Considering a Neo Air 2.5 Insert - any thoughts?

[afk314]

Hi,

I'm relatively new to wood burning stoves, but over the last month or so I have spent a considerable amount of time on these forums, getting acquainted with all of my options and other considerations. I've pretty much landed on a Pacific Energy Neo 2.5. I like the flush and modern look, think it'll be good in our 2100 ft2 house where it will be used to add warmth to the rather large living room/dining room and office wing of the house. I think it might even be able to handle the whole house without the furnace, but that is not a priority for me. Mostly I want to add some real warmth, transform the useless gas fireplace into something useful, and let me burn some wood.

Today, I had a chimney sweep and Pacific Energy dealer come clean out my chimney and take measurements. He has never installed a Neo 2.5 but liked the stove. He personally owns a Super and recommended that as an option for me. Which I have considered but don't ultimately love. His price to install an insert is reasonable and overall I liked him. My concerns at this point:

* I don't see many reviews of this insert, so I'd like to hear from others who may own one or know of someone who owns one.
* As mentioned, this dealer has never installed one before - is that much of a concern? He has over 30 years of chimney sweep experience and has installed countless other stoves though.
* Above dealer also didn't inspire much confidence on the aesthetic front. I didn't get the feeling he was going to be interested in really dialing in installation to make it look good as well as function well. He didn't have any advice for me to forgo having a visible power cable going to the insert. Its "little" things like that that really matter to me. But maybe the variables are so few that this shouldn't be a concern?
* The Regency ci2600 was the lead contender but the sheer number of posts from people struggling with it have turned me off. Should I maybe question this again?

Thanks a ton. These forums have taught me a great deal.

--Adam

 

[prezes13]

Neo is a new stove I think there is a very few people here who have them. I am sure that sooner or later you will hear from them. I have a flush insert myself. I went with the looks and warmth just like you. Now over two years later it all changed for me. Flush inserts are very nice looking but my experience is that they are kind of impractical due to their shallow fire boxes. At least that's my opinion. I have a wide firebox but shallow so I cannot take a full advantage of my 2.2cf firebox without the possibility of logs rolling over on the glass. All that said pacific energy stoves have good reputation and are well liked around here.

 

[begreen]

Good advice. If the insert is going to be used for 24/7 heating I would lean toward the Super, especially if there are frequent power outages in your area. Flush inserts need the blower going all the time.

 

[Hogwildz]

Summit all the way, your going to need it in your location and with that size house.

 

[Muckatoon]

Pacific Energy Neo 2.5 Stove- Insert
I purchased and installed a Neo 2.5 in mid December 2014. Have a big concern that there is a design flaw in this model, & there are others posts mentioning more burn on the right hand side of the stove, with more black on window and inside left top and sides. I have contacted my dealer and Pacific Energy directly, talked to a tech in the wood department. He leaned toward a problem with door leakage, which is not the case in my stove. A large sheet of tin foil between in the door then closed will give a perfect imprint of knife and gasket contact. Mine is perfectly sealed, and you will find that the door fits tighter when the stove heats up( the latch will be harder to open). Impossible to have this stove burn anywhere near even, always more flame, more coals on the right side. MAKES for a dirty burn unless you leave the air wide open for a long time just to get the left side burning and charred better (not even just better)! My OWN opinion is (keep in mind this is a new design stove) well not totally as it a larger version of the Neo 1.6 EXCEPT THAT THE AIR TUBE THAT RUNS UP THE BACK OF THE STOVE TO THE BAFFLE, PRIMARY AIR AND THE DOOR WASH AIR IS NOT IN THE CENTER AS IT IS IN THE NEO 1.6 and in all other models. You can see examples of this if you download the manuals of different Pacific Energy Stoves. You will notice this where they show you how to install the bricks. There is an extra 1/2 brick on the left side making the air tube aprox 2 1/4 inch to the right of center. The air from the baffle also burns first, more on the right side. Kind of makes sense the air will take the way of less resistance. I look to have this fixed or replaced, I will be removing this stove one way or another. Others with this problem should get on Pacific Energy in Duncan, British Columbia, CANADA- Phone 250-748-1184 or toll free 1-888-223-0088 P.S. The Neo 2.5 Stove and insert have the same Firebox

 

[afk314]

Ugh! Thats a little scary. I've decided to wait on an insert until next year. I was interested in this and the CI2600 Regency insert but now both of them are a bit scary. Thanks for sharing.

