Hi All,
I am hooked. I bought my first wood stove last year - an older Lopi Answer A-2 for 250 bucks. I was so excited and thought it was going to be a breeze. Boy was I wrong. It took a year to get the stove up and running. The journey began when I bought it off an older lady that lived a few
miles down the road. My wife and I bought are first home in 2009. We live in Syracuse, NY and winters can get a little cold. We don't make all that much money so seeing those winter heating bills always made me cringe. I thought there has to be a better way to heat my home. I was sick of sitting in my family room with too many layers and blankets on. I came across this forum when I first bought my used Lopi. Thank you to all who have shared there knowledge on wood burning and safety - I have learned a lot-and still have plenty more to learn. The next step was to purchase a liner. I have a chimney that runs up through the middle of my house. I was concerned with what the chimney contacted inside my home so I wanted to take every safety measure. I bought a 6 inch 25ft SS flex liner with a 1/2 inch inulation blanket. I wrapped it and installed it myself. It busted my balls the whole way down because my flue is 7x11. I finally got it down. I then tried to hook the stove up but there was no way. I had to break out the smoke shelf in my fireplace and do some slight modifications to make it work. I then bought a 12 inch SS stove pipe and a 30 degree SS elbow to connect to my liner. I finally got that all connected. All the while I chopped my first 5 cords of wood over the summer. I then decided to replace the gasket on my door. This was a nightmare. I broke 11 of the 12 screws off that held down the glass. I attempted to drill them out myself but no luck I was just breaking bits. I brought the door to Plank road stove shop near Brewerton, NY. These guys are awesome. Very helpful and courteous. They are also willing to help teach you and they don't make you feel like an ass because you don't know much. After 6 hours of taping and drilling and a lot of cutting oil my door was like new. They tought me how to replace the glass gasket and door gasket. I brought the door home and replaced both gaskets. I put the door on and burned for the first time in my life yesterday for 9 hours. I constant checked wall temps - they were barely warm, flue temps 250-300. It was all worth it when my son crawled up next to me and said, "Daddy, I like your fire. It keeps me nice and warm." - I love that boy. So thank you to all you who post on the forum, you are allowing the uneducated to become educated.
I am hooked. I bought my first wood stove last year - an older Lopi Answer A-2 for 250 bucks. I was so excited and thought it was going to be a breeze. Boy was I wrong. It took a year to get the stove up and running. The journey began when I bought it off an older lady that lived a few
miles down the road. My wife and I bought are first home in 2009. We live in Syracuse, NY and winters can get a little cold. We don't make all that much money so seeing those winter heating bills always made me cringe. I thought there has to be a better way to heat my home. I was sick of sitting in my family room with too many layers and blankets on. I came across this forum when I first bought my used Lopi. Thank you to all who have shared there knowledge on wood burning and safety - I have learned a lot-and still have plenty more to learn. The next step was to purchase a liner. I have a chimney that runs up through the middle of my house. I was concerned with what the chimney contacted inside my home so I wanted to take every safety measure. I bought a 6 inch 25ft SS flex liner with a 1/2 inch inulation blanket. I wrapped it and installed it myself. It busted my balls the whole way down because my flue is 7x11. I finally got it down. I then tried to hook the stove up but there was no way. I had to break out the smoke shelf in my fireplace and do some slight modifications to make it work. I then bought a 12 inch SS stove pipe and a 30 degree SS elbow to connect to my liner. I finally got that all connected. All the while I chopped my first 5 cords of wood over the summer. I then decided to replace the gasket on my door. This was a nightmare. I broke 11 of the 12 screws off that held down the glass. I attempted to drill them out myself but no luck I was just breaking bits. I brought the door to Plank road stove shop near Brewerton, NY. These guys are awesome. Very helpful and courteous. They are also willing to help teach you and they don't make you feel like an ass because you don't know much. After 6 hours of taping and drilling and a lot of cutting oil my door was like new. They tought me how to replace the glass gasket and door gasket. I brought the door home and replaced both gaskets. I put the door on and burned for the first time in my life yesterday for 9 hours. I constant checked wall temps - they were barely warm, flue temps 250-300. It was all worth it when my son crawled up next to me and said, "Daddy, I like your fire. It keeps me nice and warm." - I love that boy. So thank you to all you who post on the forum, you are allowing the uneducated to become educated.
I hope the wisdom of wood heat now frees up funds to spend on the family and that you continue to enjoy your time together around the fire. . .your boy is clearly both smart and appreciative. I think that in some ways, it's better to grow up without too much $ to waste. 
(. . .and I don't mean this in a cliche' kind of way, even if the cliche' is true.)
