What do the prices quoted give you? Venting? Installation? Where are you located? One thing to consider is that most Peninsula units have grilles or louvers above and below the glass door. This means that you can see throught the grilles from one room to another. Not very attractive. The Lennox units are "Non-Louvered" so this gives a little better finished appearance.

These prices are for the units only -- I will need to pay for shipping and installation separately. Good point about the louvers.

I'd advise you not go through the net for the following reasons.
a)Telling you a fireplace cost $2,300 without the pipe and other required componets is like quoting you a price of a car without an engine. You must think in terms of the "complete system price"

b) This fireplace is going to be the focal point of your room. You want to see how the product burns and how it looks cold (which it is 95% of the time). What if you don't like the unit once it's installed, faced off with brick, tile or other. Your stuck with it.

c)I'd bet if you factor in the freight expense and purchase the complete system in which you MUST use Lennox or Nepolean's pipe (they are not available through you local hardware store)you will be paying equal to or more than a local fireplace company can provide.

d) How about service if there is a problem with the unit? Especially propane. Very tricky with hearth products. Most dealers are very reluctant to service products they don't sell. The manufacture leaves the service up to the selling dealer. Is Stoves Direct near you?

Perhaps if you let us know what city your near someone can reccommend a local fireplace shop for you.

Coincidentally, I just received similar advice from a local plumber. I'm in the Seattle/Everett/Monroe area, but haven't found any local shops (yet) who stock Lennox. Any tips?

We're getting a Lenox installed through Washington Insulation in Auburn -- they also have a Woodinville location.

I'd advise you not go through the net for the following reasons.
a)Telling you a fireplace cost $2,300 without the pipe and other required componets is like quoting you a price of a car without an engine. You must think in terms of the "complete system price"

We are currently in the process of purchasing a gas fireplace. We've been to several shops and have included StovesDirect.com in our comparison. So far, StovesDirect has been the best, or at least one of the best, in terms of customer service. They are very knowledgeable and have been a great help in determining what we need. When we described our room and where the unit will go, they recommended certain models and built a quote that included everything we would need. This was a lot better than the closest fireplace dealer who didn't really know the product line they were selling and wouldn't give us an exact price - "It'll be between $x and $y" where x and y were $500 apart and he couldn't tell us exactly what that number included.

b) This fireplace is going to be the focal point of your room. You want to see how the product burns and how it looks cold (which it is 95% of the time). What if you don't like the unit once it's installed, faced off with brick, tile or other. Your stuck with it.

How is this any different than buying a car? I always go to my local dealer first and see what I like, then I start to comparison shop. After the test drive, there really is no reason that I have to go to each place that sells the car ... the same can be applied to fireplaces. Once I've seen the unit I want, there's no issue ordering from a store that I've never been to.

c)I'd bet if you factor in the freight expense and purchase the complete system in which you MUST use Lennox or Nepolean's pipe (they are not available through you local hardware store)you will be paying equal to or more than a local fireplace company can provide.

And you would lose that bet, at least in our case. The local dealers wanted to charge more for delivery than StovesDirect. An additional benefit is that I don't need to pay sales tax for the online order.

d) How about service if there is a problem with the unit? Especially propane. Very tricky with hearth products. Most dealers are very reluctant to service products they don't sell. The manufacture leaves the service up to the selling dealer. Is Stoves Direct near you?

Most people in this area live in houses where they don't know where their fireplaces were purchased - either the unit was installed by a previous owner or by the builder. If and when something goes wrong, the owner will open up the yellow pages and call the nearest store. Of the times I have had to call in the past, not once was I asked "Did you buy it here?". "Reluctance" would result in loss of service business; the bread and butter of these dealers. Furthermore, most manufacturers REQUIRE authorized dealers to service their units, regardless of where the unit was purchased.

Now, my response shouldn't be taken as an advertisement for online purchasing. I'm just saying that you shouldn't discount an online dealer just because they are online. If you are doing the installation yourself, you can do a direct comparison of unit costs between dealers. If you need installation, you'll have to get an additional quote from a local installer if you order online.

Personally, I am willing to pay a little more to buy from a local dealer (say 10% + sales tax). However, any more than that and I'd be hard pressed not to go the online route.

