I've had my Declaration installed for a little over a month now. I have a 1200 sqft house that is fairly drafty and has poor insulation (and yes, I'm working on fixing that). The stove heats the house nicely, even though it is positioned in a way that doesn't let the warm air easily reach the bedrooms. It has been around 0 degrees here lately, and boy am I enjoying this stove!
The stove is easy to light and get going. I have some almond wood and some sort of softwood, either pine or cottonwood. I use either newspaper or woodshavings from the woodshop, stack a few pieces of old shingles for kindling, and then a smallish softwood log or two or three. Light it up, and watch it go!
The only complaint I have is what seems to me like the odd dimensions of the firebox. It seems too short in comparison to its width and depth. I am used to putting logs in so that one end rests on top of another log, to allow air to get around it. The stove's height is so low, that it makes doing this impossible with anything but rather small logs. Granted, I'm used to my parents' old Blaze King freestanding stove, which is a monster. If the Lopi's firebox is 2.9 cuft, my parents' stove must be on the order of 6 cuft. And it's nearly cube-shaped, which makes it easier to load.
Overall, the stove heats very nicely, and I have so far had no problem getting overnight burns, even using the fairly small (almond) logs.
The stove is easy to light and get going. I have some almond wood and some sort of softwood, either pine or cottonwood. I use either newspaper or woodshavings from the woodshop, stack a few pieces of old shingles for kindling, and then a smallish softwood log or two or three. Light it up, and watch it go!
The only complaint I have is what seems to me like the odd dimensions of the firebox. It seems too short in comparison to its width and depth. I am used to putting logs in so that one end rests on top of another log, to allow air to get around it. The stove's height is so low, that it makes doing this impossible with anything but rather small logs. Granted, I'm used to my parents' old Blaze King freestanding stove, which is a monster. If the Lopi's firebox is 2.9 cuft, my parents' stove must be on the order of 6 cuft. And it's nearly cube-shaped, which makes it easier to load.
Overall, the stove heats very nicely, and I have so far had no problem getting overnight burns, even using the fairly small (almond) logs.
