Enviro The Mini
| Product Type: | Free Standing Pellet Stove |
| Brand: | Enviro (Sherwood Industries Ltd.) |
| Description: |
Tastefully designed pellet-burning stove provides heating for single family homes. Enviro's smallest unit features:
|
| Product Type: | Free Standing Pellet Stove |
| Brand: | Enviro (Sherwood Industries Ltd.) |
| Description: |
Tastefully designed pellet-burning stove provides heating for single family homes. Enviro's smallest unit features:
|
Fri, 11/25/2011 - 19:27
I'd never buy another Enviro product. The Mini is my third pellet stove and I've installed each of them and know how to operate a pellet stove. The mini has been barely adequate since I installed it. I burn Golden Fire pellets, I don't mind maintenance and I used to heat with wood so think pellet stoves are a big step up. Still, it's an erratic performer, and I often smell smoke.
My issues with Mini are the following: 1. The cleaning instructions are cryptic at best. When you follow them, and remove that little door behind the ash holder and the 2 round doors on either side of the ash holder, there is no way to clean out the considerable ash that accumulates there. This is a terrible design, and one I've never encountered before. 2. There are screws missing all over my unit, the most important ones are those that hold the glass in place. 3. After 2 years, there is not a single internal part that isn't rusting. I've used pellet stoves for 20 years and this is a first. 4. Adjusting the fuel to air mix is absurdly fussy. 5. The thermostat can't be used to turn the stove on and off because of the need for constant cleaning of the tiny firepot. If you are a friend of Enviro, which is where I suspect the glowing reviews come from, it's all well and good to blame those of us who are stuck with a defective product from a company who refuses to help. But someday you will need a replacement part, and you will be in the same boat.
My issues with Enviro are the following: 1. They have no customer service and seem intent on keeping both customers and repairers in the dark. Their website is remarkable for its lack of information, and there seems to be very little on the web about them as well. I'd love to know where the secret tech website is, because the material I have is not helpful.
In summary, it's a real crapshoot what you'll get if you buy one of their products. It may work well, it may work sporadically and either way, you will someday have to deal with one of the least responsive companies I have ever encountered.
Sun, 02/13/2011 - 15:29
This is our second winter using the Enviro Mini. This has been an excellent stove as far as heat & usability. Yes, you do have to do maintenance every week. We also have a Pellet Pro in our garage & you have to do maintenance on that stove also. We did have wood heating prior to these stoves so I have absolutely NO Problem with doing weekely maintenance. I suspect the BAD comments from people on this site are either from being installed wrong or not understanding how these stoves work. We cleaned our exhaust last spring to find so little buildup in the exhaust it was hardly worth the effort. Of course, we installed our own stoves so know what & where things have been done.
There is a problem with the ashpan lock. However, we took it out & fixed the problem ourselves & it works good enough now. We knew there was no point in getting a new one as it would have the same problem.
Anyone dealing Enviro around us is still doing so & I don't believe there is any MAJOR faults with this stove.
WE LOVE IT!!!!
Mon, 01/23/2012 - 14:55
We have the same problem with the lock. How did you fix it? The company denies that there is a problem.
Thu, 12/30/2010 - 00:02
We bought our Enviro mini about 2 1/2 months ago, and still can't get it to burn right. We have had to make at least 5 service calls because the fire either goes out, or the burn pot fills and then overflows with unburnt pellets. We have been told that they are so efficient that I have to keep "tinkering" around with it to get the feed rate to balance out the combustion air. The fire very seldom burns like you see the photos the way it is supposed to look like when it burns efficiently. It also has a continuous buzzing sound that can be heard on the floor above where the stove is. Can't say I'd recommend it.
Wed, 01/12/2011 - 17:12
We have the same problem. Not only that, the lock on the ash pot will not operate after the stove has been used. The dealer replaced the lock but the same thing happens so that you have to bend it or break it to get into the ash pot to empty it. The stove is no longer usable. I would NEVER recommend this stove or the dealer that we used, Courtland Hearth & Home in White Marsh Maryland.
Tue, 12/14/2010 - 03:08
We have had our Enviro Mini for almost 1 year, in a temperate climate, we have burned about 1.5 tons of pellets. The cleaning is reasonable -- just a few minutes a couple times a week, plus the larger cleaning, twice so far.
But the BIG problem we have is with the burn-pot liner. The burn-pot liner is made with many small holes to let the ash fall into the burn-pot. After burning about 1 ton, we noticed the holes near the blower were warped, and soon the steel between the holes fell away, and so the holes blended. We now have a nickle sized hole near the blower. Our dealer has tried to replace the liner, but twice, so far, the company has sent the wrong part. Hopefully we will get the right sized liner tomorrow, because the pellets are now burning directly on the burn pot. The hole grows daily -- it looks rusty and warped. We've only burned high-quality pellets we buy directly from our dealer.
