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Re: woodstoves including Summers Heat, Englander, and timberidge. these are sold by Lowes as well as other distributors. We purchased our woodstove through Lowes in 8/05. It was back ordered and came in 9/05. Well right out of the box it was DOA ! An electrician did the wiring, including its own GFI. We contacted the company. their idea of customer service is to have you hold the phone to the stove so they can listen to it! Well after several such phone calls they sent us a new blower and thermostat. keep in mind this is under warranty yet we had to either install the parts ourselves or hire an electrician to do so! Well aprox every 3 months since the thermostat dies. At first they replaced it. They started telling us to do things like open it and BEND pieces to try and make them work. We average 1 1/2 HOURS per call, most of it being passed around and put on hold. finally being told someone else will call us back. the last phone call they actually told us to just DUCT tape the thermostat in the On POSITION! No one will call us back, answer emails etc. since they have dragged this problem out past the warranty they don't want to replace the thermostat. No one will answer if duct taping is SAFE or if they will cover the motor if using duct tape causes the motor to burn out. they were supposed to have a tech check the last thermostat that we SHIPPED back to them but they admit they never did. As I said they were notified of this problem while under warranty and have yet to properly correct it. This stove does not work properly, the company will no longer return our DAILY phone calls or emails. I plan on notifying everyone possible both online and off until they either correct the problem or have a RECALL due to FAULTY Thermostat. I want it repaired properly or removed from my home with a full refund given. I can and will hold them responsible for damages.
I am suprised, I bought this stove in 11-07 and I have saved a bundle already in oil bills. I did have an auger jam which was my own rookie mistake, the local hardware store sold me a ripped bag with a lot of sawdust.
Perhaps the best thing I read on here in a previous post is that:
"you have to be willing to learn how they work, what can break down and what to do to avoid some of the common pitfalls. "
If you read the manual and accept this you can work through some of these issues easily.
I have an Summers Heat 55-SHP10. Same stove as the Englander 25-PDV. Englander has been great on the phone with my questions and my stove works great! No problems so far. These stoves are really easy to work on if needed. Like all pellet stoves, if you don't maintain them you will have problems.
I for one am glad I didn't pay the big bucks for the so called better stoves on the market. They seem to have just as many problems if not more than the Englander stoves and parts cost up to twice as much to replace.
I searched online for stoves before picking this one. I found that big expensive names like Harman and Bixby seem to have a lot of problems and cost 3 to 4 times more. What do you want for your money? If your not into tinkering with things I would say not to get any pellet stove. A wood stove would be easier to take care of and is a good choice for many people. There are many nice ones for the price of a low cost pellet stove like the 25-PDV.
We bought our first stove August '07. Difficulties with the lower auger, it was scraping - it was warped. Englander was good and sent a new auger after sending us a new motor (having originally thought it was the motor). Regarding listening on the phone to the sound - how else are they to attempt to help you? One thing about these stoves, you have to be willing to learn how they work, what can break down and what to do to avoid some of the common pitfalls. The auger tube needs to be scraped at least once a week clear of all build up, need to clean entire system of soot weekly - even more often - the motors are nothing to change (simple even for a woman) auger was even easier - - we took the whole thing apart just to see how it worked petty neat actually - although have seen better designs - namely the soot build up could be avoided if you were to run the lower auger above the fire - trying to understand and rid us of fear of burning the house down - ingenuity alone will get you through - common sense. We love the thing - as finicky as it can get and it does - it has kept us warm this winter and we have accepted its nuances. It is mechanical. Mechanical is mechanical.
I bought an Englander stove from Home Depot in 2004. Nothing but problems .The 2 vac. switches have been replaced 4 times! I also replaced the ignitor unit. Replaced door,window and hopper gaskets. Screws snap off when you try to remove/replace a parts. Shuts down for no apparent reason. Squeals usually in the middle of night as auger scrapes side of tube. Stops feeding pellets and shuts down. I tried to talk to someone above the tech. and he refused to give me a name or ext. #. of someone I could complain to. They admitted at one point it might be the board and refused to send me one under warranty. The worse purchase I've EVER made. Its going to the junk yard for scrap this spring. I've been dealing with this crap for 3 heating seasons. I tell anyone that will listen to NEVER buy Englander Stoves.
i also bought a stove from home depot wich i should have learned years ago never buy anything expensive because all they sell is crap but i was a fool and did it anyway. my 25 PDVE england stove was no different. the first year i had it it broke 5 times could not get them on the phone i have waited on hold for over a half hour and got nobody. my second year same thing broke down so far 3 times. i have emailed them with my home number cell number work number never a call from them. i refuse to invest anymore money in this piece of crap stove and one day soon it will be in the junk yard were everything england stove works builds belongs. the biggest waste of money i have ever spent. i also called home depot and got no where with them also. one thing time has taught me never buy anything of value from home depot because all they sell is junk and never buy a newengland stove again.
plain and simple the pellet stove I purchased in 2004 is a piece of crap. Right from the beginning I had loose bolts and binding augers. To add to the mulitple problems that occurd it sounds like a cat in heat from the grinding noise that comes from deep within the stoves.
This kind of surprises me. In general I've found that Englander has been very responsive. Their service and support has been exceptional, especially for such a reasonably priced product. Another benefit is that I discovered their tech support regularly monitors and answers issues on the hearth.com hearth forum.
Well I got two of there stove in my new home 55-TRP10 and 55-TRP22. On ebay for $1200 for both stove free shipping rebuilt. One was repair on PCB board other was all new blower which was nice. For price I can't ###, seeing they work right out of the box and part easy find if you know were to look.
Fox
We bought our englander pellett stove 12/04 at Lowes. in the last years we have replace 2 sets of auger bearings, the electronic ignition, auger motor, 3 vacuum switches. We now have to order another motor and a convection fan. I try to tell everyone I know not to but englander. The customer service is a joke, when you can get through to them. The average wait time I have experienced on hold trying to talk to someone is 37 minutes. I would really like to get rid of the stove and get another one but we have so much money invested in this one that this is not an option right now. I think that lowes should back what they sell but complaints fall on deaf ears.
DO NOT BUY ONE OF ENGLANDER STOVES THEY SUCK! SUCK REALLY BAD, TRUST ME I OWN ONE!
I agree Englander Pellet Stoves Blow donkey balls my stove is terrible! Broke down first year had electrician replace auger, unreal! My stove has a hard time lighting, makes noises and is just a big hunk of crap! Customer service was good to me but they should their selling lemon crap box pellet stoves for $1600 to $2900 ! JUNK ! CRAP!
STAY AWAY FROM ENGLANDER STOVES SOLD AT HOME DEPOT OR LOWES!
PAY THE EXTRA FEW HUNDRED AND BUY FROM LOCAL DEALER!
We purchased an Englander 25 PDV ( wood pellet) in 10/94 .
We have had good service from it, we've replaced cumbustion blowers twice and convection blowers once in 13 years of service. We can not complain about the services we have received from Englander. I am sorry to read that you have these issues and I hope Englander will rectify the situation for you soon.
I agree as my dealings with them has been even worse. I bought a corn burner on 12/13/05 from day one I had trouble with it. I asked to return it and was told my corn was too wet. Next my pellets were too wet. They don't return Emails. The phone number listed on the return address on the UPS package was invalid. They are not listed in the phone directory in the city they had for their address either.
By next heating season I was on hold waiting for customer service and couldn't get thru for 5 weeks. Guess what my warranty was past. I did get a new chip which didn't make any changes when I finally got thru to them.
Long story short I am stuck with a $2500 white elephant. I am now getting an appointment with a lawyer Monday.