Customer Reviews

Vogelzang "The Performer" Wood Stove, Model# TR009

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Steel woodstoves like this one are designed to cast off heat quickly/don't reatin it well. Good for the weekend/ambience burner but for aprimary heat source I'd consider Cast Iron which stays hot longer. Also this stove burns differently, higher temps for more efficient burn.
Pros: This woodstove puts off some real heat once you get it going. This is the key phrase-see cons. Elegant apperance/pewter accents/chrome trim. Big glass viewing window. You dont need much clearance dut to rear heat shield. Ash drawer is better than I expected/very useful.The secondary burn is efficient and cranks up the thermometer.The price is about 1/2 of what local woodstove store charging for steel stoves.
Cons- Spiral handle falls off. Woodstove can be hard to get going, testing your patience at times (plan on 1 hour for a good solid burn where you feel confident leaving the room!) I have a mason chimney. This heats our basement well but the upstairs rarely gets beyond the low 60's. The glass does get dirty with every burn despite the "self cleaning" but a little soft scrub works well. It is made in China despite the comapny being a U.S. company (what do the chinese know about woodstoves?) but again a fair price for the product.
I had to get a dolly to get this inside/2 person job. Three perosn job assemblimg (attaching firebox to pedestal...aprox 300 lbs.
Overall

This stove is fantastic! I replaced a Country Comfort built in 1986 for this EPA Wood stove and it is night and day difference. Fires are super easy to light, and get going very quickly. There is no visable smoke out of my chimney anymore, nor can you smell it outside. Comments about the woodstove being hard to light is NOT the woodstove.....It's the chimney. A chimney should go straight up with no bends in it, and also should be located on the inside of the house NOT on the outside of the house which most chimneys in North America usually are on the outside. Visit Woodheat.org for more info. Everything you want and need to know about wood burning is available on this reliable website. Search "evil outside chimney"

Cheers,
Scott
Minnesota