Pacific Energy - Vista - Whatcha Think?

[BurnIt13]

I've got an Englander 30 in a smallish home - 1600 sq.ft. It was a great fit when our house had zero insulation and single pane windows...and we were heating with wood 100%. Our house is now insulated and with double pane windows and is a lot more air tight than it used to be. We also burn on occasion now, some nights and weekends. The Englander 30 is just a heat monster and cooks us out of the house.

We are in the market for a smaller stove with tight installation clearances. Doesn't have to heat overnight as it is supplementary. Just want a good quality stove with a <2.0 cuft firebox that costs around $1,500 or less.

The Pacific Energy Vista / Vista LE seems to fit the bill. Very tight corner clearances with double wall pipe and can meet the 2020 EPA rules if I get the LE model. What do you all think about this stove? Any other options that fit my criteria above?

Thanks! And its good to be back....been a while!

 

[saydinli]

I've got an Englander 30 in a smallish home - 1600 sq.ft. It was a great fit when our house had zero insulation and single pane windows...and we were heating with wood 100%. Our house is now insulated and with double pane windows and is a lot more air tight than it used to be. We also burn on occasion now, some nights and weekends. The Englander 30 is just a heat monster and cooks us out of the house.

We are in the market for a smaller stove with tight installation clearances. Doesn't have to heat overnight as it is supplementary. Just want a good quality stove with a <2.0 cuft firebox that costs around $1,500 or less.

The Pacific Energy Vista / Vista LE seems to fit the bill. Very tight corner clearances with double wall pipe and can meet the 2020 EPA rules if I get the LE model. What do you all think about this stove? Any other options that fit my criteria above?

Thanks! And its good to be back....been a while!

I don't think you can go wrong with any of PE's wood stoves. They are very robust in construction and simple to use. Personally I love the secondary burn the PE's display with they're baffle design.

 

[jayVI]

I know that the LE version has been redesigned to share the same firebox as the the Neo 1.6. Which slightly increased the firebox size.

 

[begreen]

Yes, and they made them hybrid PE baffle/tube stoves now. Quite different from the Super and Summit design.

 

[jayVI]

Yes, and they made them hybrid PE baffle/tube stoves now. Quite different from the Super and Summit design.

They have added tubes? I wonder what that achieves over the PE baffle alone?

 

[begreen]

They have added tubes? I wonder what that achieves over the PE baffle alone?

More complete combustion over the burn range would be my guess.

 

[AlbergSteve]

We had a Vista in the current house that I used during our renovations. Really too small for anything other than fish camp or hunting cabin. The firebox is so small that it was more of a PITA than anything. Too bad you weren't closer, you could have this one...

 

[pjohnson]

I had an older vista in a cabin I bought. The fire box was so small had to cut all my previously cut wood in half. It did burn nice but had to feed it every three hours. I can’t really say anything bad about it just didn’t suit my needs trying to heat a cabin as the only heat source.

 

[begreen]

I think the PE Super is a better fit. It has a much more flexible firebox for loading, good long burn-time, simpler design, and will have the reserve capacity for when temps drop into the single-digits.

 

[James02]

I don't post often, but I had one.. I upgraded to the summet the very next year.. if you can fit it, do the summet..
I'm now part of the bk mafia though in a new to me house..

 

[billb3]

A 1.6 cu ft firebox might seem a bit of a novelty after the beastly NC-30.
My concern would be the unlikely but possible scenario of 0º weather and the power going out for three days.
Will a 1.6 cu ft firebox be enough ? 56,000BTU when you need 70,000BTU might be enough with the right floor plan house. Especially if you can close off rooms at night.
If you have a generator that's going to keep your primary heat running then emergency use might be less of a demand or consideration.
Would a True North TN20 fit on the hearth ?

We had a tiny 0.6 cu ft stove that was used mostly just on weekends, Fri/Sat night that was just enough to warm up the two rooms it was in a little bit warmer than the thermostat on the regular heat was set at. It wasn't very serious burning at that time. The Vista should suit that sort of purpose well.

I can say that after having too large a stove in a space the theory of building small fires in a large stove is bunk.
Buy the right size stove for your engineered need.

 

[DBoon]

Doesn't have to heat overnight as it is supplementary. Just want a good quality stove with a <2.0 cuft firebox that costs around $1,500 or less.

You seem to know what you need and want. PE stoves are well-built and high quality. I too have a smallish house and use my stove as supplemental heat. I'm also not planning for the apocalypse by getting a stove that is twice as big as I need. What I have has worked fine for my needs for 12+ years.

 

[Sbrown28]

I'm curious what you ended up doing. We are between the Vista and the Super right now. We had originally planned for the Vista, but PE has no idea when they'll be ready (we ordered in September). The room our insert will be in is only 420 square feet, whole house is around 1,000-1,200 (1.5 stories) not including unfinished basement, and we're afraid the super will overheat us.

 

[begreen]

If the floorplan is relatively open or there is an easy way to circulate the heat, then I would get the Super. It can run well on a partial load of fuel and will have the reserves to handle those polar express cold fronts.

 

[Sbrown28]

If the floorplan is relatively open or there is an easy way to circulate the heat, then I would get the Super. It can run well on a partial load of fuel and will have the reserves to handle those polar express cold fronts.

That's kind of how I'm leaning. We have an HVAC unit that I can run the fan on. We also have decent amount of cold air returns in the room with the stove, as well as stairs going up, and stairs going down (sucks a lot of air when fan is running)

 

[begreen]

I was on the fence about getting the Super or a Summit for our house. Both would do the job, but the Super would need more refilling when it got very cold and would need supplemental heat when it got below 20º. We went for the larger firebox in the T6 because of a nice offer from The Chimney Sweep in Bellingham. I've never regretted getting the larger stove.

 

[vwmike]

Don’t get a Vista they’re just a toy! Went from a Vista to Summit and they feel like completely different animals.

 

[outdoorguy864]

Does anybody have any thoughts on the redesign of the Pacific Energy wood stoves? Saw a comment above saying they added tubes. Part of my thought of going with Pacific Energy coming up is the simplicity and quality.

Thanks.

 

[begreen]

No, they did not add tubes. The modifications were minor on most models. The 2 cu ft stoves got the EBT2 instead of the coupled secondary air control. PE was early in getting their stoves certified. Some models have been selling for a year now.

Their value line of stoves, the True North has tubes, but it always has had them.

 

[outdoorguy864]

No, they did not add tubes. The modifications were minor on most models. The 2 cu ft stoves got the EBT2 instead of the coupled secondary air control. PE was early in getting their stoves certified. Some models have been selling for a year now.

Their value line of stoves, the True North has tubes, but it always has had them.

ah, got it. Appreciate the information. Thanks

 

[Woody Stover]

If the floorplan is relatively open or there is an easy way to circulate the heat, then I would get the Super. It can run well on a partial load of fuel and will have the reserves to handle those polar express cold fronts.

My SIL's T5 works fine on partial loads. Four or five splits is all she has been running so far, as it's been mild until today.
I'm gonna go over and load that baby up tomorrow, though.