Napoleon vs Lopi vs Osburn

[schieftain]

Newbie here, looking for opinions on the following stoves:

Napoleon 1900
Lopi Liberty
Osburn2400

We have a 2-story 2500 sq ft. house, and this will be going in the basement. I was originally sold on the Lopi because I read a lot of good things about their quality. I also like the idea of buying something made in the U.S. But the Lopi is $2400 locally, and the others are about $700 less online (I don't know what they are in stores). So how do they stack up quality-wise? Maintenance-wise? Feature-wise?

Thanks

 

[ControlFreak]

I love the combustion technology in the Napoleon stoves, plus the firebox is fully lined with refractory brick, leading to a cleaner fire in my opinion.

 

[rdust]

I can't comment on the others but Lopi makes a great stove. Full brick baffle, stainless steel burn tubes, bypass for start up/reloads. My biggest issue with the Liberty is with the rectangular firebox, I wish it was able to take an 18" split loaded n/s.

 

[thewoodlands]

Newbie here, looking for opinions on the following stoves:

Napoleon 1900
Lopi Liberty
Osburn2400

We have a 2-story 2500 sq ft. house, and this will be going in the basement. I was originally sold on the Lopi because I read a lot of good things about their quality. I also like the idea of buying something made in the U.S. But the Lopi is $2400 locally, and the others are about $700 less online (I don't know what they are in stores). So how do they stack up quality-wise? Maintenance-wise? Feature-wise?

Thanks

Are the basement walls insulated on the inside?

Zap

 

[schieftain]

One wall is insulated, but the others are not. It gets pretty cold down there.
It is a finished basement, and there is a cold-air return in the ceiling of the room where I would put this. (we have central heat)
I'm thinking of opening that up and putting a register in it to draw in the warm air and circulate it through the house.
There is already a hearth and flue there from previous owners.

 

[Pagey]

Please take a moment to read this when considering a basement install.

http://www.woodstove.com/pages/guidepdfs/BasementInstall.pdf

 

[schieftain]

Well, that's our basement. It's already finished, so would be a major investment to insulate all the walls at this point. Yes, the walls are freezing, but we don't live down there. I just want to add some heat and I'm hoping that 75% of it will go up, not sideways.

 

[Pagey]

Well, that's our basement. It's already finished, so would be a major investment to insulate all the walls at this point. Yes, the walls are freezing, but we don't live down there. I just want to add some heat and I'm hoping that 75% of it will go up, not sideways.

I hope it works out for you, of course. I simply wanted to point out what you can be up against. Many people have great success heating from a basement. Others don't. Every season we have several members who join and end up discussing relatively poor performance with a basement install. Once they realize just how many BTUs uninsulated walls bleed, they understand that it's not necessarily a problem with the stove, etc. Bottom line: I feel like we'd be rendering poor "customer service" here if we failed to point out the challenges of an uninsulated basement install.

 

[schieftain]

I appreciate the info. And I understand the issue. We have a factory-built ZC fireplace upstairs set in a floor-to-ceiling, stone-veneer fireplace that projects into the family room, and with no insulation in it, the whole thing is like a giant block of ice sitting in the room unless we have a fire going in it. I built an insulated cover for the front of it, which helps some. But the cold air pours down the chimney and around the firebox, and all the stone is freezing cold. I looked into getting an insert for that, but have heard too many negatives about putting an insert into a ZC fireplace, plus nobody has one with a very long burn-time or very high BTUs. In the basement, we also have to fix the flue for the wood-stove, which wasn't built right, and will probably be a good $1000 on top of a stove. To be honest, I'm tempted to bag the whole supplemental heat idea. It seems like this house, even though built with a fireplace on one floor, and a hearth for a woodstove, was just not built right (in 1997). I don't plan to be here for more than another 10 years or I'd spend the money on insulating the basement, or tearing out the ZC fireplace and building a hearth there for a wood stove.

