One thing you would change about your current stove.

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
Status
Not open for further replies.

Gunner

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Sep 20, 2006
851
Southern Ontario
Well everyone knows that the best stove is the one you are burning now, but lets hear what you would change about them if you could. I know it hurts but be honest.

For me I wish the lip from the bottom of the firebox to the bottom of the door opening was deeper so there would be more room for ash and coals, frequently the coal bet is above the door.
 
1 fans that make less noise.
2 bigger firebox.
i know............he asked for the 1 thing,couldn't help it:(
 
Love my stove. The only thing I'd change about it would be the air control. It works great, but the overall mechanism could be more refined I think. That is to say machined to a higher tolerance. However, perhaps there is a good reason that the air control is made the way it is, and I'm just missing something.

On the same note, the marks to show the position of the air are not easy to read, and the first notch starts outside of the body of the stove, hence provides no useful reference. Using it for a while now, I don't even look at the marks anymore, so not a huge deal.

-Kevin
 
Just one thing I would change. If I designed
this stove I would have made the inside of the
hopper a steeper pitch so the pellets fall toward
the auger more freely. If it runs low on pellets
they will sit on the sides due to the inside of
the hopper not being at enough of an angle.
Other than that this sucker rocks!
 
zeta said:
Just one thing I would change. If I designed
this stove I would have made the inside of the
hopper a steeper pitch so the pellets fall toward
the auger more freely. If it runs low on pellets
they will sit on the sides due to the inside of
the hopper not being at enough of an angle.
Other than that this sucker rocks!

not to hijcak to bad, but take some 000 steel wool and polish the inside, and then spay dry graphite lube on the the newly polished surface.
 
He(( , I dont know to be honest , Less expensive maybe ?

Now one thing that would be an awesome add on to all wood stoves is a timmer / actuator main air damper that would only let the main air damper be open for so long / xxx amount of time then close down to like 60% to prevent overfire. Its not happened to me yet with the Summit but wouldnt take much to forget about the damper being wide open .
More of a safety feature.

No issues with the PE Summit from me. Its a wood stove and it is what it is.

Not real world , at least not yet but how about 24 hour burn times and 90% efficency ?
 
Wish mine was Whorehouse Red, 'cause they burn hotter. And I wish I could get some of those Nuclear Splits made into pellets, so I could burn one per week, or longer.
 
A larger,deeper firebox. Which would also bring it out onto the hearth more, and make it a nice hearth heater. More area for wood, and more area outside the fireplace for more warmth, more like a freestanding stove. Being able to put 18" or 20" splits in front to back and still have space in front for the air wash. That would be ideal.
 
The location of the stove itself. I couldn't fit it on my main living floor which left me with a basement location. I wanted to put it in the corner where there would be direct line of sight airflow to the staircase. I let the installer talk me out of it since he said it would require my chimney to be held up by cables to make the height clearance. Where it ended up, the heat has to make it around a wall to get the stairs which prevents a good deal of heat making it up the stairs, and the room it's in gets very hot. I'm hoping a blower even things out, but that'll have to wait until more money's available.
 
I really like my new stove. I would change 3 things if given the chance:

1. Larger firebox: I can only get 5 hours before I'm looking at coals.

2. I don't like the ash plug in the floor as much as I liked the shakers in the old wood/coal stove. I get more pieces of unburnt charcoal in the ash than I did before. On the other stove the ash was filtered where the charcoal stayed on top to burn another day.

3. I would use a smaller lip around the door. The stove shouldn't be advertized to take an 18" split if the door is only 16" wide. 18" will fit if it's the first split into an empty stove at an angle and beaten in with the poker.

But these are minor, and these are issues I'll happily live with.

Matt
 
Have to agree with brother Summit pilot Hog (I know, hard to believe anything could be improved on a Pacific Energy product) but it would be nice if the insert stuck out a little more so you could put a cast iron kettle on the top.

That and offering Whorehouse Red as a color option.
 
The first thing I would prefer is a different color, though the color is less of a factor, when its 9 out and the stove has raised the interior temp to from 69 to 72
The forest green, I wish was the the enamel black or the dark blue. But for the price I paid $500, there is little to complain about. Performance has exceeded my expectations.
This stove is in almost new condition appearance wise

My upstairs Intrepid II is the perfect size for the heating task, 74 in here now and only 450 griddle top Temp.
This is an older version 1988 medium blue. It had been over-fired, (not by me), and pot marked the enamel ,which I have touched up. It bothers me because I
I can still see them. The newer model has a larger glass viewing area. I mean its not ugly. I wish It was newer and with the larger viewing area
I can't complain because ,I have less than $100 into the stove ,most of which is the stovecombustor.com cat.
 
My air adjustment is under that front overhang lip, and I cant SEE how open the vents are without good sunlight or a flashlight, I can tell closed or wide open, anything in between is hard to judge.

also, I wish this stove had a thermostatically controlled air source for the cat combustor, so I could get longer burn times, I get 5 or so hours best case from a full load of wood and cat ignition, but thats with me adjusting the air intake when I remember to mess with it.

better cat probe temp location, I cant find a prbe to fit that doesnt cost a LOT of $$$$$$$.

my biggest gripe though, is that it doest keep my beer cold.
 
I've already changed everything I can about it! :-)
 
I would have to say a little deeper fire box and thats about it.
 
Does Corie count here? He CAN change his stove.

I wish my stove would be as big as a Summit and made out of soapstone.
 
Love my P68. There are two adjustments I would make, and would still like to see...

Programmable temp setting. I know that it is not straight forward because it's a thermister not a simple thermostat but at least one or two temp settings have got to be possible. I keep asking...maybe???

The other is bulk feed adaptability. I thought they were stepping in the right direction by putting a low fuel sensor in the Pf100 furnace, but then the boiler came out without one! I really like the vacuum systems they have on European stoves, but would live with even an auger system...
 
Reshape the firebox. It's 24 wide by maybe 12 deep (and the back tapers forward). Makes it really hard to load for an extended burn. Also, I'd feel a lot better about the door if it were a divided light glass, rather than one big sheet - the prospect of a log rolling forward inside the firebox and cracking the glass causes me some concern (again, when trying for a decent burn time).

But if you're running it manually (and feeding it every 4 hrs) it makes some serious heat.

Steve
 
The only thing I would change is the ash pan design. Overall, I think it is designed poorly, and IMO is not even functional, especially if you burn 24/7. I don't mind shoveling the ashes, and I love the stove, but for the price you pay, and if they're going to bother to put one in their design - they should design one that works.
 
Other than what Harley said above, which I agree on too, would be self feeding! LOL

Bondo©
 
Actually I like my stove and would not change anything about it. It's a 1992 VC Defiant Encore.

What I don't like is not the fault of the stove but wear and tear. I wanted to repair the linkage that engages/disengages the cat door because it is worn or warped. It always engages but if the stove is hot, say 350+, to get the cat door to open I have to nudge it with the poker or piece of kindling. Internal parts (fireback for one) are warped so I can't repair it easily. For the past 3 seasons counting this one I just engage the cat door when leaving the stove for an extended burn for hours. :blank:

If it continues to work like this for another 20 years then I'll be happy! :smirk: I don't want to spend $2500 for a new stove, already priced one (Harman) and my hearth need to be bigger to boot. :grrr: The cost to have it taken to the shop and repaired is unknown. I suspect by the time they are done dismantling and fixing everything (they can find, you know car dealer has 20 point FREE inspection and generates $2000 worth of repairs for you! :ahhh: ) I'll wish I'd spent the $1000 towards a new stove.

Tom
 
Status
Not open for further replies.