Your Stove "grades"

[pelletash]

I'm satisfied with my 6041. Yes, I know US Stove isn't the cadillac model, but I paid a fair price and got a decent stove for the money. For me its all about the heat. My furnace has run three times this winter- once to test it out and twice when it wasn't cold enough to light the stove. If I had to grade it, I'd give it a B. Workmanship was on par with the price and its a bit noisier than I'd like. Those are things I can live with, especially with an extra $2000 in my pocket compared to a comparable Harmon.

However, my wife has appreciated the heat and is wanting a stove in the basement. I may move the 6041 downstairs and get something different for the living room. I'll be looking for clearance deals and checking craigslist come spring.

 

[jtakeman]

I wouldn't get flustured unless your stove is a total dog. To each his own and what you can afford. We all did it to send the oil/propain/electric man draggin his tail away! Its all part of the learning curve. Call it a starter stove until you've saved enough burning pellets to move on to the next "best" stove you can afford.

There all good at saving you money! ;-)

 

[DexterDay]

I wouldn't get flustured unless your stove is a total dog. To each his own and what you can afford. We all did it to send the oil/propain/electric man draggin his tail away! Its all part of the learning curve. Call it a starter stove until you've saved enough burning pellets to move on to the next "best" stove you can afford.

There all good at saving you money! ;-)

Yep..... Thats what its all about. I own a Quad that will be getting sold this Spring. Still a Great stove and I have LOTS of spare parts. But I want something with more user input and adjustments. The Quad line (except the AE) make some of the most simplistic stoves out there.

3 heat levels and ran off a t-stat. Dont get much easier.

But I will be moving on. Quad is a good Manufacturer. I may get an Enviro M-55 or an Englander 10-CPM. Either way, its a step up in my mind.

Jay said it perfectly. They are all good at saving you money. Thats what started it for me. It has now become a hobby of sorts. Something I truly enjoy to do... ;-P

 

[ironpony]

Cadillac Harman Invincible
best All other Harmans
Good the rest of them

 

[Dinger]

I have 1970 sq feet. My alcove limited me to a few stoves. Price and looks alone sold me the SantaFe. In the two full months of it running 24/7, I've bought 16 gallons of propane, which included cooking through the holidays. My neighbor in a similar house has bought 452 gallons of propane at 2.43/gallon in the same time period. I'm burning a bag a day at $5.


Can't ask for much more than that.... I give an A!

Cadillac? Maybe not. Toyota with leather maybe.

 

[glenc0322]

just purchased my Harman Accentra Insert in December so only a month old and I Love it heats my house great i have a zero clearance box through a wood construction again only 1 month old and already saved money on oil. Oil prices are around $4.00 a gallon here and premium pellets are around 250 a ton. I love the look of this stove too. the ash pot is big to hold alot i attached a picture and i know i did not clean the burn pot before i took the picture

 

[rona]

Talk about a loaded question lol.
I have owned three good stoves.
A new Harman PC45
A new Quad AE the first year they came out
A new Bixby 115 Maxfire.
They were all top of the line stoves and each has good points and not so good points. Truthfully each one of us as owners has a different slant on what is important in a multi fuel stove
Some like a traditional cast iron look while others want the more modern look
One has a setup that you connect your boat battery to a couple of cables and it will keep running when the power goes off
One has a small ash pan that can be annoying as you have to dump it twice a day when burning corn hard. One will occasional misfire and dump unburned fuel in the ash drawer.
two have their own thermostats
All three are built to burn corn or pellets or a mix
All three will ignite by pushing a button
You can dump the ash drawer while running
All three can be started manually.
There is other good models out there but as someone said I doubt anyone has used them all.
It might be advantagous to list what each person thinks is important and make a dream list Keeping in mind things like igniters and auto dump systems are something that can go bad versus a manual light stove and manual dumping of the pot are much simpler with less problems.

 

[St_Earl]

I have 1970 sq feet. My alcove limited me to a few stoves. Price and looks alone sold me the SantaFe. In the two full months of it running 24/7, I've bought 16 gallons of propane, which included cooking through the holidays. My neighbor in a similar house has bought 452 gallons of propane at 2.43/gallon in the same time period. I'm burning a bag a day at $5.


Can't ask for much more than that.... I give an A!

Cadillac? Maybe not. Toyota with leather maybe.

frack! propane is $3.79/gallon here.

 

[joe_pinehill]

I'm very happy with my Quadrafire CB 1200.

Simple, easy to clean. After 4 seasons I understand how it works and can trouble shoot and fix it. In four years the only problem I've had is the auger capacitor, a $12 part.

 

[slash2869]

Harman top of line I would say, Quad or Napoleon middle, us stove at the bottom sorry.

 

[brokenknee]

I have 1970 sq feet. My alcove limited me to a few stoves. Price and looks alone sold me the SantaFe. In the two full months of it running 24/7, I've bought 16 gallons of propane, which included cooking through the holidays. My neighbor in a similar house has bought 452 gallons of propane at 2.43/gallon in the same time period. I'm burning a bag a day at $5.


Can't ask for much more than that.... I give an A!

Cadillac? Maybe not. Toyota with leather maybe.

frack! propane is $3.79/gallon here.

Talked to a propane driver today, he said propane dropped 10 cents yesterday. Today's price $1.59 a gallon. I am really surprised at the huge price difference through out the country.

