Will the Enviro Mini be big enough?

[BrendainNJ]

Hi, first-time poster here....looking at various stoves--too many choices! I like the footprint of the mini, as it will be going into an already crowded LR. For this I can overlook its rather "spartan" look. The price is nice as well, since our original budget (until we started looking!) was $2000. My husband plans to do the install himself. We have a 900sf ranch. The stove will be in roughly the center of the house about 10 feet from the hallway that goes to the BRs. The kitchen area is about 25 ft from the stove with a pretty open doorway. Will the stove have to run at "max" to heat this area? If that's the case, I think my husband would feel more comfortable w/a larger stove.

Also considering, in no particular order...Harmon P43, Enviro Empress, M55-wishful at this point, since over $3K, Quad Castille

Thanks for taking time to help!

 

[jamesdjs]

Hi and Welcome to the forum

I have a Mini and so far it puts out some good heat. Now mind you its only 35K btu at max running and it depends on the pellet type you have also.
With that said:
Will this be your only heating source? If yes then go with something bigger.
If no then you can do what I do and it will heat the house until the temps drop to below zero then the furnace has to help.
My house is a not to tight log home, 2 stories, each being about 800sq ft.
The down stairs right now is 74 F but upstairs is much cooler but not cold. Outside it's 35F.
Don't forget that pellet stoves are space heaters and the heat doesn't like to travel that far.

Hope this helps

 

[jtakeman]

This all depends on how tight the house is and the amount of the insulation. The mini could do a decent job for you, But I would worry a bit until you got through the coldest spell. Thats when it would get its real test.

Do you have another form of heat?

 

[BrendainNJ]

Wow, love these fast responses-thanks guys! NO, it's not the only heat source--also have an oil burner w/hot water baseboard. Set at 65, the house always feels cold. No, the house is not tight.

Bottom line, do you think we could keep this thing on low or med, or would it have to run "hot" all the time? I'd be happy to have a temp around 70 in the main areas, with 68 OK for the bedrooms.

I'm almost afraid to ask--but if this stove is too small, what would be good for under $3K - see my list in orig. post.

 

[jtakeman]

Its hard for me to steer anyone away from an Enviro because of the features they offer. But there is a nice little stove that a freind just purchased. I liked it alot. Its the Napolean NPS45. This should have enough heat for you and you might be able to use just pellets with it and keep the other as backup.

Lots of features for an affordable price of around $2200 depending on area and dealer.

(broken link removed to http://www.napoleonfireplaces.com/Stoves/stoves_pellet/NPS45.html)

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I don't get involved in recommending stoves, but I will chime in when it comes to sizing them and say a bit bigger than you think is usually a good hedge.

I'd also add that tightening up the house pays off no matter what you get or already have, heat loss calculators usually point out air infiltration is being the number one problem, followed by not enough wall insulation and/or poor windows, then the attic area.

Do you have a basement, if so the walls down there should be insulated to at least 4 foot below grade if possible.

 

[chris288]

We have basically the same layout, except we have electric heat and use the pellet stove for sole source heating and we just installed an XXV if that tells you anything. before that we had a 39,000BTU whitfield for 14 years. Bigger is always better.

 

[BrendainNJ]

Yeah, I had a feeling it was going to come back like that....We can't afford the really "pretty" stoves, so I was hoping for something not too big to be ugly! Oh well. We also do not have very many dealers here in NJ; have already traveled over the border to Pa. Would like to find someone that has a St. Croix actually hooked up & burning to see how loud it is. We have to make a decision soon, the end of the year is coming fast! Was looking into the Quads; hearing some rumors that they are now made in China.

Thanks again...hopefully I can post back here with some good news.

 

[pelletdude]

You should be able to find a dealer to sell you the Enviro Ef3i for $2,500.00, very nice stove for the money - Dial - a - Fire control.

 

[Pat Shuff]

Have a Mini now for several heating seasons, 10 or 20 tons, a small house
on the OR coast with its moderate climate. It runs on the lowest of five
heat levels nearly all the time (and only runs part of year and only part of the day
when it does run) except during an unusual cold snap or coming home
to a cold house from a road trip. Hopper is supposedly 45 lbs but couldn't hold
a whole sack when first filled brand new. Hopper wouldn't a last a weekend
on low if gone (I never leave it on) and at higher levels you just about have
to stand over it feeding it chow it drains so fast. It chokes up with fly ash
pretty quick (we use Golden Fire) and needs a cursory cleaning of its clog point(s)
after only about 6 bags to restore efficiency and output.

Having said that we love it, works for us in our situation. Had to replace the
convection fan ($200) started rattling and got annoyingly noisy. It barely frosts
here, in a bigger house and/or colder climate its fussy needs and limited output
would get old, the small Mini isn't up to bigger demands. It easily maintains
a comfortable, warm house here, coming home to a cold house is beyond it,
I need to turn on auxilliary heats until up to temperature. The first four heat
settings are nicely calibrated, a noticeable step between each one but 5 seems
no hotter than 4. The pellets feed and burn hotter and faster but the little heat
exchanger can't extract it before blowing out the exhaust instead of into the house
at that high of airflow/fanspeed.

