rate your E-Classic experiance foe me.

[LeeB]

I have a friend that wants to put in an E-classic. I know quite a few of you on here have one. How would you rate them for value, reliability, and overall performance?

[coxy]

I don't have the e classic but have a classic and what people say about the prob they have with them I would not get one would look for some thing else way to much to do every month or week always fixing or cleaning some thing     jm5cents

[doctorb]

Lee-

My experience is now quite good.  It's the learning curve that all of us went through that generated some frustration.  I have a e-Classic 2300 and am in the middle of my 5th heating season.  You do have maintenance, both daily and every 2-3 weeks.  This consists of maintaining the firebox with air hole clean out and ash removal.  Door gasket and reaction chamber replacement (everybody), even the fan or the computer have gone out on some.  Mine have not.  But this thing works well, it really does.

My suggestion is to make sure your friend wants to put the time and work in before you install it.  I's not like having an oil tank in the basement and all you do is throw the switch.  And it's not just the twice a day trip to the stove.  It's putting the wood up ahead of time so it seasons well.  It's having the space to do that.  It's getting to know your dealer so he will help you when the troubles arise.  It's understanding where your fuel is going to come from.  So while wood is cheap, there's time and labor involved that some owners didn't anticipate and now feel too burdened by their OWB's

Fewer complaints with the newer 2400 models than mine.  They upgraded most of the issues and put out a better product.  I would ask, now that the 2400 has been out for a few years, are they upgrading that model or about to launch a whole new design?  Can't help you there.

So my experience has been very good.  I have a good dealer, which means a lot.  It's not cheap to install. The stove's expensive, the pex piping is expensive, and the plumbing's expensive.  I would have your friend visit as many OWB owners as he can find and take part in their daily routines before he decides to go with an OWB. 

[LeeB]

Thanks guys. This is pretty much what I had gathered from past posts. I'll pass along the info to him.

[Roger2561]

I have the E-Classic 1400 from Central Boiler and like doctorb, my experience with it has been good.  There's a learning to curve to operating one of these.  I'm in my 3rd season with mine and I'm happy with it.  If ever you're in NH, give me a holler and I'll be happy to show you my set up.  Roger

[sam-tip]

The learning curve to constant cleaning burning is huge.  A few years of fine tuning and learning.   Problems with solenoids and controllers are common.  I am on my third controller.  $$.  But I do like the remote monitoring capabilities of the E-classic Firestar.  I keep on hand solenoids, fan, and controller as spare parts.

Weekly ash cleaning in the firebox.  Not all the ash goes down the bottom.

I have to store my wood indoors so I know it is extremely dry.  Other wood burns but smokes.  You can not see mine running because it is so clean. 

[thecfarm]

When I was thinking about buying a OWB,I would stop at a house,if I saw them feeding the OWB,and ask a few questions.

[Logging logginglogging]

I never had any reaction chamber problems... and I also rate my experience with my e-classic 2300 as great... It does a great job and is super efficient!!

[Local4Fitter]

I'm on my second season with my 2400 and it is so much easier than last year (or maybe I'm used to it). My first month with it last year my controller had a glitch in it and it burnt out my primary solenoid. I called the dealer and they sent a new controller and solenoid. Once replaced, which took only about 30 minutes, I was back running efficiently. Although I was able to still heat my home with faulty controller and burnt out solenoid it did smoke. After a bit of work this summer I now have a 22'x24' wood shed right in front of the boiler. Everything is so much easier. All in all I am enjoying my experience with the e-2400 so far. If it means anything, this weekend my family went away and I asked my brother, who lives in my town, to load the boiler twice a day. I took 5 minutes to show him what to do and came home Sunday evening to a 70 degree house. He said it was a piece of cake, but he wasn't there when all the wood was cut and split. Doug

[AsaG]

I replaced my 6048 with an E-2400 in 2010 and ran it until last season.  I replaced the E-2400 with an E-3200 and this is my first season with the 3200.  I had my doubts the first couple of years but now that CB has worked out a few bugs, I'd never go back to a Classic.

