"Big E" or "Enviro Maxx" What's Your Opinion

[kingman1]

Hi,

I'm on oil heat and have decided to supplement it with a pellet stove.
I'm looking for a model that wont break the bank, puts out lots of BTUS, and goes a long time between feedings.
I have 2600 sf.

I've narrowed my choices to the Breckwell "Big E" or the Enviro Maxx.
I'm wondering what your opinion is as to which one is better.

Feel free to talk me out of these and point me to a different model if you think there is a better choice.

Thanks in advance for your help.

jeff

 

[imacman]

Hi Kingman, welcome to the forum.

Before you go too much further, make sure you read the green "sticky" at the top of the home page that relates to "buying your first stove".

Besides that, my choice between the 2 you picked out would be the Maxx, by far.

Breckwell is having "problems" with their stoves due to them trying to cut corners to lower their manufacturing costs....unfortunately, the stove quality is suffering.

 

[jtakeman]

I owned the bigE and its slightly overated. I would not use it in more than 1600 sqft. The stove ran OK, Just didn't throw the Big heat I needed.

I bought the Maxx's sister. The Omega. All I can say is I am warmer than ever now. Runs quite and cranks the heat. No troubles so far.

good luck
jay

 

[kingman1]

Inferno,

thanks for the info. I can't find the green sticky "buying your first stove".
Help por favor.
jeff

 

[jtakeman]

Inferno,

thanks for the info. I can't find the green sticky "buying your first stove".
Help por favor.
jeff

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewannounce/13750_22/

 

[imacman]

Thanks for the help jay...I guess i should have said the green "announcements" at the top.

 

[Sami]

Don't know if you have already gotten a stove but I have the Maxx. My house is a six room ranch. Have the stove in the basement at one end of the house at the bottom of the stairs. Havent used the furnace in two years (when we bought the stove).

The only complaint I have is that last week I down graded from Hamer Hot Ones' to Juniata and found that the Juniata caused me to have to play with the stove to keep the fire going. Had to turn up the auger run time etc.

Up to this point had used a higher grade of pelletts (Hamer, etc) was told that Juniata was just as good..... well I have four ton that apparently isn't... the first 200 lbs. is burning in an inferior fashion.

The stove will compensate for the poor quality of pellets the temp outside tonight is 10 degrees F. it is 75 in here and the stove is only on the second from the bottom setting.

I don't know another stove that will produce the BTU this one will and hold the amount of pellets it will.

Good luck

 

[imacman]

....Up to this point had used a higher grade of pelletts (Hamer, etc) was told that Juniata was just as good..... well I have four ton that apparently isn't... the first 200 lbs. is burning in an inferior fashion. .....

Sami, talk is cheap. If we've said it once, we've said it a million times on the forum.....NEVER buy a large quantity of pellets without doing 2-3 bags of "test-burning" first.

My father would have called that "buying a pig in a poke".

 

[UncleAnthony]

We have the Maxx for our second year and are very happy with it..heating close to 3000 square feet. Furthest room is 69.

Burned the crappy Athens pellets last year..got Greene Team this year...HUGE difference...Even comfortable heat everywhere...Try to get a good dealer though, we had an absolutely miserable experience with our installation. Took forever and you could tell they didn't give a diddly whether we liked it or not..

 

[pelletdude]

We installed a MAXX in a raised ranch 2 weeks ago - the upstairs is 72 degrees burning Dragon Mountain pellets. The customer can't say enough about it.

 

[trbinrat]

I love mine. All I can say is to clean the stove every 1.5t and you won't have any problems. I think most of the problems were fix when the went from the 3" to the 4" vent tube.

 

[buildingmaint]

Why don't any of you with Omegas say how many lbs a day your going through . Not cutting on any of you , just wondering.

 

[jtakeman]

Why don't any of you with Omegas say how many lbs a day your going through . Not cutting on any of you , just wondering.

No problem, 3.8 lbs./Hr.(medium setting) using 1 1/2 bags(60 lbs.) a day at close to 2000sqft. Same house with bigE was 2 plus bags(80 lbs plus) a day. Stove maxed(5 lbs/Hr.) most of the time. I only changed the stove(before I cooked it). Also using same pellets Turmans. IMO I wouldn't even think of installing the bigE in 2600sqft house.

