# what stove will give me the best bang for the buck?



## preacherbiggin (Feb 3, 2010)

there's so many models to choose from . im looking at  the cumberland stove works 3650, the pinnacle emerald, and the timber ridge multifuel models . i wnat to keep my choices open to multi fuel only.


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## john193 (Feb 3, 2010)

How much are those stoves?


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## tjnamtiw (Feb 3, 2010)

Any reason you haven't included any of the major manufacturers?  Of course, you know with a question like that, you are going to get as many choices as answers


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 3, 2010)

no reasons really. what really caught my eye first was the TimberRidge( by englander) but i have read a lot of complaints about their customer service.(true or false i dont know)  im new to the whole pellet/corn stoves but have been a wood stove operator for years. now i live in a mobile home and i miss the heat my wood stove gave me.  the only safe economical option is corn/pellet stove. Im excited to get one quickly so any help and direction you all can give me will be MUCH appreciated.


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## BJN644 (Feb 3, 2010)

I don't know what you have been reading, but Englander has the best customer service in the business. We even have their top man here on this forum as a regular. For a small budget and not afraid to work on a stove yourself, anything made by Englander would be your best bet. If you don't mind spending a little more and want more of an automated stove the Harman line is tough to beat.


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## Xena (Feb 3, 2010)

The Timber Ridge you mentioned is made by ESW (Englander).
Imo their support is hard to beat from what I've seen here on
the forum.  
There are members here who own these models, not sure just how
many here have the multi fuel but I'm sure they will offer their input.


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 3, 2010)

thanks guys, ill check the englanders out! man this is a good site!


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## SmokeyTheBear (Feb 3, 2010)

Whatever model you get remember if there isn't decent service for that stove in your area you best be prepared to handle any issues yourself.   

You need to spend as much or even MORE time checking out the reputation of the dealer/service folks.   In fact it is wise to have a couple of places just in case one goes belly up, etc ... .  This may restrict the brands you can choose between.


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## Fsappo (Feb 3, 2010)

You've only asked about big box store brands.  If you dont mind working on the stoves yourself this is fine.  Englander does have great phone support.  If you want to buy a stove that can be warranteed and serviced thru a hearth shop, you need to research some of the better stoves and go to a place that actually specializes in pellet stoves.

Remember, multi fuel stoves arent like wood stoves.  They got a ton of little parts in em:
Snap disks
Vacuum switches
computer boards
Auger motors
Stirrer motors
Combustion fans
Convection fans.

For someone buying a pellet stove from a place that sells hammers and lumber, just be a real good do it your selfer


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 4, 2010)

i work on guns ( gunsmithing) so working on small parts ect. shouldnt be a problem.  i dont mind a bare bones model as long as the "meat and taters" are built tough. the idea of an automated system is drawing me though. i have a dealer about an hour away from me that specializes in wood stoves, gas log and pellet/multifuel sales. also i aint that far from Englanders factory ( round 1 hr 45 min) yall got me really lookin hard at the englanders.  ( went and looked at one at Lowes today. dont think id buy one from them though)


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## schoondog (Feb 4, 2010)

Howdy Preacher (I feel like John Wayne again) ,

Welcome to the forum. Do you have a tractor Supply close by? They may have a US Stove pellet stove for ya. A multi fuel 6041. Pretty basic stove for fair price. Keep in mind what others have already said, you are the repairman if something is wrong with the stove if you by a stove from a "big box". You may need to be mechanic, electrician, or an electronics person. If your handy than get out there and start shopping !  If not than go see your local stove shop and get a feel for them and maybe ask some others who have stoves where they shop. Plenty of good stoves out there and good idea to get a multi fuel. Englanders are hard to beat, they do have good customer support so I hear. I have a US Stove and I like mine. Good luck with what ever you decide to get and lets have pictures posted once all is said and done !! 

