Need Pellet Stove Opinions

[bond1973]

So....I've been waiting for a Hudson River Niagara since August and 5 "it'll be in" dates have come and gone. Thus I hit a few local stove shops to see what's in stock that I may want. I've come down to 3 choices and am looking for opinions on them. I can get a St Croix Prescott EXP for $2750 and they'll throw in the remote thermostat. I can get a Breckwell P23 for $2400 with no thermostat. Or... I can hit Home Depot and get an Englander 25-PDV for $2050 shipped. I have a split leve with unfinished (for now) downstairs (and a huge Alaska Stove Company wood stove). Plan to hear upstairs with this only...just under 1000 square feet. I'm so lost...no idea what to do. I want the St Croix, but it's over the limit we set of $2500...but I am comtemplating going for it anyway as it seems like a nice stove. I see a lot of people on here running Englanders which makes it tempting. I live in Southern NH. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Wanna throw somethin' at me? Tomato? Frying pans cause you're all sick of this question? ;-)

Thanks
Rick

 

[sydney1963]

I love my Englander and puts out tons of heat. Some think it's not as pretty as others, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[bond1973]

Speaking of beauty....how much brass is on it and how much is removeable? We're not big brass people. THanks very much for the input.

 

[sydney1963]

Mine came with just the spring handle brass crap, no other trim from HD. At Lowe's they come with the nickel options. I ordered a nickel spring handle, $3.64, and the door and lip trim from England Stove works.

http://www.englanderstoves.com/store/25-PDVC_Parts.html

 

[Xena]

All three are well known reputable stoves from what
I've seen on here and all three would have no problems
heating 1000 sq ft. All depends on what's important to you.
Appearance/Design? After all, you said you would be installing it
in the main living area of your home, so appearance would
most likely be important to you.

Englander seems like a great stove. Lots of satisfied
owners on this forum and the yahoo forum. Keep in mind
though when you buy one it's a DIY all the way from
installation to maintenance and repair. The company
does provide phone tech support and from what I've seen
on the forum, their support is first rate. But.. If DIY isn't
your thing then I'd scratch the Englander.

I have a Prescott EXP. It rocks. Wouldn't trade it for
anything. It throws some huge honkin heat for sure.
The hopper holds 75lbs of pellets. The ash pan is ginormous.
I can go more than a month without having to empty it.
Recently I disabled the versa grate motor because I
wasn't crazy about the extra noise it made. Some people
may not have noticed a difference. Stove works A+
without it so I'm not replacing it. Other than that I'm
100% pleased and would buy one of these again.
Paid $2300 for this one new in 05. With pellets as expensive
as they are atm I am not sure I'd buy a pellet stove
right now. Or I might look for a good used one instead
but then you may not find exactly what you're looking for.

I can't speak about the Breckwell but I know there are many
owners on here so I'm sure in time they will chime in.
You basically have to weigh the pro's and con's and decide
from there. G'luck!

 

[Dougsey]

If I was in the market to buy a stove, I would wait until spring. Take your time and get the stove you want, not what happens to be in stock.

 

[bond1973]

Thank you ALL so far for the input. First...getting a stove was a decision the wife and I made in like...June'ish...then in August we finally chose to order the Hudson River Niagara and was told it'd be in by the end of September. Hasn't happened yet. It's getting cold. Unfortunately my highly mathematic method of figuring out which stove I "want"...is to read what everyone else says about what. What would I love to have? A Harman, but that won't happen for this winter...SO...move on to the next...check stats, get input, see what's available that I/we like. Of the 3 I mentioned above...I did find more available, but nothing I'm interested in. Those 3 are what I've read up on, heard from others about, etc. I wouldn't have considered the Englander typically because it's from HD and not a "stove shop". However...I've read so much on hear and seen in signatures how many people run them that...it can't be a bad choice and it's certainly less expensive than the others. As far as DIY..that's fine with me. As I get older I try to become more self-sufficient. I imagine none of them can be a wrong choice...I guess my biggest need is a little reassurance from those that own one or have owned a couple of them. I know that come spring the prices will PROBABLY come down, but I have no desire to wait that long. Got the $ now, might not later. Again I appreciate the input so far from all of you. As far as new vs. used...I'd kinda' like the warranty from the get-go so I'm not completely, 100% on my own....well....and on this awesome forum. haha

 

[sydney1963]

Here are some pics if it helps. Tech support is very helpful as well. We did the install ourselves and made our own pellet pad this past summer. Loads of savings. The scariest part was drilling the holes through the side of our home. Good Luck.

