For fun, which is the better stove. Alderlea T4, Castine, Lopi Leyden

Bub381 · May 7, 2011

Kinda liked this Leyden and it's said you can build a smaller fire as long as it's hot enough.Thinking Castine is big enough but darned shallow firebox. 800 sq feet downstairs, would Leyden be too big in poorly insulated house here in Maine? Long burns are nice. Better burn time than Castine.Also what's this non cat cross draft sytem? No secondary's either i suppose?

certified106 · May 7, 2011

Hold just a minute while I go pop some popcorn and grab a cold one for this......should be fun.....haha

begreen · May 7, 2011

Go back over downdraft stove threads. You have a good stove, why the buyer's remorse?

Bub381 · May 7, 2011

Bored lol Just read about the Leyden and downdraft. Point taken,Thanks. Just like to ask.

Mt Ski Bum · May 7, 2011

The Leyden's a cool stove... I really liked it's smaller predecessor, the Sheffield- that stove was awesome looking... if Lopi brought back the Sheffield with a Leyden-sized firebox, it'd be almost perfect! Back on topic, I don't think the Leyden would be too big. With a poorly insulated house in a relatively cool climate, I'd say a medium-sized stove like it would do fine, &, like you mentioned, you can always build smaller fires in a larger stove to avoid cooking yourself out of the house

The secondary burn system on the Leyden/Arbor (the Leyden's cousin stove) is a bit different due to the presence of a top-loading door on it (can't load wood from the top if there were burn tubes going across the top!). I had a gal at our local Travis dealer explain it to me... the secondary air comes in through several little holes in the rear fire-bricks below the exhaust exit instead of through burn tubes, & then I also think more secondary burning somehow takes place after the smoke exits the firebox in a chamber behind the rear firebricks... maybe someone else here can explain it better

Bub381 · May 7, 2011

Down draft is a down side.Getting Casstine so was just wondering. Thanks.

ControlFreak · May 7, 2011

Bub381 said:
Down draft is a down side.Getting Casstine so was just wondering. Thanks.

Good thinking. A downdraft, or everburn stove is like a catalytic stove without the benefit of the catalyst. You get the worst of both worlds, no it's even worse. You're trying to light off a non-catalytic combustor toward the bottom of the firebox where temperatures tend to be cooler than at the top. You burn through a ton of your wood just to get the thing to light off, and then if things aren't just right, the combustor can go out. A common secondary combustion stove, while not having the benefit of a catalyst, at least has the secondary combustion happening at the top where heat is the greatest and the ingition happens easily.

Wood Heat Stoves · May 7, 2011

Even though the Jotul Castine is a good stove, I would vote for the LOPI Leyden. I like bigger fireboxes, as long as you know how to burn properly with smaller wood and smaller amount of wood to burn the stove hotter when you don't need as much heat. A poorly insulated house in Maine makes a big difference is sizing a stove. I also love my LOPI Liberty and would recommend LOPI stoves based on that.

Bub381 · May 8, 2011

Is it the slow starting to get a big bed of coals that people don't like the downdraft stoves like the Leyden and Alderlea?

certified106 · May 8, 2011

Bub381 said:
Is it the slow starting to get a big bed of coals that people don't like the downdraft stoves like the Leyden and Alderlea?

The PE Alderlea is not a downdraft stove.

Bub381 · May 8, 2011

Is the Harman Oakleaf?

begreen · May 8, 2011

Most of what we are calling downdraft stoves are actually side-draft. In an updraft stove, the burning wood gases travel in an upward path toward the flue exit. There are several variations on this theme, but that is the core design. The Avalon Arbor and it's sister stove, the Lopi Leyden are side-draft stoves. So are the non-cat versions of Dutchwest and some Vermont Castings stoves. In this case, the flue gases go down or sideways into a secondary combustion chamber, before eventually heading upward toward the flue outlet. The flue design is more critical for proper functioning of these stoves. They need a strong draft to pull the gases through the secondary burn chamber(s). When the draft is perfect, they can be decent burners. When it isn't, they can sometimes be hard to manage. One frequent problem with them is puffback from shutting the fire down too early, less than adequate draft or poor wood. Another complaint has been about the rapid degradation of the refractory materials used in some of these stoves. Because of the circuitous smoke path and mixed materials, they are more complex stoves that have more parts and need closer attention to cleaning of this secondary smoke path to keep at peak operating efficiency.

