Wood Stove Help, Which One Is Good One?

[smith2bj]

I am looking a Avalon Olympic,  a Lopi Liberty, a Lopi Leyden and a Dutchwest  Cast Large.  All are nice fire places each running about $2,000.00 and heating about 2,400  square feet.  The Dutchwest has a 63% effciency rating but has a up to 14 hour burn time.  While the Avalon Olympic and Lopi Liberty have a 76-77% efficiency rating and heat 2,500 square feet.
I need to hear some imput from you guys.

[Raider Bill]

I have no comment on those stoves but I will say do not buy a englander wood stove. Poor design and workmanship and their customer service is terrible.

I bought one, will make a nice fish habitat is about all it's good for.

[smith2bj]

Did I post this on the right board.

[Warbird]

Yes you did but a lot of folks work during the day.  I will research the listed stoves later today and give you my opinion.

I did a bunch of similar research 4 years ago and ended up purchasing a Blaze King.  It has an efficiency rating in the mid-80's when properly tuned.  Being a large black hunk of iron, it ain't that purdy, but it heats our 1800 sq feet very well.

[Ironwood]

I have never heard of those, but I do love our Vermont Casting Defiant. Similar price (I think ) and heat ability.

        Ironwood

[Warbird]

I read up a bit on each of the stoves listed.  One of the things I would check on is how they are coming up with these efficiency numbers.  It could be that the Dutchwest is using a different scale or methodology.

A question to ask yourself and some vendors about is do you want catalytic or not?  What kind of wood will you be burning?  If you will be burning 'dirty' wood (oil covered or other contaminants) then you do NOT want to a catalyst.  Personally, I love having a catalyst because once it is heated up, I reclaim a lot of that heat into my home.

I think each of these are good stoves but a lot of the brochures are "market speak".  I advise that you figure out how they came up with the efficiency numbers, what the efficiency is if you don't pipe in outside air, and how they determine how many square feet it will actually heat.

Oh, one final thing:  Definitely get a kit and pipe in outside air to whatever wood stove you get.  If a particular stove doesn't have that capability, then I would pass on it.  Piping in outside air directly to the stove, to be used for combustion air, keeps the stove from creating a negative pressure inside your home.  Not having outside air piped to the stove can dramatically reduce your efficiency.

[eamassey]

I have had the same wood stove for 30 years now.  I have not spent one dime for repairs on the stove-or flue system, but I have replaced the pipes from the stove to the ceiling several times. I use an "Ashley" brand circulating heater.  I have a second Ashley heater in a partial basement on the far end of a long house.  I rarely fire that one up any more, but I used to run it all winter when we had three kids in the house.  I have a third Ashley heater in my shop--- which I likely don't run more than about 12-15 days a year.   These things are not as pretty as some.  But supremely practical. 

I do burn mostly green wood.  It does not bother me to cut it today and burn it tonight.  I have never had any trouble with buildup in the chimney itself, but about twice a winter, I have to clean up the "cap" -- which is un-insulated aluminum.   I generally burn red oak, with small amounts of white oak and hikory (maybe I really call that last one a "hikker-nut tree). 

About the only way I could do better with wood heat is to build a new house, where I would specifically design it for the use of wood heat.

[mike_van]

If you haven't, I'd search those brands on google.com    Sometimes you'll find them [and others] discused by people that own or have owned them.

[Climber]

What ever you buy - buy made in USA. You always can get parts.

Jotul - not good. to fast burning, poor desigh.
Vermont custings - Exelent stove.
HearthStone - my favorite. Go for model Heritage or Mansfield. I got Heritage, love to exchange for manfsield. More BTU.

[Warbird]

If you go with a stone stove, be aware that they take a while to heat up.  A buddy of mine just got one and while they continue to radiate heat for a while after te fire has gone out, they take a while to start actually putting out the heat.

[SwampDonkey]

This is one of those questions that is about like asking which is the best chain saw to buy. ;D

It wouldn't do me any good to mention any brands since they would be different up here than down your way. I will mention one though, it's Enterprise. Every house in the country here had one. They were cook stoves mainly just for heating the kitchen area and rooms adjacent. They also sell to the US with dealers. But, that ain't gonna help ya much. You most likely never heard of it, nor many of the forum members. ;) Anyway, my uncle still uses his, it came with a water jacket to heat water on the end, it was also used to heat a hot water tank. It came with 2 electric burners, timer, light and oven temperature gauge. It's all of 50 years old now. My grandmother cooked over that stove every day when she and grandfather had a sporting outfit and weren't stuck in a camp someplace.

