Nestor Martin / Efel factory fire? Huge discount at Lehman's

[Silbston]

Does anyone have any information on the Nestor Martin factory fire?

Lehman's is selling the S33 for $1397.50 if you call/email them; I asked about the reason behind steep discount and the person I spoke with said that there had been a fire in the factory and they aren't sure if/when more stoves will be coming. They are trying to move all their current stock.

The only thing I could find online about the factory fire states:

Nestor Martin and Franco Belge stoves are no longer being manufactured. Nestor Martin sufferred a major fire in their factory and will not be making any more stoves. Parts are still available. Franco Belge are looking for a buyer and so stoves may become available again in the future. Parts are available for these stoves also....
- http://www.faradaystoves.co.uk/news/article/stove-companies-cease-production​

Anyone have any more information? I might regret owning a discontinued product... but I just pulled the trigger on an S33 and hope the spare parts supplies last! Maybe a good time to stock up on those as well.

 

[begreen]

If true that is a real shame. Nestor Martin puts some great tech into their stoves. They are very efficient burners. I don't think you will be disappointed.

 

[mellow]

How ironic a fire takes out someone who tries to contain it for heat.

That is a smokin deal, was that the price for the porcelain or just black?

 

[begreen]

I don't find news of a fire on their website. Instead I find that the parent company went bankrupt, but that the Nestor Martin line was bought by the huge Hergom corp aka Hearthstone in the US. Maybe the fire is more recent news or perhaps someone is blowing smoke?

Good news!
23-10-2015 - Acquisition Nestor Martin
Nestor Martin goes beyond

Good news! After the bankruptcy of Thermic Distribution Europe (Belgian producer of the Nestor Martin stoves) is the brand Nestor Martin acquired by one of the largest and most reputable heater manufacturers in the world: the Spanish Hergom.

Maintains this website and the news closely. We will keep you updated and the website will be very soon changed with the models that are available now.
http://www.nestormartin.nl/

 

[Silbston]

The $1397.50 is for the graphite/black S33. I didn't ask about other finishes or models... if you inquire further, post what you learn.

I spoke with Sharon at Lehman's -- 888-438-5346 ext 2352.

 

[mellow]

What worries me most about this is the electronic parts not being available, I have seen that issue with Pellet Stoves. Make sure you have a good sized UPS backup battery or some other backup power solution for this, they don't say how it acts when power fails.

 

[Silbston]

What worries me most about this is the electronic parts not being available, I have seen that issue with Pellet Stoves. Make sure you have a good sized UPS backup battery or some other backup power solution for this, they don't say how it acts when power fails.

My understanding is that the stove doesn't require power unless you want the remote control operation (which I don't). The electricity appears to simply power a servo that turns the otherwise-manual burn rate control knob.

 

[mellow]

Ahh right on, had the read the manual. Would be curious to see pictures of their bimetallic control, make sure and buy an extra part #38 on the parts list.

 

[Silbston]

Ahh right on, had the read the manual. Would be curious to see pictures of their bimetallic control, make sure and buy an extra part #38 on the parts list.

Great call. Any other parts you think I should look at stocking up on? Set of fire bricks maybe?

 

[mellow]

I had to do some research on this stove as I have seen it in the past but didn't really pay much attention to it as it was to much $$

Ok, so after doing some digging this stove really isn't special at all (per say), the air controls are not thermostatic controlled like a BK, what makes it variable is the electric motor / remote option, it apparently lets you set the temperature that way on the remote and the electric motor varies the primary air knob (was let down by this). It has the same primary air control as most stoves these days.

It is a pretty cool looking stove especially for $1,300, but I would only have it with the remote option

I found this good video on operations of it:

 

[Silbston]

...
It is a pretty cool looking stove especially for $1,300, but I would only have it with the remote option

Lehman's insisted on including the remote for free as well... so I'll have a chance to report how well that part works.

 

[mellow]

Cool, it looks like the remote has the thermometer in it? I am looking forward to seeing how that works.

 

[begreen]

Paging @precaud, new Nestor Martin owner here.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/nestor-martin-x33-installed-and-working-great.9211/#post-9211

 

[Silbston]

Here's a little more info on the current status of Efel / Nestor Martin, found thanks to the Ergom - Nestor Martin link @begreen revealed.

