On occasion I’ll pop onto criagslist.com to take a look at pellet stoves selling in my local area of Sacramento California. I’m always surprised at what I see; some of the best pellet stoves ever made selling for a few hundred dollars. Now, I’m weird that way because I’m all into pellet stoves and such so bear with me.
Perhaps I might explain my excitement this way. Many of these stoves that sell for a few hundred dollars cost a few thousand dollars brand new. Well, “So what,” you might say. Used cars are the same way. Far from being a used car pellet stoves maintain their structural integrity and can be touched up with a can of spray paint to look brand new. All the electrical components can be replaced at a fraction of the cost of a new stove. If you bought a used stove and everything was broken on it, you could probably replace it all for $1,000 bucks.
Here’s what to look for: Austroflamm, Breckwell, Quadrafire and Whitfield Pellet Stoves. These are the best stoves on the market and you can still get parts and service for them. I have nearly 400 parts listed on my eBay store http://stores.ebay.com/store=16777311 .
What makes a good used Stove?
Here are a few things to look for. Don’t by anything that’s been left out in the weather even if it works (your just asking for trouble). Make sure you fire up the stove, run it for 15 minutes and shut it down. Make sure it completes its shut down cycle. This may take 30 minutes or more from start to finish. If something is broken, if it doesn’t shut down or whatever; take off $100 for each item that’s broken. If the owner doesn’t want to do that, move on. There are plenty of awesome deals around.
In the end you can buy a $3000 stove or a $300 stove and a can of paint. In the end, as long as you can get parts, you’re much better off with the lower price option. If you ever have questions about a stove you want to buy, feel free to email me at support@pelletstovepro.org . Happy Hunting. Jason Munson
