COMFORT BILT

[Miss Bailey]

Look'n at a Comfort Bilt HP22

Anyone have one of these or for that matter any Comfort Bilt model?

Googled Best pellet stoves and this one comes up. But I've also read a negative review.

It's half the price of a Harman, but that might be for a reason and I don't want to waste 2K on something that isn't going to last.

Appreciate some feed back/opinions.

Thanks

 

[sjguido]

I ordered this stove and will have it next week. Amazon has 81 reviews on it and at 4.5 stars it's pretty promising! Enough for me to give it a shot. Good luck!

 

[Miss Bailey]

I ordered this stove and will have it next week. Amazon has 81 reviews on it and at 4.5 stars it's pretty promising! Enough for me to give it a shot. Good luck!

Ya I saw that/those on reviews on Amazon. Even breaks it down by how many are 5 stars to 1 star rating.

Did you order it from Amazon? I see that Home Depot also carries them, I think for the same price, so if I do decide to buy it I'll probably order it from them cuz I can get a 10% discount. Always nice to save a few bucks.

Thanks for your input. And let me know how the install goes, seems really simple, as well as how you like it after running it for a few days. I also looked at a couple YouTube videos on ComfortBilt stoves.

 

[Miss Bailey]

I ordered this stove and will have it next week. Amazon has 81 reviews on it and at 4.5 stars it's pretty promising! Enough for me to give it a shot. Good luck!

Hi
So you must have it by now, how was the install?

I just received mine and I'm waiting on a piece of duravent so I haven't fired it up yet.

 

[Miss Bailey]

So I decided to give it a go! Called Glenn, the company owner of ComfortBilt stoves, and talked with him for a few minutes, and I also looked at a couple of his YouTube videos.

Got $100 discount for military service, so that was nice, and I did compare prices since they are also sold by Amazon and HomeDepot.

Ordering directly from ComfortBilt turned out to be the best price, regular $1,999 minus $100 military discount: Total $1,899

That includes taxes and shipping. If I ordered thru Amazon I'd pay a shipping charge plus 6.25% Massachusetts tax.

From HomeDepot, same tax and also a delivery charge, think it was $55. But I would get a 10% military discount which is $200, a hundred more than the discount from Glenn, but with the delivery and tax it was still less coming from Glenn.

 

[Miss Bailey]

The delivery truck arrived yesterday, so it took four days to arrive from the time the order was placed. The driver only has a pallet jack so we were not able to bring it up the 15 steps to the top of my deck. So in the garage it went.

Got my neighbor, who has a dolly, to help me and up the stairs we went. Definitely got the heart rate up, in packaging it weighs 320 pounds, unpacked I think it's something like 270. So for two of us it wasn't bad, but by myself I think it woulda been impossible.

Once on the deck I removed the packaging, it had two bracket fasteners on the bottom of the back of the stove that were screwed into the wood pallet to keep it from being able to move within the packaging. Took less than a minute or two to unpack.

In the shipping packaging it wouldn't of fit thru the doorway so once unpacked I slid a piece of carpet under the stove and we slid it into the house and over to the pad and set it in place.

 

[Miss Bailey]

The issue I have is I'm removing/replacing my old Whitfield stove with this new ComfortBilt HP22 stove which means I already have a vent in place. Obviously this stove and the old stove have a different height where the vent adapter connects.

Moving the vent hole is obviously not an option. Nobody wants to put another hole in their house. Hahaha. So I ordered a 6 inch piece of duravent from HomeDepot and it should arrive the 16 or 17th.

Eyeballing it I'm not sure the 6 inch will work, could be 5 inches or so. Won't know until I get the piece of vent in so I can give it a dry fit.

In the pic above it looks more like a little over 3 inches. But they don't make a piece of vent that small. So I may have to cut the 6 inch piece down a little.