In short, if one's needs are little more than an electric milkhouse space heater
the Mini is quiet, adequate, efficient even delightful...a few bags lasts us a couple weeks
during an average heating season. It can be turned up into a hot little furnace at higher
settings to meet an occasional need but I wouldn't want to run it or have it for that.
It would be noisy and need constant feeding and cleaning.

 

[Vinelife]

Last night it got down to 14 and my Sante Fe did a good job. It went from 66-73 in about 2 hours at that temp and then the thermostat shut off for 2 hours.

 

[krooser]

You are only heating 900 sq. ft. i would think the mini would work good for you.

My St. Croix Pepin is keeping about 800 sq. ft. toasty on #3 even during the sub-zero temps for the last four seasons... and the balance of the 100 sq. ft. is cooler but not cold.

BTW... the my room fan IS a little noisy BUT my stove is almost 10 seasons old... the new models are quieter.

 

[krooser]

You are only heating 900 sq. ft. I would think the mini would work good for you.

My St. Croix Pepin (40K btu) is keeping about 800 sq. ft. toasty on #3 even during the sub-zero temps for the last four seasons... and the balance of the 100 sq. ft. is cooler but not cold.

BTW... the my room fan IS a little noisy BUT my stove is almost 10 seasons old... the new models are quieter.

 

[hoverfly]

I live in a leaky 30+ year old Mobil home and I go through a bag a day. Two maybe a little less when it's very cold out and I use the oil furnace as a back up. I have the previous model, and I say it's temperamental. The Mini will Handel a full bag of pellets but you can only can do that when it's close to empty. It's best to ask somebody who has bought the latest Mini A model, there are several improvement that includes the burn pot, and control board, larger ash pan and I think the blower as well. It's a little bit less efficient than it's bigger brothers but I think it will heat your house if it's insulated well. However at this time I would suggest paying a little extra for the next model up.

 

[tomasulo]

I think the Mini wouldn't heat too much more than your living room. I have an Enviro EF3 in my living room and it heats most of the main floor of my house, though as the guys say, the heat only goes to the open spaces, it has trouble working it's way into the bedrooms etc, around walls. I see that your husband was going to install it? I don't know what the USA requires, but I know here in Canada, a WETT certified stove installer must put it in, in order to be covered by your house insurance agency. If not installed here by a proper installer and you had a fire or damage, insurance would not cover it. Good luck in choosing!

 

[BrendainNJ]

We are still looking...have pretty much nixed the Mini :-S due to all info here--just too much $ to not be sure. My next choice would be a St. Croix Hastings, but the dealers are few & far between & so far no one has one hooked up & running. The dealers here are pretty much Harmon & Quad. The Santa Fe may be a possibility, just wish it wasn't made in China!

To the Canadian poster--we are able to install the stove ourselves as long as it is inspected by the town. We will double-check w/our insurance though, just going now by what the owner of the stove shop said.

Again, thanks for all the help!

 

[LI-Mini-Owner]

Hi, first-time poster here....looking at various stoves--too many choices! I like the footprint of the mini, as it will be going into an already crowded LR. For this I can overlook its rather "spartan" look. The price is nice as well, since our original budget (until we started looking!) was $2000. My husband plans to do the install himself. We have a 900sf ranch. The stove will be in roughly the center of the house about 10 feet from the hallway that goes to the BRs. The kitchen area is about 25 ft from the stove with a pretty open doorway. Will the stove have to run at "max" to heat this area? If that's the case, I think my husband would feel more comfortable w/a larger stove.

Also considering, in no particular order...Harmon P43, Enviro Empress, M55-wishful at this point, since over $3K, Quad Castille

Thanks for taking time to help!

Hi - I’m satisfied with my Mini. It’s sized right for the top floor of my not so big house. It provides 100% of the heat to the 6 rooms. It’s positioned in the LR with a straight shot down the hallway. Bedrooms are about 5 degrees colder like we like it.

The room farthest away is over an unheated garage. I've put a couple of 3" computer fans at the top of the doorway to pull in heat from the hallway.

The coldest temp we've had is like 5 degrees. With the stove on high I was able to keep 68 degrees. Running on high has not been a problem for me. With lower quality pellets I'll run on high. Hotter pellets I run on setting 4 out of 5.

I shut it down once every three days for a quick vacuum, and to empty the ash bin. Bin could probably hold 5 days worth of ash burning 7X24. From reading other posts over the years, my impression is larger stoves could run well over a week without shutting down.

Lastly - Make sure you get a thermostat. I use a LUX programmable, and run the stove on On/Off mode in the warmer months, and HI/LO mode during the colder months.

Good luck with your stove selection.

Carl