Erin <e>ugrade to Pacific Energy Vista?

[shouldntbesocomplicated]

Would this upgrade make any sense .Its rated higher BTU 56,000 as to Erin at 31,000 .Should burn cleaner.Anyone out there using one?

 

[fredarm]

I have a Vista insert. It's a great little stove and puts out a lot of heat. Very easy to use. If you want something dressier, look at the PE Alderlea T4--it's the same stove with a cast iron skin.

 

[shouldntbesocomplicated]

I have a Vista insert. It's a great little stove and puts out a lot of heat. Very easy to use. If you want something dressier, look at the PE Alderlea T4--it's the same stove with a cast iron skin.

How many square ft are you heating with it and is it more than 1 level?

 

[Nic36]

How big is your home and the area you want to heat?

I have a Vista Classic and it functions well, but my house is small and I am many miles south of you. It is rated for 1500 square feet, but for you up there, that might be a stretch.

 

[shouldntbesocomplicated]

How big is your home and the area you want to heat?

I have a Vista Classic and it functions well, but my house is small and I am many miles south of you. It is rated for 1500 square feet, but for you up there, that might be a stretch.

What I want to heat is 1536 sq ft a little more than stove is rated for but from what i can get for info I am doing it with a lower BTU rated stove

 

[Nic36]

So, you say your are getting by with the Waterford, so the PE Vista would be just right? Personally, I would move up a level to something like a PE Super 27, which is rated for 1200-2000 square feet and is a 72,000 BTU/hr stove. You are only looking at about a $300.00 difference in price, but more if you choose a fancier model like the Alderlea T5.

 

[begreen]

What was the hearth decision? Are you going to have a stone mason build it out a bit? If yes, I would second the suggestion to go up to the mid-sized PE line. You will really appreciate the longer burn times. The stove is very flexible with load size and will burn well even with just a few splits.

 

[KB007]

My neighbour has a Vista and while it is a good unit, it is quite small and he suffers from short burn times and rarely has enough hot coal for a hot re-light after an overnight burn. If you have the space to fir something larger I'd go for it IMHO.

 

[shouldntbesocomplicated]

What was the hearth decision? Are you going to have a stone mason build it out a bit? If yes, I would second the suggestion to go up to the mid-sized PE line. You will really appreciate the longer burn times. The stove is very flexible with load size and will burn well even with just a few splits.

It looks like I will be staying with the little Erin until I either do something in the basement .too much work and money to have a stone mason in and revamp the hearth . But you nevere know i could change my mind and try either of the stoves the Erin eats the wood like a pig lol

 

[fredarm]

I have a Vista insert. It's a great little stove and puts out a lot of heat. Very easy to use. If you want something dressier, look at the PE Alderlea T4--it's the same stove with a cast iron skin.

How many square ft are you heating with it and is it more than 1 level?

2 levels, 1900 square feet, but I mainly burn evenings and weekends and use it for supplemental heat. It heats the first floor nicely and some heat finds its way upstairs. Realistically its probably heating about 1000 square feet. It doesn't really hold an overnight burn (if I really pack it there will be some coals left in the morning), but I generally don't try to burn overnight.

 

[begreen]

What was the hearth decision? Are you going to have a stone mason build it out a bit? If yes, I would second the suggestion to go up to the mid-sized PE line. You will really appreciate the longer burn times. The stove is very flexible with load size and will burn well even with just a few splits.

It looks like I will be staying with the little Erin until I either do something in the basement .too much work and money to have a stone mason in and revamp the hearth . But you nevere know i could change my mind and try either of the stoves the Erin eats the wood like a pig lol

At least get a couple quotes from masons. It might not be as bad as you guess. If you go for the basement I would go simple, big and basic. Don't expect wood consumption to drop a lot. But do expect the snow to melt further away from the basement walls.

 

[shouldntbesocomplicated]

What was the hearth decision? Are you going to have a stone mason build it out a bit? If yes, I would second the suggestion to go up to the mid-sized PE line. You will really appreciate the longer burn times. The stove is very flexible with load size and will burn well even with just a few splits.

It looks like I will be staying with the little Erin until I either do something in the basement .too much work and money to have a stone mason in and revamp the hearth . But you nevere know i could change my mind and try either of the stoves the Erin eats the wood like a pig lol

At least get a couple quotes from masons. It might not be as bad as you guess. If you go for the basement I would go simple, big and basic. Don't expect wood consumption to drop a lot. But do expect the snow to melt further away from the basement walls.

Well I will be heading to the stove shop in the am he has a T 5 on the floor will have more to go on at that point .I have been asking around about a good stone mason up here ,can I i cheat and put front legs on patio blocks until i find the mason lol

 

[begreen]

The T5 is a very heavy stove. I think you'll want to put it on something very solid and not be trying to balance it on a temporary footing while shimming and trying to get it level. However, if that is a ceramic tile floor, you could put it temporarily on the floor in front of the hearth. That leads me to think that perhaps instead of building out the hearth, you take a sledge or jack hammer and carve it back a bit so that the stove can sit at floor level.

 

[shouldntbesocomplicated]

The T5 is a very heavy stove. I think you'll want to put it on something very solid and not be trying to balance it on a temporary footing while shimming and trying to get it level. However, if that is a ceramic tile floor, you could put it temporarily on the floor in front of the hearth. That leads me to think that perhaps instead of building out the hearth, you take a sledge or jack hammer and carve it back a bit so that the stove can sit at floor level.

To destroy any of the stone work there would quite frankly be a huge waste of my money , resale value of house would plummit. I think I would look into doing it myself. I am not saying in any way that it would be easy but being a jack of all trades master of none I have done many things others would not attempt, lots of {profesionals} out there that just arent very profesional.