Thinking about getting an Enviro Mini

[RockyMtnHigh]

I work in a hearth retailer and we just started carrying Enviro. We got a Mini on the floor the other day and I've been playing with it a bit. This seems to be a pretty rockin little stove! I've only been able to find some scattered reviews on it over the internet and a few here. I was hoping maybe starting a new thread would bring up some fresher reviews now that you guys have had them for a while. My house is a small A-Frame (900 sq. ft.) with a bedroom/bathroom/laundry closet built off the side of it. I just want this guy to run during the day after my woodstove burns down so it will only run for probably 5 hours a day at best.

Pros and cons? Cleaning and maintenance issues? Do they have good parts longevity with proper maintenance? How well does it seem to operate on a thermostat (we just run it manually at the store)? Through a dealer employee discount I can walk out the door with a brand new one for around $880 so I'm very tempted.

 

[reallyte]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/is-enviro-mini-the-stove-for-us.83877/

 

[skinanbones]

we sell any where from 10 - 20 minis a year. It's the most under rated stove in the whole enviro line up.
We've put allot of them in basement of 1200 sq ft house and they are heating both levels 90% of the year.
If your cleaning regularly and not putting allot of fines through it they last for quite a long time. A good quality pellet usally will let you go 3-5 days before the burn pot really needs to be cleaned out. Ash pan can take up to 3 weeks to fill. By the way don't let the ash pan fill to the top as it will fill the exhaust chamber directly behind it.
Some of our customers have units that are 10 years old plus with out any parts replacment. As i'm sure you know whether the customer smokes or has pets really effect how long parts last.

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

Thanks guys

Skinanbones thank you for the reply. Being that I've been working with pellet stoves in general for quite some time I will be super anal about the cleaning, especially since we have a cat and 3 dogs lol. No smoking in this house though. It will be my back up heat source so it won't be used much. The thermostat will be set at about 60 in the center of the house just to keep it relatively comfortable and to keep the pipes from freezing during the day. I doubt it will even run every day for a few hours except for in the dead of winter. I'll have access to the parts for cheap as well so I'll probably get back up blowers and an auger motor to toss in the closet for in case that day comes.

Now I've read some stuff on the internet about how this unit will continuously burn when on a thermostat, but will burn really low as opposed to shutting down completely and then restarting after the set temperature has been met. This is internet reviews so you know how this goes. Is there any truth to this

 

[reallyte]

May I ask how a smoker affects a pellet stove?

 

[Easternshore Bob]

Have had our Mini for about 6 years, 1st gen control board. I like the small size and no hearth pad. Our first pellet and if it totally crapped out would get another in a heartbeat. When we are running full time I clean the burn pot and empty the ash collector once a week, and completely vac the stove behind the trap doors once a month. I also pull the tube cleaning rod before every start up. The stove does like shorter pellets and try to stick with Hamer Hot Ones.

Wow and cant beat your price. 6 years ago paid 1800 and it included a Ton. Local place wants close to 3K includes 1/2 ton.


Bob in MD

 

[stoveguy13]

its a nice little stove cleaning is pretty easy and it heats well i use it to heat the far end of my house make sure you set it with the mag.

 

[skinanbones]

I'm not a big fan of the thermostat as we've always had issues with the Mini going out on the low setting in our area. I always like to see the Mini running on the #2 setting and just leave it running. But the unit is designed to either run on low and switch to high when calling for heat. Or it can run auto/off which means it will start itself when it calls for heat and shut off when it's hot enough. Most of our customers use less than a bag a day as a average running on #2 or #3.

May I ask how a smoker affects a pellet stove?

It's the tacky film thats created on every surface from smoking indoors that attracts the dusts quicker and usally burns out bearing first. It also tends to create large tacky dust bunnies on the fan blades that throws everything out of balance.

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

Thanks Skinanbones. I hooked our shop unit up to a thermostat today and ran it in the auto/off setting and it performed great. It didn't get to run much though because we were busy and had a LOT of units burning lol.

Thanks for the tips, I'm going to pull the trigger for sure in the next month or two.

 

[skinanbones]

be careful running in the auto/off, if the stove is on and off 5-6 times a day it will probally kill the ignitor within the first season. We found the ignitor are in a somewhat fexible mount and the tip of the ignitor can touch the tube it sits in causing it to short. If it's cycled allot it really kills it life span. If it started and shut down only a couple times a week, even if the ignitor is touching the tube they last a couple years at least.

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

Good to know, it won't happen in my house. Will fire up and run til it turns off once a day. I'll switch the shop unit back to manual and disconnect the t-stat so we get longevity out of it. We do have a habit of turning the t-stat all the way down in the shop and cranking it up to show a unit usually. I was just having fun with my new to me toy lol

 

[skinanbones]

enjoy it we've always loved ours and we've been burning one in the showroom for at least 10 years.

 

[Easternshore Bob]

Our stove does not like to run on 1st setting, but the new stove control board from what I have read has some adjustments that can be made on all settings. Have been thinking of upgrading to the new board.

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

It does. You can adjust the combustion blower speed and the feed rate. We had it down on 1 today and it ran well. I did have to kick the combustion speed up 1 notch. Still haven't had time to test the vacuum yet, busy busy busy at work.

 

[bollyRZ500]

$880 bux!?!?! what a deal!

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

$880 bux!?!?! what a deal!

Yeah, you can see why I'm pretty interested lol

 

[rockcore]

I work in a hearth retailer and we just started carrying Enviro. We got a Mini on the floor the other day and I've been playing with it a bit. This seems to be a pretty rockin little stove! I've only been able to find some scattered reviews on it over the internet and a few here. I was hoping maybe starting a new thread would bring up some fresher reviews now that you guys have had them for a while. My house is a small A-Frame (900 sq. ft.) with a bedroom/bathroom/laundry closet built off the side of it. I just want this guy to run during the day after my woodstove burns down so it will only run for probably 5 hours a day at best.

Pros and cons? Cleaning and maintenance issues? Do they have good parts longevity with proper maintenance? How well does it seem to operate on a thermostat (we just run it manually at the store)? Through a dealer employee discount I can walk out the door with a brand new one for around $880 so I'm very tempted.