"ComfortBilt HP22" out of NC sounds a little weird

[bags]

This stove is all over Craigslist and I have seen it on Ebay and Amazon. Is it another SCAM? Some guy Glenn in NC at SMG Hearth is supposedly selling these for $1,199.00 with free shipping. Somebody answers a mobile phone (I believe) and has a deal about how wonderful they are but they are held up by customs currently.

I have a bad feeling about this one... ?????????

 

[Jason845845]

This stove is all over Craigslist and I have seen it on Ebay and Amazon. Is it another SCAM? Some guy Glenn in NC at SMG Hearth is supposedly selling these for $1,199.00 with free shipping. Somebody answers a mobile phone (I believe) and has a deal about how wonderful they are but they are held up by customs currently.

I have a bad feeling about this one... ?????????

I couldn't imagine buying a pellet stove on eBay or amazon. Common sense would tell anyone that eventually you're going to need parts. Better to do a little research and get an Englander or Heatilator at that price point and know you can keep the thing running.

 

[CladMaster]

(broken link removed to http://www.moshalis.gr/index.php/stoves-pellet/hp-22) click on the English flag at the top of the page for a translation, these are made in Greece from what I can tell.

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[BronxBoy]

I ordered one and it is being delivered today. I will let you know how it goes. (Although I receive it today the local installers can't get to me until after Thanksgiving.)

From my several interactions with him, I believe Glenn is very reputable and responsive. He has an exclusive USA contract with the Chinese producers.

I actually had my eyes on another unit, the Seraph 106, that burns multi-fuels but is much more expensive. Since this is our first stove, based on a lot of the feedback I received on another forum here, I opted for the HP22 as a starter unit. If we like the pellet experience I can always sell the starter unit on eBay and purchase the dream stove in the future.

Good luck.

 

[outdoorsgriz]

I bought one after visiting with Glenn a few times. Finally got it into service this past weekend. We only have softwood pellets out west, and my company makes pellets, so I figured I could make it work. I did have to adjust voltages on exhaust side and adjust feed rate as well, but so far, so good. My only complaint is the tiny hopper and might not be well insulated between hopper and burn box area as hopper sides warm up and pellets don't want to slide down from edges. Rick

 

[gfreek]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/147/147567-3987311435ff7582d35b6ecb7faa4e75.jpg

This one was recently installed by BronxBoy who has a post here

 

[rich2500]

does SMG Hearth stock replacement parts for the stove

 

[bags]

The guy I talked to back when said he would. He was nice but I had many red flags going up at the time. When I inquired the stoves were held up on a ocean barge container with US Customs issues or something like that I was told. IMHO I would not hold your breath on having any readily available parts but who knows. Not a chance I was willing to take. I am more of a no frills sure thing kind of guy. Not much of a gambler.

Evidently this stove advertised all over various Craiglist adds does exist. The question is How long and such. I don't want to drive to NC and find out they are out of stock and it will get here from China sometime.

 

[rich2500]

I do see on the SMG website it says they stock parts

 

[BronxBoy]

SMG is very responsible and quick to reply to communication. I think they are selling quite a few stoves so, judging from my experience dealing with them, parts will not be a problem. They are now selling smaller models produced, I believe, from the same factory.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Chinese is red flags in itself. Without strict oversight, chinese products can be marginal...at best, especially welding and metal fabrication.

 

[BronxBoy]

I can't agree or disagree with the blanket statement. Wish I had gone into welding or engineering rather than liberal arts in college! Just know that the stove is doing fine and my wife, greatest test of all, is happy.

Thermostat is down, flames are up. Stove even hangs from ceiling.

Oh, the next door neighbor and his wife came to visit it today.

 

[rich2500]

As much as I hate to say it, but the welds on my Chinese made stove are much nicer then they were on my prior american made stove and I'm a welder so I know a good weld from chicken scratch.

 

[SidecarFlip]

In as much as I don't own one, I making that statement from things I see and as far as being a qualified judge, I'm pretty knowledgeable in the arts in as much as I'm the owner of a welding, fabrication and short rum machine shop. We do certified welding in all methods and positions from TIG to gas and pulsed MIG.plus heavy fabrication, laser cutting and CNC plasma.

I will say that with proper oversight, the Chinese manufacturing sector can turn out some qiuality products and some junk if not monitored, but then, so can domestic manufacturers. The difference is, if it of domestic manufacture/assembly and there is an issue, it's usually easier to resolve it. Major issues with any product dictating replacement when the product is imported can result in protracted waiting times if, it can be resolved which is why I prefer to purchase domestically produced items or items produced offshore with a substantial and long term prescence here.

Far as Japan is concerned, 45 years ago Japan was considered as a producer of substandard hard goods, but in reality today, Japan is is on par with or superior to domestically produced hard goods and Japanese manufacturers have an established presence here.