From the Google translate version of the article written in French, 15 of the 160 Nestor Martin employees have formed SCJ Stove Works in Couvin, southern Belgium, led by a couple former execs. Through a 3+-year relationship with Ergom they're producing Nestor Martin and Surdiac stoves (sounds like Ergom is doing the heavy manufacturing, with SCJ Stove Works perhaps doing assembly and sales?). The article says that spare parts for past stoves are being produced and distributed as well.

Source: http://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/detail_couvin-la-fonderie-renait-de-ses-cendres?id=9023183

A couple news report videos (in French) can be found on the SCJ facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/SCJ-Stoveworks-1649525075314830/videos/

Anyone speak French who can clarify exactly what's going on here?

 

[MishMouse]

I found this good video on operations of it:

Actually this video is good advice for most modern wood stoves.

 

[bushman]

Here's a file from Euroheat about the situation with Efel and Nestor Martin.

 

[Silbston]

Here's a file from Euroheat about the situation with Efel and Nestor Martin.

Very interesting - thanks for the reference!

I talked with the folks at Lehman's about all this, and they said they've heard much of the same information... and they've been assured that spare parts will continue to flow and new stoves will be available to them soon. It will be interesting to see how the whole SCJ Stoveworks - Hergom thing plays out.

 

[mellow]

It will be interesting to see how the whole SCJ Stoveworks - Hergom thing plays out.

Have you installed the S33 yet?

 

[Silbston]

Have you installed the S33 yet?

We've been heating with the S33 for a few weeks now, and so far I'm happy with it overall in our 1100 sq ft home.

Some highlights:
* Really beautiful flame -- the large window and even air delivery create a balanced, natural flame show and keep the glass clean
* Easy overnight burning -- a couple pine splits and a chunk of oak at night will leave pretty big, hot coals after 8+ hours. I didn't light a match or use a scrap of paper in the first week with the stove after lighting the first fire.
* Easy starting -- the air delivery from the ash pan area when in starting mode (air flow lever set to the "B" position) makes for super easy starting and/or reinvigorating coals in the morning
* Good regulation of heat output -- the "burn rate" knob takes a little getting used to, but I'm finding it easy now to fine tune heat output and burn time and get minimal smoke out the chimney whether burning fast or slow
* Extremely efficient -- Our wood usage has dropped by at least 60-70%. Granted our old stove was a little old leaky Woodford, but to be getting more heat over longer periods with 1/3 the wood is pretty awesome.

Pain points:
* Fire box size/dimensions -- the literature says the stove takes 17" logs, but that's misleading... while you can fit a 17" split right against the front grate, the fire box tapers quickly down to about 15" on the sides and the ceiling of the firebox slopes down as well. There's only about 9" of usable depth in the firebox as well... and it's tricky to make use of the full 1.7 cu ft of the firebox. In my experience, the most satisfying (and longest-burning) way to load this stove is with a row of short, chunky splits 8-9" long loaded north-south, and then stacking one or two 15-16" splits on top crosswise, east-west.
* Ash cleanup -- I'm not sure if this is just in the US models (I don't see floor firebrick in the UK parts breakout), but the fire bricks on the floor of the firebox leave just a small 4-5" diamond area of the larger ash grate exposed. This makes scraping the ash into the ashpan grate a bit of a chore. Thankfully the stove doesn't produce a ton of ash.. I empty the pan once a week, for the most part.
* Fire brick -- the fire brick that comes in the stove is the lightweight vermiculite type, and given the small, tapered firebox (including the sloping firebrick top baffle), I think it'd be easy to break a brick when loading the stove. The tech at Lehman's said he broke one and replaced it with a stronger masonry brick.
* Whistling -- we get a whistling between the "1" and 2" positions on the burn rate knob. Covering what I think from other posts on here is the "EPA hole" in the air inlet area, the whistling goes away. I may take the part off to see if there's any hanging metal over the hole or something that could be filed off.

Happy to answer any specific questions you might have @mellow, and hope the info above is helpful!

We just had a new chimney installed (the old terracotta tiles in our existing brick chimney were cracking/failing), and the installer pointed me at the new Lopi Rockport as a slightly wider, slightly deeper alternative to the S33 that meets the EPA's 2020 < 2 g/h emissions standard... worth a look.

 

[begreen]

The Rockport seems to have the same exposed cat as the other hybrid-fyre stoves.