Duravent does have a 12 inch piece that is adjustable. One end doesn't have the locking tabs used to hold/connect to the other piece. Instead it allows you to slide over the other vent to the desired length. For example if it needed to be 7 or 8 inches you could get a perfect fit. It does require hi temp sealant adhesive and like most three tap screws to securely hold everything in place.

So until I get that 6 inch piece I can't do anything else. If the 6 inch vent doesn't work I'll either have to cut it or return it and get the 12 inch adjustable piece and cut it probably close to in half.

One way or another I'll make it work. It's taking HomeDepot longer to deliver the vent piece than it took to order and receive the stove!

 

[Miss Bailey]

Forgot to say that I listed my old, not working, Whitfield on Craigslist, and within an hour got six or seven replies. Posted it for $150 or best offer.

So of course everybody lowballed me with $50 but I said since I just posted it I'll give it a couple days and get back to you. One of the guys immediately responded back and said I'll give you the $150 for it.

So while I had my neighbor helping me move the new stove we also put the Whitfield on the dolly and lowered it down to the first landing, eight steps down and called the guy and said come and get it, it's ready to go.

He was only like 20 minutes away, owns the same exact stove and he purchased his the same year from the same dealer back in 1993. He said he's gonna get it running to which I responded Good Luck, if you can fix it I'll be really happy for you.

I spent a week plus working on it trying to figure it out and replaced everything that shoulda been the problem but to no avail. So at what point to do say enough is enough and not end up with an endless money pit. 25 years I got out of that Whitfield so I can't complain.

Plus now the new stoves are more efficient and programmable. The old Whitfield didn't even have an ignitor, you have to use pellet fuel, I had a jar of pellets soaked in denatured alcohol, which you put say a dozen in the burn pot and lit with a lighter.

So for $150, even if he can't get it running, it's still worth it for parts. The burn pot is no longer made, and almost impossible to find, I've never been able to find a replacement, instead you have to buy the new smaller burn pots, Whitfield reduced them from 7 inches to 5.5 inches or so. Obviously the five inch doesn't fit so you also have to buy a new mounting plate, the kit, burn pot and plate, will run you close to $200.

Then all the other parts, the firebricks are almost new, two seasons of use, the control board, blowers etc...

With the Whitfield sitting on the landing, 7 more steps to the driveway, I had the guy backup as close to the steps as possible and we used my ramps. We only had to lower it one step and then across the ramps right into the back of his truck.

My old Whitfield which gave us 25 years of heat, probably put 150,000 pounds of pellets thru that baby! Sad to see it go but it was time for a new ComfortBilt HP22 stove!

 

[Miss Bailey]

Stopped at Lowes and picked up a 12" adjustable duravent. So I slide it into the fixed existing vent, venting from my old Whitfield, and inserted the "T" and appliance adapter fitting into the new stove so I could see exactly the distance between the fixed vent and the new stove. The new stove exhaust vent is much lower than the Whitfield exhaust vent.

Took out the tape measure and it looks like it's just under 6 inches. So the 6 inch piece I have on order from Home Depot should fit and I'll return the piece from Lowes. Worst case scenario I'll cut the 12" adjustable down to the exact size, that of it ends up being under 6 inches.

I'll try to post a picture of it tomorrow in case I'm describing it and leaving you totally confused. A pictures worth a 1000 words!

Simply put the vent from the Whitfield does not align with the exhaust of the new stove. About a six inch difference. And I have No Plan to move and put another hole in my house. So I've gotta make it fit.

 

[Miss Bailey]

Took a quick picture, not the best but pretty much shows the problem, but I think I just might get pretty lucky cuz that six inch piece might fit perfectly.

As you can see it's right around 3 inches in-between and factor an inch and a half overlap on both ends = 6 inches in total. Can't say for sure until I get the piece and try a dry fit.

 

[FirepotPete]

You always have the option of raising the stove x amount of inches, say with some solid nice looking bricks.

 

[Miss Bailey]

You always have the option of raising the stove x amount of inches, say with some solid nice looking bricks.