Schoondog


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## imacman (Feb 4, 2010)

preacherbiggin said:
			
		

> ......yall got me really lookin hard at the englanders.  ( went and looked at one at Lowes today. dont think id buy one from them though)



I bought this one off of an ebay auction.  Much cheaper than big box stores.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TimberRidge-49-...ultDomain_0?hash=item53df4bdac4#ht_4806wt_941


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## Scoop (Feb 4, 2010)

schoondog said:
			
		

> Howdy Preacher (I feel like John Wayne again) ,
> 
> Welcome to the forum. Do you have a tractor Supply close by? They may have a US Stove pellet stove for ya. A multi fuel 6041. Pretty basic stove for fair price. Keep in mind what others have already said, you are the repairman if something is wrong with the stove if you by a stove from a "big box". You may need to be mechanic, electrician, or an electronics person. If your handy than get out there and start shopping !  If not than go see your local stove shop and get a feel for them and maybe ask some others who have stoves where they shop. Plenty of good stoves out there and good idea to get a multi fuel. Englanders are hard to beat, they do have good customer support so I hear. I have a US Stove and I like mine. Good luck with what ever you decide to get and lets have pictures posted once all is said and done !!
> 
> Schoondog



This stove is the most fun  for the least bucks. And you don't need a service contact, it doesn't break down. IMHO


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 4, 2010)

thats a good lookin stove. im headin over to their site right now to check it out. keep the advice coming fellers!


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## Scoop (Feb 4, 2010)

preacherbiggin said:
			
		

> thats a good lookin stove. im headin over to their site right now to check it out. keep the advice coming fellers!




You should be able to buy one of these for $1,200 bucks somewhere either on eBay or at a clearance sale. This stove also is easily cutomizable and infinitely adjustable to burn any fuel.


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 4, 2010)

whew theyre proud of them though aint they? thats a little pricey. im tryin to stay under $1800


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## woodsman23 (Feb 4, 2010)

Check out st croix also a good dam stove.

www.stcroix.com


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 4, 2010)

Scoop said:
			
		

> preacherbiggin said:
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ill keep an eye out for one at that price


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 4, 2010)

will the "extra" features the Cumberland MF3650  make it a better stove than say the Timber Ridge 49-TRCPM or the US Stove Co. 6039?


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## Nicholas440 (Feb 4, 2010)

I would say  whatever stove you buy,  make sure you can get parts for it easily,  and get familiar on doing the repairs yourself.  This forum is a great place to learn, and get advice when something goes wrong.  Also remember that you' will get what you pay for in most cases,   a cheap stove is going to be just that,  it probably wont hold up in the long haul, or under a heavy load.  

I dont know what stove is the best for the buck personally,   I bought a Quadra Fire Castile,  I liked the cast iron construction, and I liked the porcelain enameled coating in a mohogany color, so I went with that and its been a good performer,  however it wasnt cheap.


Im sure you will get dozens of suggestions here,  everyone has their own opinions of what brand works the best, and if I could have got a Harmon at the time I bought mine I would have.  Harmon seems to be built like a brick outhouse, and they have been around for  ages, and as far as I know they are not made in   China,  like  many of the stoves are today.

Good luck in your decision,  just remember,   Safety is priority one when using a stove of any kind,   your family's safety as well as your own depends on  not only the type of stove you get, and the installation,  but how you care for it, and clean it regularly to keep it working like new every single day.


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## imacman (Feb 4, 2010)

woodsman23 said:
			
		

> Check out st croix also a good dam stove.
> 
> www.stcroix.com



Woodsman, are you trying to help the guy with a stove, or a vacation?   :lol: 

The correct website for St. Croix stoves is  www.stcroixheat.com


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## schoondog (Feb 4, 2010)

Scoop, 
 Is hat your stove or a brochure you copied somewhere ?.... Man that looks nice!!


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## Scoop (Feb 4, 2010)

thanks.No that's my set up.  Im basically heating the basement of at 2,300 square foot bungalo.  It was a professional install. I made the hearth pad though.

Stan


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 4, 2010)

talked to the guy from englander and from Cumberland today and accidently got a guy from heartland (too high). gotta research the harman and Us stoves then ill pick.  scoop that set up looks nice. clean install!