 

[movemaine]

I have 1970 sq feet. My alcove limited me to a few stoves. Price and looks alone sold me the SantaFe. In the two full months of it running 24/7, I've bought 16 gallons of propane, which included cooking through the holidays. My neighbor in a similar house has bought 452 gallons of propane at 2.43/gallon in the same time period. I'm burning a bag a day at $5.


Can't ask for much more than that.... I give an A!

Cadillac? Maybe not. Toyota with leather maybe.

frack! propane is $3.79/gallon here.

too much granite - no natural gas...I grew up in the south where propane was plentiful, and you ran everything off of it. Now living in Maine too, and surprised at how expensive propane is...Of course, in the south, no one's heard of an oil fired boiler either...

 

[St_Earl]

yeah. found a current price for maine statewide. $3.23/gal
i guess i'll find out what it is here next time they come to top off the tank.
less than before. but still such a huge difference from other regions.

we were going to switch to an electric water heater. but several folks advised against it.
electricity is 17.9 cents per kwh. here.
i just insulated all our pipes instead.


*sorry for slight thread derailment.

 

[Dinger]

I have 1970 sq feet. My alcove limited me to a few stoves. Price and looks alone sold me the SantaFe. In the two full months of it running 24/7, I've bought 16 gallons of propane, which included cooking through the holidays. My neighbor in a similar house has bought 452 gallons of propane at 2.43/gallon in the same time period. I'm burning a bag a day at $5.


Can't ask for much more than that.... I give an A!

Cadillac? Maybe not. Toyota with leather maybe.

frack! propane is $3.79/gallon here.

Talked to a propane driver today, he said propane dropped 10 cents yesterday. Today's price $1.59 a gallon. I am really surprised at the huge price difference through out the country.

I live in NG heaven, but years ago some genius' voted against bringing it through our hood. It's at the main road, and in the hood across the road, but not here. Mine and two other dwellings share a 1000gal rank, metered at each house. Every summer, we have to play the game and "lock in" a price with them whether prices go up or down, they have us by the shorts ones and they know it. I bet if NG came through they would be sharpening their pencil in a hurry. This year I told my neighbor he's on his own, not playing. He looked me like I was goofy. Today as he read the meter, I offered to help him with an install.

 

[letsblaze]

People can say what they would like about the Englander 25-PDV. I love mine and for the price I paid + pipe and repairs for a running stove to be under $500.00. I'm going to call this a win for me either way.

 

[Stegman]

Vogelzang = Rolls Royce ;-)

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

I'd consider mine a good workhorse. No frills but it does the job and does it nicely.

 

[SolarBrian]

There seem to be very functional and reliable stoves at all price levels if you get the right one. Perhaps what sets the Cadillac stoves apart are the looks. If looks matter to you then Harman, Jotul and Vermont Castings make some nice looking stuff. That was a major consideration in my choice.

 

[LAndrim]

Caddy? Depends how you define it. Luxury...looks...size...cost?

When I think of a Cadillac, I think of a big car, so with that criteria, I'd vote for my Lennox Country ST310 as a real Cadillac based on size and performance. It's big, big, big! And that means a lot of heat. My house is all electric (ouch!) and for the past two winters I have not had to use the electric baseboard heat at all! The firebox in the ST310 is huge, so I can pack it full and get a good overnite burn. Now, there is a downside. Just like a caddy burns a lot of gas, with the huge firebox, I go thru a lot of splits, but the heat output is worth it! Good luck! Jamie

 

[farmboy57]

vista flame 170 i'm very happy :coolsmile:

 

[petemal]

I may get some popcorn thrown at me, But the austraflamm rika intergra II is my fav, quiet, large heat out put, design, hopper size, technology, sold me. i know it may not be a caddy but maybe a mercedes

 

[jtakeman]

I may get some popcorn thrown at me, But the austraflamm rika intergra II is my fav, quiet, large heat out put, design, hopper size, technology, sold me. i know it may not be a caddy but maybe a mercedes

Definetly not a caddy! But to much performance to be called a mercedes. I'd vote it being something like a BMW! Nice stoves! ;-)

 

[yooper81]

I'm very happy with my Quadrafire CB 1200.

Simple, easy to clean. After 4 seasons I understand how it works and can trouble shoot and fix it. In four years the only problem I've had is the auger capacitor, a $12 part.

Same here. had a bad disc when I first started in December so the convection blower wasn't working. Tech. was here the next day (from 60 miles away), been working beautifully since. The ash pan could be a bit wider as there is about a 3/4" gap on both sides so some ash gets by the pan onto bottom of stove. Overall, a great stove that heats my entire bi-level 2400 sq ft home..... grade: B++ to A

 

[bbfarm]

Hee, J said "Pro- pain"

I can only give you an opinion on ours. A St. Croix afton Bay. We liked the looks of this stove and were looking to buy one new but having trouble to come up with the money. we lucked out and got it on craigslist. it is 3 years old.

I love the features, the T stat, or manual, or smartstat. it is easy to clean, looks easy to work on. we installed it ourselves and didn't F it up. It has the nice looking bay window and a custom paint job, which I admit I like better than a black one.

We have not turned our furnace on at all. granted the coldest it got so far was in the single digits with a few below wind chills. We are heating an old 2 story farm house that was built in 1870. We are warmer than we were with the furnace. and at 1/3 the cost of fuel oil.

 

[DirtyDave]

the OLD bullet proof Whitfields out live, work, and last all IMHO I see so many of the Name brands here everyday with the I have a problem, hmm I wonder if the old stoves (any brand ) are better than the new ones.