Pacific Energy Neo 1.6

Pretty good – The Neo 1.6 was an obvious choice when we bought it in 2018, as there weren't many truly efficient, clean burning fireplaces available in Canberra back then. There were others that claimed to be similarly efficient but when I looked into them, most didn't really compare (other than one from NZ that's more efficient but seems to take a lot more… Read more

care and effort to use). While I'd check the competition these days, the Neo has a lot of good things going for it. Like any design, there are also compromises and drawbacks. Pros: - Extremely efficient. It's our primary source of heat below 10 degrees C and we burn about 1.5 tonnes over about 5 months, even when WFH; - Smokeless once it's heated up (5-10 minutes in our case). I'm quite concerned about wood smoke pollution, so I've spent a fair time outside staring at the flue! The emissions are completely colourless when it's operating properly - which can be 95% of the time if you're willing to put a bit of effort in. Note that we never stop the airflow down below half and we try to keep an eye on the burn. Any fireplace will smoke if you let it. One trick that we've found is to burn both soft/light wood and hard/heavy wood - either alternate logs or put a piece of each in at the same time. The soft/light wood burns more easily and helps to keep the hard/heavy wood burning properly. Being a Canadian brand, I expect it's designed for softwood/light woods, so don't be afraid to use a bit of it. - Lovely big glass door allows lots of radiant heat out as soon as it's lit; - The glass really is self-cleaning. The design will keep itself clean and will burn off any black (from a log that gets too close) in hours, but note that it won't self-clean grey soot accumulation. I highly doubt that any deign would be able to do that. However, I've literally never had to do anything to clean it other than a quick wipe with a damp paper towel. - The door is really easy to open and close, and seals well even when the gasket is old - Nice dancing fire effects from the 'after-burn' feature - Comes in a range of colours, if you're into that sort of thing - 8 hour burn is realistic. I suspect anyone who only gets 6 hours out of it is stopping the fire down too much and not using a bit of light/softwood in the mix, and they probably have a huge pile of unburnt, cold coals at the end. We can reliably get 8 hours from it, with the fireplace still properly hot and a stack of red coals left to easily build the fire up from. Cons: - The ash tray dump chute is too narrow to be useful, as it gets clogged with coals. It's probably OK if you burn nothing but soft/light woods that burn completely to ash. We don't bother using the ash tray at all anymore, as it's easy to just scoop ask out the front into a pot. That also allows us to keep a packed layer of ash in the fireplace, which helps with insulation; - The shallow internal dimensions take a bit of getting used to. Wood and coals can roll out if you're not careful (get a decent sized hearth). And as others have pointed out, it also means that the standard bought wood size is difficult to fit. It will fit fine lengthwise, but that makes it more prone to rolling out. It's not an issue if pay a bit more for 'pizza stove' wood that's cut shorter, or you cut your own. This design issue is just a tradeoff due to the small firebox size and shape being wider than deep. It's a tradeoff that we're OK with as it provides a nice big glass front while taking up less space in the lounge room; - The afterburner baffle is painful to remove in order to clean the chimney. I think they've changed the design slightly since we bought ours, but it would be worth asking the sales person to demonstrate the process for you so that you can judge for yourself. Luckily it only seems to be needed once a year in our case, as there's virtually no soot buildup in our chimney; - Not a true overnight burner, but close as mentioned above!

Falls Short of Advertised Claims – This fire is capable of producing plenty of heat - sometimes too much. 1. The dump mechanism leaks air in to the firebox ( with the fire out shine a torch from underneath and you can see light in the firebox) and the wood can burn much faster than it should. I have filled the dump box with ash in order to slow it down. 2. The heater is supposed to… Read more

keep the glass clean - definitely not - it's no better than any other fire i've had. 3. Claimed overnight burn is not true. Lucky to get 6 hours maximum. 4. Supposedly less smoke due to "afterburn". Not true - looks like any other fire. 5. The firebox is on the smaller side so check your wood stocks to see if it will fit. The fire is burning very dry red gum and keeps our large lounge room nice and warm, kept on low with air damper closed off the fire burns steadily with no chance of going out. It's a nice looking wood heater but falls short on it's manufacturer's claims.

Extremely happy with our investment – We live in NSW surrounded by forest in a valley, so our house gets and stays really cold in the winter if you don't have decent heating. We wanted a wood stove that would heat efficiently and preferably burn overnight. We're very pleased with our Neo 1.6, and have so far found it performs well even though we had timber that was… Read more

less-than-the-best this past year. We have high ceilings throughout the house, and a very high peaked ceiling in the main living area where the wood stove is located, so we were concerned that we may struggle to heat the area effectively and had considered getting the next size up, but in the end the advice we received to buy the 1.6 seems to have been correct. (FYI: We decided we didn't want the fan, and have never really needed it)

As mentioned by another reviewer, the logs are stacked across the box meaning that if they roll forward they can fall onto the glass, which we have experienced a few times. So it's definitely worth paying attention to how the timber is stacked and occasionally checking it to ensure this doesn't happen. We so far haven't managed to get an overnight burn without putting in another log part way through the night.. however, like I mentioned earlier our timber was less than ideal last year.

We have been very happy with our purchase, and have had a few tradespeople comment that we'd made the right choice buying Pacific Energy as in their experience the stoves are made well and don't tend to have the problems that several other brands are prone to. If we were renovating or building all over, we would make the same choice again.

Not Super Impressed yet – It heats well so far. But the glass gets smoky despite year old dried properly wood. Have not had to deal with ash pan yet, but the spring is so tight I am not looking forward to it. Show details ·  2

So efficient its not funny – So efficient burns really slow with good heat output Slow motion flames Fan heats house quick Good height to place wood in with small space below for wood storage Sleek Modern look Its just a great fire Show details

Not quite up to the advertising – Looks good,works fine but no way will it burn over night or anywhere near that. Baffle plate removal after almost one winter was a problem with clearances.The fire box is to small to use standard wood sizes effectively limiting filling of fire box.The ash drop door is a waste of time. Thank goodness they do`nt build cars Show details

Clean, fast to heat up and easy to access and use – We installed the Neo 1.6 about a month ago and have now used it frequently. It doesn't take up as much space as our old heater and put out about as much heat. Because the fire box is a bit higher, it's easier to access and clean. The ash tray in the floor of the fire box works a lot better than I thought it would and can be used to let extra… Read more

air it when I set a new fire going. The thermostat switch on the optional fan unit has already failed and I'm waiting for a new one (hence 4 stars not 5) but the fan is still working manually. I'm happy to recommend this product.