Classic bay 1200 inefficient?

[Elfmaze]

I am trying to find a stove and I did like that the CB1200 has a big window that I can see from the entire room. But I have read some reviews that have said it is in-efficient and does not throw much heat.

Is it comparable to other models like the cab-50 and quad E2 as far as fuel usage to heat output?

 

[JohnD]

I have a Quad CB 1200.... I love it! Throws out great heat but that also depends on the pellets you use. I heat my entire downstairs and most of upstairs in my cape that has a very closed off floor plan. If your floor plan is open it's even better but the Quad CB 1200 is awesome!

 

[Elfmaze]

Good to know! I had one dealer tell me that the Harmon would be way more efficient and lower cost to opperate and saw one post in this forum that someone said their Englander way outdoes the cb1200 on heat output. I dont understand what makes one stove heat better than the rest, and all I can look at is burn rates and efficiency ratings.

the guys at wise heat dont have much good to say about it
(broken link removed)

This stove is currently on my very short list to purchase next week

 

[Papelletman]

I am by no means a pro on pellet stoves on the quad cb1200, but I did install one in the middle of March and so far I like it. Very simple to use and seems to give some pretty good heat.

When I first started looking at stoves it was the $1000.00 dollar ones and ended up on the Quad.

 

[Elfmaze]

Pa pellet guy what store did you buy from? your only a half hour drive south of us.

 

[Papelletman]

The Stove Shop in Phoenixville, their website is fireplaceexperts.com

 

[xSpecBx]

I just bought a CB 1200 insert two weeks ago and it is going in tomorrow. Both the store I bought it from (one of the largest stove dealers at least in the Northeast) as well as my installer both told me the CB 1200 is a great stove that gives off quite a bit of heat. I have no personal experience with it other then when they had it running for me in the store, but I have a few friends who have been using them for a couple years and they love the stove and have been very pleased with its performance.

In my head, the only thing that would make one stove more efficient than another would be how efficient the heat exchanger is and maybe if one stove has better adjustment then another so you get a better flame. Again, I have very little experience with pellet stoves so this is all just speculation, but I haven't heard too many bad things about the CB 1200. Everyone tells me its one of the best stoves for the price because it is relatively inexpensive for the amount of heat it gives off (47,300 BTU according to the quadra-fire site). I'm sure there's a lot of variable (type of pellets you use, maintenance, etc.) that goes into that number, but still a pretty good number for a stove under $3k.

 

[Elfmaze]

I finally found why they don't advertise the efficiency much. manual claims 78% not great by today's standards as the E2 gets 87%. But that said. It still claims to be able to put out 37,600btus. Loosing about 8200btus up the stack.

When calculating the loss over 3 tons of pellets
CB1200 waists 10.82 million BTUs
Mt Vernon E2 waists 6.40 million BTUs

difference of 4.43 million or about 27% of a ton

The "inefficency" will cost me $20 per ton burned or about 60-80 dollars a year...... I guess thats not so much that its worth worrying about?

 

[Elfmaze]

(47,300 BTU according to the quadra-fire site).

remember this is the "input" BTUs, the output into the room is this number times the efficiency rating. and that's assuming its running at its best 100% of the time. But the numbers still look pretty high when compared to my electric space heaters that are there now. (~5000BTU's from a 1500watt heater)

Give us a report and pictures when you get it all set up!

 

[Papelletman]

If you read the MT Vernon it says up to 87% but then shows the input but of 52,500 and the output of 37,600.

The owners manual that came with my cb1200 shows but output of 14,000 to 40,000.

 

[xSpecBx]

remember this is the "input" BTUs, the output into the room is this number times the efficiency rating. and that's assuming its running at its best 100% of the time. But the numbers still look pretty high when compared to my electric space heaters that are there now. (~5000BTU's from a 1500watt heater)

Give us a report and pictures when you get it all set up!

That makes sense. Even at $60-80 per year, there is still a substantial price difference (~$1100+) between the CB and the E2. That difference in efficiency will take 11+ years to add up to the price difference and at that point I would hope the stove has paid for itself plus some. You'll still be saving money, just not as much.

