I wanted to post a little review of our Lopi Endeavor, as I know someone will find this useful in the future. I'll describe the stove, our setup, and the pros/cons below. Most of you will be more than familiar with the descriptions, but I wanted to write it from the standpoint of someone new who is searching and feeling a bit overwhelmed. We have used the Endeavor for one heating season. Though I grew up with wood heat all my life (I'm 32 now), this is my first year of using it in my own home.
Environment/Home
We purchased our Lopi Endeavor in November of 2008 for approximately $2,000. We live on the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee. Our winters are relatively mild, but we do dip into the teens and lower, occasionally, and when you're in those ranges, a heat pump really struggles (and really costs). We live in a 2 story house that is about 8 years old. I would describe our windows and insulation and moderate/adequate. The house is not nearly as tight as it could be, but it's not some 1800's farm house, either. ;-) We're heating around 1,800 sq. ft., 1,000 downstairs and 800 upstairs.
Chimney system
We had a prebab, Class A stainless steel chimney system installed. We have about 5.5' of double wall Selkirk stove pipe downstairs, which then transitions into about 13' or so of Class A which travels through a bedroom corner and exits the attic with 4.5' of exposed Class A outside. The system draws well, and draft has never been a problem for this stove and its chimney system. If you're unsure about using a modern, prefab chimney - don't be! Properly installed, they are safe, reliable, relatively easy to clean, and will last you for years as long as you buy quality and burn correctly.
The stove
The stove itself is a plate steel stove manufactured by Travis Industries. Visit the Lopi site here: http://www.lopistoves.com/ if you want to see their entire line. Travis is a reliable, reputable manufacturer who manufactures a quality product and seems to stand behind it from what I've read. The Endeavor uses 3/16" and 5/16" plate steel, and you can tell from both use and appearance that the Endeavor is a well made product. The stove is lined with refractory fire brick, and it also uses these fire brick in the baffle (inside, top) of the stove. Additionally, a series of secondary air tubes make up the baffle, and these tubes introduce the pre-heated, secondary combustion air into the top of the firebox, thus causing the wood smoke/gases to combust for a cleaner, hotter fire. The firebox of the Endeavor is 2.2 cubic feet. It will accept 18" splits loaded either north/south or east/west, as the firebox is as deep as it is wide. The Endeavor also features a "bypass damper". When opened, this allows exhaust to travel directly up the chimney, bypassing the baffle. This feature ensures maximum draft for starting a fire, less smoke back when reloading, and easier cleaning when sweeping your chimney. I don't know that I'd want a stove without such a feature!
Operation
Operating the stove (from an established coal bed) basically consists of opening the bypass damper, cracking the door for a moment to allow the exhaust to draft up the opening, thus bypassing the baffle, raking your coals to the front, and then loading fresh splits. Once your splits are well engaged, you can close the bypass damper, and assuming you have dry, seasoned wood, you should have secondary combustion nearly immediately. From this point, you'll want to start adjusting your primary air down via the handle on the bottom front of the stove. Push the handle in to decrease the amount of primary air. I find that adjusting it down in stages over 20 minutes or so works best.
Pros
Here I'll list the pros: Construction: Thick plate steel with good, solid welds. Firebrick/steel baffle. Bypass damper. Equally wide/deep firebox. Clearances: Low clearance to combustibles (just 4.5" rear clearance when using approved doublewall stovepipe). Operation: Easy to start or rekindle a fire. Coal bed remains for 7 or 8 hours using good hardwoods.
Cons
Here's the cons: Construction: Relatively small firebox (especially when you need long, overnight burns). Paint on the door seems to flake easily. Operation: Burntime/useable heat is not the same for me as the advertised rate of "up to 10 hrs". I get more like 5-6 hours of "usable" heat from a burn cycle. Struggles to heat 1,800 sq. ft. overnight in the teens or lower (again, better windows/insulation would help).
Summary
We're very pleased with our Lopi Endeavor. This is the first time in my five years in this home that we have truly been warm in the winter. I would not hesitate to purchase a Lopi product again. The bypass damper feature alone would sell me again, probably, especially at cleaning time. If you plan on heating much more than 1,800 sq. ft., please consider the Lopi Liberty if you have adequate clearance to combustibles. We did not, so we had to choose the Endeavor. Finally, be SURE you burn dry, seasoned wood. The best stove in the world just won't perform with wet, green wood.
