Napoleon 1400 deluxe or Woodstock Fireview?

[jus93paq]

Could someone that owns a Napoleon 1400 give me some information on your stove? I was looking at the green enamel and was wondering how to heat output of this stove is? Will it still radiate without buying a blower for it? I've heard lots of good info from people on the Fireview but saw an enamel 1400 and thought it was a nice stove. All information is greatly appreciated!

 

[k9brain]

I have the 1100 and its a well made stove. Its easy to operate and throws some good heat, but maybe not as much as a radiant heater. I just bought the blower and can't wait to use it.

Comparing these two is like apples and oranges. the Nap is convection heat while the Fireview is radiant heat. The best stove depends on the layout of your house and your preferences.

I couldn't decide between the Nap and the Oslo 500. I went with the more affordable Nap because I'm new to burning and money was tight. If I had to do it all over again I would spend the extra 500 - 700 for the Oslo cuz my stove room is large with vaulted ceilings, and a big radiant heater would be nice. Don't get me wrong, I love my stove and she serves me well, but paying extra for something nicer would have been worth it.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Could someone that owns a Napoleon 1400 give me some information on your stove? I was looking at the green enamel and was wondering how to heat output of this stove is? Will it still radiate without buying a blower for it? I've heard lots of good info from people on the Fireview but saw an enamel 1400 and thought it was a nice stove. All information is greatly appreciated!

In theory, the Napoleon should provide a little more heat as it has a little bit larger of a firebox. Not a lot, though. And it might not make a difference in terms of heating capacity.

The Woodstock Fireview is more efficient.

You will get a longer burn from the Fireview.

The Napoleon is about half the price.

Both are good heaters.

The decision is yours.

 

[jus93paq]

I do like both stoves, money isn't necessarily tight. As for the Napoleon being half the price, the tag on the enamel napoleon is around $1750 while the Fireview is around $2300. I feel as though the Fireview would be more fragile because of overfiring or having a little bit of moisture in the stone (Potential for cracking). I'm not too familiar with the Napoleon, it seems they're steel with an outer wrap? The way my room is laid out it would be better to have the heat thrown forwards rather than radiating sideways.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I do like both stoves, money isn't necessarily tight. As for the Napoleon being half the price, the tag on the enamel napoleon is around $1750 while the Fireview is around $2300. I feel as though the Fireview would be more fragile because of overfiring or having a little bit of moisture in the stone (Potential for cracking). I'm not too familiar with the Napoleon, it seems they're steel with an outer wrap? The way my room is laid out it would be better to have the heat thrown forwards rather than radiating sideways.

Not entirely accurate. Top recommended temps for a Fireview is 700°. And a simple break-in fire at the beginning of each season takes care of any moisture.

When I did a price comparison I priced out the base model 1400 which is about $1200 and yes, the Nap is steel with a cast iron wrap. I think both would heat your home well. If this were my home, I would choose the Fireview due to the longer burn times.

 

[k9brain]

I was in the same situation as you, couldn't decide. Wish I could test drive both stoves in my living room for a few months.

BTW you'll want to buy the blower for the Nap. I paid ~250 and installed it myself. Good luck, you can't go wrong with either stove.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I was in the same situation as you, couldn't decide. Wish I could test drive both stoves in my living room for a few months.

BTW you'll want to buy the blower for the Nap. I paid ~250 and installed it myself. Good luck, you can't go wrong with either stove.

Woodstock does offer that 6 month return policy.

 

[ddddddden]

I don't know anything about the Napoleon. There seems to be a good number of users here, and I don't recall any horror stories. Regarding convection, I have the rear heat shield on the FV, and it makes a nice convection tunnel. I get a good amount of hot air shooting up off of the back of the stove, like a couple of hair dryers blowing. Regarding fragility, like BAR said, the FV is approved up to 700F stovetop, and, IME, you would have to work at it to hit 700F, like do a hot reload with superdry wood. I haven't seen mine go much over 600F. The only incident of 700+ in a FV that I recall having read about was by Dennis, and, well, he has magic wood. . . p.s. his stove didn't crack up. Regarding $, for $100 more, I'd be giving the new Woodstock further consideration. . .or pick up something cheap on CL to run this season and get a FV refurb in the spring for ~ $1500. Woohoo!

 

[Todd]

Even though the Fireview is a radiant stove you still get plenty of natural convection but it would still be too much if it was sitting in a small room and a not so open floor plan. The Nap may be better in this situation if ihas a blower to help push the heat out. Need more info on your house lay out.

 

[jus93paq]

It's going into a finished insulated basement that is fairly wide open. 8' ceilings, 48' long x 32' wide. Other than a utility room and a bedroom, it's wide open.

 

[ddddddden]

So, after partitioning off the 2 rooms, the stove room is going to be something like 1000 sq ft? Plenty of space for the Fireview, IMO. . .or maybe the Newview. Where is the stairwell, relative to the hearth, and is the stairwell open or walled?

 

[jus93paq]

The stairwell is in the middle of the basement on the side wall and its open to the upstairs.