- Tony

After shopping the Home Show and numerous dealers, I did decide to go with Stoves Direct (the units were delivered on Thursday).

The dealers didn't seem to know what was going on with the gas piping, were reluctant to travel to our site to install, and said it would take 2-3 trips (at $200+ per trip) to complete the installation. The one I was last negotiating with finally said "why don't you just have your contractor install OUR unit for you?"

Well, I figured this was almost the same as having one delivered from Stoves Direct, except that I'd pay less (actually $0) for delivery and no sales tax to boot. My plumbers ran the gas piping, and for $500 my contractor is installing 2 fireplace units. I agree with Tony that nearly everyone in the local area will service anyone's gas appliance; at any rate, the store that sold the fireplaces certainly wasn't going to offer to service mine!

I won't be saving a ton of money, once I purchase all the venting and all, but our local dealers just made it so difficult and/or expensive to order from them, it wasn't worth trying after a certain point.

I'll let you know how it all worked out when the units are operating in a couple of months.

-Lisa

Check out this complaint by a stoves direct buyer - it's made me think twice about buying from them!

http://stovesdirect.com/

We ordered a beautiful fireplace which was delivered in perfect shape, free delivery and in a reasonable delivery time. The problem is a small can of sealant that the sales department failed to tell us was REQUIRED for installation and is not available anywhere else. We called to order the sealant from Stoves Direct. The order was placed on August 25th but here on Sept. 17 we still have nothing.

I feel the sales department should be aware of all needed items for installation at the time of original order. I feel Stoves Direct could have at least offered to send out the sealant immediately and not charged us shipping. But they are charging us $12 to ship a $12 item, which though not right, we wouldn't have complained about IF THEY WOULD JUST SEND IT!.

In frustration, my husband called the fireplace manufacturer directly who said they would not sell us parts for our fireplace BECAUSE we bought it from Stoves Direct ~ so now if anything ever goes wrong, we are stuck dealing with Stoves Direct who apparently are much more interested in selling the original item and far less concerned about service after the sale.

A concerned purchaser in Minnesota

Kim

Lis51417----so how has your install worked out. Have you got it in? You did get the Lennox? You like?

To to Hearth.com - the best fireplace forum on the net.

do NOT buy a Lennox - they are build cheaply an dI head nothing but complaints about them. PLUS - they really do not look that good. Spend more then you want to. A fireplace is not like a car. You will have it in your living room for the next 25 years!

A very important reason to buy your FP locally: you get to compare the flames.

A feature on some top end Napoleans that sounds stupid but isn't: the 'nightlight' that makes the interior of the firebox glow. Looks very nice in person.

I'm looking to purchase a 30,000 btu gas insert manufactured by either Monnessen or Majestic. Would anyone be willing to share comments pros or cons about their systems? I live in the Boston, MA area and the unit will be for our existing fireplace in the living room. Thanks in advance.

On the "Monessen vs Majestic", I suggest you post a new thread with that title.

Otherwise, your comment/question will remain buried in this Napoleon vs Lennox thread and nobody will notice or answer.

Check the Majestic product....Lennox is a furnace company.

Sorry, forgot to post a followup after it was all installed!
We've now had our two fireplaces (a small one upstairs in the bedroom and a 3-sided peninsula unit in the living/dining area) installed and operating for two years. As I mentioned before, I ordered Lennox units from Stoves Direct.

The downstairs unit is wonderful. I had to play around a little with the log placement to prevent sooting, and it doesn't NOT soot entirely, but it's pretty good, especially considering how much we use it (it's our primary heat source for downstairs in the winter). It's very attractive, seems extremely well-built and sturdy, and puts out a lot of warmth. The louvers don't allow see- through between the rooms and the entire unit is a showpiece for the room (I'll try to figure out how to post a photo!)

However, when I was doing my local research, a Seattle dealer talked me into getting a much smaller unit for our upstairs bedroom, and, alas, it doesn't even begin to heat up the room. Part of the problem may have been the way the gas man (from Northern Energy) adjusted the flame, so I might have it loooked at next time they're out that way.

All in all, I'm happy with the Lennox units I bought from Stoves Direct, and am sorry that some people have had problems with either the product or the dealer. All I can say is that my own experiences have been positive.