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## summit (Feb 5, 2010)

Is that a battery backup next to it?


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## Scoop (Feb 5, 2010)

No it's  piano.lol

I do have a battery back-up which i beleive would give me about 7 minutes run time in case of a power failure.

I also have a small generator  ---1,200-- watts  but it is a cheapie made in China and doesn't really run the stove all that well.


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## Scoop (Feb 5, 2010)

Scoop said:
			
		

> thanks.No that's my set up.  Im basically heating the basement of at 2,300 square foot bungalo.  It was a professional install. I made the hearth pad though.
> 
> Stan



Sorry, no the box on the right is just a storge box for my fire starter etc.  If you look under the stove at the right rear you will see  the corner of an APC full time surge protector that provides a short term battery back-up as well.


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## CanadaClinker (Feb 5, 2010)

Since we're showing stoves, here's our standalone Quad CB 1200 set up in a corner of our living room ..... this room used to be too cool to sit in. Nice simple but reliable stove. Has low, med and high settings, fan low and high and also runs off a thermostat.  Big hopper. We run ours on low most of the time. No problems yet after using it for just over a year. Searched for problems out there but found very few.  Good luck stove hunting! ...... cc  

.....click on pic for close-up...


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 5, 2010)

nice setup and nice living room CanadaClinker!


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 5, 2010)

whatd ya think but this fellers.............http://cgi.ebay.com/Cumberland-Stov...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item414cc852d4

shes "awfully purty" but do yall know is these run as well as they look?


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## Scoop (Feb 5, 2010)

preacherbiggin said:
			
		

> whatd ya think but this fellers.............http://cgi.ebay.com/Cumberland-Stov...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item414cc852d4
> 
> shes "awfully purty" but do yall know is these run as well as they look?



looks very nice. Good price definitely. My only concern is that without a burn pot agitator it is hard to burn corn. They call the stove multi-fuel but make no specific mention of corn. If corn is not on your fuel menu then it would be fine.

This is a U.S. stove 6039, not being advertised as such here.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/HIGH-TEC-SAVER-C...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5190146d1f


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## CanadaClinker (Feb 5, 2010)

preacherbiggin said:
			
		

> nice setup and nice living room CanadaClinker!



...... thanks preacher...... we really enjoy our living room since we got the stove......cc


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 6, 2010)

scoop i called the manufacturer today and asked them bout the stove and they said thats what they are burning to heat the showroom ( corn) they said the clinker wont be a problem. now is that just good salesmanship or truth? i dont know. gonna try to go look at a harman monday. wanted to go today but we are gettin slammed with snow ( over 15 inches today! ) i really like the old time look of the hightec . decent price too. wonder if it comes with a vent kit?


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## imacman (Feb 6, 2010)

preacherbiggin said:
			
		

> scoop i called the manufacturer today and asked them bout the stove and they said thats what they are burning to heat the showroom ( corn) they said the clinker wont be a problem. now is that just good salesmanship or truth? i dont know. gonna try to go look at a harman monday. wanted to go today but we are gettin slammed with snow ( over 15 inches today! ) i really like the old time look of the hightec . decent price too. wonder if it comes with a vent kit?



Well, as for what the manufacturer said, do you think their going to say they make a bad product?

Going to look at a Harman??  Not with the $1800 budget you mentioned earlier in the thread.....unless it's an older used one.  Their a nice stove too, but don't think they never have problems because they cost so much....pay attention to the forum, and do a search of Harman....they have more than their share of "issues".


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 6, 2010)

thanks mac. ill take that into consideration. the high tec and the us stoves and the timberridge all look very similar.  any one of these built any better than the others??


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## imacman (Feb 6, 2010)

preacherbiggin said:
			
		

> thanks mac. ill take that into consideration. the high tec and the us stoves and the timberridge all look very similar.  any one of these built any better than the others??



The Us Stove and Englander brands are well built, from what I can see, and have been around for a long time.  I know nothing about the "High Tec" stove.  As my father used to say, "don't buy a pig in a poke".


