Getting concerned - about to purchase 2 units

[Spikie]

I'm about to purchase two new quadrifire pellet inserts - a Santa Fe and a Classic Bay 1200 -

Reading on this site, I'm starting to worry that I have committed myself to a service nightmare with these units. Are the problems that are being related here the norm or are they the exception?

I deal in technical support on computerized equipment daily, but I don't want to come home to having to deal with heating problems every night or every week. From what I'm reading, these stoves look to be extremely service intensive, poorly supported, and maintenance intensive as well. I just want to heat my house, not have to become a bloody pellet stove tech.

Should I back out? I haven't dropped the money yet but I will be doing so next month.

[jtp10181]

Any pellet stove is going to require a lot routine maintenance. If they are installed and maintained properly those stoves will not give you any trouble.

The biggest problem a lot of people posting have, is the dealer they have does not have a good service dept. Either that or they refuse to pay for a service call when needed, and try to fix it themselves. Some things that might take an owner a week to diagnose I could figure out in a hour. Need the proper tools and experience.

[Spikie]

Thanks!

Maintenance I can do. I hope it isn't to the level of daily taking it apart and cleaning it, if it is, I'm gonna be .... aggravated at myself for not purchasing what I wanted - a wood-burning insert.

My wife convinced me that at my age, I didn't really want to be splitting wood in another 10 or 20 years - that pellets would be easier. Looks like it's gonna be a tradeoff.

What EQUIPMENT do I need to be able to maintain my new stoves to be properly? Are there things not in the owners manuals that will be needed to be done? I'm old with burning wood, but the wood I've burned before has always been a bit larger than these pellets are...

Need someone to ease my troubled mind about this and you're off to a good start.

[MM#7]

Any pellet stove is going to require a lot routine maintenance. If they are installed and maintained properly those stoves will not give you any trouble.

The biggest problem a lot of people posting have, is the dealer they have does not have a good service dept. Either that or they refuse to pay for a service call when needed, and try to fix it themselves. Some things that might take an owner a week to diagnose I could figure out in a hour. Need the proper tools and experience.

excellent post!

[Spikie]

BTW - by "equipment" and "maintain", what I'm talking about is routine maintenance, NOT repairs. What I am talking about is the weekly, monthly, spring and fall, maintenance that should be done on any piece of equipment that a person wants to have and have function properly.

Also, what about using generators for emergency power should the electricity go off? Good idea, bad idea, what would you say? If good idea, would it be best to have a generator that automatically kicks on if the power goes out?

I'm all electric with no access to natural gas - its a fireplace / stove or cold in the winter when the lights go out...