Recommendations - Enviro Empress (insert) vs Regency GFI55

[RevRagnarok]

Hi all, I'm trying to decide which insert to pick up. I've got a split foyer house, and the basement is always freezing. I'm not expecting to replace my gas bill, but would like the basement to be usable living area in the winter. I have done some reading here (will probably start stalking Mark Fellows since he lives up the road) and elsewhere on the 'net.

Right now it is a toss-up between the Regency GFI55 - my family has 2 Regency non-pellet inserts and love them - and the Enviro Empress - looks like it may be the same parent company, and I can get a floor model for the same price as the GFI55 (instead of ~$700 more).

The Empress seems to have some auger issues based on some posts...

Also, as an Empress specific question - I see the recall info and pix but I am confused because both Empresses I have seen had cast iron fins as heat exchangers, not tubes like the picture (and the GFI55). Is that an older model or is that part of the difference between the insert and freestanding?

Has anybody run corn in either of these?

I am really torn because it sounds like the Regency has less issues, but the Empress sure is a lot nicer looking! Then of course, a friend has a Quad 1200 and says I shouldn't decide until I see that one and get a quote. Posts like this one seem to agree...

Thanks for any info and recommendations! I'm in total information overload here.

 

[au2183]

I have 2 Empress free standing stoves, and love them. I just replaced the doors on both, using the recall I learned about here on the forum. Called my dealer, who no longer sells them, and with my serial numbers he got me the doors at no charge. Piece of cake to install, and that addresses the issue of the gasket wearing quickly and causing the seal to leak, which in turn made the glass get dirty very fast.
I have had one stove 3 seasons, the other one 4. I installed the first one downstairs in our split entry home, on a stone hearth at one end of the house where a wood stove was previously. It will heat the downstairs to 70 easily, and maintain 64-66 upstairs in cold weather, and a little warmer if it's not too cold. We decided to install a second stove upstairs at the opposite end of the house about 1/2 way through the following season due to the fact that my wife was then working at home in an office upstairs. She now works outside the home, and we use the second stove in the morning and the evening when necessary to warm the upstairs up to 70 or so.
We're very happy with these stoves. As you said, they look nice, and they are also the quietest running pellet stove I have heard.
Good luck in your choice!
Terry