Ya there's plenty of options, it does sit on four posts/pads that look like they can be adjusted. Like a kitchen stove, probably so you can make certain it is sitting level. But I'm guessing that's really a minimal amount of adjustment.

It looks pretty good the way it sits from the factory and from the measurement I took as in the above picture, I think that six inch piece will fit just right.

Just wish I had ordered that piece a couple days earlier, even tho I didn't even have the stove yet. I asked them, ComfortBilt, what was the height from the floor of the exhaust vent and compared it to my old Whitfield and it looked like a six inch piece might work so I placed an order. Didn't think it would take so long to get here. October 8th I placed the order.

 

[jodalton5]

I got the HP22N last week. Also waiting for a piece of pipe so I can get it fired up. Hope she is as good as my Mt Vernon stove....

 

[Miss Bailey]

I got the HP22N last week. Also waiting for a piece of pipe so I can get it fired up. Hope she is as good as my Mt Vernon stove....

Looks good!
Are you replacing your Mt Vernon stove or this a second stove? I'm guessing second stove since its in the basement.

Mine is a replacement so I have to lineup to the old vents. Taking forever to get the six inch piece of duravent.

Did you order directly from Glenn?

 

[jodalton5]

Looks good!
Are you replacing your Mt Vernon stove or this a second stove? I'm guessing second stove since its in the basement.

Mine is a replacement so I have to lineup to the old vents. Taking forever to get the six inch piece of duravent.

Did you order directly from Glenn?

This is my second stove. Moved the Mt. Vernon out to my shop and then moved location of new stove into basement.
Yes I bought directly from Glenn and got 5 year warranty. About $2,800.
Hope it is worth the money..... Got a couple tons of pellets this week. Just waiting on 12" piece of pipe.

 

[Miss Bailey]

This is my second stove. Moved the Mt. Vernon out to my shop and then moved location of new stove into basement.
Yes I bought directly from Glenn and got 5 year warranty. About $2,800.
Hope it is worth the money..... Got a couple tons of pellets this week. Just waiting on 12" piece of pipe.

How much was the warranty?

So you are doing the install yourself I take it. Did you get the hp22?

Not a whole lot to a pellet stove, motor, auger, blowers, etc... It seems to be built quite well. 273 pounds so it's pretty heavy. And 50,000 BTU output, wow that's a lot of heat.

Lowe's stocks the 12" pieces, not sure if you have one locally. Think it's about $17-18. They also sell the adjustable 12" piece. Incase you only need 7 or 8 or whatever. It slides over/into the connecting piece. So it only has the locking tabs on one end. You need to use a hi temp sealant, less than $5 at Lowe's, and they recommend you use three self tapping screws to lock them together. Costs more for the adjustable piece tho, around $28

Here's a pic of one, I got it just in case the six inch piece doesn't fit, figured I could always cut it down to the correct size.

You can see how it can slid over and past the 1.5 inch deep tabs.

 

[Miss Bailey]

Ok I see you got the hp22N. I think that has the larger hopper if I remember right. I like it. Very good look'n stove.

I already did a dry run on the annual clean out. Really easy, two wing nuts to open the small clean out port, right side when facing the stove. Also opened the left side panel to access the other port clean out, directly behind the blower, and I removed the five wing nuts on the face of the blower and remove it to check it out.

Love the huge ash pan. Probably can go several months without emptying it out.

Can't wait to fire it up!

 

[jodalton5]

How much was the warranty?

So you are doing the install yourself I take it. Did you get the hp22?

Not a whole lot to a pellet stove, motor, auger, blowers, etc... It seems to be built quite well. 273 pounds so it's pretty heavy. And 50,000 BTU output, wow that's a lot of heat.

Lowe's stocks the 12" pieces, not sure if you have one locally. Think it's about $17-18. They also sell the adjustable 12" piece. Incase you only need 7 or 8 or whatever. It slides over/into the connecting piece. So it only has the locking tabs on one end. You need to use a hi temp sealant, less than $5 at Lowe's, and they recommend you use three self tapping screws to lock them together. Costs more for the adjustable piece tho, around $28

Here's a pic of one, I got it just in case the six inch piece doesn't fit, figured I could always cut it down to the correct size.

