Who will fill the Astroflamm ( the Audi of pellet stoves:) gap?

[mystro]

I notice the NA distributor of Astroflamm will no longer be in that business..were the Astroflamm's just be too pricey for the market?
Also, how will the current owners get support/parts?

 

[Mt Bob]

It's Mercedes of pellet stoves.Austroflamm took the parent company name Rika many years ago.The Integra series is from 1988,old technology.The visio and the other little stove that was imported were not that great,difficult to service compared to an integra,but not as bad as some other stoves.Do not think any stoves have been imported for over 5 years.Heard rika dropping the integra in europe as their newer models are in demand.Rika has some very nice and advanced stoves,and have had them for over 5 years.But do not make them for american market.You would have to make a minimum buy in to justify converting them for the US.Lucky Dist. is the certified importer.Energy parts plus imports the parts,and will continue,they stock our stove parts shops.Don't get me started on audis,I worked on many 100ls's,took a long time for audi to mature.

 

[krooser]

Good stoves from what I've heard but they are only as good as their dealers and parts/service support.

A few years ago my local dealer blew them out at great prices…

(broken link removed to https://pellethead.com/pages/Austroflamm.html)

 

[Pelleting In NJ]

The Italian stoves are the alternative source for advanced tech modern styled stoves : Ecoteck, Piazetta, MCZ....

I used to fix (alot) my families 1974 Audi 100LS. It was great to drive (when it ran right!). I have owned many newer Audis since then, much better reliability, but the cheapest Toyota, Honda, Nissan, or Subaru is typically way more trouble-free....

 

[Mt Bob]

Take a look at the lopo or the pellet/wood combo stove on rikas website.

 

[skibumm100]

I notice the NA distributor of Astroflamm will no longer be in that business..were the Astroflamm's just be too pricey for the market?
Also, how will the current owners get support/parts?

Well, they were pretty darn cheap this year. Ebay for about $2500 for a new Integra II shipped to your door....hard to beat that price for a stove like that.

I guess we'll get our parts from other Austroflamm's Circuit cards and the fans are the only parts that concern me. Feed auger motor is standard.

 

[mystro]

Well, they were pretty darn cheap this year. Ebay for about $2500 for a new Integra II shipped to your door....hard to beat that price for a stove like that.

I guess we'll get our parts from other Austroflamm's Circuit cards and the fans are the only parts that concern me. Feed auger motor is standard.

Yes, that was my concern..the motors and mainboard. Do any of you know who made these parts?
I also thought the Ebay prices were very good for this quality of stove and I'm still tempted to purchase one.

 

[Mt Bob]

The importer is closing out what they have left,and have no future plans to bring any more in.Hopefully someone else will.Ver 1 boards are repairable,ver 2 iffy,however seem very bullet proof.Ebm papst makes the motors,and 115 volt versions(with the sensor) are used by piazzetta and ravallie(combustion).Convection blower fits all,so parts will not be a problem,but can always be replaced by cheaper varible speed fireplace blower,just noisier.

 

[mystro]

The importer is closing out what they have left,and have no future plans to bring any more in.Hopefully someone else will.Ver 1 boards are repairable,ver 2 iffy,however seem very bullet proof.Ebm papst makes the motors,and 115 volt versions(with the sensor) are used by piazzetta and ravallie(combustion).Convection blower fits all,so parts will not be a problem,but can always be replaced by cheaper varible speed fireplace blower,just noisier.

Looks like there are parts avail in NA for the US.Lucky Dist Integra ll. I'm moving into another home so I'm sad to be leaving behind my beloved Whitfield Advantage early 90's flavor a truly 23yo heating wonder, but it fits perfect where it's at and a real plus for the next owners as they'll soon find out when fall comes Anyway I'm very tempted to jump on one of these NOS AF-Integras ll stoves *but... my dilemma is to consider a new tech stove for the next (hopefully) 20 years or.. save approx $1K and go with a older but well known Astroflamm. Your opinions count to me! thx

btw..a local long established dealer currently likes/sells Piazzetta.

finally..the house I'm moving into has a new whole house heat pump system so whatever I end up with, I'll need to work with it so the stove will be for comfort/astedic purposes within the living rm.

 

[Mt Bob]

If I had the money I would buy one just for a spare.However there are pros and cons to all stoves.the rika v2 is big,because of hopper.Other stoves have better pot cleaning systems,good for starting on t-stat a lot.Some are ugly.Many are good looking,and good steady workhorses,like a castile.Harman burn system will burn almost any pellets without problems.Piazzetta's and palazzetti's are starting to build a good rep.Reccomend build a list of features you want and go from there.Personally I would like a rika lopo for upstairs,but looks like nobody is going to import them.