Comments on: Bought a Pacific Energy Summit wood stove insert

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:40:06 +0000

Re: Pacific Energy “Adearly 4″, does not draft well. After talking to dealer and manufacturer we installed more chimney as they reccommended. No difference still does not draft well. We have lots of fresh air going to the unit. Unit just doesn’t work. I’m hoping they willeither fix it or give me my money back. We will have to see what happens, meanwhile don’t buy this stove it is fairly useless and we are getting poor service.

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:35:50 +0000

Sorry I keep hitting the wrong button. Anyway the unit does not draft well and after calling the dealer and the manufacter they told us we needed to extend the chimney.

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:34:10 +0000

We set up a Pacific Energy Adearly 4 so far not impressed with the unit. Unit looks great but does not draft properly, it did work good for the first two weeks. Anyway we called the dealer and

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:31:58 +0000

We have bought and set up an Adearly 4. Beautiful looking unit but so far fairly useless. Unit when it does work rigt goes through way too much wood for what you get heat wise. Unit worked I thought fairly well but then started to fail, the unit does not draft very well. I talked to the dealer and Pacific E

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:31:56 +0000

By: Debbe

Debbe — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:24:16 +0000

We bought a Pacific Energy Summit this Oct.after much research and raves about the efficiency and technology .
This is the one site that I didn’t find, but wish I had.
We don’t have any of the damage that I have read on your blog, but CANNOT get it to pour out the heat like our big ‘Ole Heritage did. We have a 3000sq ft old farmhouse that is drafty and albiet poorly insulated. The summit does burn a lot less wood, but what’s the point, if you are cold since you cant pack the woodbox any fuller? And it leaves sizable chunks of unburned wood, unless you let it simmer away, which means that you get cold because you haven’t added anything more.
Have found that you need ALOT of soft wood in order for it to really burn.
Have even taken the ashpan out of it’s drawer in the hopes that more air would be sucked in to make the fire burn hotter.
We are considering taking some of the fire bricks out of the sides so that more immediate heat will emminate from them, but I am worried that the enamel might peel away.
Initially we loved it because it kept the house constantly warm to hot in the cool of the fall.
In the deep freezing cold though, it is not doing enough.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:23:31 +0000

I can’t think I “forgot” to read your blog due to the fact I found it three months earlier. Also busy with work I guess. Anyways I have it bookmarked now to be sure that I get notified when you put some new content material up.

By: john

john — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 01:47:55 +0000

Bought the summit last year and used it during the 2010 winter. I also went through a bunch of wood with very little heat output…….in the process of looking for another stove to replace this one. Need I say more??

By: Ben L.

Ben L. — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:55:48 +0000

I recently bought a Pacific Energy “Super” insert for my home. Overall it does heat the house – but it eats through wood like there is no tomorrow and doesn’t seem to put out the btu’s one would think for the level of heat generated in the box.

Further – the glass door broke after only 2 weeks of use and I brought it up to the store (and then up the chain to the manufacturer) because it was obviously poorly annealed glass that shattered due to thermal shock – but they refused to replace under warranty it saying that I “obviously slammed the door” and had to pay for the repair out-of-pocket.

And now, yes, I too have to deal with that horrible rattling. It comes and goes – but sometimes is so loud it is hard to talk over.

Customer service with this company sucks and I would advise people to just stay away from their products

By: Paul Gouveia

Paul Gouveia — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 21:35:27 +0000

Bought a pacific energy insert. The baffle warped. I had it replaced and it warped again. Told me i was burning too hot. I didnt read anything in the book , nor was i ever told i couldnt burn higher than 600 degrees. Ridiculous Goes through wood fast. Now the latch for the door handle came off when opening door. Not getting good customer service from the store i bought it from. Im going to try calling the company.

By: Nick Hallett

Nick Hallett — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:40:03 +0000

I’ve had a PE Summit for two winters now and I can confirm that the rattling of the sheet metal baffles when the fan is on is annoying. The key to solving this problem is sticking some heavy (2″ x 2″ x1″) ferrite magnets in key places on the stove. This provides additional mass on the resonant panels and makes the stove dead silent. I suck a few on the blower assembly, in the throat of the top baffles, under the thick top plate, and on the outer firebox. It took a little work to remove the surround, and the side screens, but for 20 bucks in magnets I now have a nuclear hot stove that is does not rattle at all.

