Pacific Energy Summit , Regency i3100 , Avalon Olympic......Decisions decisions.....................

[Hogwildz]

My apologies, I did post part of this in another thread. I didn't think to start a new one till after I clicked post.
Need some vet & owners that have any of these units advice.

Welp, I just got a price of $2,104 for a Pacific Energy Summit Insert. Price for the run of S.S. Simpson rigid double wall w/insulation between walls-$140.00 per section. thinking I need 4 to get down above smoke shelf. The $250.00 for S.S. flex down to insert. then of course top plate & cap. I will make the damper plate myself.
I think I am going to go with the Summit. I do like Regency i3100 & the Avalon Olympic (largest fire box I found 3.1 cf). But the shop that sells it around here is shyster city I think, and the blower is a couple hundred extra. The Regency shop was ok, Regency has a 2.9 firebox, and blower free till the 9th of this month, just not sure. The Summit comes with blower, and shop is closest to my home (20 miles). Pretty straight foreward, doesn't install liners, but I am doing that myself. I have one or two more shops t check out. But the Summit is the front runner at this point. Anyone else that has any of these inserts, It would be great to know your thoughts, experiences & whether your happy with your insert or not? I relize there are reviews and have read them all. Honestly, it didn't help me with a decision.

I want to heat my 2900 square foot house with this insert. Its 2 story open from living room to roof with big loft & nice ceiling fan above the living room that pushes the air down real nice. Its has like 5 or 6 speeds. 2 bedrooms & a bath upstairs, kitchen/dining room combo , small office & living room & bath downstairs. I am finishing a 30 x 25 breezeway between the house & garage. I will most likely get a small to medium stove for that area. But I would like to heat main house with the insert. I am looking for advice /opinions from any owners of these inserts. Thanks a bunch.

 

[Roospike]

The Summit is a top of the line stove in a line up for your needs . Have your searched in the forum on different stoves and feedback or did you just search the stove reviews ?
I own the Summit free standing unit and cant seem to say enough about it but you might like to hear from the inset owners for a full review.

Calling Willhound : Please come to the front desk , Willhound to the front desk please.

 

[Hogwildz]

Ah, I read the reviews, but was looking for a little more in depth tales, opinions, experiences. And yes I am looking to hear owners full reviews. The good, bad and ugly if any.
Thanks for your reply Roospike, much appreciated. I was hoping for more replys, but I will do a search in the forums.
Thanks again.

 

[Roospike]

Some times its hit or miss when a forum topic come up as to what certain members are on the forum at the time.
A lot of people can post information on a "wood pile" but not every once can give a full review on a certin stove so it take a wile sometimes to get your questions answered . Run a search on each brand of stove and go from there until others have time to drop in on the thread.

 

[elkimmeg]

money wise an insulated flex liner will do the job I'm not a big fan of double wall inside a masonery chimney I really don't think double wall will be an upgrade to insulated flex liner.
Insulated smooth has some advantages
As for stoves all you are considering are good I recomended the PE to Roo voted the best stove in Canada But what do I know I own American made VC stoves

 

[Roospike]

you could also add in your topic title "Pacific Energy Summit , Regency i3100 , Avalon Olympic "

 

[begreen]

The biggest complaint I've heard about the PE Summit is that it doesn't chop the wood for you.

 

[Hogwildz]

you could also add in your topic title "Pacific Energy Summit , Regency i3100 , Avalon Olympic "

Done deal, good idae. I knew there was a reason I asked for some long timer advice. Sesrched the inserts, didn't come up with much. Will try again with different search topics. Thanks Mucho appreciated!!

 

[Hogwildz]

The biggest complaint I've heard about the PE Summit is that it doesn't chop the wood for you.

I have seen that complaint on just about all the stoves & inserts. My work around for that is to send oversees for a Russian bride, yaknow the real big line backer child bearing hipped one................ then se her up with a cot between the insert & the door to the log pile. With the money I save on heating oil, I will so generously keep her fed with goulosh each day I'll even get her the 12 pounf maul.

 

[Sandor]

The biggest complaint I've heard about the PE Summit is that it doesn't chop the wood for you.

I have seen that complaint on just about all the stoves & inserts. My work around for that is to send oversees for a Russian bride, yaknow the real big line backer child bearing hipped one................ then se her up with a cot between the insert & the door to the log pile. With the money I save on heating oil, I will so generously keep her fed with goulosh each day I'll even get her the 12 pounf maul.

Goulash is Hungarian, not Russian.

