Ravelli Monica.. any thoughts: pluses and minuses: opinions

[Wire12xu]

Hi Everyone

Many thanks to those of you who've commented on recent posts in the search for my ideal stove for our home.

It seems to have come down to a Ravelli Monica (dependent on price).
We needed a pellet stove to heat 900 sq.ft, of a well insulated home and contemporary design. We weren't comfortable using bio wood bricks, due to supply issues and lack of info.
Did look into Piazetta, ducting hot air into the basement.. not feasible + high cost.
Basement heat will now be phase 2.
Not too wild on the traditional pellet stoves - Harman XXV, Lopi, Regency etc.

Looking for any candid feedback on the Ravelli Monica...

Thanks.

 

[Deromax]

If there is one issue with that stove is that it is too d*mn hot! I have a house very much like yours, size and up-to-date insulation, and the Monica is overpowering unless it's below 15F outside. My stove is on the first floor, not basement.

As you know, the look is definately not the traditionnal black stove. If you have an horizontal venting, the absence of a visible flu pipe is only adding to this clean and modern look, if you're into this. Low clearance means that you don't have to leave 18 inches of space from the wall.

The stove does needs the weekly 15 minutes cleanup, but I think my pellets are on ashy side. It's my first season, so I have no comparaison with other pellets. Another minus is the hopper only take about 30 lbs, so a whole bag doesn't fit in. The auger motor is cycling on and off to modulate the feed rate. In the grand scheme of things, I think they should have used a variable speed motor that turns continuous, as I find the intermittent motor to be somewhat annoying.

After installation, my unit had a few instance of spurious vaccum-related error-codes being thrown at startup, but holding the power button a few seconds resetted the error and the stove was just fine afterward. It has not done it for the last 2 months.

Good luck!

 

[Wire12xu]

Cheers Deromax,
When you say 'auger cycling on and off', does this make a noise and use more electricity?
I notice from your pic, that your mains cable isn't using a plug to connect to the wall socket

 

[Deromax]

Yeah, kinda. More like a faint hum sound, about 2 seconds every 8 seconds. I measured the electrical consumption and it did increase when that motor is running. My power cable and its connector are totally stock and common, but they are covered by a split loom, because my cats have the bad habit of chewing on every cables they can set their teeth on!

 

[Wire12xu]

Deromax..
That's a great picture of your stove, smooth and comforting.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Bioburner]

Try cayenne pepper on cables etc. Trying to use a variable low hp motor gets little to no power so have to use a good bone crushing on off motor.

 

[Pelleting In NJ]

I have an Ecoteck/Ravelli Elena, the non-RDS model of 2009. I have been burning about 3 tons per winter, for the last 4 years. I like the stove, heats the downstairs of my open floorplan 3400 sq ft decently insulated home in New Jersey. Much cheaper than heating with propane. My model is 48,000 BTU, and has a 68 pound hopper. It is a quiet stove, and very nicely made. It is not pickey about pellet quality, length, or fines. The only problem I had was a room temperature sensor probe which went bad, about a $20 part. Parts are available from North Forge Heating (Annville PA), or (broken link removed). I can send you the Factory Service manual if you PM me your email address. I would recommend that you install it with an outside air connection.

Pretty much all stoves use an auger motor that is cycled ON and OFF.

 

[Deromax]

Oh, I forgot to mention one glaring issue with Ravelli, having nothing to do with actual heating performance, but that may wear your patience away! Everything having to do with written matter coming out of Ravelli is badly translated from Italian. The web site, the paper brochures, the owner manual, warranty paperwork, even the stove menus have weird translations errors. I can read both english and french, and both translations are abysmal at best! Nothing than Google Translate can't overcom, mind you, but coming from an international company, this is just sad. I was wondering if they may issue a Firmware update to correct the stove menu, but I'm not holding my breath at this time!