Well, it's been a season now with the Lopi Leyden top-loading wood stove.
We've been 100% wood heat for about 35 years now and like a lot of people who live in the country our wood stoves are a never-ending source of conversation. It is interesting that purchase price never seems to enter into these conversations. My impression when looking at new wood stoves is that all of the top loaders I saw were priced about the same. Rural philosophy runs more toward long term quality than to price. Consistent with that, and communication from the manufacturer is very highly thought of.
Last year when I got the bug (again) to try a new stove we looked at every top loader on the market. The runner-up was the Isle Royale a- which we thought worth going to see even though it was far enough away to require an all day drive. But the dealer was kind enough to fire it up when we got there. In fact, they had been using it for heat for the previous season. Frankly, I wouldn't have minded if we had ended up with that stove. That Isle Royale was a dandy - and came with attractive side wing warmers. But after crawling all over each stove, I concluded that the Lopi had a few undebateable advantages in finish & design. It didn't hurt that Lopi is a smallish US company and I like to support those where the product is close to equal......Although that was probably the least important factor. I only mention it to emphasize how close was the decision.
Having had a lot of wood stoves, I can say that I am impressed with the way the Lopi burns. And that says a lot. It is easy to crank the heat up or turn it down using a combination of draft and damper. For some reason i really will keep a fire going longer than I would have expected.....hours longer. All night burns are the test of a stove and the owner both. A good all night burn doesn't come easy. It requires a good setup, good wood, and most of all the owner's experience. With this stove all night burns are as easy as I've ever seen them. The burn quality versus ash and soot is much better than an old style early 1980's thermostatic Vermont Castings. For burn time this Lopi approaches a pre-WWII Ashley Thermostatic - which was simply the best stove that I have ever seen.
There have been some problems with the Lopi: The most serious one being that gasket around the internal damper door came loose - changing the interior flamepath and making it hard to turn the side damping handle. I also asked the dealer to replace some hinge parts. It became sort of an odd game because each time I asked about some part or piece that I thought could be improved. the manufacturer (Lopi) immediately sent me a complete kit containing every part needed right along with any associated part which had been upgraded. I get the strong impression is that Lopi intends to continue making this stove and they are not at all shy about improving it. Good for them. The improved parts were cleverly engineered to bolt in place of the parts they replaced. Having that philosophy from a manufacturer was a bonus for us.
Like most top loaders the trick to opening the top on the Lopi without letting smoke come into the room is for the fire to be actively burning. Then no smoke escapes. If the fire is only smoldering we either turn it up before going to get the wood or else use the front loading doors. Warning! Don't try a top loading stove unless you want to spoil yourself forever.
So the bottom line is that the Lopi Leyden wood stove is built well, works well, and is well supported. We still like it and would buy the same stove again. I don't see another one that we would prefer - though I would like to try the Royale some day. Lopi's manufacturing support philosophy was a pleasant surprise. While trying various stoves, we found that all modern wood stoves work as well as the best of the vintage stoves - and far better than the common ones. Along with that we also noticed that the modern stoves - at least the better-known names- all seem to be of uniformly higher quality than in the past. Using this one confirms that modern stoves produce less ash along with less soot.
Scotty
We've been 100% wood heat for about 35 years now and like a lot of people who live in the country our wood stoves are a never-ending source of conversation. It is interesting that purchase price never seems to enter into these conversations. My impression when looking at new wood stoves is that all of the top loaders I saw were priced about the same. Rural philosophy runs more toward long term quality than to price. Consistent with that, and communication from the manufacturer is very highly thought of.
Last year when I got the bug (again) to try a new stove we looked at every top loader on the market. The runner-up was the Isle Royale a- which we thought worth going to see even though it was far enough away to require an all day drive. But the dealer was kind enough to fire it up when we got there. In fact, they had been using it for heat for the previous season. Frankly, I wouldn't have minded if we had ended up with that stove. That Isle Royale was a dandy - and came with attractive side wing warmers. But after crawling all over each stove, I concluded that the Lopi had a few undebateable advantages in finish & design. It didn't hurt that Lopi is a smallish US company and I like to support those where the product is close to equal......Although that was probably the least important factor. I only mention it to emphasize how close was the decision.
Having had a lot of wood stoves, I can say that I am impressed with the way the Lopi burns. And that says a lot. It is easy to crank the heat up or turn it down using a combination of draft and damper. For some reason i really will keep a fire going longer than I would have expected.....hours longer. All night burns are the test of a stove and the owner both. A good all night burn doesn't come easy. It requires a good setup, good wood, and most of all the owner's experience. With this stove all night burns are as easy as I've ever seen them. The burn quality versus ash and soot is much better than an old style early 1980's thermostatic Vermont Castings. For burn time this Lopi approaches a pre-WWII Ashley Thermostatic - which was simply the best stove that I have ever seen.
There have been some problems with the Lopi: The most serious one being that gasket around the internal damper door came loose - changing the interior flamepath and making it hard to turn the side damping handle. I also asked the dealer to replace some hinge parts. It became sort of an odd game because each time I asked about some part or piece that I thought could be improved. the manufacturer (Lopi) immediately sent me a complete kit containing every part needed right along with any associated part which had been upgraded. I get the strong impression is that Lopi intends to continue making this stove and they are not at all shy about improving it. Good for them. The improved parts were cleverly engineered to bolt in place of the parts they replaced. Having that philosophy from a manufacturer was a bonus for us.
Like most top loaders the trick to opening the top on the Lopi without letting smoke come into the room is for the fire to be actively burning. Then no smoke escapes. If the fire is only smoldering we either turn it up before going to get the wood or else use the front loading doors. Warning! Don't try a top loading stove unless you want to spoil yourself forever.
So the bottom line is that the Lopi Leyden wood stove is built well, works well, and is well supported. We still like it and would buy the same stove again. I don't see another one that we would prefer - though I would like to try the Royale some day. Lopi's manufacturing support philosophy was a pleasant surprise. While trying various stoves, we found that all modern wood stoves work as well as the best of the vintage stoves - and far better than the common ones. Along with that we also noticed that the modern stoves - at least the better-known names- all seem to be of uniformly higher quality than in the past. Using this one confirms that modern stoves produce less ash along with less soot.
Scotty
