We bought a Lexington Forge AI31DV insert a couple of years ago. Before it was a year old, the fan died. The dealer replaced it, and two months later THAT fan died. Sounds like someone is banging pots and pans in our living room.
So we went back to them, and they offered to put either a new Lexington one (same model), or a Vermont Castings insert in. We chose the Vt. Castings, even though we were not crazy about the look, because we didn't trust the LF. Well, the Vt. Castings didn't fit. (We have a really old house w/a stone FP, so we can't cut walls, etc. And the insert is propane.)
Now the dealer has taken BOTH of the units, said he would either give us a new one, or give us our money back. He also sells Monessen products, but he says they are "too big." I checked the specs and the IDV380 doesn't look too big to me....
Our specs are W: 27.5" bottom & middle, 27" top// H: 30.5 left, 30" R. The problem with the Vt. C was the width in the front.
On top of all this, the other fly in the ointment is that he says he will have to remove the stuff from the chimney....This presents a problem, because when the moron who installed the first LF went up on the chimney, he ripped out a lot of the mortar, and just set the thing up on top - and the wind knocked out half our chimney, we ended up with a European hornet's nest up there which we did NOT have before. We had to pay an exterminator to get it out, and then a mason to put the chimney back together! And then he mortared the part in (I don't know the name of the part), so it wasn't sitting up there loose - the part could have blown out because of the installer, and landed on someone, or a car (we live next to the road) and killed someone. So they will have to hack apart our chimney and then pay a mason to put it back together again.
Is the Monessen a good brand? I can find no reviews anywhere on that, or Lexington Forge....I know they are both owned by the same company, the address is the same on the manuals online.
Our other option is to get all our money back (and I would make sure we got the labor costs, because of the mason and the exterminator) and maybe get a Regency, but they are a LOT more expensive, and we are retired and not rich.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated
So we went back to them, and they offered to put either a new Lexington one (same model), or a Vermont Castings insert in. We chose the Vt. Castings, even though we were not crazy about the look, because we didn't trust the LF. Well, the Vt. Castings didn't fit. (We have a really old house w/a stone FP, so we can't cut walls, etc. And the insert is propane.)
Now the dealer has taken BOTH of the units, said he would either give us a new one, or give us our money back. He also sells Monessen products, but he says they are "too big." I checked the specs and the IDV380 doesn't look too big to me....
Our specs are W: 27.5" bottom & middle, 27" top// H: 30.5 left, 30" R. The problem with the Vt. C was the width in the front.
On top of all this, the other fly in the ointment is that he says he will have to remove the stuff from the chimney....This presents a problem, because when the moron who installed the first LF went up on the chimney, he ripped out a lot of the mortar, and just set the thing up on top - and the wind knocked out half our chimney, we ended up with a European hornet's nest up there which we did NOT have before. We had to pay an exterminator to get it out, and then a mason to put the chimney back together! And then he mortared the part in (I don't know the name of the part), so it wasn't sitting up there loose - the part could have blown out because of the installer, and landed on someone, or a car (we live next to the road) and killed someone. So they will have to hack apart our chimney and then pay a mason to put it back together again.
Is the Monessen a good brand? I can find no reviews anywhere on that, or Lexington Forge....I know they are both owned by the same company, the address is the same on the manuals online.
Our other option is to get all our money back (and I would make sure we got the labor costs, because of the mason and the exterminator) and maybe get a Regency, but they are a LOT more expensive, and we are retired and not rich.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated
