IntelliFire 4+

Part of an integrated product?

As an addendum to my previous review titled ‘Buggy at best’, I want to focus on the gas stove that I bought, and the advertising claims of the stove manufacturer. I bought the Vermont Castings Radiance stove for many reasons. But the two most important reasons are the reputation of Vermont Castings which has been stellar for many, many years.

The second reason was the advertising regarding WiFi control. The stove manufacturer advertises that one can purchase their WiFi module and control the stove from anywhere with internet access.

From my perspective, what I was buying was a fully integrated, bug free product from Vermont Castings that includes free software. It really doesn’t matter to me whether the software was directly created by Vermont Castings, a subsidiary of Vermont Castings, or an independent software provider. The entire product needs to be an integrated product.

When this software is buggy, the entire product is not as advertised and is buggy. One doesn’t buy a gas stove only to find that the igniter is faulty, and have the stove manufacturer say “We didn’t make that…. Go chase the igniter manufacturer.”. The same is true for all components, including software for a customer expecting to buy an integrated product.

Developer Response ,

Hi Wayne770, thanks for taking the time to leave this review. We'd like to help with whatever issues you are facing. Please reach out to us at AppFeedback@hearthnhome.com.

Good idea. Too bad it doesn't work.

I seriously loved the functionality of this app for the one month that it actually worked. The app doesn't provide the best user experience and could be improved, but the functionality is very cool! But the whole Intellifire concept is very expensive for a "just ok" app and functionality that only worked for a month. The unit has serious connectivity issues, and it just isn't very good. I have a smart house with hundreds of smart connections to lights, doors, etc. This is by far the worst--and most expensive--smart appliance I have ever dealt with. I've tried to contact Customer Service a few times. I even waited on hold for 20 minutes once and actually talked to a customer service agent. They were completely unhelpful and didn't follow up when they said they would. I will apparently have to call someone to come out and resolve the problem (at my expense).

Developer Response ,

Hi, we sincerely apologize that this has been your experience so far. We'd like to help. Please contact us at AppFeedback@hearthnhome.com.

Horrible reliability and app needs work

If I could give the app and the associated Wi-Fi module a negative rating, I would. That something this buggy could be released to the public is insane. The Wi-Fi unit or server, whichever it is, constantly goes off-line requiring me to either take the face off the fireplace and power cycle it turn the breaker off and on. it was so bad and unreliable that I had to install a HomeKit outlet attached to my Wi-Fi network so I could power cycle it without having to take everything apart. Now, as of May 31, 2024, I cannot even login to the server. I’ve emailed home and hearth support who actually tried to be helpful and indicated that they’ve been having server problems. This was several weeks ago, but the problem has been ongoing for 2 years. When will it get fixed?