could use a little pellet stove advice thanks

[quadracin]

Ive been searching and reading on pellet stoves for the last couple of days. I am looking for a decent pellet stove for a good price im sure this is not the first time youve heard this I think I have it nailed down to a couple of stoves.

First being the Timber ridge 55-trp10 for $900 probably the refurbished way I was wondering if you can run a small mixture of corn in this stove? also if it would be worth upgrading to the 55-trp22 for $1100?

Second stove is the USSC 6041 for $1350

My home is just a 1000 sgft single level I just remodeled the house with blow in insulation in the walls and attic, new windows and doors. Just trying to get the best suited stove for my needs. Also does anyone know how long a bag of pellets last on low on these stoves. A friend of mine put in a pelpro fpp2bd pellet stoves from menards and it will last around 30 hours I thought about pelpro as well but not much out there for info on the web also figured the timber ridge would be better than pelpro

Any and all help is greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

[Turbo-Quad]

If you want to burn some corn there were some corn stoves on EBAY going for $299. I think they were American Harvest or Golden Harvest or something like that. For that price you could put one in one end and a cheap pellet stove in the other. Or you could buy 4, put one in every corner and roast your turkey in the middle.

 

[quadracin]

If you want to burn some corn there were some corn stoves on EBAY going for $299. I think they were American Harvest or Golden Harvest or something like that. For that price you could put one in one end and a cheap pellet stove in the other. Or you could buy 4, put one in every corner and roast your turkey in the middle.

Heck then I could sell the turkey fryer win win situation.

Has people been happy with the selkirk brand pipe the one with the intake air and exhaust in one?

 

[Czech]

"Has people been happy with the selkirk brand pipe the one with the intake air and exhaust in one?"

7 years now, primary heat, corn mix. No problems, one hole. Yes.

 

[imacman]

.....First being the Timber ridge 55-trp10 for $900 probably the refurbished way I was wondering if you can run a small mixture of corn in this stove? also if it would be worth upgrading to the 55-trp22 for $1100? ....

Although I am biased, as I am an Englander owner, I think the issue of customer service needs to be considered for the stoves you mentioned, and Englander's is THE best.

As for which stove, IMO go for the 55-TRPEP Evolution stove. It's Englanders latest design, and can be found on ebay from this highly rated dealer:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Timber-Ridge-55...ultDomain_0&hash=item1e5d0a32c1#ht_4692wt_958

If $$ is an issue, then you need to decide how much space you want to heat....both the stoves you mentioned heat different amounts of Sq. Ft.

OH, and btw, as for burning corn, you can burn some mixed with pellets, but you have to make sure the exhaust pipe is corn-rated....corn burning exhaust is very corrosive and will eat away at regular pellet vent pipe.

 

[quadracin]

Are the englander stoves fans fairly quite? Or more quite than ussc stives

 

[quadracin]

Double post

 

[dbjordan]

St Croix makes a few different multi fuel stoves, and they are manufactured in Nebraska. They might be out of your price range, but if not it never hurts to support the "locals".

 

[quadracin]

I have looked at the st. Croix line they are nice stoves they have jumped up in price since the first time looking at them 3 or so years ago. The reason for looking for an affordable decent stove is probably will be selling the house in a couple of years and will be probably selling the stove with it.

 

[quadracin]

I have looked at the st. Croix line they are nice stoves they have jumped up in price since the first time looking at them 3 or so years ago. The reason for looking for an affordable decent stove is probably will be selling the house in a couple of years and will be probably selling the stove with it.

 

[G-Hoppa603]

I would not recommend buying the 55-TRPEP model. I have one and having build up problems inside of the burnpot. Although the stove is not working properly but I must give Englander Stoves customer service high scores for their assistance on the issue. If you look at all the reviews on this model at Lowe's or Home Depot, you will find similar problem with build up soot and ash staying inside of the burnpot forcing you to shut down and clean out the pot after every two to three bags of premium hardwood pellets.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I would not recommend buying the 55-TRPEP model. I have one and having build up problems inside of the burnpot. Although the stove is not working properly but I must give Englander Stoves customer service high scores for their assistance on the issue. If you look at all the reviews on this model at Lowe's or Home Depot, you will find similar problem with build up soot and ash staying inside of the burnpot forcing you to shut down and clean out the pot after every two to three bags of premium hardwood pellets.

