2020 EPA Certified Pacific Energy wood stoves

[ABMax24]

Good question, I was hearing over 3500+ with my summit. Now I need it to heat about 2k from the basement. The summit gave off a lot of radiant heat and had a 3.0 box. I loved the N/s ability with the summit and am having a hard time believing E/w does as well as N/s. I would love a flush mount so looking for the larger I can get my hands on thinking with e/w burn times and any medium size box might not cut it. Also worried about the drafting issue being that it will be located in the basement...

That said I did read somewhere on f/b that PE used steel from China - my other stove was great outside of the crack issue and wondering if that’s why it was welded and not replaced? Although it was a few generations ago PE tech explained why it happened and seemed to have resolved that issue.

Because I will probably have to give it more air due to drafting issue I am wondering if a cat stove would be better over the course of a burn since they are better at lower temps?

Back to the Summit - my other one was in a large room so it looked at home, this room is maybe 10x14 and wondering if it will look to massive. This stove doesn’t have to be my primary heater as I have m/s and H/e boiler but when the power goes out it would be nice if it could be utilized.

I personally don't like EW loading, I load my short and wide firebox NS and just cut all my wood to 16" to accommodate that. I have found that a more square firebox does operate nicer, but I'll take that tradeoff for the large glass I have in mine, the amount of radiant heat that comes off the large window is really nice for warming up in front of, and everything in the room is warm.

I have no idea if PE uses Chinese steel, but even if they do it doesn't matter from a quality perspective. I would assume PE uses ASTM A36 grade plate to build their stoves with, all A36 plate must meet the same standard regardless of where it comes from to be labelled as such. Usually wood stoves crack at the welds anyway, and that's due to improper operation, inadequate weld design, incorrect process/filler material, or poor workmanship by the welder.

 

[john26]

I personally prefer north south loading as well I have on of each. I have done a lot of research lately on stoves and fireplaces for family members. My parents are building a 1800sqft house next spring they want a fireplace not a stove, they were looking at a Buck 74ZC, primarily because dad is familiar with Buck. I have him strongly considering the FP30. It looks great and seems to be well reviewed. My brother is building a 2300sqft ranch I recommended the summit or the T6. He will probably buy the summit classic the colored panels are the big aesthetic selling point for him. If I was going to buy a new stove I would have a hard time deciding T6 or summit classic . I have read a few places about cracks I thought it may have been over fire?

 

[iceman]

I personally don't like EW loading, I load my short and wide firebox NS and just cut all my wood to 16" to accommodate that. I have found that a more square firebox does operate nicer, but I'll take that tradeoff for the large glass I have in mine, the amount of radiant heat that comes off the large window is really nice for warming up in front of, and everything in the room is warm.

I have no idea if PE uses Chinese steel, but even if they do it doesn't matter from a quality perspective. I would assume PE uses ASTM A36 grade plate to build their stoves with, all A36 plate must meet the same standard regardless of where it comes from to be labelled as such. Usually wood stoves crack at the welds anyway, and that's due to improper operation, inadequate weld design, incorrect process/filler material, or poor workmanship by the welder.

Which stove are you using?
Honestly, where the steel comes from didn’t bother me - When I saw it I thought to myself “well from my experience the steel did just fine”

The tech explained it and it wasn’t over firing or bad craftsmanship but almost the stove working to well along with something else... I can’t remember but it made sense and is exactly what happened to mine. My summit used to hit extreme temps I mean 8-900 probably on the front face if I remember correctly and at the time PE told me that was fine let it run the cycle. I used to get a bed of coals load it to the max shut the air down and walk away .... That wasn’t really the right way lol.

 

[john26]

Which stove are you using?

I have 2 inserts Napoleon 1401 and Lopi Freedom I Prefer the 1401 mostly because of north south loading

 

[ABMax24]

Which stove are you using?

Osburn Matrix.

Other large windowed stoves that come to mind as well:
Drolet Escape 1800
Drolet Deco II
Osbrun Inspire 2000
PE Neo 2.5
Osburn 3300
Blazeking Boxer 24
Enerzone Destination 1.6
Enerzone Harmony 2.3

 

[Trevor Tahclep]

That said I did read somewhere on f/b that PE used steel from China - my other stove was great outside of the crack issue and wondering if that’s why it was welded and not replaced? Although it was a few generations ago PE tech explained why it happened and seemed to have resolved that issue.

