Too Many Choices!! Opinions please!!!

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cwill

cwill

Member
Oct 13, 2010
182
W. MI
looked at the following stoves.

PE super 27
Regency F2400
Napoleon 1400 & 1450
Timberwolf 2200
Quad 3100
Lopi republic 1750
Avalon rainier

after a full day of getting specs and prices on all of these stoves there all starting to look the same. i need some input from the owners of the above stoves please. good or bad. the prices are close on all but the timberwolf (lowest) and the Pe super (highest). Is the PE worth the extra $$$ and is it because of the stainless baffle. what makes that good? i feel like i need a dartboard to decide.

BTW 1100sqft 2bd ranch open plan. stove will be alcove installed.
also yes im using the search to find out as much as possible about these but figured this would be a better direct approach. Thanks
 
Funny, the two stoves I've ever had aren't even on your list, kinda surprized. Did you look at Jotul and VC at all?
 
Are you interested in a pedestal stove or the ones on legs? Those all do look pretty similar, I guess some have step tops when others don't, and some have door color options etc.

The Jotuls do look pretty fabulous in alcove installs. But sounds like you are looking more at getting the most bang for your buck from the stoves on your list, rather than going by looks, and just want to know the advantages?

I don't know the rest of those stoves but have heard good things about almost all of them. My insert is the same as the LOpi on your list except that stove doesn't have the bypass damper. That stove is basically the same as the endeavor otherwise though and there's a lot of folks here who love that stove.
 
jotul's not our style and VC's haven't heard anythng real good about them and there not really our style either.
 
tickbitty said:
Are you interested in a pedestal stove or the ones on legs? Those all do look pretty similar, I guess some have step tops when others don't, and some have door color options etc.

The Jotuls do look pretty fabulous in alcove installs. But sounds like you are looking more at getting the most bang for your buck from the stoves on your list, rather than going by looks, and just want to know the advantages?

I don't know the rest of those stoves but have heard good things about almost all of them. My insert is the same as the LOpi on your list except that stove doesn't have the bypass damper. That stove is basically the same as the endeavor otherwise though and there's a lot of folks here who love that stove.
Click to expand...

all are available with legs or pedestal. small price difference between the two. we like the look of all black.
 
Time to stop gathering specs and go look at some stoves. You will start to see little differences. And what you do and don't like about them. And get a chance to meet the dealer's and exercise your "Spidey sense".
 
we have been to five shops and looked at each one. we have narrowed it down to the ones i listed in the first post.
 
funny, they really do look a lot alike! Except maybe the Avalon. The Quad is pretty photogenic...
 
They're all good stoves, can you arrow that list of 7 down to your top 3 choices.
 
tickbitty said:
funny, they really do look a lot alike! Except maybe the Avalon. The Quad is pretty photogenic...
Click to expand...

yup right now they all look black and have a door. LOL!!! anyone with opinions on these please chime in.
 
As per the "What stove to buy" sticky note at the top of the forum page, the opinions you are going to get will come from people that own one of the particular stoves. And you aren't gonna find many people that will dis their stove. And if they are dissing somebody else's stove it is unsubstantiated opinion not based on experience.

They are all good wood stoves. They ain't gonna split down the middle with a fire in them in the middle of the night. And they all pretty much operate the same way. Put in some wood, light it and get warm. The higher the cost the more little things you get. For example there are more replaceable parts in the PE stove than the cheaper ones and the steel is a little thicker.
 
BeGreen said:
They're all good stoves, can you arrow that list of 7 down to your top 3 choices.
Click to expand...

PE Super 27
lopi republic 1750
napoleon 1400

i guess what im looking for is what makes the pe better than the napoleon. i like the pe for the n/s loading.
 
cwill said:
i guess what im looking for is what makes the pe better than the napoleon. i like the pe for the n/s loading.
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Stainless baffle. Replaceable baffle rails. Thicker steel. N/S loading. Owners that seem like they would keep loving them if they melted into a puddle on the hearth.
 
dedicated owners is a good thing in my book. there is a $200 diff in price so it sounds like its worth the extra $$ for the thicker steel and n/s loading to me
 
cwill said:
dedicated owners is a good thing in my book. there is a $200 diff in price so it sounds like its worth the extra $$ for the thicker steel and n/s loading to me
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Go for it. Then you can be one of those PE braggers here on hearth.com. :lol:
 
That's better. The PE and Lopi are perhaps a bit stouter in the baffle, but all of these stoves have loyal followers. There is one ex-1400 owner here that did not like the blowers being in the back of the stove. It made them hard to clean. Get the one that you like the best or from the dealer that you feel is the best fit for you.
 
Hmmm... All of those stoves have the blowers in the back.

Even the best wood stove made has it in the back. And it ain't on the list. :smirk:
 

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(opening a BIG can of worms here) Whats the best stove made?
 
BeGreen said:
Are you sure? I thought the PE blower is mounted in the side opening. And the Lopi 1750 blower is front mounted.

http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/hosummitblower.htm
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Looks to me like all of the ones he listed are free standing, not inserts. Could be wrong. Old and feeble minded you see. Old. Feeble. Late. Probably half drunk. The last half. :lol:
 
cwill said:
(opening a BIG can of worms here) Whats the best stove made?
Click to expand...

Masonry heaters. Weigh over three thousand pounds. You build the house around them.
 
Howdy all. Brand new on this site. We owned a Jotul F100 but it was just too small for our needs. Spent weeks doing research, seeing what options were available until a pattern started setting in. I thought about what I didn't like about the F100 and how to avoid those (few) problems. What I came up with was, I wanted a big glass view, and really liked the idea of having a side load option and just had to have an ash pan! The F100 doesn't. :sick:
If burning all day, we had to let the fire burn down in the afternoon/early evening to clean out the ash for the fire to burn well the rest of the evening. Then it seemed every time we opened that front door we had ash all over the place. Nope. Had to have an ash pan.

Once I had the features I wanted, the choices narrowed dramatically. We settled on the Jotul "Oslo" F500. Fire capacity more to our liking/needs, big front glass, ash pan, and a side loading door.

I'll express an opinion about how well we like the stove (or don't) a few months hence.
 
PE and Lopi both have loyal owners here. I have noticed really good comments regarding Lopi warranty/customer service issues.

For what it's worth (I consider them both pluses), the Lopi is made in America, and it appears to weigh in at 75 pounds over the PE (=20% more)? Not that price per pound is how to buy a stove, but more mass may mean a bit longer to hold max heat, although a bit slower to release it.
 
branchburner said:
Lopi is made in America, and it appears to weigh in at 75 pounds over the PE (=20% more)? Not that price per pound is how to buy a stove, but more mass may mean a bit longer to hold max heat, although a bit slower to release it.
Click to expand...

I believe this is because PE uses insulating firebrick, which is lighter in weight.
 
Both the lopi and PE are built for armageddon...can't go wrong. Does the republic use tubes? I really like the baffle system in the PE.
 
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