While I don't doubt what you are saying about burn pot pileups. I'd reserve judgment on the causes of the buildup. The person (imacman) who is recommending that PEP unit also knows about the stove, that particular dealer, and the refurbishing stream. He put 57 bags through his unit without cleaning it last fall.

I have a lot of problems dealing with things from the big boxes, ever watch how the stuff gets handled. Just looking at their pellet stocks should make one pause.

Rack the stove and it will pileup, let kids monkey with the gaskets (watch in a store sometimes) and it will pileup, install the stove with too many elbows in the exhaust and it will pile up, the list goes on and on.

 

[DexterDay]

I would not recommend buying the 55-TRPEP model. I have one and having build up problems inside of the burnpot. Although the stove is not working properly but I must give Englander Stoves customer service high scores for their assistance on the issue. If you look at all the reviews on this model at Lowe's or Home Depot, you will find similar problem with build up soot and ash staying inside of the burnpot forcing you to shut down and clean out the pot after every two to three bags of premium hardwood pellets.

Sounds like it needs more air. What kind of venting do you have? You said its not running right. Why is that? Have you checked for gasket leaks, etc? That seems like a heck of a stove, good reviews, and when operated correctly, one of the better, longer running stoves on the market. Sounds like it needs some tweaking.

 

[G-Hoppa603]

Thanks folks for your responses.
I bought this stove from Ebay as a factory refurbished item. I vent the stove directly through the wall with the Simpson 3" kit. Also have the air hookup directly through the wall. Dont get me wrong, the stove does work, burns and blow out heat. The issue is after three bags of premium hardwood pellets(New England wood pellets, corinth, curran, maine's choice) does not matter which kind, I have clumps that goes all the way to the top of burnpot.

Like I have said before, the customer service from NE Stoves are great. I have been dealing with them over the phone with this burnpot clumping issue. They did said that the problem is causing by not having enough air. They have me tried the following:
1. Take a hammer to the metal wall behind the fake firebricks to knock out the soot.
2. Change the stove's operating mode to #2 from #3.

Tried those steps found that the pot clumped even faster. It clumped up after 1 and 1/4 bags of NE pellets.

Called them back. The technician suggested that the gasket at the burnpot was bad. I was told to try the following:
1. Change the gasket behind the burnpot cradle. I didnt this and found that the oringinal gasket was flat but not damaged.
2. Run stove at mode #2.
3. Raise the low burn air to maximum (9)

The result was the same as before I have called. Clumped up after 3 bags of NE pellets.

 

[G-Hoppa603]

Wow my friend, 57 bags without cleaning the stove??? I love me one of them stove!! Can you hook me up?

Just to give the forum another update:
Spoke to the NEStove tech today and he is sending out a blower for me to change. I have mentioned to them about an exchange/upgrade. But they suggested we exhaust all techniques before heading down that road. The tech said he has one of the same stove himself. His pot clumps up after three days of nonstop burning using Lignetics. Three days doesnt sound very long before shutting down for cleaning. But I guess I'll take three days over three bags! Hopefully after changing the blower my stove will burn better.
Thanks all for your reading.

 

[gfreek]

quadracin, I have Selkirk DT pipe with inner and outer wall. Negatives: no local dealer, all ordered on line,so I made sure there was return policy, the 3 to 4" adapter is a joke, the clean out cover at the bottom of the tee is also a joke had to add screws, gasket material along with sealant, the pipe is 6 5/8" diameter so you need more space, a 4" tee available now with 3" appliance adapter built in. Positives: All in one pipe out side air and vent, one hole not two in front of house,(I didn't care but .the other half did!!)),, with Harman it enabled me to install closer to door, looks like wood stove.

