Looking to purchase a pellet Stove

[Ossie]

Hi all, Im new to this forum & new to the stove market. My wife and I are looking to purchase a pellet stove & was actually ready to go on the Quad Mt Vernon but I have found SOOOO many negative reviews. I understand this is the place where are the experts are & need some feedback. Are all the negative reviews for the Quad due to improper installation, lack of maintenance/ cleaning or just a poor quality product? Also, is the Harman XXV a better product, albeit a much smaller rated unit. Im very leary of dropping that much cash on something that wont work properly

Thanks in advance

 

[Pellet_OilBoy]

Far from an expert here but I'll just say I have a Quad Mt. Vernon and absolutely love it. Took me a while to get over the initial cost but was well worth it and I wanted something capable of heating my entire house. (Burnt under 100 gal of #2 Dinosaur this year) Plus they can only be sold (first hand) by people who are qualified to work on them. I've burnt many different kind of pellets in the old girl and though some have burnt better then others, it seems to handle about anything you throw in it. (In fact i was wondering if it would burn my garbage, food scraps, snow, etc.) Im not saying its the way you have to go, I hear a lot of good things about harmon's as well, but I just wanted to throw in a good review to combat the bad one's youve heard about the Quadrafire. But whatever you decide, do SOMETHING Pellet stoves are great and it feels wonderful not being a slave to crazy oil prices

 

[jtakeman]

I think most of the negitive reviews were from the rush to get stoves out during the push time when oil hit the roof. Some are also from the first timers that thought you just needed to add fuel to it. Quad worked hard to fix the rushed out issue's. Most I see now are pretty happy with the Mt Vernon's. Harmans have a whole slew of happy owners here. But we have seen a few owners with some issues.

So with any stove you look at, Best to pick a solid dealer ta boot. They are the first line of defense if an issue comes up. And this could happen with any stove! Keep us posted

 

[imacman]

Welcome to the forum Swellatown. Yes, a lot of very knowledgeable people here.

As for buying a stove, besides the Quad & Harman you mentioned, what other stoves are available to you in your area?

The Harman is a very good stove, but very $$, and if you really watch this forum, the Harman's also have quite a lot of postings for "problems" too, so take that for what it's worth. IMO, they are much more complicated than they need to be, and more complicated often leads to "issues".

There are MANY good stoves, and the main reason people have either good or bad "luck" with them more often as not is due to how well they take care of their stove (maintenance), how well they read & understand their owners manual, and the quality of the install.

 

[krooser]

First you should find a quality dealer with a great service dept.

Pellet stoves are not set and forget appliances despite what dealers will tell you. They need care and attention (something we can all relate to on Valentines Day). They DO get dirty and need to be cleaned on a regular basis. Parts do fail... owners do make mistakes operating them which can result in poor performance. Pellet brands vary in quality and consistency... bad pellets will result in a poor burn which will dirty up the stove and make things even worse.

There are stove available from $1000.00 to $4000.00... all of them will heat your home. A btu is a btu... stoves don't really do the heating...the fuel does. A pellet could give a rats behind what kind of stove its in... if you don't mind a plain looking stove an inexpensive Englander will do just fine... if you have to have the fanciest and most modern look there are several European stoves that are of excellent quality but priced accordingly.

If you believe some folks, only their favorite brand of stove will work.

Here's my suggestions...

Find a GOOD dealer... only the selling dealer will service the warranty on your stove. Buy from a deadbeat dealer and you are stuck with crappy service.

Decide how much $$$ you want to spend.

Decide what style stove you want... remember good looks may cost you $$$...

An inexpensive stove may not be pretty but they can heat as well as the pricey models.

Buy QUALITY pellets...

And ask your dealer what kind of stove he has at home... if he doesn't heat with pellets how can he be an expert?

Sorry for rambling on....

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

First you should find a quality dealer with a great service dept.

Pellet stoves are not set and forget appliances despite what dealers will tell you. They need care and attention (something we can all relate to on Valentines Day). They DO get dirty and need to be cleaned on a regular basis. Parts do fail... owners do make mistakes operating them which can result in poor performance. Pellet brands vary in quality and consistency... bad pellets will result in a poor burn which will dirty up the stove and make things even worse.

There are stove available from $1000.00 to $4000.00... all of them will heat your home. A btu is a btu... stoves don't really do the heating...the fuel does. A pellet could give a rats behind what kind of stove its in... if you don't mind a plain looking stove an inexpensive Englander will do just fine... if you have to have the fanciest and most modern look there are several European stoves that are of excellent quality but priced accordingly.

If you believe some folks, only their favorite brand of stove will work.

Here's my suggestions...

Find a GOOD dealer... only the selling dealer will service the warranty on your stove. Buy from a deadbeat dealer and you are stuck with crappy service.

Decide how much $$$ you want to spend.

Decide what style stove you want... remember good looks may cost you $$$...

An inexpensive stove may not be pretty but they can heat as well as the pricey models.

Buy QUALITY pellets...

And ask your dealer what kind of stove he has at home... if he doesn't heat with pellets how can he be an expert?

Sorry for rambling on....

X 1 Gazillion

 

[krooser]

First you should find a quality dealer with a great service dept.

Pellet stoves are not set and forget appliances despite what dealers will tell you. They need care and attention (something we can all relate to on Valentines Day). They DO get dirty and need to be cleaned on a regular basis. Parts do fail... owners do make mistakes operating them which can result in poor performance. Pellet brands vary in quality and consistency... bad pellets will result in a poor burn which will dirty up the stove and make things even worse.