Download the Lopi Leyden brochure, located here:
http://www.lopistoves.com/TravisDocs/98800235.pdf

On pages 4 & 5 they have a nice set of diagrams showing the smoke path in a Leyden.

Bub381 · May 8, 2011

been there but thanks.

begreen · May 8, 2011

OK, there seemed to be some confusion in the post by grouping the Alderlea with the Arbor. They are functionally very different stoves. The Harman Oakwood is a side-draft stove.

Bub381 · May 8, 2011

Right, and the downdraft drafts straight down through the coal bed.Needing a good bed of coals to do it's reburn job.

branchburner · May 8, 2011

Bub381 said:
Is the Harman Oakleaf?

Yes, it is a smaller version of the downdraft/crossdraft Oakwood.

My stove is good for 24/7 deep-winter burning, not as good for periodic burning in milder weather. Downsides to the downdraft:
-trickier to operate and to regulate heat output
-highly sensitive to variations in draft and/or wood quality
-expensive refractory that degrades with time and needs periodic maintenance
-heat from secondary burn is concentrated in the rear of the stove, and at very high temps
-arguably less efficient than updraft and catalytic stoves

firefighterjake · May 9, 2011

Repeat after me . . . I Bub381, having come to Hearth.com to ask my well respected wood burning peers if the stove I was considering purchasing would efficiently, safely and heat my home this winter; and having given them all pertinent information on the size of the home, home layout and insulation in said home; and having solicited such advice went out and purchased one Jotul Castine woodstove from a reputable dealer . . . I will from henceforth realize that once I start burning in the Fall I will no doubt know that I made the right choice for myself and be content from here on in . . . although I will of course reserve the right to drool over soapstone stoves and may occasionally look at other woodstoves from time to time.

Fsappo · May 9, 2011

For fun I go fishing

Mt Ski Bum · May 9, 2011

firefighterjake said:
Repeat after me . . . I Bub381, having come to Hearth.com to ask my well respected wood burning peers if the stove I was considering purchasing would efficiently, safely and heat my home this winter; and having given them all pertinent information on the size of the home, home layout and insulation in said home; and having solicited such advice went out and purchased one Jotul Castine woodstove from a reputable dealer . . . I will from henceforth realize that once I start burning in the Fall I will no doubt know that I made the right choice for myself and be content from here on in . . . although I will of course reserve the right to drool over soapstone stoves and may occasionally look at other woodstoves from time to time.

:lol: lol!

summit · May 10, 2011

Think I met Bub381 here at the shop today. Way his woodburnin needs were laid out: he wanted a generous firebox, she wanted it to look nice, and both didn't want to overheat the house. The downdraft stoves require some extra maint and parts (he had a good grasp of the afterburn chambers and their composition) thus more friggin with down the road.... The sense i got is that they could probably heat the space with a smaller stove (and I include the Castine in the "smaller" category: the firebox is just laid out too shallow and irregular to stuff a proper load of wood into for overnight), but they both didn't want to spend every couple hours having to tote more wood into the fire on those cold jan/feb evenings... and it sounded like this would be a stove run 24/7 when the cold weather hits, despite any oil or gas fired units. I tried to point them towards a super27/spectrum/t5.. she liked the white one.

For fun, which is the better stove. Alderlea T4, Castine, Lopi Leyden

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Mooderator

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Feeling the Heat

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Mooderator

Minister of Fire

Mooderator

Attachments

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Minister of Fire

Similar threads