You can find a world of information at www.hearth.com.

You will find many of the things on your wish list with wood burning stoves, but very few of them with a pellet stove. For example: The fire in a pellet stove looks nothing like one in a fireplace. Few - maybe no - pellet stoves are cast iron.

Other issues with pellet stoves: they are higher maintenence and more prone to having problems. They do not work if the electricity goes out. At the moment we are in the midst of a blizzard with low temps and high winds. In conditions like these a heat source that does not require electricity is important. Purely personal, but I find the constant drone of a pellet stove blower highly annoying. Finally, as far as I'm aware no pellet stove produces the welcome radiant heat that a wood stove does.

There are a few good wood stoves that will fit into your budget. The one thing that pellet stoves have to recommend them is convenience. This is important to many people. Check some of the other information available at hearth.com before making a decision.

browncoat: Glad you like your pellet insert and that it meets your heating needs in your "very cold" Virginia climate. You seem, however, to have misunderstood much of what I wrote. Certainly almost any wood or pellet appliance would be an improvement over an open fireplace, but that was never the basis of comparison. Rather, it was pellet stove vs.free standing wood stove with a budget of $2000. I have no idea what the discontinued Quadrafire Edge or its current replacement costs, but once you add a solar charger, heavy duty marine battery, and quite possibly an inverter, I think you would be well beyond the op's budget. Perhaps Quadrafire has some battery system I'm unaware of, but even with a solar charger, I do not think the battery system will run the stove "forever". 8 hours, and that at the lowest setting, would be more like it. Solar chargers are excellent for trickle charging a low battery but they will not keep up with the current demands if the stove is actually operating. Flame appearance may be improved, but in all the pellet stoves I've seen it's more reminiscent of an old style kerosene pot burner than a fireplace. A cast iron surround is aesthetically pleasing but not at all the same thing at all as a cast iron radiant heater. The Quadrafire inserts are convection heaters. That's why they have heat exchangers and a blower. I would also dispute your statement that pellet stoves are somehow better for the environment. Pellets are a manufactured product with all that requires in terms of heavy machinery, driers, factories, transportation, etc. A modern EPA wood stove is just as efficient and removes the middle step of conversion of trees to pellets. An additional issue with pellet stoves is the need to shut them down completely for regular cleaning and maintenance - in most cases, every month or so. This is probably fine for part time or occasional supplemental users, but very impractical for those who heat with wood 24/7 all winter. For right around the op's original $2000,he/she can buy a good, safe, brand new EPA wood stove. No need for a battery, etc. No routine shutdowns for maintenance. Far simpler in operation and less problem prone. You clearly value the convenience of pellet heat, and that's fine, but for the op's original request, which option seems to you to more closely meet his/her criteria?

Yikes, akamainegrower – no need for the hostility! My comment wasn’t a personal attack on you –
it was simply my experience with a pellet stove. And what’s with the “very cold” Virginia remark? Our low temperature for tomorrow is -5 degrees F.
Sorry if that doesn’t meet your arbitrary definition of cold, but it
sure meets mine!!

Here’s the thing: the
OP asked about a pellet stove. Only a
pellet stove. You’re the one who brought
in a non-existent comparison to a wood stove, and an open fireplace, then
accused me of misunderstanding! As to
your “You clearly value the convenience of pellet heat, and that's fine, but
for the op's original request, which option seems to you to more closely meet
his/her criteria?” question – I think my answer about an actual pellet stove’s
performance more closely meets the OPs criteria, especially since the OP only
asked about a pellet stove. Jeez. Maybe step off the high horse?

The OP seems
genuinely curious about a pellet stove, and I have actual experience with a pellet stove. I get it, you like wood stoves. That’s not what we’re talking about
here.

To the OP: we did a
ton of research when we bought our house four years ago. We looked at the freestanding units from
Lowes and Home Depot. My grandmother
bought one of those units, as did my parents.
They are reasonably priced, and they absolutely put out enough heat for
an 1800 sq. ft. house. When my parents
bought their dream house, they upgraded to an Edge 60. We did as well. Here’s why we went with a pellet stove
(specifically, the Edge 60 – note, I don’t think they’re the best, but they
were the best FOR US, and this are how we made our decision):

