New PE Neo 2.5

[Ode1891]

So far we're happy with the new stove! The fan control rheostat is defective and the shop is bringing a new one. It surged full RPMs a couple times but has since behaved. Other than that its a winner

 

[edyit]

looks nice!!

 

[turbopsi]

Hi, are you able to spare some time and write a small review on how you have found the heater so far. I know you said it's a winner but I was hoping for some further information like what size home/area you are heating, burn times? overnight burn? and the amount of wood it feeds. Cheers Tony.

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

i also have just put this stove into my house. Its the middle of summer here so no fires to talk about / review. I will do a full report in 6 months

 

[TedyOH]

Hopefully the small splits in your picture is just kindling - if you load the stove with those it'll blast off like a rocket, even with the air chocked off all the way. They run on the hot side in my opinion, love mine for sure!

 

[Ode1891]

Hi, are you able to spare some time and write a small review on how you have found the heater so far. I know you said it's a winner but I was hoping for some further information like what size home/area you are heating, burn times? overnight burn? and the amount of wood it feeds. Cheers Tony.

Background:

I cut my own wood and have only paid for two or three cords since 1985. My burning method might differ if I paid for wood.

My house is a 1500 sq ft standard rectangular rancher that I put an addition on and is now L shaped and about 2100 sq ft. I have two zones of hot water baseboard heat in the original house with the additional three rooms heated with EL baseboard. One of the EL heated rooms is a 400 sq ft family room that is the boot of the L shape. It is horrible to move heat from the main house to that family room. The wood insert is fairly centered in the original rancher. I have ceiling fans all over the house—5 of them. The one in the room with the insert is blowing downward, all others circulate upward.

My previous insert was put in mid-70s. It’s the profile picture. It was no more than a metal box with a circulating pair of blowers and 5 outlet holes on top. It burned wood as fast as I could feed t J. Enough background info.

The NEO 2.5:

We bought it with the larger shroud and nickel plate accent. $2,850 and installation with an insulated stainless liner was $1,600.

The stove was surprisingly easy to light! With an established bed of coals and packed with a load of wood, it burns at least 5 hours with the air intake set at 50%. If I allow the living room to get into the mid 80’s, that far addition room will stay in the mid-low 60s. The other end of the house (closer) will stay mid 70s. At night, if I put a few pieces of wood in and close the air intake down to about 25%, we wake up 7 hours later to a small bed of coals and the fans are still blowing heated air out. I then lay a few pieces of dry kindling on the coals, open the door, and it’ll reignite shortly. This morning it was 11F so all the EL heat was on in my addition but the oil furnace had not come on. Wood consumption, considering I burn pretty hot, is minimal compared to that old box.

I’ve been running the stove for a week and have not yet shoveled out ash. I wiped a little soot of the glass this morning before feeding it.

The only negative is that the rheostat switch is defective but the dealer is coming out to replace it. It’s an intermittent problem as the RPMs will surge when its set above 50% but only occasionally.


So far we are delighted with the performance. We use it as supplemental heat, and with my house configuration, it is a good fit being flushmount. Edit add: If a house had a more open floor plan, or was a typical two story home, this insert could warm over 2,000 sq ft. Obviously, a box that sticks out from the wall will produce bonus radiant heat, but my hearth and close doorway won't allow that so we went flushmount.

Feel free to ask me to expand on any points of interest.

And yes, those small splits are kindling that are drying out as they were a bit damp. Agreed that it'd melt the wall if I burned stuff like that as main fuel.

 

[turbopsi]

Background:

I cut my own wood and have only paid for two or three cords since 1985. My burning method might differ if I paid for wood.

My house is a 1500 sq ft standard rectangular rancher that I put an addition on and is now L shaped and about 2100 sq ft. I have two zones of hot water baseboard heat in the original house with the additional three rooms heated with EL baseboard. One of the EL heated rooms is a 400 sq ft family room that is the boot of the L shape. It is horrible to move heat from the main house to that family room. The wood insert is fairly centered in the original rancher. I have ceiling fans all over the house—5 of them. The one in the room with the insert is blowing downward, all others circulate upward.

My previous insert was put in mid-70s. It’s the profile picture. It was no more than a metal box with a circulating pair of blowers and 5 outlet holes on top. It burned wood as fast as I could feed t J. Enough background info.

The NEO 2.5:

We bought it with the larger shroud and nickel plate accent. $2,850 and installation with an insulated stainless liner was $1,600.

