Looftlighter Died but Looftlighter USA Made it Right

dlk7 · August 2012

My looftlighter died 3 nights ago. I went to the looftlighter USA site and sent a message on their contact us tab. No response. Did the same thing the next night. No response. This morning I called their contact phone number, Kate answered, told me I could take it back to where I bought it and she would call ahead first to make sure they had it in stock otherwise she would have shipped it out of New York. She called me back in less than 10 minutes and told me that the Harpeth True Value in Franklin, TN definitely had one in stock, they pulled it from the shelf and said to just stop by and pick it up.

Moral of the story - If you need warranty service on your looftlighter, call their toll free telephone number. Also, Kate and therefore Looftlighter are awesome!

Sgt93 · August 2012

Good to hear.

dweebs0r · August 2012

Would you recommend the Looftlighter over say an electric lighter or just using paper towels with oil? I have been toying with the idea of buying one.

Eggdam · August 2012

Looflighter is much quicker than an electric lighter. I figure I save almost 10 minutes in my startup! Good to hear they back their product!

dlk7 · August 2012

I have been using paper towels soaked with a bit of olive oil for the last 2 nights. It worked ok - a bit smokey for the 1st 10 minutes or so. The looftlighter is much faster getting the coals really hot and spreading. It cools down really fast too, so I can put it in the drawer of my champion table 10 minutes after I have finished lighting the lump. I really like the looftlighter and definitely recommend it.

gabriegger · August 2012

Agreed it starts the coals quicker. I'm a bit of a fire sissy so the sparks from the lump concerns me a bit. I hold the dome half way down to keep them inside. Haven't lit up the neighborhood.

Logger · August 2012

Question: How old was your Loofy before it crapped out?

ClarkWGriswold · August 2012

Someone who has one, can you explain the benefits you derive over a couple of Weber starter cubes? I saw that thing in the store when I was getting my lump the other day, and all I could think was "it's 80 dollars and bulky, so I'd have to find room to store it - AND I have to sit there and hold it to the coals for like minute; whereas I could toss 2 Weber cubes in there and light em with a stick lighter and walk away at a cost of less than a quarter, plus I could fit the cubes in a junk drawer". I'd have to use the looft thing like 350 times before it was even cost neutral to the cubes, not including electricity. I love gadgets though, so figured maybe there was an angle I wasn't seeing.

BRush00 · August 2012

Glad to hear Looft takes their customer service seriously. I LOVE my Looft lighter, only had it a few weeks and it's already seen lots of use.

I'm not too worried about the sparks, I don't seem to get many with the current charcoal (Dragon's Breath). My fire's hot and ready much quicker than with oil & paper towel.

JWBurns · August 2012

ClarkWGriswold said:
Someone who has one, can you explain the benefits you derive over a couple of Weber starter cubes? I saw that thing in the store when I was getting my lump the other day, and all I could think was "it's 80 dollars and bulky, so I'd have to find room to store it - AND I have to sit there and hold it to the coals for like minute; whereas I could toss 2 Weber cubes in there and light em with a stick lighter and walk away at a cost of less than a quarter, plus I could fit the cubes in a junk drawer". I'd have to use the looft thing like 350 times before it was even cost neutral to the cubes, not including electricity. I love gadgets though, so figured maybe there was an angle I wasn't seeing.

I share your exact point..

The thought of a faster startup does intrigue me however

BRush00 · August 2012

Someone who has one, can you explain the benefits you derive over a couple of Weber starter cubes? I saw that thing in the store when I was getting my lump the other day, and all I could think was "it's 80 dollars and bulky, so I'd have to find room to store it - AND I have to sit there and hold it to the coals for like minute; whereas I could toss 2 Weber cubes in there and light em with a stick lighter and walk away at a cost of less than a quarter, plus I could fit the cubes in a junk drawer". I'd have to use the looft thing like 350 times before it was even cost neutral to the cubes, not including electricity. I love gadgets though, so figured maybe there was an angle I wasn't seeing.
I share your exact point.. The thought of a faster startup does intrigue me however

That's about the situation I was in too. But thought, ah well - I'll give it a shot. It's $80 which does seem pricey but... in reality $80 isn't that hard to scrounge up.

So I bought it, and the #1 (though, really, only) benefit is a hot, fast, clean fire.

I have can have a fist sized ball of lump glowing, with 6 inches of fire coming off of it, in... 45 - 60 seconds. There's still the ramp up time required to burn off any VOCs in the egg, but I'd put my Looft in an BGE lighting race against your starter cubes ANY day. First one to 800 degrees wins?

gabriegger · August 2012

Went through 2 BGE electric starters before the Looft. Burnt the first one up leaving it unsupervised too long. Second one burnt itself out in less than a year. Only use the cubes in the rain and don't care much for them no how. For the money the Looft is well worth it.

dlk7 · August 2012

Question: How old was your Loofy before it crapped out?

Not quite 6 months but they are guaranteed for 2 years

dlk7 · August 2012

Someone who has one, can you explain the benefits you derive over a couple of Weber starter cubes? I saw that thing in the store when I was getting my lump the other day, and all I could think was "it's 80 dollars and bulky, so I'd have to find room to store it - AND I have to sit there and hold it to the coals for like minute; whereas I could toss 2 Weber cubes in there and light em with a stick lighter and walk away at a cost of less than a quarter, plus I could fit the cubes in a junk drawer". I'd have to use the looft thing like 350 times before it was even cost neutral to the cubes, not including electricity. I love gadgets though, so figured maybe there was an angle I wasn't seeing.

I agree with BRush00 - It is fast and since I grill every night, it makes my life much easier. AND it comes with a built in bottle opener.

ClarkWGriswold · August 2012

Someone who has one, can you explain the benefits you derive over a couple of Weber starter cubes? I saw that thing in the store when I was getting my lump the other day, and all I could think was "it's 80 dollars and bulky, so I'd have to find room to store it - AND I have to sit there and hold it to the coals for like minute; whereas I could toss 2 Weber cubes in there and light em with a stick lighter and walk away at a cost of less than a quarter, plus I could fit the cubes in a junk drawer". I'd have to use the looft thing like 350 times before it was even cost neutral to the cubes, not including electricity. I love gadgets though, so figured maybe there was an angle I wasn't seeing.
I share your exact point.. The thought of a faster startup does intrigue me however
That's about the situation I was in too. But thought, ah well - I'll give it a shot. It's $80 which does seem pricey but... in reality $80 isn't that hard to scrounge up.

So I bought it, and the #1 (though, really, only) benefit is a hot, fast, clean fire.

I have can have a fist sized ball of lump glowing, with 6 inches of fire coming off of it, in... 45 - 60 seconds. There's still the ramp up time required to burn off any VOCs in the egg, but I'd put my Looft in an BGE lighting race against your starter cubes ANY day. First one to 800 degrees wins?

A solid response, and thanks for the insight to it. Looks like it's a gadget that just doesn't really fit for me, as I'm only planning on using my egg for low & slows (I have a wood fired pizza oven in the house, and if I need to get to 1000 degrees for a grilling sear, I'm reaching for my infrared, sacrilege though that might be to say on this forum heh).

Howdy, Stranger!

Forums

Looftlighter Died but Looftlighter USA Made it Right

Comments