More Magnolia Review

I've got a week on the Mag now and felt like giving an additional review.
Overall for being one of the cheapest EPA stove on the market they did a pretty good job. Heat out put is phenomenal once temps reach 600 degrees stove top.
Secondary baffle produces spectacular cloud show that I'll bet is on par with the more expensive stoves. Airwash system is probably a perfection. After a week the glass is perfectly clear, absolutely amazing. Stove finish is very nice looking durable with a light texture that has so far remained with just the right gloss.
I had concerns about the firebox size but have been able to get more good sized splits in than I originally thought possible. Overall ( I must like to use this word) fab work and welds are as good as it gets (even for being made in China). Door opens and closes silky smooth under any temperature and maintains air tight seal.
For a steel stove with decent appearance and performance I would pay more to buy it made in USA.
Only real cons are the damper system. I called the company and they said no one has ever complained about not being able to damper down the stove enough. They also said the EPA is what makes them not allow complete shut off of the primary air. I also found out they test their stoves in Alabama. How the heck could you test a stove in Alabama? Minnesota yeh, not Alabama. So the whole damper thing is why I can't give any burn time results. I feel the potential is there to have good burn times but I'm unable to fill the stove till I get a way to limit temps.

balsabones said:

wkpoor, I made the a slot in the exsiting piece of sheetmetal, where the bolt from the damper rod attaches so now it is "adjustable",so I could adjust the position of the bolt and close it all the way down. Using a bigger washer, it covers the slot. I am fabricating another push/pull rod and piece of sheet metal to put over the secondary, (thanks for the info on just where to find that!).

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Let me know how this works out for you. I haven't done anything yet because is limited for me lately. I'm lucky I found enough time to get it installed while there was still enough cold weather to really test it out.

What alot of people dont undrstand about a heat pump is, after outside temps drop to 30 or below, it will run , continuioslly, non-stop.

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Thats true but it doesn't hurt a thing. 15yrs ago when we built our home I thought something was wrong with the heat pump because it won't shut off. Worried my bill would be high. Found out all was normal and electric bill wasn't hurt at all. I've been on wood 100% for our heat for 4yrs now but prior the heat pump was hardly noticeable on our bill. We still rarely see 100.00 electric bill with 4 persons in the house and electric hot water tank. Air in the summer only bumps it up about 25.00.

You descibed it to a tee. I'm planning on 2 things. 1, decomissioning the ole Mag in favor of a much larger Elm Stove (maybe as soon as next week) or 2, recomissioning at a later date and welding a small piece of stainless over the cutout so all of the primary air can be turned off.

While we are on this thread I would like to add some stuff. I'm nearly a month into this stove. Its pretty good overall. Not totally problem free but heck, seems people that spend far more aren't without a few issues either. The whole airwash glass thing it absolutely nailed. Clear glass always no matter what. Primary air regulation needs tweaking. Been much talk here about that. Secondaries aren't sheetmetal tubes like most stoves but seem to work as advertised with splendid fire show that comes on at exactly 400 degrees everytime. They aren't replaceable but are made from same thickness metal as stove so should last as long as the stove.
I'm running this stove real hard to heat my house. Not stoves fault, I'm just asking it to do more than it was intended. And for that reason burn times aren't that good unless you consider that coaling period burn. If that is the case then burn times are fantastic. I haven't used one single piece of kindling since I fired it up a month ago. Stove top will stay between 200 and 300 degrees in the coaling stage for longer than I know which is about 9hrs. So right now its a give and take. Some likes, some dislikes. I would love to know first hand how the Englander stacks up against it in my situation. One thing I already know I like about the Englander.... is where its made!