[Toolman]

I bought a Clayton Wood Stove made by US Stove Company in Tennesee. I have been really pleased with it. It heats up the 2300 sq ft. I have here. I've had it for two yrs. and is very efficient. Last year I burned 4 chords for the whole season vs. the 6 that I usually use. It's a wood burning furnace, not a radiant stove.

[RSteiner]

Two heatinf seasons ago I was looking for a replacement stove for a 20 year old Dutchwest that had served us well.  The only thing I didn't like about the stove was the catayltic element, it was shot after 3 years.

I looked at the Lopi Leyden and a Jotul, ended up with the Jotul and I am very pleased with the stove.  I find the burn time for a full stove of wood with the air intake damper set about 1/8 open to be around 8 hours.  At the end of that time the volume of wood in the stove is reduced to a nice bed of glowing coals a couple of inches deep.

The reason for not buying the Lopi was that the castings were made in China and at that time I did not want to buy China goods and it was the first year Lopi introduced that model stove. 

The key to good performance from any wood stove is to burn dry wood.  Hardwoods should be dried for 2 years in split form to be considered dry in my estimation. 

Randy

[SwampDonkey]

I figure when I can stick a handful of bark and a wad of newsprint in under it and the chunks of wood on top to burn, and have it snap and pop in a couple minutes and no sizzling, she's dry. Right now it feels mighty hot.  ;D :D

[Warbird]

Two heatinf seasons ago I was looking for a replacement stove for a 20 year old Dutchwest that had served us well.  The only thing I didn't like about the stove was the catayltic element, it was shot after 3 years.

Randy

Hey Randy.  That sucks.  We're going into our 5th year with this catalytic element.  I did a full tune up on the stove this summer.  Removed the catalyst, replaced the sealing material, etc.  Was real nervous handling the element, as I'd read horror stories of them cracking/crumbling but it went back in just fine.  Been working as good as new, since.

[RSteiner]

Warbird

Back when I purchased my stove the use of an after burning element to clean up the smoke emissions was a new thing.  The catalytic elements used today are probably a lot better than what they were 18 years ago.  My experience was about average back then.  An old friend installed a woodstove 8 or so years ago that has a catalytic element which is still performing fine. 

I think the trick to long life is to allow the element to reach the proper temperature before dumping all the smoke exhaust through it.  Being that you have 4+ years of service out of your element you are treating it right and should get at least that many more years and more out of it.

The Dutchwest stove I had was my first "air tight" stove an upgrade from an old Glenwood chunk stove.  There was a world of difference in how the two stoves operated, as soon I found out.  Burning well seasoned wood in the new stove made a huge difference, the old Glenwood leaked so much air that good dry wood didn't last long so I wasn't too concerned how dry my wood was, but now I am.

Randy

[logwalker]

I have had good luck with the Avalons in the past. With any stove I always got the models without the cat. Secondary burn design is the way to go. Joe

[Brucer]

Secondary burn design is the way to go. Joe

I agree with Joe.

I replaced my old Fisher stove with a Pacific Energy in 1998. The only thing I've had to "fix" is to replace the firebrick (last year). This stove has primary, secondary, and tertiary burn sections. Primary air inlets under the door feed the fire. Heated secondary air inlets on the top of the burn chamber burn off nearly all the smoke that rises off the burning wood (you can watch flames jetting down). Tertiary air inlets along one side of the chamber exit burn off anything that's left before the flue gases reach the chimney.

I use this stove to heat my house every day from October through May. I've cleaned the chimney exactly once (two years ago).

You might not want this particular brand, but you may want to take a close look at secondary burn designs as opposed to catalytic designs.

[smith2bj]

After doing some more research I have narrowed my search down to avalon, Lopi and a new one Napoleon.  Napoleon has the secondary burn chamber, has a life time warrenty on the stainless steal inner housing heats 1,500 to 3500 sp. ft. and is about 400 dollars less.  What your guys thought on these guys?

[bitternut]

I don't know of the Napoleon stoves but I do have personal experience with Lopi. I replaced my VC Intrepid with a Lopi Revere fireplace insert a couple of years ago. I have an older Heatilator masonry insert from the 1960's that I had both stoves installed in. The Intrepid had a catalyst that needed to be replaced every 4 or 5 years. Probably because the stove was a little on the small side for my use. The Lopi is a bigger stove with a huge glass door that stays clean and produces a longer burn. It is sized better for my use and I chose this model because it was one of the cleanest burning stoves I could find and did so without a catalyst ( 1.9 grams/hr ). It has lived up to my expectations completely and I would not hesitate to do it all over again.

Make sure that you buy a stove that is sized right for your particular situation, not too big and not too small. A stove has to burn hard enough to burn clean but not so hard that you are constantly over firing it. Good luck in your selection.