Our Sad Little Francesca Pellet Stove
Pellet Stoves That Come in Colors — and the Red One That Caught Fire
This morning I asked my wife what I should write about.
She said, “You should do something about pellet stoves that come in colors.”
That brought back a memory — not just of colorful stoves, but of one in particular: a little red unit we once owned called the Ecoteck Francesca.
Back in 2009, the Francesca was the smallest and most affordable pellet stove Ecoteck offered. It came in several color options — red, white, black, beige — with painted steel side panels and a black vented ceramic top. The higher-end models in their lineup came with full ceramic side panels, but this was the entry-level unit. Stylish, compact, and different from the typical black boxes on the market.
It looked great in our kitchen. But good looks only go so far.
How It Entered My Life
I first encountered this model through a local stove shop. It had been installed in their showroom by a friend of mine who ran a pellet and gas stove service business. One night, long after closing, the Francesca caught fire.
My friend wasn’t available, so he asked me to swing by and check it out. When I opened the stove, the cause became obvious: pellet dust had accumulated inside the upper chamber and ignited. The hopper design — along with the layout of the top panel — allowed this kind of buildup to happen quietly over time.
The shop asked me to remove it. A few days later, my friend called to say the distributor was sending them a replacement, but the shop didn’t want it.
“Do you want it?” he asked.
I said sure.
It wasn’t long before that decision came back to haunt me.
When Looks Burn You Twice
Fast-forward two or three years later: I came home early from work and immediately smelled smoke.
It was the same stove — the red Ecoteck Francesca — and it was on fire again. This time, in my own kitchen.
Same design flaw. Same result.
That experience taught me more than just how not to design a hopper — it exposed a recurring issue in certain stove models that most people never notice until it’s too late.
The Trivet Trap
The top of the Francesca featured a vented ceramic trivet, with a small water pan tucked underneath it. The idea was to add a bit of humidity to the room while the stove ran — pour in a couple cups of water, and the heat exchanger would slowly evaporate it back into the air.
It was a nice touch, but it came at a cost.
The trivet design left part of the heat exchanger exposed, right below the vented top. When users overfilled the hopper — easy to do, since it couldn’t hold a full 40-pound bag — pellets and dust had a tendency to spill out the top. And once those fines or fragments landed near the heat exchanger, they’d slowly cook, smolder, and in some cases, ignite.
It turns out the Francesca wasn’t the only stove to use this style of top panel. Several other brands and models have used similar exposed or vented designs, including:
Enviro: E2, E3, Meridian, Mini, Maxx, P3, P4
Vista Flame: V100
Regency: GF55, GF40
Harman: Advance
Many of these units include decorative cutouts or built-in pans for humidification, but they share one vulnerability: dust traps above hot steel.
That’s why now, any time I work on a stove with a vented or decorative top, I take the time to open it up and check for signs of buildup. It’s easy to miss, and easy to fix — but if left unchecked, it can quietly turn into a serious safety risk.
A Postscript on the Francesca
After my experience, I kept an eye on how the brand evolved. Not long after that fire, Ecoteck was absorbed into the Ravelli Group. The Francesca is still in production under the Ravelli name, and there’s now a near-identical model called the Monica, which comes with ceramic side panels and a few upgraded trim pieces.
Based on more recent manuals and part diagrams, it looks like Ravelli corrected some of the original layout flaws, including better shielding and more isolated hopper design. I haven’t personally tested a newer model in the field, but it appears they listened.
Still, I haven’t forgotten how the original performed — and why it matters to look past the color options and examine what’s going on under the hood.
Final Thoughts
Yes, pellet stoves come in colors. They can be sleek, beautiful, and match just about any interior design. But before you fall in love with the finish, make sure the function is just as solid.
If you own a stove with a vented top, decorative trivet, or hidden water pan, make sure your stove tech is actually inspecting and cleaning those areas — especially above the heat exchanger. You're paying for professional maintenance, and those spots matter.
And if you're in my service area, I’d be happy to make sure it’s done right.
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#PelletStove #Ecoteck #RavelliFrancesca #FrancescaStove #RavelliMonica
#EnviroE2 #EnviroE3 #EnviroMeridian #EnviroMini #EnviroMaxx #EnviroP3 #EnviroP4
#VistaFlameV100 #RegencyGF55 #RegencyGF40 #HarmanAdvance
#WoodPelletHeat #PelletStoveSafety #ColoredStoves #HeatingTechnology
#StoveService #PelletStoveStories #AlternativeHeat #HomeHeating