 

[Hogwildz]

Ok borsch, is that correct enough for you?

 

[Willhound]

Hiya Hogwildz

Sorry, been away on a business trip, or I would have replied sooner. I installed a Summit insert last November and have never regretted the decision. A lot of it came down to the dealer, but lucky for me, I ended up with what I beleive to be one of the best, if not the best units out there. I have a 1800 sq. ft backsplit house in Northern Ontario and the Summit easily heats the entire house, despite the upstairs bedrooms being a little out of the way. I just have to remember to leave the doors open during the day so the heat can filter in. I can't say enough about the magic of the EBT feature that allows me to load it up at bedtime (typically around 11 P.M.), damper it right down, and still have enough coals 7 or 8 hours later to just open up the damper, fire in some fresh wood, and watch it take off again. Usually the insert stays warm enough overnight that the temp. controlled blower is still running in the morning. My gas furnace didn't run at all last winter unless I was away for a few days.
If you do a search on "Summit" or "EBT" you will see a lot of the threads I posted last winter regarding my experiences as a new owner. If you have any specific questions, feel free to post them or PM me and I will be happy to try and answer.

Willhound

 

[Willhound]

As a follow up to my own post, I realized that my suggestion to search on "Summit" is going to give you a lot of threads. Good if you are a "Summit Junkie", but perhaps not if you looking for specific info. You can also search by author "Willhound" and you'll ger more specifics on my insert experiences. Be warnded that you'll also get a lot of crap since I have a slightly twisted mind and also have a tendency to post things just to see what kind of reaction I get.

 

[begreen]

Hey Willhound, welcome back. How is the Summit in shoulder seasons? Do you just put in less wood and does it still regulate well?

 

[Hogwildz]

As a follow up to my own post, I realized that my suggestion to search on "Summit" is going to give you a lot of threads. Good if you are a "Summit Junkie", but perhaps not if you looking for specific info. You can also search by author "Willhound" and you'll ger more specifics on my insert experiences. Be warnded that you'll also get a lot of crap since I have a slightly twisted mind and also have a tendency to post things just to see what kind of reaction I get.

I actually searched Summit and got nothing LOL. I must be doing something wrong. But I have researched the heck out of it. I like the EBT and read about that also.
I have decided to go with the Summit insert, and your post just pretty much made me feel that much more comfortable with my decision. I was gung ho on the Regency i3100 at first, but there was a few things I wanted that it did not have. EBT being one, it only has high & low blower settings. I wanted variable as the Summit has. And the Summit has a slightly larger fire box. Do you load yours front to back or side to side? DO you notice any advantage? And how well does your glass stay clean?

As far as the twisted mind, we will get along just fine . I am trying to be on my best behavior, In other non hearth related groups I let that sick humor out.

I have my mind set on the Summit, now I just have to set it on the liner.
I will be ordering the Summit next weekend if I can down down to the store, if not the following. I want to do this soon while its still not bad outside here.

I have been to almost every fireplace shop in my area, and quite frankly, they all seem like shysters. Not knowing alot about the product without looking through the pamphlet etc. I will do the install myself. I asked one guy what the firebox size was i think that was for the Regency, and he looked at the pamphlet, read the wrong numbers, reading the emissions rating and said the firebox is 3.6 cf. LOL I read it earlier and knew it was 2.9 but asked him just to see if he knew about his product.
How can I respect or trust a shop like that? That is scary.

Thanks man for your input, I am off to read your posts now. And hoping to find some sick twisted humor also .

Have a great weekend!

 

[JMF1]

Hogwildz..........I have an Avalon Olympic I just started using this year, so far so good. It seems to heat quite well and I can have coals left easily after 8hrs with hardwood. However, I will warn you about the Lopi/Avalon blowers.......everyone, even the dealers tell me they get noisy after 2 or 3 seasons. Mine being used when I bought it is quite noisy at certain speeds............I'm in the process of designing and building one now using "muffin fans" that should be better. Travis makes a great product though......my last stove was a Lopi Answer, I was very happy with what it did for such a small stove. Good luck with whatever you buy!

 

[Roospike]

As a follow up to my own post, I realized that my suggestion to search on "Summit" is going to give you a lot of threads. Good if you are a "Summit Junkie", but perhaps not if you looking for specific info. You can also search by author "Willhound" and you'll ger more specifics on my insert experiences. Be warnded that you'll also get a lot of crap since I have a slightly twisted mind and also have a tendency to post things just to see what kind of reaction I get.

