Not bold at all! That's why I posted here to get as much information possible as well as opinions. I needed help and tried to find people who could possibly direct me in making a good well informed decision.

Please keep them coming as my time to be able to research myself is very limited. Working full time and daily chores with the house and my daughter I don't have hours that I would like to spend trying to figure this out myself.

Thanks again to everyone who has shared their thoughts and opinions!

Quadra fire bought Harman. Both companies are owned by Hearth and Home Technoligies, which is owned by Hon industries. The ecochoice stoves were originally manufactured to compete with the big box stores. But now i see the big box stores are selling them. It is not a true multi-fuel stove. But as the dealer said, it will burn a mix. That is the only way to ignite corn with that stove and the standard Quad stoves. The only true multi-fuel stove Quad has is the Mt Vernon AE. Checking with customers of the dealer is good advice. Making sure you have a "good" and knowledgeable dealer close is important for service and parts. And you also have to consider the type of fuel in your area that is available and affordable for what stove you purchase also. And no matter what stove you buy, once the warranty is gone, there are lots of folks on here to help you. kap

Welcome aboard, Les.

I'm just catching up on this thread, now. I echo the above comments. In addition, be wary of dealer and mfr claims of how large a space their spiffy stove will heat. This depends greatly, and there are no standards for rating stoves this way. In general, if you are trying to use the stove for primary heating, then you'll be happier with the higher BTU-rated stove; at least 50,000 BTU/h, ideally.

True multifuel capability is ideal because prices of different fuels go up and down over time. The true multifuel capability gives you more options in burning what's cheapest and best available at the time.

Myself, I have a Bixby, in its 7th year. forum.iburncorn.com/wiki/index.php/Bixby

I'm very happy with it but would be perhaps less so if pellets were my only option. The stove doesn't have an auger. It uses instead a ferris wheel that makes a clear break between the firepot and the hopper. No chance of burn-back up an auger. However, the ferris wheel doesn't work very well with some of the longer pellets (e.g., 1.25") available on the market, so that limits my options a bit. It's a highly automated stove, autostarting and auto dumping, but there is a learning curve to adjusting it correctly. I have no experience with the other brands, but have heard generally favourable reports on the ones that kap has listed.

Autodumping capability is a matter of personal preference. Kap and/or Tallcorn have posted some excellent tips on removing clickers from nondumping stoves. Thermostat capability, as Rona describes, is desirable and will save you money.

O yes, venting is also important. If you plan to burn corn, make sure that you get corn-rated venting. Standard pellet venting is more economical but will corrode quickly with corn. Stay clear of any dealer who suggests otherwise. You can search this forum for some good threads on venting.

As far as stove placement goes, yes, by all means upstairs in the living space. Also, try to do it against an exterior wall that would require the minimum length of horizontal venting with no elbows. forum.iburncorn.com/wiki/index.php/BixbyFAQ#Venting . This and the other links that I posted are all Bixby-centric, but the concepts apply generally to other stoves.

Finally, I'd avoid any stove that is "positive draft." These stoves have blowers that push into the firepot. They are less safe than "negative draft" stoves. You can search a few threads on that subject, or read here for starters: forum.iburncorn.com/wiki/index.php/Bixby...d_Intake_Air_Routing .

Here is some general info on the WIKI (not Bixby-centric, this time):
forum.iburncorn.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page#Before_you_Buy

Wishing you success. Please let us know how you make out, and please do stick around.

Other considerations, Leslie, are whether to install an outside air kit (OAK) or not. Opinions vary on this. You can read up here: forum.iburncorn.com/wiki/index.php/Consi...tion#Outside_Air_Kit .

There's also the consideration of stirrer vs non-stirrer stoves. Here, too, opinions vary but I think that the debate is leaning towards non-stirrer types. I'll let others jump in and straighten me out on this and perhaps provide a link that discusses both sides of the issue. Kap?

As far as when to buy, yes, there can be better deals later in the season, but you'd also want to allow enough burn time this year to get familiar with it with the support of your dealer.

I hope that all these musings help you in your decision process.

Ok so here's how I'm keeping up with all of you... I got it not in the basement. I need a theromstat and auto ignite. I am with all of you there and have complete understanding..

You have since lost me with; postive/negative draft, auger/ferris wheel, and anything else mechanical you may have mentioned. LOL

I bought a forclosure home in the country becuase it was move in ready it did not need paint or a screwdriver. However, I can hang curtain rods pretty good!

In english please?

leslie218 wrote:


Hi Les. Sorry for the jargon. I provided you links that give background on any of the technical terms that you might be interested in. For a positive draft stove, the fan blows into the stove. In a negative draft stove, the fan blows out. You can read up on the details if you wish or contend that negative draft is safer than positive draft.

Leslie, when Corny mentioned buying corn vent, I remember making the decision to buy my furnace, only to be stunned again by the price of the vent. Maybe you've already priced it, but I believe a simple vent kit may be in the ballpark of $300 or more. The kit usually comes with a six inch wall thimble, and that requires a six inch hole straight through the wall without hitting studs, wires, etc. This takes a little more skill and tools than hanging curtain rods, so that may be something you want to consider hiring done. Also stoves need a hearth pad or something to give protection between the stove and floor, another expense to consider. You might be able to find a dealer that can do the whole install for a reasonable price.

rdaly wrote:



I think if you read her second response the price for the stove was complete with stove, pipe, hearthpad, and labor.

I concur with most of what Corny said. To give you a simple explanation of negative draft versus positive draft, think of a window fan. If the fan is blowing out of the window it is negative draft, it is pulling air out of the house, or out of the stove. If the fan is blowing air into the house it is positive draft, blowing air into the house or blowing air into the stove. A vacuum cleaner is negative and a hair dryer is positive.

A multi-fuel “pellet” stove should burn about any kind of combustible , pellet sized solid fuel @Corn kernels, pelletized wood saw dust/ground wood shavings/ground corn cobs, long stem grass, waste paper, etc. A multi-fuel burner should be able to burn in stirrer or clinker style if they don’t have automatic clinker dump. Clinker style burners do require manual or automatic removal of the clinker at intervals, the interval dependent on the fuel type and the burn rate. Stirrer style burners can run at longer and higher burn rates for longer periods of time before requiring cleaning the burn pot.

I think a short , regular “pellet” type exhaust pipe will last when burning corn if you keep it short so it runs hot, above the condensing temperature of the exhaust gases and don’t expose it to moisture. The end that is exposed to the weather will rot away over a period of years when rain, fog, melted snow mixes with the exhaust and creates nitric acid. That acid will eat galvanized ferric steel in a few months. I think a pipe-in-a-pipe exhaust/ combustion air combination in a wet climate where the intake air cools the exhaust pipe is asking for trouble unless the exhaust is run very hot.

Do install outside combustion air for the burner. You will not be using heated inside air for combustion air. You with not create negative air pressure in the house with your stove. Wind blowing around and over your house can cause a back-draft in your stove and an outside air intake prevents that from happening. You kitchen or bathroom exhaust fans will not pull smoke out of your stove.

rona wrote:


Oops, your right, I missed that.