 

[DiggerJim]

As far as new vs. used...I'd kinda' like the warranty from the get-go so I'm not completely, 100% on my own....well....and on this awesome forum. haha

Warranties may not be such a valuable thing. Englander's is good because when you need something you call them and they're setup to deal directly with you. The other stoves have warranties with some fine print that (IMHO) bites. If the problem is covered, and if the store you bought it from is still in business, and if you haven't moved, and if you will pay for the service call, then you may get warranty coverage. If any of those "ifs" are off, you're on your own anyway and typically with a stove manufacturer that isn't interested in (or setup to) deal with you. Pellet stoves aren't like almost all other consumer commodities where you can take it to the nearest authorized dealer or warranty service place - you'll only get warranty service from the dealer you bought it from and the manufacturer won't help. If you move, too bad for you, you'll need to get that original dealer (even if he's hundreds of miles away) to help you out.

If you're handy then Englander is a good choice since they'll work with you. If you're really handy and can source parts on your own, then just about any one of them will do because the fundamentals aren't that different stove to stove and you can swap out blowers & mechanicals with like ones from places like Grainger. It's just the control board that is really proprietary and that you can probably find online.

Welcome to the club BTW.

 

[bond1973]

So...some slight alterations to my planning. The Englander is out due to my wife not liking the appearance, no offense to Englander owners. I got ahold of a shop that has Quadrafire Mont/Mount Vernons in stock (which I think is too big a stove for my situation) and they say they have some Classic Bay 1200's coming in next week. Gonna look them up next....otherwise I'm leaning to the St Croix over the Breckwell. I feel so close to the end, but yet...not quite. heh Thanks again.

Rick

 

[blakew]

I would recommend getting a breckwell stove. A friend of mine has the Breckwell Big E model. The stove arrived undamaged and all the included parts were there, but it took a week of waiting for the stoves to come in at Rural King. Here is a link to Rural King's Breckwell stoves.

https://www.ruralking.com/Store/SearchBrands.aspx?BrandId=2858

From what I have researched, you can't find a better deal on pellet stoves than that of Rural King's. The manager told my friend that they get a huge discount from Fedex Freight because they run so much inventory through Fedex and Rural King works with you to try to get you the lowest possible rate. Give them a call, 1-800-561-1752.

 

[oil-schmoil]

Have you been to the "Pellet Stove Store" in Weare, just north of Lanctots. I bought my stove there this year. Baby Countryside. I like it.
Jack is a good guy, I think he has a coulple stoves in stock too.

 

[blakew]

do you have a link or a price on the Big E. Did you get it shipped or did you pick it up yourself?

 

[oil-schmoil]

I think the store in weare has them (big e's) in stock. my neighbor bought one there and it cranks out the heat. paid 1975.00

 

[bond1973]

I HAVE been to the Pellet Stove Company in Weare, in fact that's where I got the price on the breckwell P23. I'm drawn to that place because it's close, Jack does seem like a very nice guy and I think the post-sales service would be great...but for some reason, the more I think about the stoves, I'm drawn more to the St Croix. I looked up the Quadrafire Classic Bay 1200 and I'm not thrilled with its appearance (especially compared to the Vernon) and while aesthetics aren't a HUGE deal to me...I do want something somewhat attractive sitting in my living room...and then there's the wife's opinion in which the Classic Bay is kinda boxy and bland.

I was shocked by the price of the Big E, but going in my living room...it's too big, though a great price. Oh...and great prices at that ruralking site. I got a quote of about $2400 for the P23 in town and they are asking $1699 for it plus just under $200 shipping at ruralking...crazy! Something to be said, though, for having a local shop purchase as this guy in town will come to my house if there's a problem with the stove and help ya' out.

 

[bond1973]

Welcome to the club BTW.

Thanks BTW

 

[MCPO]

Id not even consider a pellet stove at this point.
With oil prices down and pellet prices high (if / when) available) not to mention the cost of a stove , again (if / when available)
you might want to wait til spring to see how this all shakes out.

 

[bond1973]

Alright...that's two of you. Maybe I should throw in this point as well. My home currently runs on oil heat with forced hot water heat to wall registers. This serves us heat AND hot water. The combustion chamber in my furnace is cracked...pretty big crack and when it finally lets go...I have no heat an hot water and then have to do SOMETHING to get things going again. Replace the furnace? Buy a pellet stove? And possibly an electric hot water heater for a few hundred bucks? I dunno. I have too many freakin' decisions and choices to make. I've been warned about the longevity, or lack thereof, by my furnace cleaning guy. He suggested I do something about it this past summer...didn't happen as I'm not sure where the best place is to throw my money. It's all a gamble at this point, IMO. Pick one and pray.

 

[Jester]

Id consider a Harman, they make a solid unit.
I went through all the "trouble" if you will this fall, before oil prices dropped. If you truely believe they're going to stay this low, well, you have more faith than I. I wanted to take control and be able to choose between oil and pellet. I havent even given thought to oil since going pellet.

If my boiler were to crap out tomorrow, Id be replacing it with another oil burner and a super saver hot water system. I thought about getting a pellet boiler, but I think not having the "ambience" of the stove would be anti climatic. Who wants to go into the basement to feed a fire they cant see.