 

[imacman]

Wow my friend, 57 bags without cleaning the stove??? I love me one of them stove!! Can you hook me up?......

Yes, that's correct....it was me that undertook that task. Was burning mostly Rocky Mtn. softwoods, but also had about 10 bags of misc. hardwoods mixed in for testing purposes. I could have gone longer, but I had proved my point. The stove is the Englander 10-cpm, which I got re-furbished from ampmstoves on eBay.

I have currently been running the stove 24/7 since last cleaning (last Saturday)....burnpot is clean except for the burning embers and pellets. Did have a clinker issues some weeks ago, but increasing the air through the burnpot and turning the stirrer onto corn mode has solved that problem 100%.

 

[G-Hoppa603]

Well folks, here is the latest update on my stove's burn pot clumping issue: scoop it out EVERYDAY. That is the final words from the Sr. Tech and the Manager of Englander Stoves. After trying everything they have suggested, I guess they ran out of tricks. They will not let me trade this stove in (55TRPEP) for an upgrade. My biggest beef with this company is that they could not be upfront with me from the first phone call. I was lead to believe that this stove can perform better if I was to try XYZ...Each time I called, I was told different things about the stove and how it should/can/will work better. To me that is unacceptable. But I guess I will have to accept it and move on. Like I have said before, I DO NOT RECOMMEND BUYING THIS STOVE. Unless someone can tell me how to run this particular stove, for more then 41hrs non-stop or three plus bags of premium hardwood pellet before having to shut down and clean the burn pot.

 

[save$]

I can sympathize with your situation. First let me tell you I have no technician experience, but I had a "similar" experience with clumping. If you have time to look at this thread, https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/71829/ there are two postings with pictures. you will see I have a clumping issue with Engergex. A good pellet with a good reputation. Good heat, but in my stove, what a mess. I was scooping out my stove every other day. If I didn't, by day 3 my burn pot was full, the flame lazy and heat output poor. I came across MWP, mostly because they cost less and are available. They burn so well in my stove. Even on day three, no ash build up in the burn pot. I do shut my stove down on day 3 regardless. I like to brush and vac the entire surface out. I also do the leaf blower thing with every ton. My feeling is I need to keep the stove as clean as I can. I don't think pellet stoves tolerate being dirty very long without something going bad. I have no experience with something going bad and I want to keep it that way for as long as I am able.
After all that rambling, my suggestion is to keep trying different pellets. You know that old saying, one man's trash, another man's treasure.

 

[Cozy Old Coot]

Thanks folks for your responses.
I bought this stove from Ebay as a factory refurbished item. I vent the stove directly through the wall with the Simpson 3" kit. Also have the air hookup directly through the wall. Dont get me wrong, the stove does work, burns and blow out heat. The issue is after three bags of premium hardwood pellets(New England wood pellets, corinth, curran, maine's choice) does not matter which kind, I have clumps that goes all the way to the top of burnpot.

Like I have said before, the customer service from NE Stoves are great. I have been dealing with them over the phone with this burnpot clumping issue. They did said that the problem is causing by not having enough air. They have me tried the following:
1. Take a hammer to the metal wall behind the fake firebricks to knock out the soot.
2. Change the stove's operating mode to #2 from #3.

Tried those steps found that the pot clumped even faster. It clumped up after 1 and 1/4 bags of NE pellets.

Called them back. The technician suggested that the gasket at the burnpot was bad. I was told to try the following:
1. Change the gasket behind the burnpot cradle. I didnt this and found that the oringinal gasket was flat but not damaged.
2. Run stove at mode #2.
3. Raise the low burn air to maximum (9)

The result was the same as before I have called. Clumped up after 3 bags of NE pellets.

Well folks, here is the latest update on my stove's burn pot clumping issue: scoop it out EVERYDAY. That is the final words from the Sr. Tech and the Manager of Englander Stoves. After trying everything they have suggested, I guess they ran out of tricks. They will not let me trade this stove in (55TRPEP) for an upgrade. My biggest beef with this company is that they could not be upfront with me from the first phone call. I was lead to believe that this stove can perform better if I was to try XYZ...Each time I called, I was told different things about the stove and how it should/can/will work better. To me that is unacceptable. But I guess I will have to accept it and move on. Like I have said before, I DO NOT RECOMMEND BUYING THIS STOVE. Unless someone can tell me how to run this particular stove, for more then 41hrs non-stop or three plus bags of premium hardwood pellet before having to shut down and clean the burn pot.