You are talking about here say on the Chinese steel and I seriously doubt that because of the high quality products Pacific Energy build, longevity of their stoves and warranty they offer on all their products. Pacific Energy own a little known division named True North which manufacture an entry level line of wood stoves to compete with the cheaper box store stove lines or entry level lines offered by wood burning stove retailers which like all the other low priced brands use cheaper quality steel possibly Chinese steel but not necessarily the case because all North American steel manufactures offer various level of steel quality. Because someone writes on some forum somewhere that so and so uses Chinese steel this normally is unsubstantiated with any proof to back it up.

 

[begreen]

The cracks reported during a segment of the version A Summits were around the door opening. I was told it was due to the square cuts, which were changed and we stopped hearing reports of them around 2012? There will still be issues with some PEs or any production stove. Some of these are due to poor QA, some are wear and tear and some are due to user abuse. We hear the complaints here because people are trying to understand and deal with a problem. What we rarely hear from are the thousands of happy users.

 

[John Ackerly]

I am worried that PE had added additional air injection to obtain a cleaner burn to the detriment of the overall burn time.

If you inject too much air and put more heat up the chimney, you should see the efficiency dip. Instead of changing the firebox and secondary air systems much, I think a lot of manufacturers switched from testing with cribs to cordwood, and were more easily able to get below 2 or 2.5. You can always check the EPA list of stoves to see if its crib or cordwood certified, but not sure that tells you much about burn times. Good to hear experts out there say that they don't think burn time has been impacted by the 2020 standards.

 

[iceman]

The cracks reported during a segment of the version A Summits were around the door opening. I was told it was due to the square cuts, which were changed and we stopped hearing reports of them around 2012? There will still be issues with some PEs or any production stove. Some of these are due to poor QA, some are wear and tear and some are due to user abuse. We hear the complaints here because people are trying to understand and deal with a problem. What we rarely hear from are the thousands of happy users.

I’ve been out the look myself so I couldn’t personally say one way or the other - I will say I loved my summit and almost bought another one if it weren’t for the fact I wanted to see more of the fire. God I loved my summit - with my luck PE will introduce a bigger flush mount more on line with the other companies with beloved baffle In it.

 

[WoodScrounger]

I have been looking most of the year for a good used Summit Insert because I needed a bigger firebox and longer burn times. There didn’t seem to be any available locally, so a few weeks ago I ordered a new Summit LE. I sure hope I won’t be disappointed on burn times but it seems that most folks are talking good about the LE.

 

[begreen]

I have been looking most of the year for a good used Summit Insert because I needed a bigger firebox and longer burn times. There didn’t seem to be any available locally, so a few weeks ago I ordered a new Summit LE. I sure hope I won’t be disappointed on burn times but it seems that most folks are talking good about the LE.

I helped a neighbor with a new T6 install a couple of weeks ago. They are really digging it now that the chill is on. Once they get a bit more experience under their belt I will compare notes on burning with them.

 

[iceman]

I have been looking most of the year for a good used Summit Insert because I needed a bigger firebox and longer burn times. There didn’t seem to be any available locally, so a few weeks ago I ordered a new Summit LE. I sure hope I won’t be disappointed on burn times but it seems that most folks are talking good about the LE.

I loved my summit - really wanted another one however I wanted a more modern look with that firebox and unfortunately the neo 2.5 can’t burn n/s as its to shallow.
PE makes good stoves in my opinion.

 

[kennyp2339]

I will compare notes on burning with them.

See if they are willing to allow you to post some pics of there setup also stages of burning.

 

[begreen]

See if they are willing to allow you to post some pics of there setup also stages of burning.

Covid-19 makes contact difficult for that kind of coverage. They are a busy family with kids and not stove enthusiasts per se. The setup is pretty unique. They tore out a ZC and created an alcove for the stove. I'll ask if I can post some shots and will ask about what sort of burn times they are seeing. But first I have to make sure they're running their stove properly.

 

[kennyp2339]

Covid-19 makes contact difficult for that kind of coverage. They are a busy family with kids and not stove enthusiasts per se. The setup is pretty unique. They tore out a ZC and created an alcove for the stove. I'll ask if I can post some shots and will ask about what sort of burn times they are seeing. But first I have to make sure they're running their stove properly.

Cat cam is needed, all the cool cats are doing it now.