at a pretty big stove, like 3 cf, so you may want to check out Pacific Energy's Alderlea T6 or Summit stoves as well. Lopi, PE, Blaze King, all good options.

I have no recommendations about Spokane dealers, but go around and visit some, get some ideas and check back with questions about specific models you see. If it's not too late for the Spokane County fair, go there. All the dealers will be there and it makes shopping around convenient. Good luck.

 

[Tenn Dave]

hi Eric,

You may also want to check out the Woodstock Progress Hybrid. Woodstock does not have a local dealer network, but they ship direct all over the country. And their customer service is great. http://www.woodstove.com/

 

[mfetcho]

Hi Eric,

I purchased my last stove 7 years ago at Falcos in the Valley. Their service was great and the Quadrafire that I purchased ran great and I never had any issues. I sold my house recently with my Quadrafire and now I am in the market for a new stove for my new house. I have visited both Falcos and Country Homes to find out who has what and at what are the prices. I was only able to compare prices on one stove because of the different makes they carry. Country Homes was $200 less than Falcos on the Quadrafire Isle Royale. Falcos is offering free installation and they told me if I did the installation myself, they could work on the price. My install will require a hole drilled through the wall of my chimney to tie in a new liner. I will get Country Homes to quote this so I can compare apples to apples. Country Homes told me that Quadrafire will knock off $200 off the price of a stove starting this Friday. The Spokane County Fair is a good idea mentioned in the previous post, there may be some additional fair sale prices.

As far as stoves, I am a little partial to Quadrafire because I had great luck with my last (I love the burn control). I am also looking at the Jotul F 600 for an all cast iron stove. I am also partial to non-catalytic, but only because I have owed 4 wood stoves in my burning life and they have all been non-catalytic.

How did you like your Vermont Casting? I have always been intrigued by these stoves, but I have never known anybody who has burned in one.

 

[Highbeam]

hi Eric,

You may also want to check out the Woodstock Progress Hybrid. Woodstock does not have a local dealer network, but they ship direct all over the country. And their customer service is great. http://www.woodstove.com/

I like Woodstock as much as the next guy but that chart is marketing lameness. First off, it deals with the raw number of complaints and not number of complaints per thousand stoves. It is not fair to compare a large company to a small one on this basis alone. The Highbeam Stove Company has zero complaints and that doesn't make me better than woodstock.

Next, what is with the scoring? Cripes, I dislike VC as much as anyone but they earned a C+ despite what the graph shows to be less complaints than A+ rated Woodmsaster.

I do believe that Woodstock has published weak and biased marketing in the past. They make excellent stoves but publishing and/or republishing these graphs has been a bad move.

 

[Tenn Dave]

I like Woodstock as much as the next guy but that chart is marketing lameness. First off, it deals with the raw number of complaints and not number of complaints per thousand stoves. It is not fair to compare a large company to a small one on this basis alone. The Highbeam Stove Company has zero complaints and that doesn't make me better than woodstock.

Next, what is with the scoring? Cripes, I dislike VC as much as anyone but they earned a C+ despite what the graph shows to be less complaints than A+ rated Woodmsaster.

I do believe that Woodstock has published weak and biased marketing in the past. They make excellent stoves but publishing and/or republishing these graphs has been a bad move.

That's your opinion, not mine. But feel free to rant all you want.

 

[Sprinter]

That's your opinion, not mine. But feel free to rant all you want.

I got curious about that chart because at first blush, it does seem to contain some inconsistencies. That chart was done by the Alliance For Green Heat based on BBB ratings of companies. The Alliance's web article that has the chart does specifically state that the raw numbers of complaints did not "heavily impact" the ratings and had some other disclaimers. Woodstock does link this article on it's web page, but it's not theirs.

I think it's actually encouraging that almost all the makers got A or B ratings from BBB. I did notice that not all makers are represented, though.

The whole article: http://forgreenheat.blogspot.com/2013/07/better-business-bureau-and-wood-stove.html.

 

[Tenn Dave]

I got curious about that chart because at first blush, it does seem to contain some inconsistencies. That chart was done by the Alliance For Green Heat based on BBB ratings of companies. The Alliance's web article that has the chart does specifically state that the raw numbers of complaints did not "heavily impact" the ratings and had some other disclaimers. Woodstock does link this article on it's web page, but it's not theirs.

I think it's actually encouraging that almost all the makers got A or B ratings from BBB. I did notice that not all makers are represented, though.

The whole article: http://forgreenheat.blogspot.com/2013/07/better-business-bureau-and-wood-stove.html.

Thanks Sprinter for you research and input. When I posted that chart I intended it to be just another source of information to help other member's in their quest for 'their' perfect stove. The OP had mentioned that he was looking for a dealer with good customer service. I just thought this chart would be just one of many sources of information he could use in making his final decision.

 

[fossil]

First published in 1954, and still a classic little book to this day.

 

[Tenn Dave]

First published in 1954, and still a classic little book to this day.

View attachment 109566

I don't think the BBB or the Alliance for Green Heat is trying to lie about anything. Do you? Did you even read the article? http://forgreenheat.blogspot.com/2013/07/better-business-bureau-and-wood-stove.html

 

[Sprinter]

Frankly I don't like that chart either. BBB's A and B ratings are one thing, but if the "number of complaints" bars on the chart really are raw, unprocessed numbers, then that part of the chart is meaningless. Including those numbers on a chart contradicts the disclaimer in the article. If the numbers did not much influence the BBB ratings, then why show them so graphically?

The article may have been well meaning, but the chart really is misleading IMO. The BBB ratings alone would have been enough.

I'd still buy a Woodstock, though (based on the all-positive and reasonable data base size of members here).

 

[Tenn Dave]

Frankly I don't like that chart either. BBB's A and B ratings are one thing, but if the "number of complaints" bars on the chart really are raw, unprocessed numbers, then that part of the chart is meaningless. Including those numbers on a chart contradicts the disclaimer in the article. If the numbers did not much influence the BBB ratings, then why show them so graphically?

The article may have been well meaning, but the chart really is misleading IMO. The BBB ratings alone would have been enough.

I'd still buy a Woodstock, though (based on the all-positive and reasonable data base size of members here).

Well, the chart is out there. So if you think it is helpful than use it, if not then ignor it. Lets move on and help Eric find a good stove..............

 

[Sprinter]

Lets move on and help Eric find a good stove....

Good idea. Another line that I liked a lot when looking was Lennox's newish Grandview. The 300 would be a suitable size. They also have a more established "Country" line. Being only a few years old, the Grandview doesn't have a large following here, but it looked like a well designed stove


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[webby3650]

Other side of the state, but I have found the ChimneySweep to provide a fair price and excellent service. He carries quality products. Sells with no BS and will ship to your area. If you would like to stay with a cat stove, check out local BlazeKing dealers in the Spokane area. And take a look at the Lopi Cape Cod too.

http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/

I could not agree more with looking at Blaze King! They make a great product and it will do everything that they say it will do, for sure! The Cape Cod is also a great stove! But as a primary heat source, the Blaze King Ultra is gonna be the best bet. That's a lot of area to heat for one stove. The King heated my 2200 sq. foot house 24/7 with plenty of room to breath!

 

[mfetcho]

Eric, How is the stove search? I visited Spokane Fireplace and Patio yesterday. They were knowledgable and helpful. They carry VC and Pacific Energy. They may have convinced me to buy a PE.

 

[privatejoker75]

I found a Blaze King dealer up here in Colville...i'm guessing you have one closer to you. Got a Chinook 20 for like $2200 delivered. Name of the place is R-Rate if you're interested