 

[ddddddden]

I think you will get a lot of heat rising up that stairwell. IIRC from your other thread, there are french doors in the basement too. . .glass? Unless fancy double-paned glass, you will lose a good bit of heat there. I dunno. . .FV might be just about right, but I'd probably go with the NewView and see how much heat I could get upstairs. FWIW, I have the FV in a 15' x 20' room venting into a fireplace on the north side of the house. Doorway to spare bedroom on the side wall. Front door and doorway to kitchen in corners on opposite end of room from stove. Open stairwell in same corner as front door, and heat just gushes up this stairwell. Some heat spills into the kitchen, but not nearly as much as the stairwell. We just open the doors to the bedrooms at the top of the stairs to let heat out of the stove room, if necessary, not often. So. . .as long as heat doesn't get trapped at the top of your stairs, I wouldn't worry about overheating, but YMMV.

 

[ddddddden]

Nothing against Napoleon, but before paying extra for enamel, you might want to ask owners about its durability. I've read a few comments about enamel of various makes cracking, chipping, etc.

 

[jus93paq]

Could someone with a fireview give me a real life dimension for the firebox? Also, is it a bit of a hassle not having an ash pan? How often do you need to shut down/clean out?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I don't know anything about the Napoleon. There seems to be a good number of users here, and I don't recall any horror stories. Regarding convection, I have the rear heat shield on the FV, and it makes a nice convection tunnel. I get a good amount of hot air shooting up off of the back of the stove, like a couple of hair dryers blowing. Regarding fragility, like BAR said, the FV is approved up to 700F stovetop, and, IME, you would have to work at it to hit 700F, like do a hot reload with superdry wood. I haven't seen mine go much over 600F. The only incident of 700+ in a FV that I recall having read about was by Dennis, and, well, he has magic wood. . . p.s. his stove didn't crack up. Regarding $, for $100 more, I'd be giving the new Woodstock further consideration. . .or pick up something cheap on CL to run this season and get a FV refurb in the spring for ~ $1500. Woohoo!

Yes, we've had the stove over 700 a couple of times but for a very short periods. The stove was no problem. There was one other person who had his Fireview over 800 degrees! His stone was fine also but that would certainly make me nervous to get the stove that hot.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I don't know anything about the Napoleon. There seems to be a good number of users here, and I don't recall any horror stories. Regarding convection, I have the rear heat shield on the FV, and it makes a nice convection tunnel. I get a good amount of hot air shooting up off of the back of the stove, like a couple of hair dryers blowing. Regarding fragility, like BAR said, the FV is approved up to 700F stovetop, and, IME, you would have to work at it to hit 700F, like do a hot reload with superdry wood. I haven't seen mine go much over 600F. The only incident of 700+ in a FV that I recall having read about was by Dennis, and, well, he has magic wood. . . p.s. his stove didn't crack up. Regarding $, for $100 more, I'd be giving the new Woodstock further consideration. . .or pick up something cheap on CL to run this season and get a FV refurb in the spring for ~ $1500. Woohoo!

Yes, we've had the stove over 700 a couple of times but for a very short periods. The stove was no problem. There was one other person who had his Fireview over 800 degrees! His stone was fine also but that would certainly make me nervous to get the stove that hot.

And to add to this, I've had the Heritage over 600 several times and nothing happened.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Could someone with a fireview give me a real life dimension for the firebox? Also, is it a bit of a hassle not having an ash pan? How often do you need to shut down/clean out?

Front to back useable space is 12 1/4".

Height is 13 1/2"

Length, Woodstock recommends 16" but we've got a 20" log in there. I still like to stay closer to the 16".

Hope this helps.

 

[leeave96]

I've had my Woodtock Keystone up to 700 degrees a few times, but not for long. I have had it cruise at 650 degrees easily and am comfortable with that. There are two sources of heat in the Woodstock cat stove. One is cat burn - that is, smoke burn. You can get your stove top up to 700 degrees and more doing this if the stars are lined-up right and all the while the wood in the firebox is only smoldering. The second, of course, is the burn in the firebox with the damper a bit more open. If you need to crank out the heat, the combo of cat heat and flame in the firebox really works well. If you are in shoulder season and don't want all the heat, but a long clean burn, the cat only heat is great.

Also, the soapstone does a great job of balancing the peaks and valleys of the burn - sort of like a thermostat, to keep steady even heat pouring into the room.

Good luck,
Bill

 

[BrowningBAR]

Could someone with a fireview give me a real life dimension for the firebox? Also, is it a bit of a hassle not having an ash pan? How often do you need to shut down/clean out?

Some people like ash pans, some don't. I'm in between. Of the fours stoves I've used, three have had ash pans and one did not. With the three that did, only one was worth using (The Encore). Of the four stoves I found that the one without the ash pan was they easiest to clean out.

What does this mean? That the ash pan shouldn't be a deciding factor.

Without an ash pan you simple scoop out some ashes just before a reload. In the morning works best as you usually are at a low point in terms of your burn/temps.

That being said, the people that own the Woodstock Keystone like the functionality of that model's ash pan.

 

[Todd]

I sold my Fireview and bought another Keystone and one of the reasons was the ash pan. With the Fireview I was going 3-4 days before shoveling out ash and Woodstock sells a great ash bucket that fits right under the door but you still get some fly ash and spillage at times. I don't mind so much but the wife didn't like it.

The Keystone's ash pan is the chit, most of the ash falls through the slotted grate or you can help it along with a rake. Open the ash pan door, pull the pan out and take it outside, no mess from flying ash. I empty it about every 2 days. Another good thing about this ash pan is on start ups, a quick couple minutes with the ash pan door open really gets the draft and fire going but I wouldn't recommend doing this very long or walking away for awhile, it can get pretty intense pretty quick but also helps on those sluggish draft days.