There are stove available from $1000.00 to $4000.00... all of them will heat your home. A btu is a btu... stoves don't really do the heating...the fuel does. A pellet could give a rats behind what kind of stove its in... if you don't mind a plain looking stove an inexpensive Englander will do just fine... if you have to have the fanciest and most modern look there are several European stoves that are of excellent quality but priced accordingly.

If you believe some folks, only their favorite brand of stove will work.

Here's my suggestions...

Find a GOOD dealer... only the selling dealer will service the warranty on your stove. Buy from a deadbeat dealer and you are stuck with crappy service.

Decide how much $$$ you want to spend.

Decide what style stove you want... remember good looks may cost you $$$...

An inexpensive stove may not be pretty but they can heat as well as the pricey models.

Buy QUALITY pellets...

And ask your dealer what kind of stove he has at home... if he doesn't heat with pellets how can he be an expert?

Sorry for rambling on....

X 1 Gazillion

Thanks Smokey... imacman will send you a check in the mail...

 

[Rooscooter]

I've owned Pellet stoves for the last 20 years. I've owned Quadrafire, Harman, Lopi and Bosca stoves. Currently I have 2 Bosca Spirit 500 that I love. They were less expensive than comparable stoves at the time and over the last 2 years I have had absolutely no issues with them.

I also agree with posts above that you should find a good dealer first and then work with them to find the right stove. With that said I would whole heartedly recommend the Bosca Spirit 500.

 

[Pellet_OilBoy]

I would agree. I'm not very good at fixing things, usually make it worse. Thats why Im glad I bought a stove with a warranty and from good people who bend over backwards to make sure your stove is running well, and care about their own reputation. I think that's important. But, youve already done one thing right, you've found a forum with good advice from very smart people.....and me.

 

[Como]

It is the nature of the beast that you will find many more posts from people with issues, not a lot to say if it is working as advertised.

May also be a function of how many have been sold.

 

[Pellet_OilBoy]

My Quadra Fire is smarter than that Watson thing they are using on Jeopardy tonight, so keep that in mind

 

[jbbcd]

Few things I have learned w/ a pellet stove:
1) very very messy, dusty etc…...
I would never have a pellet stove in my main living area unless it was only for show.
My pellet stove is in the basement hooked up to the cold air return duct work. Works awesome.
2) Don’t really save that much money on heat, considering you still have to buy the pellets & parts (I have seen a local store here sells pellets for over $6 a bag, thats nuts!) anything over $4 bag I will not use the stove, natural gas here is much cheaper!
3)very very happy with how the warm heat from this pellet stove feels compared to our natural gas.
4)Very very high maintenance on pellet stoves!

I love it though, my wife too
Thats my 2 cents worth
Good Luck!
John

 

[imacman]

... imacman will send you a check in the mail...

Oh yeah, that's right. "the checks in the mail"

 

[Dr_Drum]

It is the nature of the beast that you will find many more posts from people with issues, not a lot to say if it is working as advertised.

Ditto, otherwise known as "the silent majority". ;-)
Mike -

 

[Ossie]

Guys thanks for all the info so far...So, it sounds like the Quad Mt. Vernon isn't necessarily as bad a product as it seems from reviews. The one common complaint seems to be the ignitor switch going on the unit. I've read reviews where some people have had theirs go 3 times in the first 3 months. Could that be from misuse, poor design, lack of cleaning or poor installation? I know it's under warranty, but who wants to deal with having to have it serviced so often (never mind what happens after the warranty expires).

Appreciate all the advice!!

 

[chris288]

I have the XXV and absolutely love it, had a whitfield before it for 14 heating seasons and that stove was very good to me also. If you look at the survey thread you will see that Harman outsells the competition by a long shot, and there are twice as many Harman owners as any other, so there are bound to be more posts about them. I looked at all the stoves I could find in person and online, the burn pot design of the Quad turned me of, thought it was ridiculous that the stove would dump the fire and have to re-start many times / day. I haven't shut my XXV off in 3 weeks probably will give it a good cleaning in a nother week or so.

 

[Turbo-Quad]

Dunno what you're looking to spend. I guess alot since you're considering a MT Vernon. If you're wanting to keep the cost down there are some unbelievably low priced refurbished units on Ebay. Some are 1/3 the cost of a new one. Seems like a good investment to me. I'm buying a back up.

 

[rona]

I have owned a Quad AE for one and 1/2 seasons, Two Harman PC45s for a season and two Bixbys for 4 seasons.
The main complaints on the AE was it eats igniters and the 60,000 btu is misleading becauseof the fact that it has to slow down-cool off- before it shuts down to dump the pot. Then it has to restart, ramp up before it is putting out max heat. This down time is no big deal unless you are depending on max heat 24-7 and it is -20 outside.
I found that either the Harman PC with its 45,000 heat or the Bixby with its 50,000 btu kept the house warmer then the AE with its advertised 60,000 heat did.
The other down side is the small ash tray.
Having said that each person has a different situation and the reasons I didn't like the AE probably wouldn't pertain to the next person.
The AE was released to the public before it was tested correctly and the wall control plus the electronic board had to be upgraded several times before they got it right, The heavy cast iron heat exchanger also broke three times. Then the igniter problem was a continual headache.
Quadrafire backed this stove and was good with the warranty but if your dealer wasn't on the ball you were hung out to dry. The dealer I had sold 38 of these stoves and closed the door two years after I bought mine. I was lucky enough to know someone else who also had a AE and when his dealer got updates on changes he did them. I had to argue with my dealer about getting parts etc and finally found out who the area rep was and then was able to get parts. I got all the updates on mine and sold it to another fellow I knew and he had good luck other then replacing igniters. There was a different style pot available that was supposed to help prolong the igniter problem.
I believe your dealer can change some of the settings via computer hooked up to the control. Kind of what the owners can do with their Bixbys.