Upgrade from Buck 2700 to Lopi Freedom

First post for me. This will be my third season burning but first with new EPA stove insert. Just found this outstanding forum, too . . . and can't stop reading stuff.

Just upgraded from old Buck 2700 w/ galvanized 8" ductwork flue, to Lopi Freedom w/ 6" Flex King Pro liner kit. As you can see from the pics, it isn't installed yet . . . just kind of sittin' there waiting on the liner to come for a weekend install just before the cold arrives in Atlanta some time in the next week or so.

I picked the Lopi Freedom insert up off craigslist for $500 including blower and surrounds . . . did I do alright at that price? The insert was manufactured in February 2001 and is in great condition.

It came with about 3' of SS HeatFab oval flex and some other SS flue adaptors that I won't be able to use. Anyone in the Atlanta area can have the extra SS parts if you need them.

With the old Buck insert I think I burned about 2 cords of wood the first year before running out in late January. Last year (year 2 with Buck) I burned about 2 cords but made it until late February/early March before running out. With the climate in Atlanta, I only really need to burn from late October until late March.

How much improvement could I expect from my new, used insert? How much do you other Lopi Freedom folks burn in a season? I am really looking forward to cranking this thing up and actually seeing the flames.

Got everything vital installed this weekend. Any suggestions from the experienced wood burners?

I installed the Flex King Pro liner kit attached to a Lopi Freedom insert. Went fairly easy . . . but still took a couple of hours. First, to construct a block plate I laid a piece of card board over the existing damper opening (with obstructions already cut away), and spray painted the border so that it could be traced onto a scrap piece of concrete tile backer board. Then I cut out the backer board to fit the opening and removed enough material to allow the pipe to fit snuggly through the block plate. With the block plate in place it was insulation time. There were two small gaps between the block plate and back of the pipe, so I stuffed maybe 3 handfuls of fiberglass insulation to keep the rest of the insulation from falling out of the chimney before it had a chance to cure. I went with a 3 part Perlite, 3 part Vermiculite & 1 part Portland Cement mixture, wet it enough to be damp but still loose and poured it down the chimney around the liner. I used the cement mixture until I had used the complete 47 lb. bag of cement, which covered the entire block plate, about 1' of liner pipe & filled most of the smoke chamber. For the rest of the chimney I poured a 50/50 mix of loose Perlite and Vermiculite while holding the liner as centered as I could. Once full, all that was left was some silicone sealer and a few self tapping screws. It took me about 6 cubic feet of both Perlite and Vermiculite and one 47# bag of Portland Cement. I used about $65 worth of materials and had about $20 worth of Perlite and Vermiculite left over . . . so a total cost of $85 to insulate.

I wish the Flex King Pro was a little more flexible, but was otherwise very satisfied with the quality of the product. Not to mention the fact that I ordered it Wednesday and it arrived Friday . . . plus their customer service was superb at chimneylinerdepot.com.

Now time to work on next year's wood pile.

Definitely next year's supply. I'm a little short to make it all the way through this season, but next year I will be fine.