Menu
Login
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.
Dan Marc
15 reviews
Frigidaire
879 reviews
Howard's Appliances
15 reviews
Blueair
13 reviews
Wolfgang Puck Worldwide
65 reviews
can get much cleaner than new j.conklin!
I bought my englander from home depot, thinking I could get parts if needed... WRONG! they do not service, nor carry parts. When it breaks down, which occurred after only 2 years [I needed an auger motor] AND DURING THE COLDEST WINTER IN YEARS... on new years week, you can only order the parts from them. It takes 3 to 4 business days to arrive. Of course, you get to freeze during that period and of course, it occurs during a holiday week and when the cold really hits! I called the tech. support line and got a constant busy signal... I called over a period of 2 hours with a constant busy signal. Then, when I got through, I was on hold for a half and hour each time. It got to the point of where I had to hang up because I needed to take calls to my home phone. The problem is further compounded if you can't do the work yourself. I am a nurse, not a mechanic. Each time, they directed me to take off the back plate, do all this stuff. So, if you aren't a DIY or know someone to help you, you then get to deal with the additional hell of persons who charge $250 to come and clean and repair them! really?! I totally hate the combined problems of both home depot and the englander company. Spend the money up front from a true reliable stove place in your area that carries the parts and services you. I wish I would have know in the beginning. My carpenter had one and I went with his recommendation... won't do that ever again!
I feel obligated to say that I actually had very good service from the company. The inside latch on my stove had come off and fallen into the pellets. I didn't realize it (the nut had come loose and all it had needed was a quick tighten) and jammed into the top auger. I called the company and a tech stayed on the phone for an hour talking me through the whole process of removing the auger and then putting it back in.
Do NOT buy an Englander stove. DON'T DO IT. We installed ours in Feb 2014, and used it until early April (maybe 2 1/2 months of use). It was cleaned thoroughly at the end of the season, and cleaned again before using it this year, just for the heck of it. First time we tried to use it in December, it stopped running after 10 minutes. There was an error code (which could be one of 50 different things). Did some troubleshooting, got a few hundred dollars worth of parts, and installed them... and got the same error code and exact same result when we tried to start it again. What a piece of garbage. How a pellet stove can break down when it hasn't been used is beyond me. I implore you, do NOT buy a piece of garbage from Englander Stoves!
I have to disagree. I purchased the summers heat version stove on 2008. I have reliably burned 45 tons of pellets through this stove. I have had two auger motors die during the time I have owned the stove. considering I am always running the stove on high, I think that is reasonable wear and tear. Every summer, the company offers an overhaul kit at reduced pricing. I purchased on the second year so I would have spare parts on hand. Anytime I have had to contact the company. I have received prompt service. My emails are answered quickly. Parts do take 4-5 days to receive on average. I have a friend who bought the same stove as mine a month after I did, his stove has been as dependable as mine.
But mine at Lowes cause the price was right. The only problem I have had is noise. I had it in my fire place but it was just too noisy so I installed it in the basement, Noise problem gone! Reminder to owners, Three things to do, get a shop vac that you can put a soot filter in and Vac everything at least twice a season including flu and vent piping. Also keep a spare auger motor on hand, they are cheap and you won't need to wait for one to be shipped to you. I order directly from Merkle Korf and the unit I get is reversable, either CCW or CW and I believe I paid under 50.00 for it. I actually ordered 4 of them because a friend wanted a spare and I have ended up selling them to other pellet stove owners in the neighborhood. The auger baseplate has a grease fitting and you should pump some grease in every year.
cannot say anything bad about the 25 pdv we have.it is 6 years old & we burn75 to 80 bags a year. never had 1 problem since new. clean complete stove once a week & use high heat grease in bearings once a year.chimney never has any soot to deal with. maybe we got 1 of the only good ones but i'd but another without hesitation if i needed to.this stove heats our 1800 sq.ft. with ease. p & d hattie
The Englander stoves are simple, reliable stoves. I've been heating with pellets for 11 years. My Englander keeps my shop toasty warm. What most people don't do is do a weekly cleaning and a through cleaning of their stove and vent system after each one tone of pellets burned. A clean stove is a happy stove. Do a Google search of pellet stove 'leaf blower trick'... this is the best way to clean your vent system and the hard to clean stove nooks and crannies.
I have a 2001 Englander 55-SHP-22 that has never had a problem until this year when part of the control panel went out for the blower speed. After a few hours on the Google box and some help from a friend, I just have it hard wired for now until I can get a new panel. When we removed the panel it had 11 dead stink bugs, which I'm pretty sure shorted it out. I would absolutely but another one of these stoves. The stove heats 2000 sqft pretty well and since its in the basement I don't care that the fan speed is constantly on HI since it's hard wired. It's a good amount of upkeep, but so is everything. If you don't maintain it properly it won't work properly... what a concept!
Horrible stove. The vacuum switch went out within the first six months. I contacted the company to send me the part. The part was $50 including shipping. They sent me the wrong part. I refuse the package from the Postal Service and hid the item returned to the company. They then sent me the correct part for another $50 charge. I did not receive my refund for over a month and a half. I had to call in an order to get my refund. They then charged me a 20% restocking fee and would not refund the shipping which was $15. The part was a little bigger than a silver dollar in size. It does not cost $15 to ship that. My whole experience was absolutely terrible. I do not recommend doing business with this company.
Bought a fireplace insert pellet stove. Less than a month after service I had to replace the safety button on the hopper. One year of light use and the auger motor is shot. Wish I would have read the reviews prior to purchase. These stoves are junk.
My pellet stove is just 6 weeks old. The lid lock latch came off and is now stuck in the top auger. There is also a nut that is missing. Which was suppose to hold the lid latch. I bet this is also stuck some place in the stove. Calling in the am. Can anyone tell me if this has done major damage to the stove.
There customer service in the heating season in terrible... i have a few questions that need answered thats not on there site...left 3 messages, , , , , , , , , , , , , , NO REPLY... do u hear me Englander? NO REPLYS IN 2 WEEKS... fo that reason i'd never buy another Englander...I guess I could hold payment from Lowes till they get a hold of them... hummm!