 

[buildingmaint]

3.8 lbs x 24= 91.2 LBS

 

[jtakeman]

3.8 lbs x 24= 91.2 LBS

Yes if it were running 24hrs. So 5 lbs per hour on the bigE would be 120 lbs. NO?
Running Auto off both stoves. Once the temp is reached both stove went to off. I don't run mine at one set feed rate.

I am running Hi/Lo mode now and still using less than I would with the bigE. Sorry but the Omega has a more efficient heat exchanger and the heat isn't lost out the vent like the bigE. I think I cover this one other time. As a matter of fact my bigE wouldn't even run on Hi/Lo no matter what I did to it. It was also pellet picky too! I get more heat from the Omega on cheap pellets than what I got from the bigE with the best I could through in the hopper. No way in hell you are getting 55,000 BTU out a 5 lbs./hr stove. Best pellets I ever seen were 9000 BTU/Hr.(So 9000 x 5 =45,000 BTU'S total). Now that's over rated!

The bigE is OK for a cheaper stove, But doesn't even come close to the quality and efficiency of more expensive stove. You get what you pay for! Every time you change the heat settings. You need to adjust the damper. The Omega has a Variable Speed Combustion and adjusts with the feed rate automatically. Much more user friendly. Trust me go check one out! Even the smaller M55 will put the bigE to shame!

Sorry buildingmaint, I am just not a big fan of anything Breckwell has to offer. The quality has dropped. But if it works for you I am glad you are happy. If the OP was heating a smaller house and planned on running at 1 set feed rate(say 2 or 3) the bigE would do OK. 2600 sqft is just to much for it, IMO I think he wouldn't be happy or warm with the bigE.

 

[buildingmaint]

I was just correcting your math , you didn't state that you were not running the stove 24/7.

 

[jtakeman]

I was just correcting your math , you didn't state that you were not running the stove 24/7.

Gotcha, I probably would have done better with the bigE if I did run it 24/7 at one constent heat setting. It just struggled to raise my temps when I let it drop to 68ºF. Worked real hard trying to recover to 72ºF. But I do have the basement install against me too!

Sorry I got long winded.

 

[summit]

Breckwells are kinda cheap and tinny.... go knock your knuckles on the inside of one, then do the same to the enviro: we sell the vistaflame VF170 (its the maxx marketed under a different name) and it is very dependable, throws tons of heat and has a fairly good tolerance to lower grades of pellets... the burnpot is also twice the size of the breckwell's, makes a much nicer flame, and the heat exchanger is huge (vs the flat steel panel in the big e) and gets plenty of heat extraction.

 

[imacman]

we sell the vistaflame VF170 (its the maxx marketed under a different name)

Summit, just curious....if it's the identical stove re-badged, what is the price savings, if any?

 

[summit]

I'm not sure, as i am not privy to the enviro price list (maybe someone who has bought one, or is looking at one can shed some light on this), but the parts are all the same, and the body of the stoves is the same: all of our stocked parts actually come in an "enviro" parts bag.... but we have the VF170 (maxx) listed at 2949, but usually sell them @ 2700 or so....

 

[jtakeman]

macman,

Here's a couple of pick's for you. You looking to step up in stove's????? I will bet you the M55 or the VF55 FS will keep you toasty! :lol:

Summit,

What are you getting for the VF55 FS? I got a friend looking at the M55.

jay

 

[summit]

macman,

Here's a couple of pick's for you. You looking to step up in stove's????? I will bet you the M55 or the VF55 FS will keep you toasty! :lol:

Summit,

What are you getting for the VF55 FS? I got a friend looking at the M55.

jay

VF55 run @ 2800... pretty good unit, it can run forever without having to clean the pot because of the mulitfuel agitator... and its acutally pretty quiet even with the extra motor: Only two cons that i can find since we got one hooked up at the shop
1. the brick looking backing behind the pot is made of ceramic fiber, so it must be handled w/ care
2. the distribution fan, while it looks fairly robust, does not put out as many CFM's as I would like.

 

[pelletdude]

We sell the Maxx with Small glass Door @ $2,500 and with large glass door @ $2,700.00
The M55 @ $3,000.00

Every Maxx and M55 I have sold the customers love. Can't say enough about the heat and quiet operation

 

[trbinrat]

I bought my Maxx in June of 08 and paid $2200 with the small glass @ the same store today they sell it for $2600.

It's amazing how stove prices went up when the rebate went into effect.