The stove was surprisingly easy to light! With an established bed of coals and packed with a load of wood, it burns at least 5 hours with the air intake set at 50%. If I allow the living room to get into the mid 80’s, that far addition room will stay in the mid-low 60s. The other end of the house (closer) will stay mid 70s. At night, if I put a few pieces of wood in and close the air intake down to about 25%, we wake up 7 hours later to a small bed of coals and the fans are still blowing heated air out. I then lay a few pieces of dry kindling on the coals, open the door, and it’ll reignite shortly. This morning it was 11F so all the EL heat was on in my addition but the oil furnace had not come on. Wood consumption, considering I burn pretty hot, is minimal compared to that old box.

I’ve been running the stove for a week and have not yet shoveled out ash. I wiped a little soot of the glass this morning before feeding it.

The only negative is that the rheostat switch is defective but the dealer is coming out to replace it. It’s an intermittent problem as the RPMs will surge when its set above 50% but only occasionally.


So far we are delighted with the performance. We use it as supplemental heat, and with my house configuration, it is a good fit being flushmount. Edit add: If a house had a more open floor plan, or was a typical two story home, this insert could warm over 2,000 sq ft. Obviously, a box that sticks out from the wall will produce bonus radiant heat, but my hearth and close doorway won't allow that so we went flushmount.

Feel free to ask me to expand on any points of interest.

And yes, those small splits are kindling that are drying out as they were a bit damp. Agreed that it'd melt the wall if I burned stuff like that as main fuel.

Thank you for taking the time to reply with a review. I'm visiting a local showroom later this week to have a look at the freestanding NEO 2.5. Being a new model I can't find many reviews about it on the net. We are finalizing the plans for our new build (2800 square feet) in your language of mainly open plan living with a hallway to the bedrooms, double glazed windows and insulated floors, walls and ceiling. The local dealer has recommended the NEO 2.5 freestanding but I'm a little worried about it being too small for the space. I'm also going to have a good look at the PE Summit while I'm there.

 

[turbopsi]

i also have just put this stove into my house. Its the middle of summer here so no fires to talk about / review. I will do a full report in 6 months

I'm also from VIC. Do you have any pics of the install? Thanks

 

[Hogwildz]

50% air intake through the burn seems open too far, and may be why you're only getting 5 hours out of a full load. You should get minimal 8 hrs I'm thinking. I load every 12 hours with the Summit, and in shoulder months I can get 14-16 hours. What temps is that thing running at? I have a 27" liner, and have to cut the air intake lever all the way to low. I couldn't even leave it cracked open a little or this thing would take off.

 

[Ode1891]

50% air intake through the burn seems open too far, and may be why you're only getting 5 hours out of a full load. You should get minimal 8 hrs I'm thinking. I load every 12 hours with the Summit, and in shoulder months I can get 14-16 hours. What temps is that thing running at? I have a 27" liner, and have to cut the air intake lever all the way to low. I couldn't even leave it cracked open a little or this thing would take off.

Update: I started loading straight in from the front and packing it full. After it gets rolling I slide the air intake all the way to the right closed. It burns great and after eight hours I have a full bed of coals and pack it again. Learning how to burn this new stove has been fun!
Correct! If I had continued at 50% it would glow--especially with some of my over-aged wood.

As you can see, just packing the stove, the air control is wide open, but I close it after its fully blazin.

 

[Ode1891]

Thank you for taking the time to reply with a review. I'm visiting a local showroom later this week to have a look at the freestanding NEO 2.5. Being a new model I can't find many reviews about it on the net. We are finalizing the plans for our new build (2800 square feet) in your language of mainly open plan living with a hallway to the bedrooms, double glazed windows and insulated floors, walls and ceiling. The local dealer has recommended the NEO 2.5 freestanding but I'm a little worried about it being too small for the space. I'm also going to have a good look at the PE Summit while I'm there.

I'm a newby to these new stoves but I love it so far! This NEO is good for my situation but like I said, if my hearth were deeper, and if I did not have an entrance door close to the hearth, I would have gone with a box extending out some from the wall. Even 3" provides exposed metal that will pump heat off without a fan--should your power go off. Free standing is best for that as my grandfather had a pot belly in the kitchen and that thing was incredible.

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

I'm also from VIC. Do you have any pics of the install? Thanks

Yes I do and once I get all sorted I will post the install. Only moved in a couple of weeks ago still unpacking but I bought the heater first week in before the money ran out

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

I'm also from VIC. Do you have any pics of the install? Thanks

Sorry forgot to welcome you to the forum where are you in Vic?

