New Englander 17 vl up and running--beautifully

After 6 frustrating years of trying to get my Jotul 3 to burn effectively with little success-even with all kinds of valuable advice from this site, I began to look for another stove. The Englander had caught my eye right away for reasons of look, footprint/clearances, the positive comments on this site about the stove, and the fact that one of its own was involved in its development. Once I got the wife go ahead I made the move. Jotul out-Englander in.
In fairness to Jotul and a relief for me we discovered that an improper install of the Jotul might have been the culprit. The installer did not use the included top flue collar adaptor, merely used a crimped end to insert it, never attached it to the stove and it later rode all the way up into the slip connector that had been placed over it.

That, however, is water now finally under the bridge and my new Englander is better even than advertised. All the talk about burn cycles, properly seasoned wood, radiant and convection now make sense in a stove that is functioning even beyond expectations---with easily accessible and responsive tech support from Englander as a bonus. I’m burning it in April just because I want to and with each burn I learn more about not only the basics of burning a modern stove but the nuances as well. The efficiency is remarkable and the blower makes this thing a blast furnace. I’m back to enjoying wood burning again. Thanks for all the helpful advice here in helping me get to this point. I’m probably the only guy around who wishes it were November and not April.

It takes a while to get going, and I think there's a learning curve in that. Once it's cranked up it seems to cruise effortlessly at @550 and stay there even as the half full firebox burns down. I haven't really let it go yet since it's about 70 degrees outside and I'm still getting to know this stove and my wife has only so much patience. But his thing is not just some bonfire in a box, it clearly has its way of burning. The manual talks about charring before achieving a good burn and it's true. You can see the efficiency of the burn right before your eyes. Better than TV. I'll try to upload some pix if I can figure it out.

Old stove- pretty face New stove-pretty hot






First charred burn after breakin Better than TV



I would not describe the blower as whisper quiet, more like all business. But it moves some serious hot air especially if you're looking for curculation. My old stove could not turn corners this blower does that. It's strictly a manual contol, off/low/high, but it's easily accessable at the cooler rear of the stove and if you want it you turn it on, when you've had enough turn it off, not something you'd leave on overnight.





I hope this pix upload works.

I think you're right. I've also found it won't even deal with poorly seasoned wood. With former stoves I could throw an unseasoned piece in among seasoned pieces and it would burn OK. In this stove an unseasoned piece just sits there. It's like the stove won't even acknowlege the wood's existance. On this site many times I've seen posts about the importance of properly seasoned wood. It is absolutely true with this stove, but with a properly seasoned split it looks like it's sucking every possible BTU out of each piece.

I agree. I haven't had an opportunity to try an all night burn, but I think it would be tough. And especially because it has a slow and rather long start up time, I could see how having to literally start cold each morning could get old and the need to have plenty of kindling around. Fortunately my wife stays up late and I get up early. That might be our best strategy.
My home is modestly sized and pretty-well insulated. It's our goal to heat 24/7 and we don't have the temp extremes down our way that you folks experience, so we'll see. Haven't you seen where the Washington DC gov't shuts down with an inch of snow. They're not exactly mountain men down this way.

I haven't done too many start ups yet, but I can tell there's a learning curve. I'll try that approach next start up which looks like it might be this weekend. Thanks.
I'm suprised, although I've only had 5-6 burns, how long the stove stays at a cruising temp without falling off. I'll walk over, look at the wood burning down, get ready to put in a piece, look at the thermometer- placed as you said- and see that's it's still burning a 450-500 or so, and it stays that way for a while. I'm hoping my wood consumption might go down with this stove as well.
MM, your posts on this site helped me decide on this stove.