Summit Fireplace & Grills

This may be the only negative review of Summit Fireplace and Grill, but please take it to heart. Summit misled us about the heat that their installation would provide, then, instead of trying to remedy our issue, they acted to protect their own interests. See following detail. - We bought and had installed a Chaska-25 gas insert from Summit for about $5300. - Summit estimated and contracted the job without coming to our house o They assured us the insert would adequately heat an 800 sq ft room. - The gas guy had to alter the gas line at an extra cost of $300 above the $450 we already paid. 2 guys worked 1.5 hrs total and installed 30 feet of flex gas line. o Summit could have made us aware of this extra expense if they came to the house to do the estimate. If you are approached with a similar change order, decline it and let Summit deal with it. - We ran the insert a few mornings. It was clear that it didn’t provide adequate heat. o Our room is less than 300 sq ft with an 8 ft ceiling, far from the 800 sq ft that Summit quoted. If we had known, we would not have bought the insert. o On the highest heat setting and second highest blower setting, it took an hour to increase the temperature 3 (sometimes only 2) degrees at only 5 ft from the insert; for example, from 60 to 63 degrees. That’s still cold, not warm! - Ted came out, turned on the flame, looked at the flame, said it appeared to be working as it should, gave us a replacement remote (I have no idea why; the remote wasn’t the problem), and left. o He did nothing to confirm whether our issue was real. He did not check venting, the gas line, or anything else. - We called Ryan and said we wanted the issue fixed or remove the insert and refund our money. o Ryan said he would talk to Ted, then get back to us. o After 4 days with no reply, we sent a written statement of our request, which we believe is the only reason they then contacted us. o Note that we had provided documented tests of the poor heating, with multiple invites to Summit to repeat the experience to confirm on their own, all declined. - Ryan and Ted (I believe) then came to the house. o As Ryan requested, we had PGE first come out to confirm adequate gas pressure to the house. o Ryan tested that adequate gas pressure was getting to the insert and tested the temperature of the glass at the face of the insert. o The temperature at the glass wasn’t the problem. It’s that we can’t sit 5 ft away and get warm. o Again, no effort to confirm our issue, research causes of our issue, or remedy the issue. o Their actions seemed intended to build some defense of their system and installation that were not related to our issue. o Although we asked ‘What now?’, they just left. - This was ultimately resolved as: o The PGE guy had earlier suggested that we test the blower by watching the smoke from a piece of incense. o We saw that the Chaska-25 blower was weak. o At about 2.5 feet away from the insert, we saw an otherwise imperceptible air flow in the opposite direction actually impede the heat from blowing farther out from the insert. o We turned on our house heater fan to draw air into a vent away from the insert. This workaround allows the heat to progress into the room and provide adequate heat where we sat 5 ft away. o Compared to alternatives, this workaround was a satisfactory enough solution for us, so we didn’t pursue any other action, except to request that the electrical line be replaced with metal-clad wire, as the PGE guy also had emphasized. Summit had their electrician replace the wire. o Summit says they install to code, but when asked once, Ryan couldn’t identify the entities whose code they follow. What irritates us is that Summit could have avoided some problems by just coming to the house to do the estimate, and that they then made no attempt to recognize or resolve our legitimate issue. So beware of Summit’s false claims, poor processes, and selfish objectives.

Very knowledgeable and competent during the installation. Sales and installers were personable and answered all questions along with offering recommendations. Scheduling was also flexible.

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