My 2400 had a few growing pains but Central Boiler has made minor revisions that have fixed nearly every problem mine had.  Although I've had no electrical problems, the solid state relays that drive the solenoids had been failure prone on the FireStar and very early build FireStar II controllers.  When the SSR fails, it usually cooks the solenoid.  This issue has been identified, addressed and thus far, failures have been few and far between.  I also have the XP remote monitor.  This too, had some growing pains with regards to my poor internet connectivity.  I depend on cellular for internet and the XP had major problems dealing with the loss of connectivity and/or extremely erratic ping times that seems to be typical around here.  Here again, the techs at CB made it right.  For several months we had many phone calls, e-mails and boxes going back and forth.  I tested and reported; they tweaked the software and we tried again.  Works great now!  Early on, my dealer couldn't answer some of my questions and shuffled me off to CB directly.  Taking themselves "out of the loop" ended up being the best thing my dealer ever did.

Aside from the fact the wood must be well seasoned, there is a learning curve to using the E-Classic.  I know several who have them and everyone's technique is a little different.  It ends up being personalized enough that many of us prefer no one else touching it. 

 

I have a friend that wants to put in an E-classic. I know quite a few of you on here have one. How would you rate them for value, reliability, and overall performance?

[bobby s]

In my fourth year with my 2300 and very happy for the most part. I have the old style controller and have never had a problem with it.
I've come to expect to have to spend money each year to replace things like door gaskets or solenoids and to purchase ashtrol. Not a big deal when I compare to when my oil boiler needed a yearly tune up and an occasional ignition or relay part. Probably about the same in yearly maintenance costs.

[beenthere]

It ends up being personalized enough that many of us prefer no one else touching it. 

AsaG
That sums it up very, very well.
Takes some trial and error to get "personalized" with it, and I don't think there are many shortcuts. All my wood burners, tho not the E-classic caliber, have needed that personal touch and learning curve.

"Install it, load it, forget it" just doesn't work like a gas or oil furnace/boiler.

[Den69RS96]

I'm looking at possibly getting an eclassic 1450 in the next year or so.   I'm glad this thread was started.  I see that folks have tubes to clean out on the empyre and portage and main oilers.  Whats involved with cleaning out the eclassic?  Do you have to shut it down to clean it out every week or two?

[doctorb]

My 2300 has tubes to clean out, but I think that design has changed in later models.  You do not have to have the stove cool for the bi-tri-weekly maintenance.  Just shut off the fans and have a relatively small coalbed in the firebox.  Remember, ash buildup occurs in the firebox as well as falling through the grates into the reaction chamber.  Too much ash in the fuirebox hinders the air from being forced down through the coal bed and prevents gasification.  So you must clean the firebox of ash every couple of weeks or so, if you're burning heavily.  Leave a small amount of good coals to the side to help restart the coabed after cleaning.

[Jack72]

I'm looking at possibly getting an eclassic 1450 in the next year or so.   I'm glad this thread was started.  I see that folks have tubes to clean out on the empyre and portage and main oilers.  Whats involved with cleaning out the eclassic?  Do you have to shut it down to clean it out every week or two?

I have the 1450 this is the fourth season  you don't have to shut down to clean like the doctor said

It's a lot easier to clean when the firebox is warm than cold because the creosote is easier to remove and cleaning the exchanger tubes is much easier to do when it's warm/hot (7 vertical tubes to clean for 1450).  you do have to let it burn down to just coals before attempting to clean I remove the hot coals depending how many and put in a metal can usually and clean so it's not so hot on your face and your not breathing in the smoke when you knock the creosote off the  sides I'm sure it's not good to breath that in also