Hopefully this information will help someone who may be considering an Endeavor in the coming heating season. Cheers!
Environment/Home
We purchased our Lopi Endeavor in November of 2008 for approximately $2,000. We live on the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee. Our winters are relatively mild, but we do dip into the teens and lower, occasionally, and when you're in those ranges, a heat pump really struggles (and really costs). We live in a 2 story house that is about 8 years old. I would describe our windows and insulation and moderate/adequate. The house is not nearly as tight as it could be, but it's not some 1800's farm house, either. ;-) We're heating around 1,800 sq. ft., 1,000 downstairs and 800 upstairs.
Chimney system
We had a prebab, Class A stainless steel chimney system installed. We have about 5.5' of double wall Selkirk stove pipe downstairs, which then transitions into about 13' or so of Class A which travels through a bedroom corner and exits the attic with 4.5' of exposed Class A outside. The system draws well, and draft has never been a problem for this stove and its chimney system. If you're unsure about using a modern, prefab chimney - don't be! Properly installed, they are safe, reliable, relatively easy to clean, and will last you for years as long as you buy quality and burn correctly.
The stove
The stove itself is a plate steel stove manufactured by Travis Industries. Visit the Lopi site here: http://www.lopistoves.com/ if you want to see their entire line. Travis is a reliable, reputable manufacturer who manufactures a quality product and seems to stand behind it from what I've read. The Endeavor uses 3/16" and 5/16" plate steel, and you can tell from both use and appearance that the Endeavor is a well made product. The stove is lined with refractory fire brick, and it also uses these fire brick in the baffle (inside, top) of the stove. Additionally, a series of secondary air tubes make up the baffle, and these tubes introduce the pre-heated, secondary combustion air into the top of the firebox, thus causing the wood smoke/gases to combust for a cleaner, hotter fire. The firebox of the Endeavor is 2.2 cubic feet. It will accept 18" splits loaded either north/south or east/west, as the firebox is as deep as it is wide. The Endeavor also features a "bypass damper". When opened, this allows exhaust to travel directly up the chimney, bypassing the baffle. This feature ensures maximum draft for starting a fire, less smoke back when reloading, and easier cleaning when sweeping your chimney. I don't know that I'd want a stove without such a feature!
Operation
Operating the stove (from an established coal bed) basically consists of opening the bypass damper, cracking the door for a moment to allow the exhaust to draft up the opening, thus bypassing the baffle, raking your coals to the front, and then loading fresh splits. Once your splits are well engaged, you can close the bypass damper, and assuming you have dry, seasoned wood, you should have secondary combustion nearly immediately. From this point, you'll want to start adjusting your primary air down via the handle on the bottom front of the stove. Push the handle in to decrease the amount of primary air. I find that adjusting it down in stages over 20 minutes or so works best.
Pros
Here I'll list the pros: Construction: Thick plate steel with good, solid welds. Firebrick/steel baffle. Bypass damper. Equally wide/deep firebox. Clearances: Low clearance to combustibles (just 4.5" rear clearance when using approved doublewall stovepipe). Operation: Easy to start or rekindle a fire. Coal bed remains for 7 or 8 hours using good hardwoods.
Cons
Here's the cons: Construction: Relatively small firebox (especially when you need long, overnight burns). Paint on the door seems to flake easily. Operation: Burntime/useable heat is not the same for me as the advertised rate of "up to 10 hrs". I get more like 5-6 hours of "usable" heat from a burn cycle. Struggles to heat 1,800 sq. ft. overnight in the teens or lower (again, better windows/insulation would help).
Summary
We're very pleased with our Lopi Endeavor. This is the first time in my five years in this home that we have truly been warm in the winter. I would not hesitate to purchase a Lopi product again. The bypass damper feature alone would sell me again, probably, especially at cleaning time. If you plan on heating much more than 1,800 sq. ft., please consider the Lopi Liberty if you have adequate clearance to combustibles. We did not, so we had to choose the Endeavor. Finally, be SURE you burn dry, seasoned wood. The best stove in the world just won't perform with wet, green wood.
Hopefully this information will help someone who may be considering an Endeavor in the coming heating season. Cheers!