 

[wkpoor]

2500sqft above the basement? And 2 stories above that? Open floor plan or hallways and closed set of stairs leading to 2nd floor? You might has success with the basement but I've been doing this for 9yrs now with only 1800sqft above the basement and with a totally open floor plan (no hallways) clear to the second story and I'm struggling. I would bet money you'll be dissappointed unless you sites are set on just the basement.

 

[schieftain]

2500sqft above the basement? And 2 stories above that? Open floor plan or hallways and closed set of stairs leading to 2nd floor? You might has success with the basement but I've been doing this for 9yrs now with only 1800sqft above the basement and with a totally open floor plan (no hallways) clear to the second story and I'm struggling. I would bet money you'll be dissappointed unless you sites are set on just the basement.

Approx 2500 sq ft above the basement, that is the 2 floors. May be a little less than that. With basement, it's around 3000 sq ft.
It's not a very open floor plan. Part of the first floor is open plan, but not the second.
I know I can't heat the whole house from the basement with it being cut-up. But was hoping to add a good bit of warmth to the first floor from heat radiating up from the basement, and coming up the basement stairs which are in the center of the house.
Was also hoping to make use of the cold-air return duct, which is in the ceiling very near where the stove would be, by adding a register into the return there.

 

[laynes69]

With that square footage and layout have you thought about a woodfurnace? We have 2400sq ft above our basement with tall ceilings and the wood furnace alone in the basement with no vents keeps it warm. Then whatever heat is exchanged in the furnace goes through the home. I like having a single fire to keep the whole house warm. Its much easier than trying to move heat from a stove through the home.

 

[wkpoor]

Was also hoping to make use of the cold-air return duct, which is in the ceiling very near where the stove would be, by adding a register into the return there.

A typical forced air return won't be big enough to do anything at all.

 

[thewoodlands]

[quote author="schieftain" date="1296600910"]Newbie here, looking for opinions on the following stoves:

Napoleon 1900
Lopi Liberty
Osburn2400



We heat 1750 square feet up (ranch) and close to the same down cellar with the Liberty. All our walls are studded up and insulated with the ceiling not insulated.

So far we have'nt cut any floor registers in, all our heat comes up the stairwell and through the floor. We also have a pellet stove in the basement in the opposite corner from the wood stove so when it was -30 we had the wood stove going plus the pellet stove we turned on at 6:00pm and when we woke up it was 70 on the main floor living room and 68 in the bedroom plus -30 outside.

Zap

 

[schieftain]

Was also hoping to make use of the cold-air return duct, which is in the ceiling very near where the stove would be, by adding a register into the return there.

A typical forced air return won't be big enough to do anything at all.

It's the main return (where all smaller ducts have joined), right before it goes into the plenum. I was thinking the furnace pulls all the cold air IN through that duct. So I could shut the furnace heat off, run the furnace fan, and effectively pull a lot of the warm air in from above the stove, and pump it throughout the house? I might make the register above the stove oversize, or put in more than one.

 

[schieftain]

I truly appreciate everyone's concerns/warnings about putting this in the basement. I know I have circulation/insulation issues. But, I would still like to know if anyone knows much about the differences in quality/ construction between the stoves I mentioned.

I watched one of Lopi's videos on their website that talks about the quality of their construction. They use a denser/kiln-type firebrick (vs. lighter pumice brick), their stoves are more of a unibody design with fewer welds, the door hinges are cold-rolled steel, things like that. I don't know much about the quality of materials and construction of the Osburn or Napoleon. Does anyone else? Are they comparable quality? Sounds like they all have the dual-combustion thing going.

 

[FyreBug]

I truly appreciate everyone's concerns/warnings about putting this in the basement. I know I have circulation/insulation issues. But, I would still like to know if anyone knows much about the differences in quality/ construction between the stoves I mentioned.

I watched one of Lopi's videos on their website that talks about the quality of their construction. They use a denser/kiln-type firebrick (vs. lighter pumice brick), their stoves are more of a unibody design with fewer welds, the door hinges are cold-rolled steel, things like that. I don't know much about the quality of materials and construction of the Osburn or Napoleon. Does anyone else? Are they comparable quality? Sounds like they all have the dual-combustion thing going.