The other problem we've had is the handle on the ash-door is jammed -- it won't turn. So we had to order a new latch last year.
Sun, 03/28/2010 - 12:59
The inferior steel used in the Enviro grill on my Mini has discinigrated on both sides of the firepot in less than 2 years of use. I use the system on the lowest or second lowest settings 90% of the time so the problem is the steel and not the use of the maximum heat setting. I also use humidifiers and dehumidifiers as required throughout the year. After reviewing photos, Sherwood refused to replace the welded-in part and blamed me for the problem (poor maintenance is a subjective and debatable statement). To limp through the next 2 seasons, I had to buy steel rods from CTire and cut then in 3 inch strips to make an artificial grill to keep the burning fuel from falling through to the ash can below which is not a smoke-capturing device. In spite of the bandaid solution, the house is full of soot from the leaking ash can. The grill is at the point after 4 seasons that the steel rods have nothing left to lie on. I have covered one huge hole with a higher quality steel pulley. Even hardwood pellets rarely burn down to ash. The mass that accumulates needs to be removed manually every 2 days or it will stop the fuel supply from the auger. The air intake to the burn chamber is through the door glass and the channel regularly plugs up with soot. The hidden tech support website I found tells the tech not to let the customer see what you're doing when you blow the air intake channel clean. The glass door quickly coats with thick black residue - it is totally pointless to have a glass door. The Mini I have can no longer run without stopping on the lowest heat setting. This inefficient poor quality product needs to be shutdown and cleaned every 2 days. The 4 inch stovepipe needs to be cleaned of cresote once a week. I use about 6 tons of hardwood pellets per winter 75 bags x 4 pallets x 40lbs a bag. Cost is $413 a pallet as of March 2010. Storing that much fuel (if you can find it) will be a challenge for most. At $2200 per unit (pipes and installation are and extra $2000) all I have bought is a piece of junk. The store I bought it from has stopped selling Enviro. The next store I found selling them provided a Sherwood point of contact and nothing else. I have heard from a pellet fuel supplier that the best Harmon products still require as much maintenance. My question is - are they made from inferior steel as well? The answer might be propane.
Mon, 12/13/2010 - 20:37
The Enviro Mini is a great stove.
Our experience has not been as the other commenter describes at all, our Enviro Mini has worked great since purchased (this is our third winter using it), it looks more or less the same as when new and we don't have complaints about the quality or the maintenance required. We run it on all levels from low to high. The glass door always stays clean and the heater lights up day after day whether we clean it out or not (which we do for good maintenance but it does not have a build up). Enviro is constantly improving on their stoves and we are about to purchase a second Mini for the other floor of our house.
We have never smelled smoke, don't see any damage, the glass stays clean and we have not had to do any maintenance over the scheduled stuff and think it is a great and reliable little stove.
Pellet quality makes a big difference and if I had to guess would say that was the first commenter's issue. We do not get build up and the ash catcher is virtually empty when we clean it. The tee on the exhaust hardly gets any build up either, so little that we forgot to clean it out since last year and when I just did yesterday the cup/cap on the tee was not near full (after close to a year).
Something is not right either with the way the other poster is using their stove, maintaining, or the pellets they are burning. Don't pass up on this stove based on their review, it is a great stove.
Propane?? Really? Propane can hardly be compared to Pellet. We save about $200/month using Pellet over propane and would NEVER go back.
Sat, 04/17/2010 - 10:48
I appreciate the heads up. When you mentioned maintenance I assumed this meant cleaning once or twice a month. Then I read more about the Enviro Mini and it states the folowing:
Maintenance
Every Two Three Days:
Inspect burn pot, clean the burn pot liner, clean out air holes, operate the heat exchanger cleaning rod.
Check the door latch, making sure it closes securely.
Clean the window glass as needed.
There is no way in bleep I am going to do maintenance every 2 or 3 days. I assume this was your issue too. I was set on buying the Mini but am now going to search for a pellet stove which requires less regular maintenance. Thanks again.
Sat, 09/24/2011 - 11:00
If you are going to buy a pellet stove you have to expect to do some regular maintenance no matter what brand you buy otherwise you should use natural gas or propane.Pellets are far cheaper than propane and a lot less maintenance than wood stoves with all the mess,splitting stacking etc. checking the burn pot, swiping the heat exchangers and wiping the glass once in a while is not very time consuming or difficult.