I actually searched Summit and got nothing LOL. I must be doing something wrong. But I have researched the heck out of it. I like the EBT and read about that also.
I have decided to go with the Summit insert, and your post just pretty much made me feel that much more comfortable with my decision. I was gung ho on the Regency i3100 at first, but there was a few things I wanted that it did not have. EBT being one, it only has high & low blower settings. I wanted variable as the Summit has. And the Summit has a slightly larger fire box. Do you load yours front to back or side to side? DO you notice any advantage? And how well does your glass stay clean?

As far as the twisted mind, we will get along just fine . I am trying to be on my best behavior, In other non hearth related groups I let that sick humor out.

I have my mind set on the Summit, now I just have to set it on the liner.
I will be ordering the Summit next weekend if I can down down to the store, if not the following. I want to do this soon while its still not bad outside here.

I have been to almost every fireplace shop in my area, and quite frankly, they all seem like shysters. Not knowing alot about the product without looking through the pamphlet etc. I will do the install myself. I asked one guy what the firebox size was i think that was for the Regency, and he looked at the pamphlet, read the wrong numbers, reading the emissions rating and said the firebox is 3.6 cf. LOL I read it earlier and knew it was 2.9 but asked him just to see if he knew about his product.
How can I respect or trust a shop like that? That is scary.

Thanks man for your input, I am off to read your posts now. And hoping to find some sick twisted humor also .

Have a great weekend!

This should keep you busy for a wile ........ I searched "Summit" and came up with 9 pages.

Here is the search find ............follow the link.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/ind...esults/3d81b7f0e5f82b497250eb6a39aad034/P160/

 

[Willhound]

Hey Willhound, welcome back. How is the Summit in shoulder seasons? Do you just put in less wood and does it still regulate well?

Just fine. Of course, our shoulder seasons are Sept. and May. I've been burning 24/7 pretty much since the beginning of October as nightime temps have typically been below freezing.
I tend to keep the fire smaller, i.e., once I get a good bed of coals, I tend to just put a few splits at a time in. The damper is typically below half, or even fully closed and I let the EBT handle things. As I write this in the family room it is about 78 F with just a nice bed of coals sitting in the firebox.

 

[Willhound]

I actually searched Summit and got nothing LOL. I must be doing something wrong. But I have researched the heck out of it. I like the EBT and read about that also.
I have decided to go with the Summit insert, and your post just pretty much made me feel that much more comfortable with my decision. I was gung ho on the Regency i3100 at first, but there was a few things I wanted that it did not have. EBT being one, it only has high & low blower settings. I wanted variable as the Summit has. And the Summit has a slightly larger fire box. Do you load yours front to back or side to side? DO you notice any advantage? And how well does your glass stay clean?

I load front to back for several reasons. Safety being one, as it prevents logs from rolling out when you open the door. With the way the draft works, it also ensure even burning of all of the splits I put in, and makes it easier to load as I don't have to stick my whole arm in the firebox to place wood all the way to the back. I can't recall for sure, but I think the manual actually reccomends front to back also. As far as the glass, I tend to get a small patch of black in the lower left corner at this time of year when I'm burning at lower damper settings. When it hits -40 here later on this winter and I am burning at higher damper settings it usually stays very clean, and/or will clean itself/burn off.
As far as the twisted mind, we will get along just fine . I am trying to be on my best behavior, In other non hearth related groups I let that sick humor out.

I have my mind set on the Summit, now I just have to set it on the liner.
I will be ordering the Summit next weekend if I can down down to the store, if not the following. I want to do this soon while its still not bad outside here.

I used a solid liner (3 foot sections) that rivet together, with a short piece of flex to get me past the ash shelf in my masonry chimney. In my mind, right or wrong, I thought it would be more robust than full flex, and also, I think it is easier to brush clean as it provides a smooth surface. Also, I think it provides fewer nooks and crannies for ash and creosote to stick to. Your local code may or may not have something to say on this.

I have been to almost every fireplace shop in my area, and quite frankly, they all seem like shysters. Not knowing alot about the product without looking through the pamphlet etc. I will do the install myself. I asked one guy what the firebox size was i think that was for the Regency, and he looked at the pamphlet, read the wrong numbers, reading the emissions rating and said the firebox is 3.6 cf. LOL I read it earlier and knew it was 2.9 but asked him just to see if he knew about his product.
How can I respect or trust a shop like that? That is scary.

Thanks man for your input, I am off to read your posts now. And hoping to find some sick twisted humor also .

Have a great weekend!