Also as far as what's involved is picture a piece steel that looks like the letter H it's not very big it has chains attached to each end and you drop the chain through the vertical tubes the chain falls through your tube and down by your reaction door you grab with your hand and pull through as it's pulling through it's knocking loose creosote and fly ash off the sides of your tubes after I run this through all seven I take my vacuum and suck it up   5-8 minute process   The hotter it is the easier to pull through the longer you wait between cleanings the more creosote you are going to have and the harder it will be to pull through          also depends on wood quality the more pine/soft wood you burn the dirtier the tubes will be and harder to pull through speaking from experience my first learning years.     As far as the firebox goes scrape the sides and corners good and make sure all the air holes are clean      corners are fairly easy because the can be removed      again come out a lot easier hot than cold  creosote is like concrete when it gets cold and hardens up


As far as the cleaning and maintenance it's not bad I think of it this way all the time I put in splitting and cutting   The half hour /20 minutes it takes me every week or two that's peanuts for the wood consumption and clean burning you get from the e classics  or any other gassier (P&M Heatmaster etc.)
my .02


1).   As far as the original post/question.  This is my first OWB  so far knock on wood no issues/reliability 

2).  Value that's a hard statement everyone has different circumstances   I have a newer house and doesn't  take much to heat compared to an old farm house      I built mine in 2003   so what I'm getting at is it will take longer for me to pay for itself I don't pay for any firewood and hope I never have to
I pay less than a quarter of what I use to pay monthly after stove install

But some people I know by me have propane and their paying 3 grand for heating in just the winter season   Yikes

3).   I'm happy with the performance  (need to use good hardwood)it keeps up with my demands   I fill once at night and once  in the morning and it's good   House at 70/71 degrees and heat domestic water. 2500 sq foot ranch no basement on 4ft crawl




  :new_year:

Jack 

[Den69RS96]

Thanks for the info.  Just what I wanted to know.  I'm about to fill my oil tank for the 3rd time this heating season and spending between 550-600 every time is getting old fast.

[Jack72]

Thanks for the info.  Just what I wanted to know.  I'm about to fill my oil tank for the 3rd time this heating season and spending between 550-600 every time is getting old fast.

No problem. I assume Denny     So your looking at 1800 heading for.  $3000 by March    The stove is a big purchase obviously   4 years you'll be paid for.      Im sure you would be real happy with it but it is a big decision    I know my wife was real sketchy at first but I know she is happy now when she pays the gas bill.  If you have any more questions feel free to PM me and I will give my number and I can talk to you more about it if you would like   

Jack

[thecfarm]

My wife was the same way,she is some glad we have the OWB now.With us we was only heating the upstairs and when it got real cold I would start a fire in the cellar. Now we heat the cellar all the time.

[Den69RS96]

My wife thinks I'm crazy but she has no idea how much we spend on heating each year.  I enjoy running my saws and I don't mind splitting firewood.  I realize that it's a ton more work than just writing a check, but the savings will be worth it.   It doesn't seem like its a lot of work to maintain the stove which might convince my wife this is the way to go. She is completely against a wood stove or pellet stove as they make the room to hot.  We built our house here in 2005 and oil was under $2 per gallon.  As of today it's around 3.70 a gallon.  My two kids are growing and we are using a lot more hot water so our oil usage will keep going up along with the price of oil.

[doctorb]

It's absolutely normal for your wife to think you're nuts for considering an OWB.  My wife certainly did too.  Then, she felt the hot water.  The temp for our DHW is increased slightly with the wood furnace, and man, she loves that OWB now.  I hear her talking to her friends how much she appreciates it.  Now, she doesn't split, stack, or even fill it (bad back, I wouldn't do that to her.), but she appreciates it! :D

[Jack72]

My wife thinks I'm crazy but she has no idea how much we spend on heating each year.  I enjoy running my saws and I don't mind splitting firewood.  I realize that it's a ton more work than just writing a check, but the savings will be worth it.   It doesn't seem like its a lot of work to maintain the stove which might convince my wife this is the way to go. She is completely against a wood stove or pellet stove as they make the room to hot.  We built our house here in 2005 and oil was under $2 per gallon.  As of today it's around 3.70 a gallon.  My two kids are growing and we are using a lot more hot water so our oil usage will keep going up along with the price of oil.