By: Pennsylvania Joe

Pennsylvania Joe — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 01:57:53 +0000

Bought the Pacific Energy Summit October 2009; aside from a loud vibration it worked well on a diet of seasoned slab wood. Little over a year later, I’m unhappy. It chews through wood, leaves deep beds of half-burnt coals, seems maybe creosote is dampening the draft. Our QuadraFire at hunting camp has worked phenomenally well for ten years. Complete burns, lots of heat, no noise. That’s what I should have bought. I have mixed feelings about the Pacific Energy Summit; prefer other makes.

By: Duane Willis

Duane Willis — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 13:59:43 +0000

I bought the summit insert last year went looking for the buck stove and was guided to this on a promise that it would run me out! we disliked it from the begining. and still have had no help from the dealer. the fan is very noisey! not enough heat! burns through wood, please do not buy one of these you will be sorry.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 03:16:28 +0000

I’m in the process of getting a wood burning insert. I am getting the Regency I3100. The dedision came down to the Regency and the Pacific Energy Summit. I choose the Regency for two reasons. When looking at the two in person the door on the Regency seemed much more sturdy and the two dealers I was shopping both recomended the Regency over the Pacific Energy because of quality.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:18:24 +0000

I bought an Alderlea T-6 free-standing stove around the end of February this year after a lot of research and cost/benefit analysis. After 2 months usage I am reasonably happy. The heater itself works very efficiently and heats very nicely. I live in a 2700sqft 130yr old farmhouse that is quite drafty and inneficient at retaing heat. It warms the downstairs quite comfortably and makes the upstairs bearable at night without the use of the propane furnace. I live in the midwestern US and only burn hard woods (as that’s all I cut for myself and all that I sell to others), including various types of Oak, Hackleberry, Locust, Walnut, Mulberry, Hedge and some silver maple. The stove is quite easy to use, and the only problem that I’ve experienced (other than the ash-dump system is designed rather poorly) is that the ash guard or whatever the metal plate behind the loading door is, warped within the first 20 fires. After the initial warpage, it has held it’s current shape and seem fine otherwise. For those wanting a roaring blast furnace, this isnt the stove for you. But, for those wanting continuous, efficient, steady heat (thats deceptively warm) this will make you very happy with your purchase. I was very dissappointed in the dealer/installer as the install cost me $1500 and the shoddiness of the flue install (aesthetics only as it doesnt leak any smoke or fumes) gives it the appearance that a couple of drunken incompetant idiots performed the work. That said I am quite happy with the stove overall. It definately cut my fuel consumption down approx. 7/8ths between the propane furnace barely running at all and just the sheer fuel amount that I used in previous residences for much less heat. During a 2 week period where the average temp was 5-34 degrees (f), the stove only consumed 1/4 of a chord and the propane furnace ran a total of maybe 8 hours or less. For perspective, when I bought the house in January, I went through an entire 500 gallon propane tank trying a semi steady 63 degree (F) indoor temp. With the Stove the indoor temp varied between 65-70(F). Just thought I’d try to give people some hard/fast numbers to do an accurate comparison with. My next project is replacing all 4 doors and 15 windows on my house. When that’s done, the r-factor should increase by 10-15 and I imagine that the stove will then keep the upstairs comfortable and the downstairs almost too’ hot. That’s a problem I dont mind having.

By: Richard Clarkson

Richard Clarkson — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:44:31 +0000

I bought a Pacific Energy Summit insert this year on the recommendation of my Chimney guy. I had an insert from Fisher that just wore out after 15 years. I am very disappointed. The baffles that push air out are noisy and rattled so much that the installer had to come back and try to secure them (they still rattle). The ash guard in the front of the firebox warped after just two burnings and now has to be replaced because it is completly twisted after just 10 uses of the instert. I would not recommend this insert to anyone.

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:48:32 +0000

Bought a pacific energy “pacific” (medium size wood insert). After first burn the paint falked right off of the unit. The dealer gave me a new one which is now called the “super” insert. Once installed, I noticed a hole in the side of the unit near the door the size of a tip of a pen. The dealer gave me silicon to put over the hole. Two units in 2 months and 2 problems, sounds like a lot of trouble from the company. Also, motor turns on for a few mintues when up to temp, then shuts off, then turns back on. What a mess, had a known I would have spent the extra 300 from another dealer and got a different insert.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:03:47 +0000

Our Pacific Energy stove was delivered in damaged condition in July of 2009. Quality control, either at the factory or at the distributor seem to be a major issue with this company. Enamel panels were scratched down to bare metal; door handle was bent; top enamel lid was wobbly and loose even though it was properly screwed down; baffle insulation was torn; baffle gaskets broken.