And here my overall review of my 'new' BOSCA Soul 700 insert:
We had some initial problems and Hearth and Home had to come out again to install an upgrade kit (which was in the delivery, but they declined to install it in the first place). With some support from BOSCA over the phone they installed the majority of the parts, our stove was from 2008, so needed rubber seals on the exchange tubes, some sealant around the auger and quite some more - took a good half day and H+H wants their money back from BOSCA, but that I dont have to care about. Since then the stove works fine and has burned about 1 ton now.
I very much like the design and robust made (freakish heavy and welded steel everything), fits very nice in the house. Brick set is black and looks nice, maintenance so far is simple and cleaning done in 15 min. My wife likes it too, she also likes the look of the fire - which I think is so so...As for heat output, see above pellet tests with significant difference, also the air supply has some major impact (I have an outside air installed), My setting is about 1/3 in (sticking a good 2/3 out, which looks odd and is not the initial install setting), that made a difference of about 20 % heat output. I had way too much air in the beginning and hence too much draft sucking the hot air into the chimney (or rather blowing it, and triggering my high heat fuse every here and then). Unfortunately its hard to see what is too much air and the idea to burn it cleaner actually backfired big time, too much air caused tons of ash and half burned flakes. Another plus (for me) is the fact that the outside of the stove does not get scalding hot, nice when you have a kid and dont need a gate - air is still hot coming out.
Cleaning of the burn pot needs to be done daily, vacuum about every 3 days (6 bags). There is some wood burning smell at start up (I believe there are still some openings to the burn chamber despite the upgrade kit) - but its not unpleasant. The hopper holds almost two bags, which is prety cool. What is not so cool is the fact that the auger does feed less pellets when it goes about 1/3 full, meaning it gets colder long before the stove turns off since the auger design is not optimal and the pellets do not slide down easy.
It does heat the house to some 70 plus minus 4 as long as the temperatures outside dont dip below zero and its not too windy (I still have some fixing to do at the house, its rather drafty right now), however I believe BOSCA atvertisement that this stove can heat 2500 sqf is not really measured in the Northeast. I have a bit below 2000 and it does not feel as if the stove has reserves when it goes to zero outside. In all fairness, the BTU rating is 45 to 47k (depending who you ask, which is weird) - so if you look up recommendations for the Northeast you will find that a 2000 sqf house should have 65-70k BTU heating source. Thats exactly what the stove feels like, working most times but likely not in the dead of winter.
I think BOSCA should change their advertise to 1500 sqf and should install the upgrade kit prior to delivery. Other than that I am happy with the stove, especially given the price it was a good deal to get and Uncle Sam helps me with 1500 USD - so no complain.
A more philosophical question is does the pellet stove make finacial sense ? That answer would be no right now. I am burning through about 2 bags a day or 1 ton a month. Thats 250 USD of the good pellets (including delivery), wheras I burn about 75 gallons of oil a month without stove, thats 240 USD at 3.2 USD/gallon. No doubt oil prices will increase, but as long as they dont go above 4 USD/gallon this does not work out from an investment only point of view. In fact, if you use both systems you pay extra for the maintenance of both systems. Given that thought my next insert will be a normal wood stove (I have another insert to work on) and then the comparison is on.
Curious to see what you guys think.