 

[turbopsi]

Sorry forgot to welcome you to the forum where are you in Vic?

Thanks. Were moving from the Northern Suburbs of Melbourne to acreage @ Wandong VIC. We visited Pivot to look at the NEO 2.5 and although I think the modern look will better suite our new home, we ended up leaning towards the PE Summit due to it's larger firebox and rating for larger homes. If only they made a NEO 3.0.

In regards to the PE Summit, it's not a bad looker but it would have been great if they optioned it with a rectangle door and straight edged feet instead of curved to better blend in a contemporary styled home. We also looked at others but I'm sold on the design of the PE fireboxes. The stainless baffle with the single pin release system looks like a winner. Cheers.

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

I felt the same way with the 2.5 - I really wanted a larger unit but i needed one to go into the existing fireplace and apparently this is the best unit available. i did the break in fire and i was impressed with the size of the firebox and the fact it is quite deep and quite square. it was too warm outside to get a good draft and apparently the fire bricks give out quite a bit of moisture on the first couple of fires so i am holding judgement until the cold weather gets here.

I bought mine from Pivot and so far they are very good to deal with - but if i need an extra piece of flue to help the draft we will see how they deal with that....

Do you have to go into a fireplace? there are a lot more options if you don't. But if you have to go into a fireplace the Pacific Energy are one the best ones available in Australia.

 

[turbopsi]

I felt the same way with the 2.5 - I really wanted a larger unit but i needed one to go into the existing fireplace and apparently this is the best unit available. i did the break in fire and i was impressed with the size of the firebox and the fact it is quite deep and quite square. it was too warm outside to get a good draft and apparently the fire bricks give out quite a bit of moisture on the first couple of fires so i am holding judgement until the cold weather gets here.

I bought mine from Pivot and so far they are very good to deal with - but if i need an extra piece of flue to help the draft we will see how they deal with that....

Do you have to go into a fireplace? there are a lot more options if you don't. But if you have to go into a fireplace the Pacific Energy are one the best ones available in Australia.

Congrats on the "break in" fire. It is a new house we are building and were planning for free standing unit so were not restricted to any type of model.

I shopped around for other models I had short listed using this forum and the certified wood heaters list for recommendations. We also considered Australian made (Nectre and Eureka) before we visited Pivot and found the following. Sales staff from the other stores we visited didn't know much about the Oz made unit's or other units they stocked and the warranty wasn't as good as the PE. This didn't worry me much as I had already done my homework on the models we went to see but we didn't feel comfortable with what after sales service may be like seeing how vague they seemed about pre sales information. To be fair I tried to contact Eureka a few times for further info but never received a reply.

Also, as mentioned earlier the firebox design and technology is what attracted me to the Summit as well as the warranty. Others we also looked at were the Quadra burn 4300, heatilator WS22 (80+ efficiency) and Regency Gosford.

Were pretty much sold on the PE summit but I'm a bit surprised with the floor protection requirement of 500mm from the front door. This puts things a little out of wack for what I was planning to put together. The same requirement in USA drops down to 406 which would have worked out perfect for what I had in mind.

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

If i could have any fire i would have gone for the Regency Richmond - the 30 hour burn time is massive - even if you get 24 hours its still pretty cool. I had a long chat with some guys at regency - they were very knowledgeable and they stand by their product. Their head office is just around the corner from work.
The summit is a serious heater also. The build quality is very good (as is the Regency.) I had a Nectre and the build quality is OK but the technology is way behind the USA / Canada models and ended up using a lot of firewood.

http://www.regency-fire.com.au/Products/Wood-Fires/Wood-Freestanding/Richmond.aspx

 

[turbopsi]

If i could have any fire i would have gone for the Regency Richmond - the 30 hour burn time is massive - even if you get 24 hours its still pretty cool. I had a long chat with some guys at regency - they were very knowledgeable and they stand by their product. Their head office is just around the corner from work.
The summit is a serious heater also. The build quality is very good (as is the Regency.) I had a Nectre and the build quality is OK but the technology is way behind the USA / Canada models and ended up using a lot of firewood.

http://www.regency-fire.com.au/Products/Wood-Fires/Wood-Freestanding/Richmond.aspx

Thanks, I actually looked into the Richmond but we dismissed it for two reasons.
1. There's the concern of the hybrid cat technology and any ongoing maintenance costs vs the simplicity of the PE models.
2. My wife has grown up on her parents property where they also used a wood heater for the only heating source and she still likes the idea of firebox reloads rather then load and forget for 24 hours for the Regency Richmond. Funny how things matter differently to others.