Review: Quadra-Fire Castile
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Too Many Whiners
I am confident that most of the horrible reviews for this stove would have been the same had the authors bought ANY OTHER pellet stove. It's amazing how many folks buy a pellet stove to realize the financial benefits and then complain about a little maintenance. Pellet stoves are not "set it and forget it." Five minutes twice a day with a paint brush and metal spoon is all the time I invest in keeping mine running smoothly. Clinkers are a function of fuel quality, not stove quality. If you are getting huge clinkers then maybe you should pull the little firebox cleanout lever a few times a day to allow the small ones to drop into the ash pan before they grow to big ones from cleaning neglect. We heat our 1100 SF two-story condo with this stove alone, and I fill and clean it twice a day (early morning and right before bed)....it runs all night with no worries. People who cannot invest 10-15 minutes a day should probably stick to no effort oil heating systems, but my condolances in advance when the price hits $4.50 again ;-) If you want an economical, attractive and cozy way to heat, and are not too lazy, I highly recommend a quality pellet stove like the Quadrafire Castile.