looking to purchase a woodstove - too many choices

Random thoughts . . .

First off . . . welcome to the forum. . . . If you're looking for answers and thoughts on wood burning you've come to the right place. Since you've narrowed down your choices I suspect you should get more stove owners who have these stoves telling you the pros- and cons- of these stoves . . . but as mentioned you can also check out the stove ratings section here as well.

All the stove companies you have listed have pretty solid reputations here and none of them would be what I call junk. I would only have one reservation with one company . . . but to be frank . . . as time moves on and this company remains stable and their product line up continues to improve I would say that my opinion is changing slowly as well.

I also don't like it when folks say competitor's products are junk and just degrade the competition . . . sell me on why your product is good and better, not that the competitor just has junk . . . and be honest . . . I would be more likely to buy from a place that tells me about their product and admits other competitors also have decent product as well.

I think you cannot really go wrong with the three "finalists" -- the Napoleon should be one of the cheapest of your options and it has a good reputation . . . a lot of folks here really like the PEs and Lopis.

I wouldn't worry too much about the ash pan. I like the ash pan with my stove . . . but other folks say they quickly get used to no ash pan or have ash pans with their particular models that are not all that useful.

+1 to Brother Bart's advice . . . I think most of us are a bit partial to whatever brand we bought . . . after all we don't want to say we bought our second or third choice in most cases . . . truth is . . . most all are good . . . and what one person thinks is the best stove for them may not be the best for another . . .

+1 to SnowLeopard's comments . . . well written.

Good luck . . . and stick around . . . we're into stove pornography here and love seeing pics of new stoves on new hearths. It just makes our hearts go all a-twitter and pitter-patter.

SnowLeopard summed up the deciding process very well. If you use that as your protocol you should do well with your decision and not be disappointed.

I am new to wood burning in modern stoves and recently just went thru similar stuff as you looking for one. I was considering the super 27 but I think if I remember right the clearances were not tight enough for my alcove install. Looked like a good stove. Looked at alot of others. Blazeking looked good but same situation. Ended up narrowing it down to the napoleans and lennox (country). Went with the advice on size from members here and decided on the country ss210. Very similar to its counterparts in the napoleans but it was a little cheaper with the discount and all and most of all the female gave more approval to the country.

Just working on the burn in phase and must say I am really liking the stove. No issues so far.

pitchpost said:

Wow! Thanks for all info!! This is great! - I think what I'm considering at this point is the Lopi Endeavor, The Napoleon 1400 or The PE super 27.

I forgot to mention in the opposite side of the home we have an 1980 vintage Buck Stove that has worked well all these years. sounds like the newer more efficient stoves really require well seasoned wood to operate effectively

I'm very much looking forward to getting back in the wood burning world. By that I mean this as been a cabin in the family for years & soon to be our main home.

KE

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Lopi currently has the following accessory sale.

WOOD BURNING STOVES AND INSERTS
Get A Free Blower.
Flush Wood and Flush Wood Plus gets Free Panel Set.

All are very good stoves you are looking at. I visited an Uncle of mine this past summer who had a Lopi Endevour (sp?) and I thought it was a nice looking stove.

I would recommend a catalyist combustor type stove to give you a wide range of burning temperatures, extended burn times and low clean burns.

When looking at your hearth, one thing to consider about the Lopi (or any other stove with front doors and deep firebox depth) is it is longer than wide. Don't know how that would square with your hearth when you consider the 16 or 18 inches required in front of the stove door.

I think any Woodstock stove would look great, one of Jotul Oslo woodstoves with an enamel finish, perhaps a VC Encore (note VC has had some black days, but may be on the mend) or a PE Alderlea T4 or T5 stove. The Woodstocks and VC stove are cat stoves.

The above stoves may be budget busters, but Woodstock is having a heck of a sale right now that may help.

Good luck,
Bill

Before making a decision on a stove / insert I visited with the oldest stove / insert retailer in town. I avoided the 'superstore' because I felt like the smaller business had been around for a long time and had the experience with older architecture like mine. Their primary products are Travis Industries but he also sells Moroso and he's sold Drolet years ago as well as others. He also has a pretty generous number of examples although he doesn't have everything. For the most part he's located in a rather well off area of town and I think he caters to that crowd for the most part through sales, service and chimney cleaning as well.

