Lopi Republic 1250 or 1750

[blamejane]

Hi Everyone,

First let me thank you all for the information you've provided in this forum. I've spent several days researching and have learned quite a bit about wood stoves. I have a small ranch house (under 1200sf) in south central Montana. It was built in 2002 and is fairly well insulated. It's a 2 bedroom, 2 bath with an open living/dining/kitchen.

I like things plain (think shakers), so thought the Lopi Republic would be a good choice for me. I also checked out the Lenox/Country Striker model and like that too though not as much. I love the Hearthstone Shelburne and Heritage, as well as Jotul F400, but can't probably spend the money on these so I still think the Lopi is a good middle of the road price range wise.

I like the looks of the smaller Republic, without the convection panels, but fear I might regret the smaller firebox. I have central heating, but don't really want to use it. We only use the master bedroom, the other is actually closed off to save on heat.

I was curious if you all thought I should go with the small 1250 Republic (with a blower) or with the larger 1750 (convection...with or without a blower).

Thanks again everyone!

Valerie

 

[Todd]

Where you live and the mostly soft wood you will be burning I'd go bigger. You will get a longer burn and a little more heat for those below zero Winter days.

 

[PopulistWoodBurner]

I just installed the 1250 and I'm really glad I didn't go bigger. Lots of folks in this forum will recommend that you go bigger, but my 1250 cranks out more heat than I can easily circulate around my house. The small firebox is a slight downside, but I know that if I had the 1750 I wouldn't be running it full and hot.

I burn a mix of hard and soft wood, so I don't know if I would feel different if I only had soft wood. Also, if your floor plan is VERY open, maybe you could get the heat around better than I can. As it is, the room with the 1250 in it easily goes over 80 degrees even with a window box fan blowing colder air into it constantly.

My house is bigger than yours, though I don't heat my upstairs much.

 

[Todd]

I just installed the 1250 and I'm really glad I didn't go bigger. Lots of folks in this forum will recommend that you go bigger, but my 1250 cranks out more heat than I can easily circulate around my house. The small firebox is a slight downside, but I know that if I had the 1750 I wouldn't be running it full and hot.

I burn a mix of hard and soft wood, so I don't know if I would feel different if I only had soft wood. Also, if your floor plan is VERY open, maybe you could get the heat around better than I can. As it is, the room with the 1250 in it easily goes over 80 degrees even with a window box fan blowing colder air into it constantly.

My house is bigger than yours, though I don't heat my upstairs much.

I hope your right but it's still early in the season, wait til those below zero temps hit and get back to us. I owned a Lopi Answer in a 1200 sq ft open ranch in Marquette, MI and it worked out fine in the Spring and Fall but just couldn't keep up in the middle of Winter.

 

[blamejane]

Thanks for your input Todd, I'm a little nervous when you say the Answer didn't do the job. We live in the banana belt with more mild temps, however these last two weeks we've seen several days of single-digit highs.

Firestarter I'm glad to hear your input as well. I know we'll be burning mostly pine, but we have barrels (and barrels) of hardwood scraps from my husband's woodworking business that we'll be using (in small quantities) as kindling, etc. I guess we'd still be considered soft-wood burners. What low temps have you been using your 1250 in? What size are are you actually heating if the upstairs is closed?

Thanks guys.

Valerie

 

[PopulistWoodBurner]

It's true, it's not too cold yet. But I can't wait for it to get cold enough that I can actually get the stove hot and keep it burning. Right now, I have to quit adding wood just as soon as the stove gets to the point where it is really ready to heat. The temps here right now are low from 10-30 degrees and high from 25-40 degrees.

I am heating about 1,000 square feet downstairs plus whatever finds its way upstairs to another 700 square feet that is closed off but not tightly. The house is moderately well insulated.

 

[DBoon]

My Lopi Answer can keep my 1250 square foot well-insulated house warm (average 70 degrees) down to 20 degrees outside. If the wind is blowing hard, then it only keeps the house warm down to 30 degrees outside.

