Getting a Drolet eco 65?

[wong123]

HI everyone,

Ive spent a month reading everything on here. I am from Vancouver Island, BC, Canada and have decided to get a wood pellet stove. I was thinking of getting the Drolet eco 65 from Costco for 2500.00. Theres a few big box stores that sell pellets here and even a local place that will store the pellets you buy per ton for you free of charge.

My house is a open concept two level home 2250sqft including the 2 car garage. The main entry is on the main floor and our living space is upstairs. The downstairs is a one bedroom suite that we are going to now use as a den/ bedroom for one of the kids.

My plan was to get the eco 65 downstairs in the main floor and have it vented out underneath the stairway of my patio. I had a WETT certified guy come and say thats no problem, but I read here that you should have a few feet where the chimney goes up once out of the wall?

Also, I plan to use the polonium kit that comes with the stove and bring some of the heat upstairs.

One last thing, I know Ill have to go out and buy a few bags of each pellet to try out, but what are you eco 65 guys burning. Can you give me your thoughts on the following pellets:

Clean Burn-287 a ton
pinnicle fur 287 a ton
Pinnicle SPF 248
Eagle Valley 249
canwicks 299

Thanks!

 

[wong123]

I should also mention I am looking for one or two that would get the most bang for the buck

thanks

 

[DV]

Not familiar with any of those pellets. But everything I have put into my eco 65 it has burned and burned well. I dont think you will have an issue with any of them. I am very happy with my stove. Good luck with yours and post some pics! By the way. It will be 97 degrees at my house tomorow.

 

[hyfire]

Its a good little stove for the value, could use some minor improvements but overall OK..

 

[wong123]

Could you elaborate?

I had a second guy come give me a quote and he doesnt recommend the drolet. He reccomends the harmen or eviromax...is it worth it for iur west coast winters here on vancouver island...im really torn..was on a budget but now reconsidering about harmens and spending the extra money

Its a good little stove for the value, could use some minor improvements but overall OK..

?

 

[hyfire]

1.The stove takes a long time to get to full heat (a good 45min) bascially.
2.Some door warpage issues at extended high heat level ( they may have addressed this issue with a newer revised design).
3. The glass soots up very fast, stove needs very frequent cleanings of burn pot
4. The ignitors are prone not to last long.


GOOD THINGS

1. Customer support is excellent
2. Great CFM airflow for the plenum kit,
3. Sturdy built construction.
4. 125 lb hopper good for 2 day burn
5. 77.8% efficiency
6. Parts are in stock easy to get
7. German made exh and combustion blowers very durable.
8. low power consumption.
9. Bottom feed auger very reliable.

 

[hyfire]

For what your spending you get a good value, and the heat exchanger has a lifetime warranty.

 

[DV]

could you elaborate?

I had a second guy come give me a quote and he doesnt recommend the drolet. He reccomends the harmen or eviromax...is it worth it for iur west coast winters here on vancouver island...im really torn..was on a budget but now reconsidering about harmens and spending the extra money


?

Do a search on here and you will get some more Info.

 

[stouchton]

I have owned a Drolet Eco-65 for almost a year, and have only one complaint. And it pretty much is a design flaw and something I would recommend you correct on day 1 of ownership. And perhaps, they have corrected it on new models.

On this stove, there are side covers that need to be removed several times during the heating season to clean out the heat exchanger. These sides are held on by 1/4 - 20 bolts. The nuts are swaged/pressed into the frame of the heat exchanger. This exposed the nut and bolt to the exhaust air of the fire. When I opened the stove last January, I did not have any issues. However when I opened the stove this September for a cleaning, ALL the bolts and nuts were rusted together. I used PB Blaster and finally Kroil on an overnight soak each to no avail. Most of the bolts broke on removal, some swaged nuts spun for the spline was not strong enough to hold. I ended up drilling and retapping most of them.

Here is what you should do (unless they fixed it!):

Remove the side panels
Thread the bolts thru from the inside (I think the stock bolts are long enough - I had to replace all of mine....)
Use washers and nuts on the outside!
Now it does not matter what rusts on the inside, and it makes it much easier to put the gaskets on.



One other thing I would change has to do with the idle mode when controlled by a thermostat. If you are using the plenum and ducting elsewhere AND let the stove "shut down" to idle when the thermostat is satisfied please realize the temperatures are going to rise dramatically. I did not realize this and have mine vented upstairs to the kitchen (vinyl floor). Temperatures rose well over 200F while idling and discolored the vinyl. To correct this, have the unit shut down completely when thermostat is satisfied (you can program that). This may unfortunately put more use on the ignitor shortening its life.


So much for the negative - now the positive:

It is a great stove - burns all pellets well. I tried about 8 brands last heating season. Never had a burn pot issue. I did clean the burn pot empty the ash pan about every 3 days but she was running pretty much continually.

 

[hyfire]

How about using stainless bolts and anti-seize?

 

[hyfire]

You can change the blower speed when the stove goes to idle mode, so this won't happen. PM me for details.

 

[hyfire]

Hows your everyone's eco-65 holding up......... I'm running 3 bags a day its just brutal at these temps -19-20 C..No big issues going on 3 year almost,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Charlie0664]

I'm running 3 bags a day its just brutal at these temps -19-20 C

"WOW" that's around $500 a month just for pellets (at the price I get them for). It would be cheaper for me to use my baseboard heat if I burnt 3 bags a day.

I have a Eco 45 and I'm burning about 1 1/2 bags a day here in the east (New Brunswick) and we've had some
pretty nasty weather here in the last couple of months (-25 -30 at night).

 

[hyfire]

I;m working on insulation, It should be better the sooner I get it done. One thing I do like about the Eco-65 the exhaust blower starts to vibrate when it time for cleaning, and mine is just started to vibrate. However, Drolet won;t sell me the exhaust blower access gasket, you have to buy the kit for $70. I;m trying to find a cheaper source on ebay for custom made gaskets.

 

[DV]

Mine is rocking and rolling. Was -1 today at my house this morning. I believe that's a new record for southern MD. Has been plenty cold this winter. I have burned 2 and a half tons so far.

 

[3650]

Use high temp copper-Graff on the nuts and bolts. They will come right out. I think its good up to 1500* if I remember correctly.

 

[bf525]

You can change the blower speed when the stove goes to idle mode, so this won't happen. PM me for details.

Hi would like to know how to change blower speed bought mine in Augest 2012 please Email me at [email protected] would like to raise #1 setting just a little Thanks