Battle of the low budget stoves

[smwilliamson]

Hey guys, I have been asked to use my independent service data to support an article which will compare then lowest of low budget stoves. These are the stoves you'll find around for less than $1500 retail. So I'm putting it out there....as a community, let's try and figure out all of the criteria. So far I have:

Price
Emissions
Efficiency
Customer Service
Availability
Service History
Cost of ownership over 7 years
A pay off calculator
Installation differences
Hopper capacity and other basic specs
Thermostat capability
Cleaning tolerance before shut down
Overall ease of use
Operating volume (opinion)
Pro's and Con's (opinion)

 

[joecool85]

How soon do you need the data? I have an Amesti N380 we will be installing this summer. Cost me just $399, normally $599 at Lowes. Looks like a nice little stove. Non-cat type with secondary burn. Small firebox, about 1.4 cubic ft, rated for about 40,000 btu.

 

[smwilliamson]

Pellet stove please. Geeez

 

[Fsappo]

Country of Origin

 

[smwilliamson]

Indeed. Though last night I watched a terrific argument for globalization on TED.com.

Numbers and statistics don't lie. As other nations become wealthy besides us the success rate for cures of disease increase like mad, but let's not get too off topic....

 

[Fsappo]

I didnt intend to get off the subject. It's just something some consumers may be interested in knowing.
Where its built
How much it will cost to keep running
Cost to buy
Payback time is a good one, but will vary many times from date of data entry to date of publish.
I always look for consumer feedback comments when researching large purchases online.

 

[woodsman23]

BTU's
weight

 

[joecool85]

Pellet stove please. Geeez

Haha! That's what I get for clicking "New Topics" and reading all the interesting ones without noticing which sub category they came from. Woops.

 

[Bkins]

Parts availability?

 

[begreen]

Design (visual)
Design (mechanical)

By operating volume, did you mean loudness?

 

[WoodPorn]

Design (visual)
Design (mechanical)

By operating volume, did you mean loudness?

Is 2 - 11 louder than 1 - 10??

 

[Delta-T]

Design (visual)
Design (mechanical)

By operating volume, did you mean loudness?

Is 2 - 11 louder than 1 - 10??

sometimes you got everything turned up to 10, but you still need a bit more, thats why mine goes to 11.

 

[Tatnic Corners]

As a potential buyer I would want to know if the stove I am looking at is an autoignite or if it was a manual igniter.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Ease of access to serviceable parts
Size of or existence of ash pan
bottom feed or top feed
Does it use external thermostat?
hopper capacity
Multifuel capable
radiant heat, forced air or both
does manufacturer support it or must you use the dealer?

 

[Fsappo]

As a potential buyer I would want to know if the stove I am looking at is an autoignite or if it was a manual igniter.

doh, good one. How did we miss that??

 

[tinkabranc]

Warranty specs? Mfr or extended.
Is it transferable?

 

[briansol]

can hold a full bag + of pellets
electric draw / energy guide rating

 

[summit]

venting requirements: does it always need an OAK? Can the vent go closer than 48" to window?

 

[kilbury]

12 volt or battery backup capable? Warranty coverage as far as labor reimbursment, i.e. will customer have charges for warranty work or will manufacturer cover some or all of it? Of course that is somewhat left to the servicing dealer.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

As a potential buyer I would want to know if the stove I am looking at is an autoignite or if it was a manual igniter.

doh, good one. How did we miss that??

Because we all know how easy it is to light a stove manually and don't worry about how the fire gets started (in other words we have matches, an approved accelerant and tend to being a bit pyro)

 

[Fsappo]

Yes, but for the huddled masses of sheeple who come into my showroom and say "well my uncle wilber says I need an auto ignition because the stove he bought from home deeper for $34 has one" They may be interested.

 

[smwilliamson]

Design (visual)
Design (mechanical)

By operating volume, did you mean loudness?

Is 2 - 11 louder than 1 - 10??

sometimes you got everything turned up to 10, but you still need a bit more, thats why mine goes to 11.

You see this skeleton on my shirt...it's an exact replica of the bones in my body, except the inside of my body is red, not green.

 

[smwilliamson]

All excellent points and I will consider them all. Remember though...we are looking at the cheapest new stoves out there. It will be a fun project no doubt. I'm starting it next week sometime.

 

[Tatnic Corners]

As a potential buyer I would want to know if the stove I am looking at is an autoignite or if it was a manual igniter.

doh, good one. How did we miss that??

Because we all know how easy it is to light a stove manually and don't worry about how the fire gets started (in other words we have matches, an approved accelerant and tend to being a bit pyro)

then as an obviously newby idiot do I have to crawl out of bed at 3am to light the stove? or when the stove is going does it stay on until it is actually turned off? That seems like a waste, my gas stove doesn't have a pilot light. If I am going from a wood stove to a pellet because of the "convenience" where is the convenience of having to play with matches? Are the pellets my pilot light?

glad I logged in with questions, and got answered by sarcasm.

 

[Fsappo]

Im sure it was not so much intended sarcasm as it was a silly way to infere that lots of folks here are truly fire bugs. To answer your question, one of the stoves I burn in my showroom has no electronic ignition but it still runs on a thermostat. It just cycles between heat settings, high to low. So waking up at 3am? Nah. My stove runs 24/7. I just shut it down once a week for sprucing up (because its in the showroom, if it was at my house, I'd let it go a few weeks)

The nice part about this, no igniter to go bad, and no bringing the stove or heating area up from a cold start. Just nice even heat.