Vienna II gas or LP heaters

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. No one hurt

   Made Nov 25, 2012 · , sent to the company Dec 18, 2012 · , published by CPSC Jan 4, 2013

   The product, in the report: Heat n Glo Vienna II gas LP green cast iron stove - vented Glass door and side shelves

   I have a Heat n Glo Vienna II green cast iron gas LP stove. I bought it in December 2001 from the dealer Frederick Block in Winchester VA. It was installed in January 2002 by an HVAC/plumbing/electrical contractor into a new home that we built. We moved into the house in March 2002 and since winter was over, the stove was not used for the first time until the following winter in 2003. It is located in our family room. This stove has had normal use - primarily for pleasure - it was never the main heating source for the room it is in. Since 2003 it has been used maybe a total of 20 hours a week during the winter months of November - February, operating via a remote control/thermostat setting that turned it on/off automatically based on the temp setting. In the past week I was having trouble with it not lightning properly when I used the remote to turn it on, and pilot light went out for no reason, and I noticed that it also looked like the logs had moved inside the stove. I called a technician who looked at the stove on Friday, Nov. 23rd. He found the following:

   * The metal plate the logs rest on is rusted very badly - tech said due to the condensation of the water in the LP gas before it burned off. I would have thought Heat n Glo would have taken that into account in the stove design and would have used a metal that would not corrode from the water in the gas. One of the pieces that was designed to hold a log had completely rusted through and a chunk had broken off, which is why the logs had moved.

   * The pilot light kept going out when the tech tried to light it. Upon investigation, he found that the burner pan had many cracks in it and the gas was seeping through the cracks with enough force to blow out the pilot - instead of coming through the holes in the pan as it should have. Tech said WE COULD HAVE HAD A CATASTROPHIC EXPLOSION! He said the stove was totally unsafe to use, was at high risk for an explosion, and he turned off the gas to it. Where did the cracks come from? We didn’t do anything to cause it. It had to be defective from the manufacturer.

   Tomorrow I will be calling Heat n Glo and also the dealer who sold it (they were both closed due to Thanksgiving till 11/26) to see if there is any warranty or recall on this stove. I wonder if there aren’t other Vienna I and II stoves out there where this is also occurring, which is why I am filing this report with you. I am very sad about this because I loved that stove, but I believe it is a disaster waiting to happen to someone - could have already happened for all I know. And even if under warranty and the parts or stove itself can be replaced, I don’t want another stove with the same faulty design that might blow us up. So I may just be out my $2000 I paid for this stove, unless there is a newer stove with a better design that Heat n Glo is willing to give me to replace this one.

   I also have 2 of the Heat n Glo 6000TRI gas log units in fireplaces - 1 in living room and 1 in master bedroom - that I am having checked out to see if they might have burner pad/leaking gas defects. They were also installed new when house was built in 2002 but have rarely been used. FYI all the Heat n Glo units are vented to the outside and are plumbed directly into the 1000 gallon underground propane gas tank in our yard that also provides gas to the hot water heater, house furnaces, and backp generator.

   I have seen that there are recalls on some Heat n Glo units - but I don’t know if there are any recalls on the ones I have. Are there recalls on the 6000TRI fireplace logs or Vienna II stove?

   Does a manufacturer have to stand behind a defective product, such as this stove that could have blown up and killed us, or am I just out the money and left with a green cast iron piece of junk that I’m afraid to use, and Heat n Glo walks away without any responsibility to make it good? I have seen some dealers online that are still selling Vienna I and II, although the stoves are no longer listed under those names as available products on the Heat n Glo web site. Are they perhaps still being sold, but under a new name?

   Model

   Vienna II

   Serial number

   0260

   Bought from

   Frederick Block, Virginia

   Bought

   Dec 11, 2001

   Where

   Strasburg, Virginia: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 71, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Vienna II, made or sold by HEAT & GLO

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources