Might be getting an appalachian 4n1 xl

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Jasper 83

New Member
Nov 26, 2011
92
Hallieford, Va
Anybody got one? What fo you think of it? Anything I should know. A friend of mine has one and wants to trade me my stove for it. I need something smaller cuz mine is to big for my house and it is fairly good at running me out of here. Any comments on the stove are welcome. I google searched it and found out some info but Id rather here a user review. Thanks
 
I'm surprised that the Englander cat stove will not run at a low idle with a partial load of fuel. What's the firebox size on the 24IC?
 
It may be the weather but it seems to me like it doesnt wanna heat up with a small load and if you add one more piece it wants to run hot for a long time. Its a very finicky stove. I think the firebox size it comparable to a 30 but not 100% sure. Its not a very popular size and hard to find specs for. Mine was made in 1995 so its pretty old. This is only my second year with it. I got it for free so since the price was right, i grabbed it knowing it was probably gonna be to big. I just put new door and window gaskets in and that seemed to help but it was in the 20's the only time Ive had a fire in it since then. This 60 degree weather is driving me crazy. I been waiting for winter and some cold weather all year and just cant get it.
 
Is the house evenly heated or is just one room (or area) hot? How big an area are you heating?
 
The whole house gets hot. Its 1000 sq ft pretty well insulated. Sometimes i leave the door open to the garage and heat that too with it. That 24 is a heat monster
 
The other night when it was in the mid 20's i had the stove goin all afternoon and evening cut way back and with the garage door open it stayed at 75 in the house so wasnt to bad. That stove is real finicky like i said, its either all or nothin.
 
Yeah, that sounds oversized. If the Appalachian is in good condition I can see how this could be an improvement.
 
Yeah i kinda knew that when I got it but I got it and a hearthpad, which has been replaced now, but thats another story haha, and the class a chimney and double wall stovepipe for free so I couldn't really go wrong, especially with my not so great financial situation I have found myself in in this great economy. I think the appalachian will be an improvement. It says it heats 1200 to 2200 sq ft on their website which I know thats all in you how you run it and what kimd of wood your burning.
 
I replaced the cat last year and have a cat probe thermometer from condar. I like the probe thermometer
 
Sorry I'm late to the thread! Yes I do have one, but yes I do run it like a smoke dragon *dodges rocks*. :) I run it without a catalyst in it, so keep that in mind.

Burn time - 6 hours using a dense wood like locust, thats usable heat with coals left that you can just toss a log onto it. I have no idea how long it would run with a catalyst, maybe a few more hours?

The gasket around the window is a major pain in the butt on mine, I have changed it a couple times, and its hard to keep a good seal with the design of the way the glass is held in.

The stove puts out a decent amount of heat, I probably have a similar size home to what you described, and it will keep my house above 70 down to about 20 degrees. I have a 1929 brick home with zero insulation, so it struggles to keep it above 70 if it gets colder than that. But 95% of the winter it keeps my house plenty warm, sometimes too warm with weather like this!

You will struggle to find replacement firebrick that fits the metal clips, you would have to have it custom made online and shipped. To get around that, I bought standard size firebrick, and just laid it all on the bottom and around the sides, making it fit like a puzzle, though I had to chip away a couple bricks to make it work. When I got the stove, it had four large square (light?) firebricks in it, probably original. I noticed a HUGE difference when I took those out and lined the whole thing with firebrick.

The catalyst housing was warped in mine when I got it when I bought the house, not sure if this is a common problem or not, but something to watch out for.

The fan is great on it in my opinion, its got an automatic thermostat, and is fairly quiet. I usually keep it on low, I put it on medium on the coldest nights, I usually avoid high as it gets loud then and I feel like it cools the firebox too much.

Ash falls out of the stove pretty easily, I have never had another stove to compare this too, so I don't know how common that is, but expect to be cleaning up your hearth fairly often.

Customer service is non existent, don't expect to get any help at all from the factory. They never answer the phone, and never return voicemails.

The glass is a bit hard to keep clean, I don't think it has a very effective air wash system, if it has one at all.

Overall I am pretty happy with it, I mean mine is probably from the late 80's early 90's, and is still running fine. That being said, I know there are a lot better stoves out there, so I wouldn't expect anything fantastic from it. I would be super curious to hear what burn times you get out of it if you have a functioning catalyst, PLEASE update this thread if you get it and let me know. I would love to hear it.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions, hope this helps in some way. I attached a picture I found on the internet of what my stove looks like, to ensure we are talking about the same stove.
 

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Thanks for the reply. I guess its the same stove but the freestanding version. Ive only seen it once. I like talking to people who have experience with the product. Thats good to know about the customer service too. Thats one place where Englander is real good. Id love to buy one of the smaller woodstock stoves but either way I go Im gonna replace mine. Probably gonna end up with an Englander 13nc before its all over with though. Thanks
 
Jasper if you aren't going to get it, is there any way you could ask your friend how long of burn times he gets out of it, assuming he has the cat? I am talking best case if he loads it up 100%.
 
Yeah ill find out
 
Well my buddy took the stove out and put his old smoke dragon back in. I borrowed his logsplitter today and he wants to give me the stove but I still cant decide if I want it. Ive got 3 stoves on my mind that I might buy but 2 of them I have to see if I can get the cash together. The appalachian is not one of the stoves im looking at but the price is right. If not Im either gonna buy a 13nc or a blaze king sirrocco 20 or a woodstock keystone. So many choices
 
Take the freebie and see how it does, if not you'll be set up to slide a new stove right in.
 
Well the Englander went up the road today and the Appalachian will probably be in Thursday due to rain tomorrow. I hope it works out.
 
Well I have had the new stove in for a couple of weeks now. Haven't used it much as we are back to mild weather again. Im gonna have to move further north if I ever want to see winter again. There was atleast one person who was interested in the stoves performance so I thought Id post a short review.

So far it is my conclusion that the stove is not worth anywhere the 1875 dollar price tag for a new one. Thank God I got it for free or I would be severely disappointed. It does put out plenty of heat, in fact it keeps the house the same temp as the englander unfortunately which is not what I was shooting for. Ofcourse the weather has been pretty mild so we'll see. I think that I dont have enough chimney for it so Im gonna add a few feet and see cuz mine is fairly short anyway. It is a convection stove which I didnt know and is not supposed to be run without the blower which is overkill for this small house. The burn times are decent but with the short chimney and mild weather its either all or nothin as far as burn rate. I will update the review later once I get more chimney and colder weather.
 
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