I was most interested in products that he sold because it made it easier to get spare parts and in my case obtain a blower for my Olympic. I followed his advice and used his quotes for guidance on products but in the end I found the stuff I needed by hunting and by the guidance found here on this website. In all I think I accomplished my project for about half of what it would have cost me going with the retailer, maybe more....which is important for me because of budget. I've already overspent this year!

At any rate, there are lots of great options out there but I would caution you about buying some obscure model that may be hard to acquire spares or replacement parts for or has very poor representation in your area. In some cases it won't matter, the products have been around for quite a while, but for some this won't be the case.

Oh, and yes, brand X is junk...haha.

steve

pitchpost said:

OK - I'm now readjusting my plan. had some other expenses arrive & need to adjust the budget a bit on the new or used wood burner change out. I've needed to shrink my budget for this project at this time & look at a possible good used stove or perhaps an englander model ( as there is a local dealer ). So my question is, what are the good / bad of the englander line of stoves? and if I were to search a bit for a good used stove what should I look for?? _ Thanks for all the previous responses - I've been totally impressed with the help so far. Really digging the forum.

KE

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The good/bad of Englander? Well, some folks don't care for the looks. Apart from that, they are good stoves with good customer service.

What is your new budget for a used stove and where are you located?

I got Pacific Super 27 and all I can say is WOW Finally total control over burning Built great, Burns great, and the Baffle won't give you any problems it's 304 Stainless and weight over 25 lbs.

pitchpost said:

BrowningBAR said:

pitchpost said:

OK - I'm now readjusting my plan. had some other expenses arrive & need to adjust the budget a bit on the new or used wood burner change out. I've needed to shrink my budget for this project at this time & look at a possible good used stove or perhaps an englander model ( as there is a local dealer ). So my question is, what are the good / bad of the englander line of stoves? and if I were to search a bit for a good used stove what should I look for?? _ Thanks for all the previous responses - I've been totally impressed with the help so far. Really digging the forum.

KE

Click to expand...

The good/bad of Englander? Well, some folks don't care for the looks. Apart from that, they are good stoves with good customer service.

What is your new budget for a used stove and where are you located?

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Well, I sure like to stay in the $1500 range, I know that may be crazy talk but that is a target zone. Thought I'd order stove pipe on line ( any suggestions on brand, type, dealer ?? ) and do the install myself.
We're located in The Black Hills Dakota Territory, soon to be Dead Hills! - thanks to inept Forest Service policies, unreasonable narrow mined environmental groups resulting in mountain pine beetles thriving & flourishing! - Excuse me I'm getting off off on a tangent. I guess there is going to plenty of firewood available.

KE

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Is that $1500 with liner? If so, how much is the budget for the stove alone.

I agree with the people here eho're sayin gthe ashpan isn't a big deal... however, if you really like the Lopi Endeavor, but also really want an ashpan, you could check out their sister company's (Avalon) Ranier or Olympic models, as they both have an optional pedastal w/ ashpan. Or, for something a bit fancier, the Lopi Leyden/Avalon Arbor come with ashpans, although the fancier looks come with a bit higher price, & I've heard about some people having issues with it's rear-exit draft. On the other hand, if you like the Endeavor, but want something a bit cheaper, the Lopi Republic-1750/Avalon Spokane-1750 are the same stove as the Endeavor, but in a more basic/"econo" shell.

BrowningBAR said:

KE


The good/bad of Englander? Well, some folks don't care for the looks.

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Still better looking than a Blaze King!

You described what my wife and I were going through before we bought our first Super 27. We spent a lot of time comparing stoves online and looked at several of the stoves you listed. We also visited several stove shops. After reading posts from many Hearth.com members, I'm convinced that there are many quality stoves. For me, I like the look of the pedistal which narrowed our search. I also like the trap door for ashes and the ash pan. I like that the Pacific Energy baffle is stainless steel and guaranteed for life. I didn't want to risk damaging the baffle on a stove that has the tubes at the top of the fire box. I don't know how much better my stove is compared to a $500 stove but I can tell you that we are very happy with our purchase and our home has never been warmer.

Englanders have a pretty solid reputation here as plain Jane woodstoves . . . that can really throw the heat and offer top notch customer service. If I was on a budget and needed a woodstove, an Englander would be on my short list.

and they aint that ugly,compared to that other freak show

Pacific Energy also makes the True North--a basic box stove available with either legs or a pedestal. About $1,000 as I recall. The PE web site says it has a "stainless steel secondary combustion system" but whether that means the traditional PE stainless steel baffle, I don't know.

http://www.pacificenergy.net/truenorth/tn19.php