1. Environmental: Heating with pellets fuels is considered
   carbon neutral. Pellets are made with
   leftover material from lumber plants and saw mills – byproducts, which would
   otherwise go in a landfill. And the
   ability to burn other fuels if necessary is a giant plus! The Edge 60 has won multiple awards as a green
   product. It has an efficiency rating of
   83.3%, is capable of 60,000 BTUs, and is EPA approved. Also gave us a nice tax credit!!
2. Convenience: Chopping down trees, splitting logs, and
   drying the stored wood sucks. Big
   time. I have absolutely no interest in
   that amount of labor. I’d rather spend
   that time working or with my family. Fireplaces
   use A LOT of wood. A bag of pellets is
   easy to handle and easy to manage. And
   pretty cheap. And I like loading the
   pellets, turning on the unit, and having it work flawlessly until I fill it
   again, usually 2 days later. And we don’t
   use it as supplemental heat – it is our primary heat. When you load the bag of pellets, you empty
   an ash drawer, vacuum out the firepot, and wipe the glass front. After every ton or two burned, the entire
   unit rolls out on rails for easy cleaning.
   It takes about half an hour to cool down, and less than 15 minutes for a
   full, thorough clean. Easy peasy. And no danger of a fire from a stray spark or
   ember. Or soot and smoke damage.
3. Battery Backup:
   No inverter needed for our unit.
   It just plugs into a car or marine battery. It runs on AC or DC power, and will run on
   medium heat with the battery. 8 Hours
   for a fully charged battery, continuous for a battery hooked up to a solar
   charger. (Yes, continuous. On medium heat, not low. As long as there is sun, the pellet stove
   will work.)
4. Appearance:
   The flame in a pellet stove is beautiful. It’s a “real” flame, because it’s actually
   burning a wood byproduct. You can even set
   the flame heights to whatever you want.
   It’s a true, warm fire. I think
   gas flames look kind of cold (does that make sense?), but a pellet stove flame
   is very cozy. It’s a “real live” fire. The Edge 60 was also the only unit we could find that was very modern looking. We got the "natural" front and it's super sleek looking.

When you choose your pellet stove, look at the warranty. Make sure you have someone fairly local in
case it needs to be serviced. (Note, we’ve
needed to have ours serviced once in 4 years, and it was an easy, cheap
fix. A fireplace needs to have the
chimney cleaned every year.) Go to a
fireplace/hearth store and actually look at them in action – you might be drawn
to some more than others. My unit is
very very modern in appearance, but most of them are very traditional looking. Most of them come in multiple color
options. You are absolutely NOT being
unreasonable with your “wish list” – ours was exactly the same, and we were
able to do it. We got both of our units
on clearance and installed them ourselves.
Deals can be found!!! Fireplace
stores run specials all the time. Buy on
the offseason, and better deals can be found.
One tip - use a ceiling fan in the room with your pellet stove so the
warm air can circulate throughout the house.

I don’t know much about the Avalon Arbor, but the reviews
seem pretty solid. Read everything you
can find on the models you’re considering.
See if there seems to be a consistent problem. If you get a floor model, make sure you get
the full warranty. Also, is the
installation cost included in the price?
We use our pellet stove units as primary heat. We have an oil furnace as a back-up heat
source, and we haven’t even turned it on this entire winter. It gets cold here - the DC metro area (where I live in Northern VA) definitely gets all four seasons. We don’t regret ours at all. My honest recommendation is the Quadra Fire
Mount Vernon – it has the exact same inside as the unit I have. It comes in an insert and a freestanding
unit. It’s a workhorse and super reliable. The list price is out of your budget, but you
can find it for much cheaper than that if you search. The Lowes/Home Depot models will serve your
needs – but might not have some of the extra features like a self-cleaning fire
pot, multiple fuel source options, and automatic temperature control. Also, verify they can run on a battery if
that’s important to you!!!

Sorry I kind of wrote a novel here – just wanted you to have
the info requested. :-)

browncoat - we are building a home and I have my heart set on the quadrafire edge but have had no luck finding one as they were discontinued. It's our dream stove. Did you buy yours recently? Do you mind sharing where you got them?

Hi Megfarm!
We bought our first one from Courtland Hearth in Maryland about 4 years ago. We bought our second one 2 years ago - that one was a crazy lucky find. We knew they'd been discontinued, but figured there were still some out there. I just did a Google search and found one at Sally's Hearth Power Sales (through Columbus-Deals), and was able to get that one for $2,000.

Your best bet now is to try google - search Quadrafire Edge 60 for sale. Then you'll have to call/email places. It looks like there might be one available at Axmen dot com, under display model closeouts (under heating and cooling menu drop down). It'll take some legwork, but there are absolutely some still out there. Make sure it comes with the front - it should be included in the price of the stove! Look throughout the country - don't be afraid to have it shipped.

If you literally can't find one anywhere, the Mount Vernon has the exact same stove innards, just with a slightly smaller hopper and a traditional front. It works just as well, but isn't modern-looking. I'm actually surprised at how few modern pellet stoves there are here in the states.

The Edge 60 was before its time. It came out right at the collapse of the housing bubble, and people just weren't willing to pay the price - which is a shame. It was discontinued only because it was expensive, not because it wasn't amazing. If you can find one (and I think you can), get it. It is absolutely worth it, even more so now that it can be purchased for much cheaper. Hah - that's why we got two! It really is a lovely machine - it's the best thing we did for this house. Let me know if you have any more questions - I'm happy to help!

Wow this was so helpful thanks! I have visited two showrooms and told there was no way I could get one. I thought I was doing an efficient google search but yours definitely beat mine. I prefer the flat front Edge. The one at Axmen is curved front - but then again such a good deal and not sure I can afford to be picky since they're so hard to find. Thanks so much for your quick and helpful response!