View attachment 230922

View attachment 230923

You can see how it can slid over and past the 1.5 inch deep tabs.

I got the HP22N. It is basically the HP22 but with a larger hopper size. The 5 year warranty was an extra $250$. All parts covered.
Yea I have one of the adjustable ones already. I don't really like using them so ordered a standard 12".

 

[Miss Bailey]

$250 is a pretty good deal for all parts/five years

I might get that too!

 

[Miss Bailey]

Still waiting on my piece of duravent. Home Depot tracking says expect delivery on the 17th.

I seriously doubt I'll ever order online from Home Depot again, OMG are they ever slow. Amazon woulda been way faster.

 

[Miss Bailey]

Update:

Fired up the stove several days ago and everything seems to be running perfectly. Puts out tremendous HEAT.

Also much more quite than the ol Whitfield, and I haven't tried out the "quite mode". Think it's just less blower output. I'm leaving everything in the Default settings

I did notice a smell for an hour or so during the first startup. Pretty sure it was from the first heating up of all the metal pipes.

Got down to 34 the other night so I had the stove in manual mode, probably will keep it in Manual Mode, and woke up around 2am cuz it was way way to warm to sleep. Went down stairs, looked at the living room thermostat and it was 79 degrees.

So I immediately lowered the stove to # 1. the lowest setting. Went back to sleep and when I went downstairs around 8am it was 72 in the living room.

I'm pretty sure it will keep the house nice and Toasty all winter long!

After putting the venting together, I ran a bead of hi temp silicone around all the joints and eight hours or so later I wrapped them with 3M Hi Temp tape. 1.5"W X 15'L

Tried out setting 4. (Manual setting are 1 - 5) and after only 20 minutes or so I heard a beep sound. Went and looked at the control panel and noticed the manual setting of 4 automatically lower to 3. Also noticed the room temperature was 89 Degrees.

So it's good to know that even in Manual Mode the stove will not just keep running and have a melt down.

 

[Miss Bailey]

Staying warm and Toasty!

 

[Miss Bailey]

I have an 800W Inverter that I use for the tv/computer whenever we have a power outage. Doesn't happen often, but when a big storm moves in we once in awhile lose power.

Usually last anywhere from minutes to a couple hours. So I thought I'd see if the 800 watts is enough to run the stove. And much to my surprise it did just fine.

Fired it up and ran it for an hour or so on the inverter. Put my hand on the inverter to see if it was get'n warm/hot, and it was cold/cool to the touch.

I'm still going to get a more powerful one and keep this one for its original purpose. Probably get a 1200W one for the stove since I do need another one anyway. You never know how long the power could be out and I only tested it for an hour. So 6 - 8 hours who knows the 800W one might not be able to handle it for that long, and if the power still didn't restore I'd have to switch to the backup battery for another 6 - 8 hours.

 

[Miss Bailey]

Ordered a more powerful Power Inverter from Amazon. Should be here in a couple days. It will have no problem running the stove for endless hours of time.

Then again, hope it's never needed. Losing power stinks.

I think I will run the stove on it at least once or twice a week just to use some of the power for several hours. Then put the batteries back on the Battery Tender Jr., to maintain a full charge.

 

[Miss Bailey]

Boy Amazon is fast. Placed an order Friday evening and Sunday the P.O. dropped off the box. And that's using the regular Free Shipping option. Not a Prime member.

Anyway, got the new Power Inverter all set and gave it a trial run for several hours. Ran the stove and used the shop vac too. So it definitely can handle running the stove for days.

Now the battery is on the Battery Tender Jr., been charging overnight and still isn't fully charged. Those tenders trickle charge really slow.

Should be all set if we ever end up with a power outage.