Wood Heat
About us
Enjoy the warmth, comfort and beauty of a fire. Wood Heat sells, installs, and services high efficiency fireplaces, stoves, and fireplace inserts. Fuel types include wood, gas, pellet, coal and electric. We also carry wood pellets.
Business highlights
Services we offer
The area's largest provider of wood, and coal, fireplaces and fireplace inserts, gas, pellet, since 1975., stoves, to home owners and home builders
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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77% | ||
0% | ||
8% | ||
0% | ||
15% |
During installation, they discovered a small pile of ash and insulation on the old insert. They charged $189.00 to remove it, which is more than our sweep charges for an entire cleaning. I contacted Wood Heat twice asking if they only removed that pile or did an entire cleaning (which their contract says is their charge for cleaning), and received a promise to look into it. Never happened.
Due to an error in installation, we wasted about a dozen fires with very little heat. They did fix this for free.
They also charged $75.00 to remove the old insert and wheel it down our driveway for trash pickup. That's what the contract says, but it seems excessive. Appliance dealers have charged us from free to $25 to install the new and haul away the old.
The new unit, Jotul C 550 CB, has proven inadequate for our room. It is rated for 2,000 sq. ft.; our room is 330 sq. ft. We have to sit directly in front of it to feel the heat; the output is anemic. Our old one of over 20 years heated the room in a couple hours to the point of sweating, and the house after a full day's burn.
The initial hour labor charge is $189.00, more than a mechanic, plumber, electrician, or doctor. Our sweep warned us about dealing with Wood Heat.
Todd, their service tech, who came twice, was great. He taught us a new way to start and maintain a fire and explained the mechanics of heating a house. We highly recommend him.
We knew, contractually, what the charges are but were hoping for some leeway. We are disappointed in the product. Watching the fire makes for good entertainment but poor comfort. We paid $5500.00 for a picture of a fire.
"Thank you for the compliment on our service technician and for fairly noting that all the charges were explained and agreed to up front. As for costs being higher than you would have liked, I can empathize - cable bills, car repairs, housing, taxes, etc. The list can go on and on. My father, the founder of Wood Heat, reminds me he sold the iconic Jotul F118 for $400, which seemed expensive in 1975. Now it sells for $1999 and is still recognized as a great value, as all Jotul wood stoves are. The Jotul C550 model you purchased has been the top-selling wood insert in the U.S. for many years. Both Wood Heat and Jotul have great confidence in its performance. When loaded with seasoned hardwood, and operated according to the manufacturers instructions, the C550 will deliver its rated output and more. Always qualify the fuel load - the moisture content and quantity of the wood makes a big difference in heat output. Our staff has left several messages asking to call us during our regular business hours to review any issues."
"Thanks for your kind words. We're pleased that you are happy with your new insert."
The service tech arrived on 2/13/15 around 3:30 during the allotted time given btwn 1-4. Todd was very polite and professional and said if the fan is working he couldn't do anything. He left after 5 minutes.
Two days later I received a bill for $85. I called Jim at Wood Heat and asked him why he DIDN'T inform me, if the fan was working at the time the tech arrived, nothing could be done. If I had known that, I could have canceled the service call the night before.
If this fan doesn't usually have this type of problem, they should have worked up and estimate to replace the fan and given me the option to have it replaced. Now I have to pay $85 for NOTHING....and now my fan isn't working today.
I would have appreciated a full disclosure regarding nothing would be done if the fan was working at the time of the service call.
I think the tech should have checked for a loose wire or something. It was a waste of my time and money!
"[member name removed], We're sorry that you are not happy with the service call. When someone asks us to come look at their unit, that is what we do. Since everything was working when our tech arrived, he cut the cost in half (we normally charge $169 for a service call as explained at time of scheduling) as a courtesy to you. Our tech didn’t want to waste your money replacing something that appeared to be working fine when he arrived, unless you had requested that you wanted it replaced anyway. We don't charge anything for a quote, and we would be happy to provide one with the cost of a new fan, plus installation."
John was very, very professional arriving on time, going straight to work with all the tools he needed to clean, check and replace a defective part. He explained a number of questions I had asked and demonstrated what needed to be done. Upon leaving he cleaned the area where he had set up.
"Thank you. We're glad that you are happy with your new stove!"
"Thank you. Our service team works hard to keep our customers warm when the weather gets cold!"
"Thanks for your kind words. We're pleased that you are happy with your new insert."
The fireplace was being done as part of a much larger set of house renovations, for which I served as my own general contractor. Of course, in order to get the work done I needed permits and the fireplace had to have its own. I collected the required information (specifically, proof of workman's compensation insurance) from every one of the other sub-contractors quickly and easily. Trying to get this information from Wood Heat was like pulling teeth. Apparently only the owner could provide the information, and he was less then responsive/cooperative. After many phone calls and crossed communications, they finally decided that instead of giving me the information, they would fax it to the township permits office. Why they insisted on this I still don't know, but I was just glad to have it behind me.
The actual fireplace installation was to be done a couple of months after getting the permits. When I was ready I called Wood Heat to schedule installation. I was told at that time that I had to pay 100% of the materials and installation up front. I responded that this was highly unusual and that for literally all other work I had done I either paid upon completion or paid half up-front and the balance after the work was done properly. They refused to budge on their terms, so I decided not to use them.
In the end, it was probably a good thing because it gave me incentive to shop around. I ended up using Ambler Fireplace. Not only was their service excellent, but the price was better to boot.
"We're disappointed to lose your business after providing ideas, drawings, and installation specifications. We did submit the permit information directly to the township. We offer all customers up to twelve months interest-free financing with an approved application."
"Thanks for your kind words. As a family owned and operated business, we take great pride in the quality of the products we sell and the service we provide. We love to help our customers save money on their heating bills!"
Licensing
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