Avalon - lopi hybrid

[Highlander0321]

Hi
I'm new to the forum and want anyone's opinion on the Avalon or lopi hybrid wood inserts.
My lopi freedom bay finally gave in with several cracks in the rear insert after 17 seasons. I'm looking at purchasing either an Avalon or lopi hybrid large flush wood insert but cannot find any reviews on either. My home is about 3,900 sq/FT and I generally go through about 5+ cords of wood.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Highlander0321

 

[begreen]

Lopi/Avalon/FPX are all Travis brands. Search on Hybrid Fyre. There are some various reports on the Large Hybrid insert sometimes under the FPX label like this:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/finally-got-my-new-hybrid-fyre-insert-installed.121981/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/advice-on-using-the-cat-in-my-lopi-insert-properly.138883
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hd-insert-recommendations-please.135581/
www.hearth.com/talk/threads/avalon-large-hybrid-insert.130128/

And welcome to hearth.com!

 

[Grisu]

Since it is a flush insert you will likely get less radiant heat from the Hybrid Fyre. Take also a look at the firebox shape. AFAIK, it is angled making it difficult to load it full. You may get less wood in there than with the Freedom. How well was that doing in heating your 3500 sqft?

 

[Highlander0321]

Since it is a flush insert you will likely get less radiant heat from the Hybrid Fyre. Take also a look at the firebox shape. AFAIK, it is angled making it difficult to load it full. You may get less wood in there than with the Freedom. How well was that doing in heating your 3500 sqft?

It did a pretty good job at first but over the last several years the length of burn time has constantly dropped. I use oil heat as a backup and didn't use the 300 gallon tank in a season, last winter i used it plus.

 

[begreen]

Modern stoves have a balanced air flow optimized for the best burn. If the stove or the burn tubes developed cracks these changes can disrupt the airflow pattern and that will affect the burn time.

The older Lopis used steel burn tubes that failed after 5-10 years. When these failed burn times were lousy. Now they use stainless burn tubes. Where did your stove develop cracks?

 

[Highlander0321]

Modern stoves have a balanced air flow optimized for the best burn. If the stove or the burn tubes developed cracks these changes can disrupt the airflow pattern and that will affect the burn time.

The older Lopis used steel burn tubes that failed after 5-10 years. When these failed burn times were lousy. Now they use stainless burn tubes. Where did your stove develop cracks?

The cracks are all centered at the rear of the insert, very close together. Based upon the help I got on the forum going into the threads we think we will be ordering the Avalon large flush hybrid tomorrow .