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## Scoop (Feb 6, 2010)

macman said:
			
		

> preacherbiggin said:
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The "High Tec" stove is the U.S. stove hearth focus 6039, sold by a big eBay stove dealer who for some reason, perhaps a discount from the company, doesn't advertise it as such.


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## Scoop (Feb 6, 2010)

preacherbiggin said:
			
		

> scoop i called the manufacturer today and asked them bout the stove and they said thats what they are burning to heat the showroom ( corn) they said the clinker wont be a problem. now is that just good salesmanship or truth? i dont know. gonna try to go look at a harman monday. wanted to go today but we are gettin slammed with snow ( over 15 inches today! ) i really like the old time look of the hightec . decent price too. wonder if it comes with a vent kit?



People I know who have tried to burn corn without a stirrer say it doesn't work that well. If you mix pellets and corn half and half it works better. There is a whole science to clinkers and how to get rid of them but I wouldn't let it scare you off. Corn is dirtier to burn, harder on your stove and pipes  and has about the same heat value as pellets so you can live without it unless you have your own corn silo. No your stove won't come with a venting kit. Depending on your set up you should set aside about $500 for the venting pipes and installation. Depending on the tightness of your house you may also needs a fresh air kit which would be about $200 installed.  God I should go into the business lol.


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## imacman (Feb 6, 2010)

Scoop said:
			
		

> ......Depending on the tightness of your house you may also needs a fresh air kit which would be about $200 installed.  God I should go into the business lol.



ALL Englander pellet stoves come with a FREE fresh air kit.


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 6, 2010)

somebody is makin a killin here! lol Scoop you better start ya a shop soon!


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## fluemasterjr (Feb 6, 2010)

Scoop said:
			
		

> preacherbiggin said:
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  owning a shop is not a lucrative as it sounds.


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 7, 2010)

thanks for the venting prices scoop.  yall have been a WORLD of help. its bout narrowed down to the englander and the cumberland and monday ill either pick one up or order it. yall wish me luck . what ill be dealing with will be : which  one is built like a tank and which one will burn with less user "fiddlin"


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## terryjd98 (Feb 7, 2010)

When I was looking at stoves one thing that turned me away from multi fuel stoves were a couple of dealers themselfs. They told me that corn was really hard on Pellet stove pipes and the pipes wont last long. This was with Excell and Selkirk pipe. I dont know if they have pipe that will stand up to corn yet or not or could be the dealers were not sure of what they were talking about. 
Just something to check maybe to make sure of.


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 7, 2010)

the dealers ive talked to say that the corn is more corrosive but id the pipe is cleaned "regularly" i wont see a lot of pipe loss like others have stated. the bad part is i dont know if theyre lying or not. i hate to have to replace my pipe every couple winters... how long should i expect to get from a pipe i burn corn? ( should i post this question in the forum for a whole new topic? let me know fellers


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## imacman (Feb 7, 2010)

terryjd98 said:
			
		

> When I was looking at stoves one thing that turned me away from multi fuel stoves were a couple of dealers themselfs. They told me that corn was really hard on Pellet stove pipes and the pipes wont last long. This was with Excell and Selkirk pipe. I dont know if they have pipe that will stand up to corn yet or not or could be the dealers were not sure of what they were talking about.
> Just something to check maybe to make sure of.



All 3 manufacturers of pellet pipe (Selkirk, Excell, and Simpson) make pellet pipe that will stand up to corn burning.  If they were talking about burning corn in regular pellet pipe, then they were correct, but otherwise it's not an issue.


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## preacherbiggin (Feb 7, 2010)

thanks macman. it helps to talk to somebody who actually knows what they are talkin about!  once again yall are TOP NOTCH!


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## Scoop (Feb 8, 2010)

I your handy with a welder here's your solution, This guy has been selling these plans for years and I'm sure makes a nice living.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...hQ3asearchQ7dQ7bifcontentQ3acontentQ7dQQfviZ1


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