I think I have finally decided on a new wood stove, the Napoleon 1900. This is a result of several months of research, learning, searching for deals on craigslist, and generally obsessing about replacing my ancient deathtrap of a woodstove. I figured since I put so much time into figuring out which stove would be best for me, I might as well share my conclusions and the features that set the Napoleon apart from the rest for me. Here they are:
-The Numbers: all the specs are very very good, as as good or better than pretty much all the rest in it's class; large firebox (3+ cuft), long burn times (12+ hrs), high BTU, High efficiency (78%+ I believe), super low emissions.
-The Ash Dump - Unique spring loaded ash dump trap door instead of plug(which i decided long ago I would go sans-ashdrawer before I bought a stove with an ash plug), or grates (Which then require a fully sealed ash drawer, which means more gaskets and more places for air leakage to develop)
-The Air Control: The one lever in front not only controls the primary air, but also adjusts the secondary air intake at the same time, keeping both air supplies (supposedly) in proper proportion for better performance. seems like many other stoves have adjustable primary air, but fixed secondary air.
-Adjustable Primary Air intake - supposedly you can adjust the primary air restrictor plate, which will be great for tinkering and/or getting the stove to shut down better if there is too much draft. I guess it's a pain to get at the adjustment though, and I don't know if I'll even mess with it, but it is freakin' nice to have the option.
-THE LOOKS - To me, it is a very sharp looking steel stove; much better looking than the basic plate steel boxes that dominate many of the other brands.
-Highly Convective Design - Full side, rear & top Convection Shrouds for moving air around. Very important to me since I am gonna be trying to heat the whole house and don't want to be cooked out of the room its in. I know some people may prefer a more radiant design but this is a HUGE plus for me... In case you would miss the cooktop surface of a more radiant model, there is an $80 option for a cooktop insert that goes where the top trivet is, so you can have a cooktop AND STILL keep all that convection. Love it, best of both worlds.
-Vortex Reburn System seems like a great concept to me. 2-peice top baffle also seems well engineered and looks like it would be way more effective at creating turbulence/circulation for effective reburning than a lot of other stove's basic flat top baffles (you'd have to look one over to see what I mean on this one). The whole reburn system just seems better thought out than the stoves that just slap burn tubes in the flat top of the stove. (pure feeling/opinion/speculation here, I'm no combustion engineer)
-PRICE - Perfect compromise on price - almost directly in the middle of super-brand-named stoves like PE, QuadraFire, Harmon, Jotul, etc, and super-bargian-brand stoves like Drolet, Englander, Vogelzang, etc. I have been Quoted ~$1525 for a full flat black setup (without the blower though). Waiting on 2nd quote from another shop. Really makes you feel like you are getting a quality stove but aren't paying too much just for a brand stamp.
-Positive reviews/experiences reported by existing Napoleon Owners on this site. Looking forward to joining the ranks!
I'll be pulling the trigger soon, so last minute opinions are welcome. I also hope that this information will help others looking for a new stove consider the napoleon closely. I had overlooked it entirely for about two months while I was researching the more expensive brands, before I came back to it way more educated and discovered all these fantastic features
http://www.napoleonfireplaces.com/Stoves/stoves_wood/stoves_wood.html
-The Numbers: all the specs are very very good, as as good or better than pretty much all the rest in it's class; large firebox (3+ cuft), long burn times (12+ hrs), high BTU, High efficiency (78%+ I believe), super low emissions.
-The Ash Dump - Unique spring loaded ash dump trap door instead of plug(which i decided long ago I would go sans-ashdrawer before I bought a stove with an ash plug), or grates (Which then require a fully sealed ash drawer, which means more gaskets and more places for air leakage to develop)
-The Air Control: The one lever in front not only controls the primary air, but also adjusts the secondary air intake at the same time, keeping both air supplies (supposedly) in proper proportion for better performance. seems like many other stoves have adjustable primary air, but fixed secondary air.
-Adjustable Primary Air intake - supposedly you can adjust the primary air restrictor plate, which will be great for tinkering and/or getting the stove to shut down better if there is too much draft. I guess it's a pain to get at the adjustment though, and I don't know if I'll even mess with it, but it is freakin' nice to have the option.
-THE LOOKS - To me, it is a very sharp looking steel stove; much better looking than the basic plate steel boxes that dominate many of the other brands.
-Highly Convective Design - Full side, rear & top Convection Shrouds for moving air around. Very important to me since I am gonna be trying to heat the whole house and don't want to be cooked out of the room its in. I know some people may prefer a more radiant design but this is a HUGE plus for me... In case you would miss the cooktop surface of a more radiant model, there is an $80 option for a cooktop insert that goes where the top trivet is, so you can have a cooktop AND STILL keep all that convection. Love it, best of both worlds.
-Vortex Reburn System seems like a great concept to me. 2-peice top baffle also seems well engineered and looks like it would be way more effective at creating turbulence/circulation for effective reburning than a lot of other stove's basic flat top baffles (you'd have to look one over to see what I mean on this one). The whole reburn system just seems better thought out than the stoves that just slap burn tubes in the flat top of the stove. (pure feeling/opinion/speculation here, I'm no combustion engineer)
-PRICE - Perfect compromise on price - almost directly in the middle of super-brand-named stoves like PE, QuadraFire, Harmon, Jotul, etc, and super-bargian-brand stoves like Drolet, Englander, Vogelzang, etc. I have been Quoted ~$1525 for a full flat black setup (without the blower though). Waiting on 2nd quote from another shop. Really makes you feel like you are getting a quality stove but aren't paying too much just for a brand stamp.
-Positive reviews/experiences reported by existing Napoleon Owners on this site. Looking forward to joining the ranks!
I'll be pulling the trigger soon, so last minute opinions are welcome. I also hope that this information will help others looking for a new stove consider the napoleon closely. I had overlooked it entirely for about two months while I was researching the more expensive brands, before I came back to it way more educated and discovered all these fantastic features
http://www.napoleonfireplaces.com/Stoves/stoves_wood/stoves_wood.html