 

[slls]

So...some slight alterations to my planning. The Englander is out due to my wife not liking the appearance, no offense to Englander owners. I got ahold of a shop that has Quadrafire Mont/Mount Vernons in stock (which I think is too big a stove for my situation) and they say they have some Classic Bay 1200's coming in next week. Gonna look them up next....otherwise I'm leaning to the St Croix over the Breckwell. I feel so close to the end, but yet...not quite. heh Thanks again.

Rick

I really like my CB1200, best decision I have made in a long time. Not much to fuss with, no air adjustments, can run low, med, or high, 2 fan setting for each heat range, 6 total. You can dump the fire pot with out opening the door, easy to clean.

 

[welshcob]

Having gone through the decision-making process myself recently, let me just emphasize that you should consider ease of use much more than appearance As I read the posts on this forum it just confirms that the Quadra-Fire was the right stove for me. I don't see many posts from Quad owners regarding problems, the stoves seem to take just trundle along without any fuss. I have mine on a programmable thermostat, currently running about 1/2 a bag of pellets a day. I pull the rod to clean the burn pot twice a day, don't even have to open the door to do that. And the ash pan is huge, so I just empty that when the spirit moves me. Not every stove has these features, some require a lot of manual adjustment, some require that you light the pellets by hand (or torch?)
My other suggestion would be to try to listen to the stove in operation. Since I was stove shopping in August I didn't get the opportunity to do this, and I find that the fan noise on High is considerable. But I'm not sure how my stove compares to others - I need to tour the stove shops and see if the noise mine is making is typical.

 

[MCPO]

Alright...that's two of you. Maybe I should throw in this point as well. My home currently runs on oil heat with forced hot water heat to wall registers. This serves us heat AND hot water. The combustion chamber in my furnace is cracked...pretty big crack and when it finally lets go...I have no heat an hot water and then have to do SOMETHING to get things going again. Replace the furnace? Buy a pellet stove? And possibly an electric hot water heater for a few hundred bucks? I dunno. I have too many freakin' decisions and choices to make. I've been warned about the longevity, or lack thereof, by my furnace cleaning guy. He suggested I do something about it this past summer...didn't happen as I'm not sure where the best place is to throw my money. It's all a gamble at this point, IMO. Pick one and pray.

No gamble from where I sit.
Common sense dictates your need to address the priority which is to replace the cracked furnace.
Personally I can`t believe you didn`t have it done before the heating season came.
Sure it`s nice to have a pellet stove if you must , but first things first. Unbelievable!

 

[bond1973]

If my boiler were to crap out tomorrow, Id be replacing it with another oil burner and a super saver hot water system. I thought about getting a pellet boiler, but I think not having the "ambience" of the stove would be anti climatic. Who wants to go into the basement to feed a fire they cant see.

My thoughts on this were...if the furnace dies...I may not replace it. Heat upstairs with the pellet stove, downstairs, for now if need be, with the wood stove I have down there and get an electric hot water heater. If I, at some point, feel I NEED another furnace...worry about it then.

 

[Dougsey]

Alright...that's two of you. Maybe I should throw in this point as well. My home currently runs on oil heat with forced hot water heat to wall registers. This serves us heat AND hot water. The combustion chamber in my furnace is cracked...pretty big crack and when it finally lets go...I have no heat an hot water and then have to do SOMETHING to get things going again. Replace the furnace? Buy a pellet stove? And possibly an electric hot water heater for a few hundred bucks? I dunno. I have too many freakin' decisions and choices to make. I've been warned about the longevity, or lack thereof, by my furnace cleaning guy. He suggested I do something about it this past summer...didn't happen as I'm not sure where the best place is to throw my money. It's all a gamble at this point, IMO. Pick one and pray.

I think you need a new boiler first. Good luck going away for a few days if your only source of heat is a pellet stove. Please call your homeowners insurance company and see what they have to say about that idea.

 

[Wet1]

Id not even consider a pellet stove at this point.
With oil prices down and pellet prices high (if / when) available) not to mention the cost of a stove , again (if / when available)
you might want to wait til spring to see how this all shakes out.

Very sound advise. I would not consider a pelet stove at this point either, at least wait until next spring if nothing else.


OTOH, I think you should consider focusing on your real problem, the furnace. A pellet stove is not a long term replacement for your central heating system. Yes, some people heat their house with a stove, but most people still fall back on their central heating system. Not to mention if you ever wanted to sell the house, or even leave for several days, you need something other than a pellet stove. I look at stoves as supplemental heating, not primary heating. So IMO, you need to address the primary system first before you consider the secondary supplemental system.

With that said, I have no idea what this crack looks like, but I'd get another person in there to take a look at it. If it needs to be scraped, so be it, but my guess is that it can be repaired if it is indeed an issue.