Hello there and welcome to the forum. I work for Osburn and have an obvious bias (BeGreen rap my knuckles if I get out of line here!). Having said that, all three brands are well built by respectable companies. They are all made in North America (Lopi USA, Napoleon & Osburn Canada). They all use the heavy refractory bricks you mentioned. The fire boxes are all about the same size with the Osburn being the largest at 3.2 cu ft (Lopi 3.1, Nap 3.0). Performance wise by the numbers they all seem pretty close to each other. You may want to do a 'quick search' for each of the models you mention in the forums to see what the actual users are saying. I've not seen how the Lopi & Napoleon burn so I cant comment.

Also look at the warranties. Osburn offers lifetime on glass & secondary burn tubes.

Frankly you cant go wrong with any of the models you listed above. Ultimately, you will have to look at your budget and which one has a 'look' you prefer (get the wife involved). And cruise the forum here to see what the users had to say.

 

[Fsappo]

Lopi! Did I already say that?

 

[Fsappo]

I truly appreciate everyone's concerns/warnings about putting this in the basement. I know I have circulation/insulation issues. But, I would still like to know if anyone knows much about the differences in quality/ construction between the stoves I mentioned.

I watched one of Lopi's videos on their website that talks about the quality of their construction. They use a denser/kiln-type firebrick (vs. lighter pumice brick), their stoves are more of a unibody design with fewer welds, the door hinges are cold-rolled steel, things like that. I don't know much about the quality of materials and construction of the Osburn or Napoleon. Does anyone else? Are they comparable quality? Sounds like they all have the dual-combustion thing going.

In a basement, just get a stove that makes as much convection heat as possible.

 

[schieftain]

Lopi! Did I already say that?

Pyro– Any specific reasons?

 

[DonNC]

If all other things are equal or do not matter in your eyes (looks, features, cost ) then compare BTUs and Burn time

 

[Jimbob]

[quote author="FyreBug" date="1296673233 Hello there and welcome to the forum. I work for Osburn and have an obvious bias (BeGreen rap my knuckles if I get out of line here!). Having said that, all three brands are well built by respectable companies. They are all made in North America (Lopi USA, Napoleon & Osburn Canada).

Fyrebug, I see your location listed as Kitchener. I thought Osburn was out of Quebec.
http://www.sbi-international.com/en/nos-marques-osburn.php
Do they also have a plant in Ontario?

 

[FyreBug]

[quote author="FyreBug" date="1296673233 Hello there and welcome to the forum. I work for Osburn and have an obvious bias (BeGreen rap my knuckles if I get out of line here!). Having said that, all three brands are well built by respectable companies. They are all made in North America (Lopi USA, Napoleon & Osburn Canada).

Fyrebug, I see your location listed as Kitchener. I thought Osburn was out of Quebec.
http://www.sbi-international.com/en/nos-marques-osburn.php
Do they also have a plant in Ontario?

Nope, I live in Ontario. I cover part of the US Mid-West Incl. PA & NY. It's bad enough to drive it from Ontario. Doing it from Quebec might be a bit much... We have reps that live across the continent.

BTW, how's Portage & Main doing lately. I once lost all feelings in my body extremities walking that corner in February!

 

[FyreBug]

If all other things are equal or do not matter in your eyes (looks, features, cost ) then compare BTUs and Burn time

Agreed... however, just be aware that BTU, burn times & to a certain extent efficiencies are not tested like emissions and sometimes marketing and wishful thinking enters into those numbers.

BTU= The larger the firebox the more wood the more BTU.
Burn time= how do you define it? do a search in the posts and you will see it's all over the map. Too many variables. Typically you are looking for an overnight burn which the stoves you mention should provide. And there should be enough coals in the morning to re-ignite a stick.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jimbob]

BTW, how's Portage & Main doing lately. I once lost all feelings in my body extremities walking that corner in February!

Usually pretty cold. It's supposed to warm up to 0 by the end of the week, though.

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/mb-36_metric_e.html