My niece installed a refurbished TimberRidge 55-TRP22 pellet stove in her home about a month and a half ago. She bought her stove from a seller on eBay that goes by the name of "amfmstoves". I contacted the seller (Andy), he quickly sent me a phone number so I we could talk. He answered all questions she had about the stove, and turned out to be a great person to do business with.

Here is a link to the one of his auctions that list the same model stove that she got from him: http://cgi.ebay.com/TimberRidge-pel...528?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb5ba6d48

Her stove's heating capacity is listed as being able to handle "Approx. 2,200 square feet ".

So far she has burned"Greenway", "Stove Chow", and "American Energex" pellets in it, and had very good results with all of them.

She does clean the wear plate in the burn pot daily, but she only vacuum's the stove out completely every Saturday morning.

She is heating a 1900 sq ft home on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

You may be able to contact the eBay seller that you dealt with and see if he will let you exchange your stove for a different model.

Good Luck

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

My neice installed a refurbished TimberRidge 55-TRP22 pellet stove in her home about a month and a half ago. She bought her stove from a seller on eBay that goes by the name of "amfmstoves". I talked with the seller (his name was Andy). He answered all questions she had about the stove was a great person to do business with.

Here is a link to the one of the seller's auctions that list the same model stove that she bought: http://cgi.ebay.com/TimberRidge-pel...528?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb5ba6d48

Her stove's heating capacity is listed as "Approx. 2,200 square feet ". So far she has burned"Greenway", "Stove Chow", and "American Energex" pellets in it, and had very good results with all of them.

She cleans the wear plate in the burn pot daily, and vacumms the stove out complety every Saturday.

She is heating a 1900 sq ft home on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

You may be able to contact the eBay seller that you dealt with and see if he will let you exchange your stove for a different model.

Good Luck

G-Hoppa603's stove is a top feed evolution stove and should not need daily cleaning. Just daily monitoring of the burn pot, etc ...

 

[Indiana]

My Englander multi fuel from Andy at AM/FM Energy has been top notch. I recomend him to everyonr I see. I heat my 2500 sq ft home to 72 fegrees all winter long. Didn't turn on the furnace once.

 

[G-Hoppa603]

Yep, I bought my stove from amfmstoves on Ebay also.
Anyhow, I was not satisfied with the final words from the stove company. I took it a step further and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Here is the proof.

Nature of Complaint: Product Issues - No Detail Provided
Problem: I have called about the issue of soot clumping up inside of the burn pot. I have to shut down for cleaning out the burn pot after 36-38 hours of burn time.Spoke to a tech named Russ.Explained my problem and mentioned that I wanted to exhchange or upgrade to another model. He said that we can do something like that.He suggested I should try a few things before we can move down that road.I was told to try the following: Thorough cleaning of the stove including the baffle,heat exchanger tubes,burn pot,bang hard on the back wall behind the fake brick board,vacuum out the two ports for the back wall,changed burn mode from 3 to 2,do a lighter test for leaks.No improvement.Called again and was told to change a gasket behind the cradle of the burn pot. Also was told to raise the low burn air setting to its max.Tried these two methods,no improvement.Called back to another technician who claim he has the same stove and it lasts him three days before having to shut it down for cleaning. He suggested that I swap out the exhaust blower.The stove now last 39-41 hours. This type of performance by the stove is unacceptable to me.I was told by a Senior technician, Justin,that there is no way that this stove can burn through 10 bags of pellet without stopping it for cleaning.I was told to clean the burn pot out daily. I then spoke to a manager,Chris.I explained my frustration of being lead on,given false impression that by trying out different things the stove will/should work better. He too did not have the believe that this stove can burn 10 bags continously and did not think that his technician would have told me such a thing.I asked him to please allow me to exchange or upgrade and I'm willing to pay a little more. I was again rejected. I was told there are nothing else they can do for me at this point. He told me to just clean the burn pot out every day.I do not believe that cleaning out the burn pot every single day is a resolution. This product should and must perform better then that.