You are going to need the bigger stove - the smaller one will need keep you warm 24/7. And I usually am the guy to recommend that people go with the smaller stove.

 

[blamejane]

Today I purchased the Lopi Republic 1750 and I'm looking forward to its installation next week. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their information/tips.

 

[joefrompa]

Excellent choice - I'm sitting next to mine right now cranking along at 450 degrees burning pine.

The 1750 also has a few features the 1250 doesn't and which you'll really appreciate - such as the damper bypass lever.

 

[blamejane]

Thanks joefrompa. I'm curious why you purchased the 1750 when it is rated 1200 to 2000 sf; at least the wood stove is. You are 200 sf larger than what the stove is rated for. I'll be excited to see what the damper bypass lever does.

 

[tickbitty]

I too have the 1750 in an older brick ranch about 1450 sq feet. I would not want it any smaller (the house OR the stove!). Maybe if my house was tighter, but as it is I would not want the firebox any smaller. It does not cook us out but will almost always relight from embers even the next evening, and we haven't used the cursed heat pump so far this season thank goodness.

 

[begreen]

Congratulations. If the temps are not super cold, don't fill up the firebox. Run smaller loads during milder weather and don't obsess over long burns. When it gets in the teens or lower, fill that baby up with good fuel and enjoy the warmth.

If you find the outlying areas of the house are not getting the heat, use a floor fan to blow the air from the cold area towards the warmth. This works well in ranch houses.

 

[joefrompa]

Thanks joefrompa. I'm curious why you purchased the 1750 when it is rated 1200 to 2000 sf; at least the wood stove is. You are 200 sf larger than what the stove is rated for. I'll be excited to see what the damper bypass lever does.

The bypass lever lets you establish a strong draft more easily (very helpful) and load wood without smoke puffs coming into the room as much (definitely a plus)

...

I have a 2200 square foot 2 story home - this stove is rated up to 2000 square feet by Lopi. But what does that actually mean? It means that under ideal circumstances, with a full load of very dry hardwood (like oak), I could crank out enough heat for 2000 square feet to be liveable with an outside temp of around 20-35 degrees (roughly). Similarly, that's when you get maximum BTU output.

In reality, you will be doing modest burns alot of times or you'll be using non-ideal wood or you'll have the blower turned on only halfway.So in reality, you'll be cranking out enough heat to keep 1000-1200 square feet toasty.

I bought the Republic 1750 because with the blower and surround trim it was like $1750 (not including installation). The next step up was about $900 more. And remember that to use the extra heating capacity of the larger stove you need to burn more wood (probably about 25% more on a regular basis).

I'm doing this from a cost-benefit standpoint - $900 + alot more wood was not going to pay for itself in the timeframe I wanted, so I went with the smaller stove.

I've been able to heat ~2000 square feet to a liveable temperature when the outside temps are at 30 degrees. To accomplish that, the stove needs to be cranking for about 12 hours straight at at least 400 steady degrees with the fan on medium.


To give a little more info there: I can heat a 500 square feet to comfort within 30 minutes of lighting the fire. You'll be able to heat your whole house to comfort within 90 minutes, and the 'corners' of the house will be warm within 2-3 hours. And you'll have enough capacity to keep it warm during those really cold days.

That's why your choice is very smart, among other reasons

P.s. the stove has the appearance of a quality, no-frills workhouse. It looks solid and unadorned.

 

[fibes]

I have a 1750 with no bypass lever, I thought it was only on the endeavor

 

[joefrompa]

?

As far as I know since the 1750 came out (2? years ago?) it's had the bypass pull on the top of the stove.

As much as I don't like saying it, the feature itself is nice but the DESIGN itself is not great. It's a steel pull located in the middle-top of the stove ~1" above the surface. Not only is it impossible to handle once the stove is hot without gloves, but the type of gloves you need to handle it are your stove gloves - which are filthy usually. So you tend to get alot of ash and stuff on top of the stove. Easy to wipe off, but it just gets messy again.