I will get some pictures posted tomorrow after the installers leave. Looking forward to it. Right now its sitting in my living room all wrapped up staring me in the face.

 

[bas157]

The Stove Shop in Phoenixville, their website is fireplaceexperts.com

That is where I got my P68 from. elfmaze, what town are you from?

 

[Elfmaze]

That is where I got my P68 from. elfmaze, what town are you from?

Im in Coplay on the north side of Allentown.

 

[Elfmaze]

I found where some of my confusion has come from. I was looking at the brocure that I got from the dealer and in there it claims 85%, the website doesn't mention it and the manual says 78% .

Maby they changed the design at some point? old manual i was reading. Or maby they use different rating systems.. but certainly made me think twice.

 

[Jaymaine34]

I'm a huge fan of the cb1200 ! Your layout and type of pellet used will play a huge part .

 

[Elfmaze]

Since i have some owners in here. Do you recommend any of the accessories?

Top vent kit:
Do you recommend this kit or just get a pellet stove kit that has the 90* clean out on the bottom and then 90* out the window

brick and logs kit:
I mean we are looking at this stove because its "pretty"

 

[moey]

You need to be careful on the ratings a lot of pellet stoves just get a default rating not even tested. Garbage in garbage out...

I have a CB the thinks I like about it:

Very easy to clean no hidden spots.
Very simple to use

Cons

It does not have room temp type design where it will maintain a temp and throttle up and down. It does have a thermostat but that is for on off.

Id be careful what you read about reviews there are literally thousands and thousands of CB's out there your getting the negative reviews a lot more then a positive review.

Im sure there are some more efficient stoves. They may cost more though and keep in mind a stove being down for a week in the middle of winter would cost you that savings you may be getting.

 

[Elfmaze]

It does not have room temp type design where it will maintain a temp and throttle up and down. It does have a thermostat but that is for on off.

So if i set the thermostat will it have to fire the starter up each time it falls below that temp? If thats the case how often can it cycle an hour(i know there are a ton of variables in duty cycle for a given setting)

 

[Jaymaine34]

So if i set the thermostat will it have to fire the starter up each time it falls below that temp? If thats the case how often can it cycle an hour(i know there are a ton of variables in duty cycle for a given setting)

Runs best with a thermostat with a swing set of 3 ( set stove to 74 will heat room to 77 and stay off until room drops to 71 for example ) that way no short cycles
I like longer runs on venting
Log set is nice when stove is not running not much use during burn time ( gets dirty fast ) my dealer just gave me mine no charge
90% of the time my stoves run on low with feed gate almost 100% open nice even heat

 

[moey]

During cold periods I typically would run on low and adjust the feed rate. Stove would be on all day. I preferred that to on/off with a thermostat.

 

[Gman12]

I also highly recommend the Quad CB 1200. I've owned mine for about 4 years now and I love it! I have a 1600 sq ft open ranch home and it heats it great. I usually always have it running on the Lower setting because we find after a while on the High setting that it gets too warm. We just use the pellets from Home Depot or Lowes. We also have a wireless thermostat that is set how Jaymaine34 said with the swing set of 3. I believe if you decided on the CB1200, you won't be sorry you got it. Best of luck with choosing a stove.

 

[JohnD]

I

Since i have some owners in here. Do you recommend any of the accessories?

Top vent kit:
Do you recommend this kit or just get a pellet stove kit that has the 90* clean out on the bottom and then 90* out the window

brick and logs kit:
I mean we are looking at this stove because its "pretty"

wish I had the top vent kit....it would be so much easier to clean the ash from the vent that ways now I have to go outside and angle the wire brush 90* very ton of pellets. Top vent would be so much easier, just flip the latch and clean from inside... Brick and logs are ok to look at but I've heard they are a pain to have to take out and clean...

 

[Jaymaine34]

Log set nice to look at but gets dirty fast !