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.
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.