China will also improve quality wise as their munufacturing sector matures but right now, at present Chinese hard goods without strict oversight, are substandard and they don't have a loing term presence here.

My point is, you buy a stove manufactured entirely in China and imported here and it's a lemon, you may have limited recourse in as much as importers are usually just that, importers with no after the sale service and component parts and assemblies on solid fuel stoves are subject to wearing out and are those components readily interchangeable with counterparts available here? Thats conjecture that I cannot answer. Is the warranty good and serviceable if problems arise, thats also conjecture.

It's not my money, it's yours and sometimes a 'bargain' can turn out to be a money pit. Procede with due dilligence always.

 

[Pellet-King]

HP22 is Chinese Ningbo Hongshen. Same as the Comfortbuilt.
Poor old Greece does very little anymore.

There all retired, work 10 yr's, your eligible

 

[rich2500]

Very good point Sidecar about oversight and why I chose the Castle, Ardisam engineer designed the stove and oversees production of the stove. It's obvious that Ardisam is commited to the stove as they have kept improving on it over the past few years. I know I have support and parts if or when needed.

 

[Bioburner]

Isn't Greeks #1 industry maritime shipping and #2 is tourism?

 

[BronxBoy]

Two months using this stove. All is fine. Wish I had more time to fiddle with controller to maximize burn but will have to wait for this work.

 

[kodi]

We bought the comfortbilt hp 22 from Amazon last summer. We had it installed by Twin Lakes West Michigan pellet stove ($750). Most people give it excellent reviews. It is a beautiful, well built stove, but we could not heat with it. If we did not have a back up furnace, we could not have stayed in our house. The stove would not heat above 62 degrees (western Michigan) when it was below freezing. Most days the room it is in was 58 degrees as measured by the thermometer across the room. The fire pot filled up and shut off the stove every 7 to 12 hours. It would be an hour before it was cool enough to clean out and restart. We finally installed a pelpro from Menards. It is cheap and not was pretty, but it heats the entire house. We spent all winter trouble shooting the comfortbilt. We called Glenn repeatedly. We had a professional Stan Robbins try to fix it. We "tweaked" it every 2 days. We tried 5 different types of fuel (TSC, Propel, Uncle Jed's, Kirkland, and Somerset). As a back up stove, it is wonderful. As your primary heat, think twice about buying it unless you are an expert in pellet stoves.

 

[Lake Girl]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the comfortbilt but glad you stopped by to share. You got a crash course in how pellet stoves run for sure ... welcome to the forum!

Pelpro does the heavy lifting as far as heating? Still using the comfortbilt? Where have you got them located in the house?

 

[kodi]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the comfortbilt but glad you stopped by to share. You got a crash course in how pellet stoves run for sure ... welcome to the forum!

Pelpro does the heavy lifting as far as heating? Still using the comfortbilt? Where have you got them located in the house?

We have the comfortbilt on the north side of the house. We had a wood stove there which heated the entire house, but the comfortbilt won't get out of the higher 50s or lower 60s when it is cold outside. We put the pelpro in the south side of the house, but it keeps the entire house warm. With just the pelpro running, the north side of the house stays 63 or warmer, which is warmer than it was with just the comfortbilt running (the comfortbilt was in the same room on the north where it was 63 or less). I love the looks of the comfortbilt, though. The pelpro looks like a pellet stove. the Comfortbilt looks much nicer, almost like furniture. I wish we could have gotten it working right.

 

[BronxBoy]

I started my third season with Comfort belt. The stove works great. From time to time I have to adjust settings but that's no big deal. Glenn from SMG Hearth is always very responsive.

 

[MButkus]

Humm, no sales tax on orders ? That's a chunk of change. OF COURSE you would add that to your state's income tax statement.

According to Amazon, people like them. Would like to see the actual parts and if they are interchangeable.
The exhaust fan is different, the auger motor is totally different - would be hard to come up with replacement.
They have been around for a couple of years now.
Programming the controller, you need to be a computer programmer. No simple ON for this thing.
Daily cleaning.. I don't touch my stove for a week ! They need a better pot like Whitfield had. Wonder if you can adapt it ? ?

To Kodi.. you bought their smallest stove. My Whitfield is on #1 but only in the low 30s and it's 71 degrees in here.
The fire pot filling up is something wrong with it not getting enough air, there were a few different ways to change that. Plus the manual talks of voltages, should change that to SPEED.

 

[rich2500]

Some of the comfortbilt parts are the same as the Castle Serenity so those parts wouldn't be a problem to get.

 

[seabee67]

I've have a comfortbilt hp22 for 4 years and I love! I've had to get a blower fan that when out and received it in two days and I live in NM it heats a house of 2200SF and there made in Canada . The people in NC office is great to work and talk to