Im new to the pellet stove however i love the idea. I purchased one this year and the one i bought sucks. No ash pan or auto. start. I have been looking at a few newer models the st. croix hasting 1800sq ft, the mt vernon 3300 sq ft, and i just saw the lennox bella 2300sq ft today. I like the bella because i think the size is perfect. with cold temp. and the size of my house 1650sq ft i think this one would be the best one for my house, but i cant find any reviews. the mt vernon is the same price and looks to be a great stove, but im worried about the size of the unit 60200 btu. I need about 42000 btu to heat my house on a cold day. I also like the st croix and have heard good things i just think that it would be under powered. Also what would happen if i got the mt vernon could it be to big? someone please help?
pellet stove
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krooser
Minister of Fire
Sizing a stove based on some 'sq. ft.' rating is really misleading.
A pellet stove is a space heater plain and simple. A small stove will heat and open floor plan home better than a large stove heats a traditional floor plan. If you have a closed floor plan home you will need a few fans to help move the heat around.
My St. Croix is rated at 40K btu but it will melt your face off running on heat setting #4 to #6... it takes a very cold, sub-zero day to ever see #4 so the 40K rating is plenty for my smaller home.
The St. Croix is an excellent, reliable unit. The factory is helpful with parts and tech support. The Mt. Vernon has a good reputation here. The Lennox Bella is a beautiful stove. It does not have an ash pan so you will need to vacuum out the ash everyday... the others on your list have an ash pan. Some of the Lennox models have a somewhat tarnished reliability reputation but I have not heard anyone complain about their Bella. I even asked my dealer about it and they said it's a very good unit and I trust their opinion (they have one heating their sales desk in their showroom).
I always recommend that you buy a good stove from a good dealer... customer no-service is a big problem in the pellet industry and a good dealer can get you out of a jam when you need your stove working properly.
Good luck.
A pellet stove is a space heater plain and simple. A small stove will heat and open floor plan home better than a large stove heats a traditional floor plan. If you have a closed floor plan home you will need a few fans to help move the heat around.
My St. Croix is rated at 40K btu but it will melt your face off running on heat setting #4 to #6... it takes a very cold, sub-zero day to ever see #4 so the 40K rating is plenty for my smaller home.
The St. Croix is an excellent, reliable unit. The factory is helpful with parts and tech support. The Mt. Vernon has a good reputation here. The Lennox Bella is a beautiful stove. It does not have an ash pan so you will need to vacuum out the ash everyday... the others on your list have an ash pan. Some of the Lennox models have a somewhat tarnished reliability reputation but I have not heard anyone complain about their Bella. I even asked my dealer about it and they said it's a very good unit and I trust their opinion (they have one heating their sales desk in their showroom).
I always recommend that you buy a good stove from a good dealer... customer no-service is a big problem in the pellet industry and a good dealer can get you out of a jam when you need your stove working properly.
Good luck.
captkirk5858
New Member
sinclair11772 said:
Welcome to the Forum. Take a few minutes to read the topics at the top of the page. Tons and Tons of great info. Good Luck and Have Fun..
kinsmanstoves
Minister of Fire
Welsome aboard. Please spend sometime searching and reading the posts on the forum. Your questions have been asked a few times. There is a lot of good info here.
Eric
Eric
I just installed the St. Croix Hastings last week.
My house is an old New England "cut up", about 1,600-700 square feet of space I want heated, on two floors. Very drafty. Poor insulation, needs new windows, etc. The room layout isn't too convenient for a central heating source (i.e. No open floor plan).
While I obviously haven't experienced the deep cold days yet, my experiments so far suggest I won't have any difficulty using it as my primary heat.
It was roughly 28 outside, the heat had been off for more than a day so the house was quite cold, and the stove on #2 brought it up to about 80 downstairs and 74-6 upstairs on the far end of the house reasonably quick and was able to hold it there all night.
I attached the thermostat a few days ago and with the stove in "SmartStat" and the ceiling fan on low -- it's been extremely comfortable everywhere in the house.
I burned wood long ago, and this is so much more convenient and comfortable for my lifestyle.
Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in, but based on everything I researched and playing with my stove -- any of the models you mention should be good. They were all on my short list too.
My house is an old New England "cut up", about 1,600-700 square feet of space I want heated, on two floors. Very drafty. Poor insulation, needs new windows, etc. The room layout isn't too convenient for a central heating source (i.e. No open floor plan).
While I obviously haven't experienced the deep cold days yet, my experiments so far suggest I won't have any difficulty using it as my primary heat.
It was roughly 28 outside, the heat had been off for more than a day so the house was quite cold, and the stove on #2 brought it up to about 80 downstairs and 74-6 upstairs on the far end of the house reasonably quick and was able to hold it there all night.
I attached the thermostat a few days ago and with the stove in "SmartStat" and the ceiling fan on low -- it's been extremely comfortable everywhere in the house.
I burned wood long ago, and this is so much more convenient and comfortable for my lifestyle.
Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in, but based on everything I researched and playing with my stove -- any of the models you mention should be good. They were all on my short list too.
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
Larger is usually good, under and it is the pits.
Try to find a way to back into your actual heat requirement on the coldest day, then pick a stove that will provide that at its mid point, make sure it can run on a thermostat in at least two modes no fire to a set firing rate (usually called auto mode) and in fire maintenance to a set firing rate (called hi/low mode) install that stove on a thermostat, run the stove in auto mode during the start of the heating season and then in hi/low mode during the coldest part of the season and back to auto during the tail end of the heating season.
Try to find a way to back into your actual heat requirement on the coldest day, then pick a stove that will provide that at its mid point, make sure it can run on a thermostat in at least two modes no fire to a set firing rate (usually called auto mode) and in fire maintenance to a set firing rate (called hi/low mode) install that stove on a thermostat, run the stove in auto mode during the start of the heating season and then in hi/low mode during the coldest part of the season and back to auto during the tail end of the heating season.
So here is what happened the crap stove that I bought (Pinnacle stove) filled the house up with smoke and my wife and I noticed small amounts of soot in the house near the stove. I check the stove with a CO detector and I was getting reading but not high enough to set off my house CO detector. I shut down the stove never to use it again I spoke to the dealer and he said he would replace it. I just sent him an email asking him to buy it back. Im telling you nothing but problem with this stove. Still waiting to hear back from him.
I just went to the dealer today and with the help and advise from you guys I purchased a Quadra fire Mt Vernon. It was alot of money but you get what you pay for. I have to wait 4-5 weeks for install, but what are you going to do? I just wanted to know if anyone has the MT Vernon and what do they think. I have heard good things and bad things but then again you hear that about every stove you look at. I purchased the stove from a good local dealer who stated he sold 68 of these last year with only 2 having miner problems. With all the problems I have had with the first stove I hope I will not be 2 of the 68. Thanks for all your help guys.
I just went to the dealer today and with the help and advise from you guys I purchased a Quadra fire Mt Vernon. It was alot of money but you get what you pay for. I have to wait 4-5 weeks for install, but what are you going to do? I just wanted to know if anyone has the MT Vernon and what do they think. I have heard good things and bad things but then again you hear that about every stove you look at. I purchased the stove from a good local dealer who stated he sold 68 of these last year with only 2 having miner problems. With all the problems I have had with the first stove I hope I will not be 2 of the 68. Thanks for all your help guys.
Gweeper64
New Member
sinclair11772 said:
As someone here recently pointed out, you only hear about the "problems" on forums like this. People don't usually come on line to tell the world how great their stove is...... ok... well..... except for maybe us nutcases that spend way too much time here. ;-)
I am completely happy with my Mt Vernon insert and have not had a moments problem. The only thing I wish were different is I wish it had some way of doing "custom" settings for the fuel/air mixtures, etc instead of just the "presets" for fuel type. Other than that, it has been great and the "set it and forget it" style of operation with the thermostat is great for the family when I am not around. Yes, the Mt Vernon is expensive. I think it was worth it though.
Gweeper64
New Member
Hey, we bought ours in July 2008 at the height of the oil price spike and waited 6 months before ours was installed! :-0
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