Buyng a new woodstove

[oosik]

We had a Lopi and it was a great stove. Used fans to circulate warm air throughout the entire house.

 

[sd455dan]

We have heated with a Lopi Endeavor in the living room of our mostly open floor plan 1875 sq foot ranch-style log home since 1994, and it is both efficient and fast heating.

We can get a 20-30 degree increase in ambient room temp in the living room within about an hour or so of lighting it, and except for the really cold (below the 10 degree F mark ) days, we basically light a fire in the evening, let it burn mostly down, and restoke just before going to sleep so the heat in the house will glide down through to the AM.

We also have a gas hot air furnace, but hate the swings in temperature which seem to be associated with using it.

The guy who built the house put the LR main air return for the furnace in the top of the living room wall almost opposite the wood stove, and made sure that there was a recirculate function on the thermostat, so if we turn it on, the heat gets cycled through into the bedrooms and kitchen even with the doors shut, but in practice, we never use it, because it gets too hot in the bedrooms.

Instead, we leave the bedroom door open ( it's just the two of us now) and have a little room balancing fan in the upper corner of the doorway for the really cold nights.

We love the Lopi stove, and the only maintenance it has required, beyond cleaning it out and cleaning the door glass from time to time, is that every 5 years or so, we have to replace the fiberglass rope door gasket, which is easy peasy.

As I/we are gettin a little long in the tooth and decrepit in body, we will likely be exchanging (removing and selling) the Lopi in favor of a coal stove, because we're spoiled by the type of steady bone deep heat we have gotten used to with the 20+ years of using the Lopi, but want to not have to deal with cutting, splitting, storing, and moving firewood, otherwise, I'm sure it would keep providing the same reliable service long after we're dead and cremated.

The only moving parts beside the door and latch is the sliding air damper and diverter for the secondary burning air both of which are of cast iron and never need replacement.

Oops, that reminded me that we have had to replace the secondary burn tubes (there are 3 of them in the top inside of the stove) which are black iron pipes with small holes drilled along them to provide extra O2 for burning the hot gases and reducing the output of greenhouse gases and creosote.

I'm cheap and have some metal workin tools and experience, so I have made my own replacement pipes, but there are some stainless steel ones available on EBay for around $75 for the set of three, and they would likely never need replacement.

I have never used a catalytic stove, but we have friends who have (the guy who built and sold us our house is one), who have and did not care for how finicky they can be and how expensive replacing the catalytic converter became, and not that awfully long after they bought it (about 10 yrs afterwards)- they have told us many times how much they miss their little (now our) Lopi.

That is my experience with the Lopi, which I would not trade for anything except a full-on built on site masonry stove.

It may come down to what the stove is used for-
although we have forced air electric for back up, our primary heat is wood stove.
The dealer we bought the Blaze King from (our second) also sells Lopi and while a good stove is Not in the same class for extracting BTUs and Long burn times- his statement.
The Lopi non catalytics are not capable of over 80 % burn efficiency Or 30 -40 hour burn times- Blaze Kings are, but they are not an inexpensive stove, so if cost is a major concern then the Lopi non cat may be a better choice.


Comparing efficiency can be done here

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2013-08/documents/certifiedwood.pdf

5 of 8 of the most efficient wood stoves sold in North America are manufactured by Blaze King

I stand corrected; Lopi is made by Travis Industries and has 3 of the top 8 spots on the efficiency list right up there with Blaze king but must be a catalytic model to compete also.

 

[motownbrowne]

Blaze Kings are very nice stoves. I don't know if they make one small enough for this application, though.

We heat our small cabin with a Moral 1410 Squirrel stove. I'm very pleased with it, but it does take tiny firewood. Optimal length is about 10-11".

 

[TnAndy]

I
I stand corrected; Lopi is made by Travis Industries and has 3 of the top 8 spots on the efficiency list right up there with Blaze king but must be a catalytic model to compete also.

Not necessarily.....lot of newer stoves use the gasifier technology instead of catalytic converters. They mount a row of stainless steel tubes in the top of the stove and force the burning smoke/gases thru those tubes to re-burn. They get efficiency ratings as high as, or higher, than the catalytic models without having something to replace (the converter).

We've use a Regency (Canadian Co) 'hearth heater' model that uses this technology, and had it about 5 years now. I'm thoroughly impressed with it....nearly nothing in the way of emissions, 3-4 cords of wood thru it a year, and the clean out from the SS liner will fit in 1/2 a #10 can. Less wood, more heat...low emissions, what's not to like ?

H21 Wood Insert - Wood Fireplace Inserts - Regency Fireplace Products

 

[Zerk]

I have a Drolet, made in Canada . Haven't had it long enough to say, but it is a metal box that contains a fire. my criteria was I didn't want Chinese stove.

I can keep my place warm when it is below zero. I don't use the blower, kind of noisey.

 

[PILOON]

Thanks to this discussion I bought (tonight) a nice brass framed glass door slow combustion (good recognized brand) for a mere $300 that is pristine.
Came with a screen if I want to use as an open fireplace as well.
I actually only want it for power failures which occur just too often in my area.\
I also have an 7000 watt genny but after 6-8 hrs of power outage the house gets a bit cool when its -30 or -40 out there.

 

[FTG-05]

The Englander Stove Works 30-NC is on sale at the Durango HD for $519 plus $99 shipping. One heck of a deal on a very reputable and excellent wood stove. FYI, Englander 3NC on sale $519 | Firewood Hoarders Club

I've had one in operation since Nov. 2014, one of the best things I ever did for my home.

 

[sd455dan]

Not necessarily.....lot of newer stoves use the gasifier technology instead of catalytic converters. They mount a row of stainless steel tubes in the top of the stove and force the burning smoke/gases thru those tubes to re-burn. They get efficiency ratings as high as, or higher, than the catalytic models without having something to replace (the converter).

We've use a Regency (Canadian Co) 'hearth heater' model that uses this technology, and had it about 5 years now. I'm thoroughly impressed with it....nearly nothing in the way of emissions, 3-4 cords of wood thru it a year, and the clean out from the SS liner will fit in 1/2 a #10 can. Less wood, more heat...low emissions, what's not to like ?

H21 Wood Insert - Wood Fireplace Inserts - Regency Fireplace Products

None of the non catalyst stoves are in the 80% and above certified (actual) efficiencies.

Burn times for dry wood in a cat Blaze Princess is up to 30 hours, and up to 40 hours on the King stoves. Have not heard of any gassifier non cat stoves that are even close??
This was a deciding factor for me and the fact that our previous homes Princess is still going strong all these years later.

 

[motownbrowne]

None of the non catalyst stoves are in the 80% and above certified (actual) efficiencies.

Burn times for dry wood in a cat Blaze Princess is up to 30 hours, and up to 40 hours on the King stoves. Have not heard of any gassifier non cat stoves that are even close??
This was a deciding factor for me and the fact that our previous homes Princess is still going strong all these years later.

I've lived with a BK Princess model before and that sure was a nice feature. Only had to add wood about once a day. It was very easy to regulate the temperature in the house by adjusting the setting on the stove.

I think we only let that fire go out once or twice over 4 months.

 

[Zerk]

(good recognized brand) .

Why so secretive?

I promise I will not scour the receipts and figure out who your real life persona is.