 

[G-Hoppa603]

BBB Serving Central Virginia, Inc.
720 Moorefield Park Drive, Suite 300
Richmond, VA 23236
Phone: 804.648.0016 | Fax: 804.320.0248
[email protected]

03/08/2011





This message is in regard to your complaint submitted on 3/8/2011 3:55:27 AM against England's Stove Works, Inc.. Your complaint was assigned ID 8525507.
Enclosed is the company's reply to your problem. If the reply includes an offer, please contact the company or the Better Business Bureau to make any necessary arrangements. We are happy to be of assistance.

If the company's reply does not resolve the issue, please let us know, within 10 days, of the issues that remain unresolved.

Most companies cooperate with the BBB; however, any adjustment made by the company is voluntary. We cannot compel a firm to resolve a complaint.

If I do not hear from you within ten days, I will close your complaint as "CUSTOMER ASSUMED SATISFIED".

Regards,
Meara Schmidt
The Better Business Bureau
1-888-244-2312 fax
________________________________________
Dear Ms. Schmidt,

This is in response to the complaint Case #8525507 filed. Mr. stated in his complaint that he has to clean his unit out every 36-38 hours. I have attached the Owner's Manual for the unit that Mr. has installed in his home. I have highlighted the Daily Maintanace section of the manual. In this section clearly states that removing ashes and cleaning the burnpot is an essential part of daily maintenance that keeps the unit operating at its peak performance. I explained to Mr. yesterday (3/7/11), that the unit does need to be cleaned out daily. The reason that the unit has is burning dirty is lack of daily maintenance. The longer that Mr. lets the unit burn between cleanings the dirtier the burn will become and the unit will loose efficiency. The unit is not a defective unit. Mr. stated in our conversation that the manual stated the unit can burn 10 bags before cleaning, I pulled the manual and asked him where he saw that, Mr. then stated that someone told him that. I explained that on pages 32, 33 and 34 of the manual it clearly explains the daily maintenance. Along with the manual, England's Stove Works includes a detailed DVD with the unit.

I tried to explain that no matter what unit Mr. purchased it would require daily maintenance. Unfortunately, Mr. is asking for unreasonable performance from the unit. Whenever you burn pellets, ash is a byproduct of the burning process, it must be cleaned out daily to keep air flowing through the unit, if air cannot flow freely then you would get a lazy, dirty fire just as Mr. described.

As stated before the unit is operating as it is designed to operate. We do not return properly operating units or offer customers to "swap" units, even if they pay a charge. I hope that Mr. will review his manual and DVD and follow the instructions.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further questions.

Chris Terrell
National Sales and Service Manager
800-516-3636 x 152

 

[G-Hoppa603]

BBB Serving Central Virginia, Inc.
720 Moorefield Park Drive, Suite 300
Richmond, VA 23236
Phone: 804.648.0016 | Fax: 804.320.0248
[email protected]




03/09/2011



Dear


This message is in regard to your complaint submitted on 3/8/2011 3:55:27 AM against England's Stove Works, Inc.. Your complaint was assigned ID 8525507.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to assist you with your dispute.



At this point BBB has determined there is no further action to take. While we understand you are not satisfied with the company's reply, it appears England's Stove Works, Inc. has clearly explained their position in response to the disputed issues. Your complaint has been "Administratively Closed." This means the company has provided a specific response to the issues you brought forward and in some cases provided proper verification they have no obligation to make an adjustment. We have closed our file on this complaint. If you wish to pursue the matter further, you may wish to seek legal advice.



Thank you for contacting the Better Business Bureau. We hope you will allow us to be of service to you in the future.







Sincerely,







Meara Schmidt
The Better Business Bureau

1-888-244-2312 fax