Need help choosing a wood stove

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domino2332

New Member
Nov 8, 2008
15
NE WI
I am new to wood stove heating in general, but have gotten a lot of great information on this site. I am hoping for a little additional guidance. I have a 1500 sq ft open concept ranch house. The room that my stove would be placed in is ~ 30'x 20'. This room opens up to the rest of the house via a 6' wide open pass. I bought an 1984 LOPI M-520 (older Liberty) and am wondering if that will give off too much heat for my house. I would like to get a good used stove...ideally EPA certified (which the M-520 I have is not) and stay under $500...anyone have any thoughts or comments for me?

From the sig other's persppective I am looking for a stove with a nice glass window vs a "metal box"

Any thougths would be appreciated! Willing to trade too!
 
Not familair with your old Lopi, but you can always put half loads in for less heat or use lesser BTU woods like pine and soft maples.
As far as finding a used EPA stove, look at craigs list, local papers, and ebay. Do you have Farm & Fleet store near you? I was in one yesterday and looked at a US Stove they had there that really looked well built and I think it was under $700.
 
Thanks for the thoughts/...I do have a FF near...Since I am new to wood stoves I am never sure of the build quality especially from chain stores like FF, Menards, HD, etc...
 
domino2332 said:
Thanks for the thoughts/...I do have a FF near...Since I am new to wood stoves I am never sure of the build quality especially from chain stores like FF, Menards, HD, etc...

And that is precisely why you should not be looking for a $500 stove! Realize that to get a good quality stove you will have to open the purse a little more. In the long run, it will save you money and you will be happier.

Case in point: We looked at the Woodstock stoves years ago but just couldn't part with the dollars. A year ago we finally parted with the dollars. Now we are sorry we didn't do it sooner!

So, what is the difference in our stove now from what we had? Well, we burn much, much less wood; probably about 40% less. If you have to buy your wood, that would not take long to pay for itself right there. To top it all off, we are now much warmer in our home than we were....burning much less fuel. And one more thing, we have a beautiful stove instead of a metal box; a stove that should last our lifetime.
 
Im new here but let me say, I recently bought a stove and many people, mostly the local dealers, all talked about how terrible any stove is that doesnt cost $3500+ or whatever. Stoves arent easy to find and the dealers that have them expect a credit application and mortgage payment. Many say you must buy this or that, and perhaps there is alot of sense to that. I wouldnt look at the cheapo cast stuff, and I wouldnt look at some of the harbor freight, volganzag or whatever other chepo name. BUT, I did buy the US stoves magnolia from tractor supply for about $800 and Im impressed. I personally feel this stove will last me 20+ years, and is fabbed from 3/16 plate steel, and with care will look and perform well. So far it burns well, it is well controlled and was 1/3 the price of anything comparable. Many say you must spend the money etc etc, but steel prices have been dropping and well to be honest, I work in the "metal" industry, and its a metal box, glorified, sometimes artistic some better put together than others, but still a metal box. $3500 ?? R&D;, EPA, etc etc I know there are fees and I will probly get screamed at, but in my opinion, 3 times the cost does not make up for the lack of features or quality in the case of my US stoves magnolia. If you have access to this model let me say, IM not impressed with the fan, it seems not very well placed and a bit loud, but it is there and included if you choose to use it. Also Im not thrilled with the ash cleanout, the plate to cover the access is thin and rides up allowing air in, Ive fixed this with a square piece of 3/8 steel instead, seals up fine now. Also the legs appear, well a bit chinsy i would say. They work, they arent going to break, but the cast legs just dont look quite as good as some of the $3500 models. The box itself is great, the quality is there, the thickness, the welds etc. The baffle is not removable, and after time I guess this could be a drawback as well, considering I presume you could burn it out. But in my case, I will just buy another, I believe that SS baffle will last at least 7-10 years, at which time I can attempt to repair it or invest another $800 in the newest but cheapest stove technology. Also, the stove is made in China, to some a drawback. Ive also submitted earlier a post stating that the magnolia is a chinese fab box used by many other manufactures only changing the door and legs then charging much much more. You can find this post by searching for the magnolia, and it somewhat explains my conspiracy attitude as it seemed apparent to me that this magnolia box is used in many other brands, all stamped with different names and at much different prices. We have all seen this before in other sectors, its very common and IM afraid some are still behind the times in waking up to this type of marketing scam.....only good stove costs at least $2500 ?? Perhaps those that paid alot for their stove feel no one else should have a warm, good looking stove for less? Another stove that was highly recommended but unavailable, is the New englander NC30, I really wanted this stove but would still be cold waiting for it to come off the production line. Look around, there are others as well. Under $1k
 
The old Lopi is worth trying for the season. Burn shorter, half load fires until it gets very cold. Come late January/early February, the big box stores will be clearing out their wood stove inventory. That is a great time to get a nice deal. Try to stick with at least a 2 cu ft stove.

We've have several owners of Drolet's and Englanders here. Many new ones coming on board this year. Almost all of these stoves, excepting the inserts sell for under $1K. The Drolets are made in Canada, the Englanders are made in Monroe, VA. They are simple stout, heavy stoves that get the noble job of burning cleanly done well.

If your budget extends a little higher to about $1300, the Pacific Energy Super27 and Napoleon 1400 are worth taking a look at too. You might also look at Buck stoves if they are sold near you.
 
The simple fact is that there are good wood stoves available for pretty much every situation, taste and pocketbook. Buy the one that gives you the best feeling as to wood capacity, suitability with the motif of your home, features and cost. That is your stove right there. The cost differential just will not be that great between stoves that meet your criteria.

What you do not want to do is find that "perfect" stove for you and then buy something else just because a dealer thinks you need the one he happens to have available or just because one costs less.

You will spend years staring at it wondering if the other one would have been better.
 
If you think you're going to replace the old Lopi in the near future, you might as well go ahead and do it. Your Lopi, I believe, has an 8" flue collar, so if you're going to install it, you'd want, ideally, to use 8" piping. Just about any new stove you buy is going to have a 6" flue collar, and going to want a 6" system. Rick
 
My how the times have changed! Us stove made in china. Do we make anything that the chinese import? Chevy's made in canada, fords made in mexico, & toyota's made in the USA! lol!
 
I know for sure the US stoves magnolia is import, not sure about the rest of their line. Scary part is other manufactures use the IDENTICAL box, manual, specs, epa cert and all but somehow, its not made in China? I mentioned this in an earlier thread, bored individuals like me can look at the links and such to epa and various manuals that are identical, but some are "not" made in china. https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/26046/
 
Is there really such a thing as too much heat in the winter? It's easy to make it go away by opening a window, burning a smaller load, letting it go longer in between loads. If it's 82 in the living room in mid-January just laugh hysterically to yourself, put on a pair of shorts and flip-flops then call a friend who's got their thermostat set at 65 to save money and complain about how warm it is at your place.

Not having enough heat in the winter - that's an issue worth worrying about.
 
Thanks for all the great thoughts folks...I guess when I said I would like to stay around $500 I wasn't thinking I was going to get a new stove for that...

Rick, you are correct. The LOPI I have has 8" piping so I presume it would be a pain to install this stove and later migrate to a stove set-up with 6" piping.

I have plenty of free wood so that is not an issue, except the manual labor required...

The LOPI I have no longer has the option of installing the factory blower...Does anyone have an opinion on other options such as Grainger blowers?

Thanks again for the help...Still deliberating...
 
FWIW, we've seen Englanders going for $300 here last Jan/Feb. They go quickly, but might be worth waiting for.
 
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