Small/slim stove

First of all happy thanksgiving everyone! About three years ago my wife and I started to remodel our converted garage and now we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel it should be finished early next year if all goes well. So we need another heat source out there and we're thinking about a pellet stove but since space is limited it would have to be a small stove. I had a thread about this awhile ago and dug it back up and looked at some of the suggestions in there but thought it would be a good idea to start a new one with new suggestions so I'm looking for something similar to the enviro mini in size. What are yalls suggestions for an easy to use low maintenance stove preferably with a battery backup and automatic controls. I'm not sure about price but would like to keep it under $1400 if possible. Thanks for the feedback.

 

There is one small change to the room it has 11' ceilings but that shouldn't make a difference. The floor is concrete walls have all new insulation. We are going to be putting in some form of hardwood flooring next year with our tax return and are also considering in floor heat. This room is just off of the kitchen which is just off the room we have our wood stove in. I'm hoping to be able to get this room heated and leave the door to the main part of the house open and get some extra heat rolling into the house.

 

Here's another question I'm not really familiar with pellet stoves. What is the general exhaust requirements for a pellet stove? My dad has one in his house and just has it exhausted right through the wall is a chimney of sorts not needed?

 

$1400.00 = Castle Serenity that would be my choice

 

I like the size of that castle stove do y'all know anymore about them? Is it a good stove and all that good stuff? Definitely in my price range don't know if my wife will like it though. (It's not pretty)

 

Great price. Hard to beat, but I seem to remember some members not being happy with those after purchase.

As Jay mentioned before, the Englander refurbs at AM FM Energy would be a good bet. Depending on whether looks are important or not, I'd go for one of these......and Englander customer serv. is second to none, along with having Mike Holton available on the forum.

55-TRPEP - PELLET BURNING STOVE - 2,000 sq. ft. (F2)

55-TRP10 - PELLET BURNING STOVE - 1,500 sq. ft. (F2)

 

Great stove for the money and the best customer service in the business, There are a few owners here but over on the other forum there are a bunch of owners and they are all very happy with their stoves. I had an Englander 25 pdvc for 9 yrs. And a Serenity for 3 yrs. and I would recommend the Serenity over the englander. I had a first gen. Serenity and had an issue with welds almost 2 yrs.out of warranty and they sent me a brand new revised stove shipped to my door at no cost to me. google Castle Serenity and read all the positive feedback on them.

 

How about a Timber Ridge (Englander) TRPIP

 

55-TRPIP - PELLET BURNING STOVE - 2,200 sq. ft. (F2) Might be a bit big for his situation.

 

What kind of regular/daily maintenance is needed with this stove? What are the pros and cons? How long of a burn time do you get with a full hopper and does it have automatic controls (will it turn itself on and off as needed)?

 

I like the looks of that one but it might be a little to much stove for the area I'm putting it in. Really anything is to much but that's why I'm leaning towards a pellet stove with those I can at least turn it off unlike my woodstove.

 

Daily maintenance is if anything a quick pop the door open and break up the clinker,this can can be done with the stove on and may not even be necessary depending on pellets.A hopper last me 18-20 hrs. burning on low.There are 2 things I don't like with the stove #1 is that it has a temp mode that you set the temp and the stove controls itself to hold that temp. but it does not shut the stove down,but none of the other stoves in it's price range do either. #2 is there is an air damper for adjusting intake air but you have to remove the side panel(4 screws ) too adjust it, I solved that problem easily by adding a rod to the damper and ran it out the side panel.the pro's . the stove has a lot of adjustability, you can adjust both blowers for each heat level, the controller is nice and simple and can be programmed for the week.The stove is pretty darn quiet, will burn any pellet and it's super easy to clean, it has a plate for the heat exchanger so there are no difficult air passages inside the stove for ash to get trapped in.It kicks out serious heat for it's size.

 

With a pellet stove, you can dial the heat down (unlike a wood stove). Most stoves have "auto" setting, which makes the stove go on and off if hooked to a thermostat. Some stoves even have the ability to do a Hi-Low heat setting.....the stove goes into idle mode when the set temp on the stat is reached, and ramps up when the stat calls for heat.

Edit: I'm pretty sure the Englander PIP and the PEP both have On-Off and Hi-Lo....the P10 doesn't, AFAIK. Not sure if the Enviro Mini and the P3 Jay mentioned do both.

As for the Castle, from what I read, it only does Hi-Lo on the auto setting......no On-Off.

 

If the converted garage is 5-10 degrees cooler vs. the kitchen, -and- you want the stove to add additional heat back into the kitchen space, suggest going the next step up on BTU, based on experience here.

 

with the Serenity if programming the stove on a schedule then yes it shuts down, but on auto mode it just idles down to low once set temp. is reached.I only ever used manual 1 and the timer on mine so I have no idea how the programming and such does. but heck for the price compared to say a mini or ravelli or st. croix element guess they had to cut out some features.

 

I see you mentioned battery backup, the thelin tiburon has a built in battery, but well over 1400 also
The Contemporary Series from Thelin Hearth Products