Den
Yes I heard that when I built to   No wood stove just a heat sucking fireplace because my wife says it looks pretty

My wife's Uncle has a wood stove we go over for the holidays and it's about 400  in one end of the house with the door open.  and 65 on the other no control.    I have three women in my house 11,13,39  out numbered that's for sure even the dog is a girl.   oh God please help me through the teenage years   

I have to ask my oldest daughter sometimes if she fell asleep in the shower or what she is doing   :D I don't know if she just likes the hot water or it's just being a teenage girl  ???


What kind of heat do you have.       Forced air or radiant ?

PS     Doctorb my wife doesn't load the stove either.  I would never forgive myself if she got burnt because it does flash off sometimes not a lot but it has

[beenthere]

I have to ask my oldest daughter sometimes if she fell asleep in the shower or what she is doing   :D I don't know if she just likes the hot water or it's just being a teenage girl

My cure for those long shower times was to slip down in the basement and turn the hot water off, just for a brief moment. Could here the holler, and shortly hear the shower turned off.
And it didn't take very long for that to cure the long showers.

[Jack72]

I have to ask my oldest daughter sometimes if she fell asleep in the shower or what she is doing   :D I don't know if she just likes the hot water or it's just being a teenage girl

My cure for those long shower times was to slip down in the basement and turn the hot water off, just for a brief moment. Could here the holler, and shortly hear the shower turned off.
And it didn't take very long for that to cure the long showers.

It's crossed my mind Beenthere  it would be real easy to do my valves are right in the hallway in the utility room

[Local4Fitter]

It's absolutely normal for your wife to think you're nuts for considering an OWB.  My wife certainly did too.  Then, she felt the hot water.  The temp for our DHW is increased slightly with the wood furnace, and man, she loves that OWB now.  I hear her talking to her friends how much she appreciates it.  Now, she doesn't split, stack, or even fill it (bad back, I wouldn't do that to her.), but she appreciates it! :D

I think we are all in the same boat. It took me 2 years to coax my wife from a definite "no way" to "do what you want". She loves it now. I also have 2 teenage daughters. They don't realize it but the e-2400 makes every shower they take a lot less stressful.

[Den69RS96]

Ah seems like I'm in the boat right behind you guys.  My 5 year old just stands in the hot shower playing with his matchbox cars.  I come in after 10 mins and he still hasn't touched the soap.  After I tell him to start cleaning he's finally done and ask if he can play for a few more mins.  Of course I cave, but all I think about is $$$ going down the drain.

However, my wife is coming around to the idea  since I won't stop talking about it.  I'd told her the money we spend on oil could be used for vacations, jewerly, a big block or new 5spd for my 69 camaro etc  :D

Also, my neighbor has a Woodmaster 4400.  He turned me onto the idea of a OWB.  My wife was talking to them one day and they told her they spent $700-800 on wood for the year and $600 for one tank of oil to heat the water in the summer and to keep the house warm when they travel.  My wife was like they spend just as much as us.   I chuckled and told her $1400 would keep us warm for Nov, Dec, and a week in Jan.

I currently have a oil furnance 87% efficient to heat the hot water with hydro forced hot air.  Basically I have the heat exchangers similar to cars heater core within my air ducts.  They told me it's more efficient that regular forced air since the furnance doesn't kick on every single time one zone calls for heat.  Its not as dry either.  Our house is 2000 sq ft colonial with a half finished basement and the basement is only heated only when the first floor calls for heat.  Currently we average around 850 gallons a year if its a mild winter, but that is expected to rise.  We run the dishwasher daily, have an endless amount of laundry, and soon my daughter will be taking showers.