 

[begreen]

FWIW, in general you will get better performance from an insert that is not flush and a non-flush insert will heat much better in a power outage. There are several good choices in this field.

 

[Grisu]

Ugh! Thats a little scary. I've decided to wait on an insert until next year. I was interested in this and the CI2600 Regency insert but now both of them are a bit scary. Thanks for sharing.

In the mean time get your wood ready. Have you taken a look at the Large flush hybrid from Lopi/Avalon/FireplaceXtraordinaire? Or the Osburn Matrix? Is the fireplace at an interior or exterior wall?

 

[jeff_t]

..... (keep in mind this is a new design stove) well not totally as it a larger version of the Neo 1.6 EXCEPT THAT THE AIR TUBE THAT RUNS UP THE BACK OF THE STOVE TO THE BAFFLE, PRIMARY AIR AND THE DOOR WASH AIR IS NOT IN THE CENTER AS IT IS IN THE NEO 1.6 and in all other models. You can see examples of this if you download the manuals of different Pacific Energy Stoves. You will notice this where they show you how to install the bricks. There is an extra 1/2 brick on the left side making the air tube aprox 2 1/4 inch to the right of center. The air from the baffle also burns first, more on the right side. Kind of makes sense the air will take the way of less resistance.

Not exactly accurate, as the Super Series firebox has two full bricks on one side, and one on the other side of the tube. Mine burns quite evenly, but it is much deeper than it is wide.

I do hope PE gets this right, as I have read about the same issue several times.

 

[Grimlock13]

Muck, believe your problem is not with your stove but with your wood. When I have subpar wood I also experience the symptoms your describing. When you have good dry wood the stove burns great. Do you have these issues with dry wood as well.

 

[Muckatoon]

Muck, believe your problem is not with your stove but with your wood. When I have subpar wood I also experience the symptoms your describing. When you have good dry wood the stove burns great. Do you have these issues with dry wood as well.

Hi Grim, I have seasoned wood (ash, birch, maple, poplar,willow and spruce) all are very dry. Have loaded the Neo 2.5 east west and north south with 1 foot pieces makes no difference, north-south angled from right to left a bit better. Have fired it every way you can think of and run the air with slow adjustments. Have to fire it a long time(with maximum air) to get wood near charred on the left side. When it burns down there is always chunks left on the left side. Also you can wipe the glass clean on the right side. The left side is brown/black and cannot be wiped away completely

 

[Dodgethis]

I own a Neo 2.5 insert and I had the fire more active on the right issue. The problem went away and now I really love the insert. There was 2 reason in my case that explain the problem. When I first got the insert, I did the 1 dollar bill test and it was kinda loose near the latch. but after about 1 week, the seal became super tight all around. I think it took sometime for the door gasket to settle and compress on the hinge side. Now the seal is perfect all around. The other issue was the braquet that hold the baffle. It was not in all the way on the right side so their was a small gap for the fire and smoke to bypass the baffle. Now the fire is even and the insert is burning great.

At first I did not think the insert can be loaded north-south but it can as long as the split are 17'' or less. I live in Montreal, Canada and it is very cold in the winter. I also have an heatpump. I mainly use the insert 24/7 when temp are below -12-13 C. Has it is cheaper to heat with the heatpump when it is warmer then that. So when I use the insert, I am looking for heat not very long burn time. To avoid coal buildup, I rake the coal in the middle of the insert then I place 1 split on each side of the coal N-S, then 3 big splits E-W. The fire get establish withing 10 min. ajust the air to fully close, and I can enjoy lots of heat for 6-7 hours with the insert fan set to max. Than I reload using the same technic.

I can heat my 2000 ft2 house using the lowest setting up to -20C outside. Colder than that, I close the air to 75%. It will keep the entire house at around 22C. I also leave my HVAC fan on all the time and my house has 2 levels.

I burn mainly season Ash and some mapple.