Good Evening folks,
We moved back to Kansas City last year, our new house is heated with a heat-pump. While it does a reasonable job keeping temperature, a heat pump never seams to have a "warm" feeling. We also suffered from quite high electric bills, presumably from the backup electric strips on defrost cycle or very cold days where the heat pump cannot keep up. Walking around a local farm store, i found a Castle serenity, presumably their display model, marked down to $650, after a quick talk with the manager, i got it down to $600. Has a scuff here and there from being in the store, but i felt the deal was pretty good. I did have to call castle as i found that the ribbon cable which connects the control panel had been damaged - the folks there quickly answered the phone and a new cable is on the way under warranty. I feel this is great service, as the damage is likely due to mishandling, rather than a defective part from the factory - yet they still replaced it at no cost to me.
I also picked up a pallet of "somerset premium pellets" at Menards for $190 after rebate - these somersets seam to have pretty good reviews and i feel the price was quite good as well.
I also ran the pellet stove in the driveway for a few hours to burn off the paint smell. I was pleased, but the sides did get a lot hotter than i was hoping - probably around 350 degrees if i have to guess. I have a 2 year old toddler and a new baby on the way. I expect training to "HOT" and "Ouch" will be sufficient, but am considering a gate. I don't expect we will likely save any money using the stove, but hopefully the house will have a bit of a cozier feel without using expensive to run electric resistance space heaters.
Any advice for a newbie to get me started right?
We moved back to Kansas City last year, our new house is heated with a heat-pump. While it does a reasonable job keeping temperature, a heat pump never seams to have a "warm" feeling. We also suffered from quite high electric bills, presumably from the backup electric strips on defrost cycle or very cold days where the heat pump cannot keep up. Walking around a local farm store, i found a Castle serenity, presumably their display model, marked down to $650, after a quick talk with the manager, i got it down to $600. Has a scuff here and there from being in the store, but i felt the deal was pretty good. I did have to call castle as i found that the ribbon cable which connects the control panel had been damaged - the folks there quickly answered the phone and a new cable is on the way under warranty. I feel this is great service, as the damage is likely due to mishandling, rather than a defective part from the factory - yet they still replaced it at no cost to me.
I also picked up a pallet of "somerset premium pellets" at Menards for $190 after rebate - these somersets seam to have pretty good reviews and i feel the price was quite good as well.
I also ran the pellet stove in the driveway for a few hours to burn off the paint smell. I was pleased, but the sides did get a lot hotter than i was hoping - probably around 350 degrees if i have to guess. I have a 2 year old toddler and a new baby on the way. I expect training to "HOT" and "Ouch" will be sufficient, but am considering a gate. I don't expect we will likely save any money using the stove, but hopefully the house will have a bit of a cozier feel without using expensive to run electric resistance space heaters.
Any advice for a newbie to get me started right?
