The Napoleon Gang......

[Thomask9590]

Hey Gang..................

I see a few people out there with Napoleon wood stoves and inserts. I have a Napoleon 1400pl it's the leg model, I have the brushed crome webbed door and legs with the blower ash pan and thermostat.

I read a few topics that head warned about the installation of the fan being a problem. We need to call Napoleon and tell them it's an issue. I tried to pt mine in and ended up knocking out a plate that needed to stay in place.

But I figured I would list my first year experience's and maybe some people could add there own.

1: The top of this stove burns very hot.
2: The side's of the stove burn very cool, i have the heat shield's on mine.
3: The air control can be set to max low and the fire will still burn ever so slightly.
4: The air control is simple and works well.
5: The chrome is elegance I would recommend it to anyone.
6: The price was great i purchased mine on line from Big George's, free shipping. It was at least 15% cheaper than around here.
7: Move the stove with out the bricks or the legs and door in place and it can be moved with two medium sized people.
8: The legs come with 1/4-20 threaded through holes in them but no bolts. Nice addition but lack of bolts is odd.
9: Great sized fore box for what I need.
10: 18" wood means 18" wood. I know this because a cut a bunch of my wood too long...........rookie mistake.

 

[Skooter]

My hubby did the same thing. The instructions weren't clear on our 1400 so he went off the leg model instructions I believe. When we opened the blower box and looked at those instructions, that's when we found out that the plate did not need removing. I called Napolean and they sent me the sheet on how to correct the problem so they must have known about the issue. The blower ended up mounting on an angle and higher up. Hubby does not like it this way but Napolean said the only alternative is to buy a whole new back place that must be riveted. Our inspector said we have to adhere to Napolean's instructions, so it's on an angle.

As far as anything else about our stove, the only thing I have noticed that I am not thrilled with is, if you get it really really hot, it won't shut down very fast, even with the knob in all the way. (Unless I am doing something wrong) Other than that I love ours. Very easy to light and I like how the sides and back stay cool. (ours has shielding as well.)

Ours has only been in for a few days.

 

[Thomask9590]

I had to rig mine back in place. I have not had it inspected yet. I hope it passes.

 

[acesover]

i have the pedestal modle and noticed if i have alot of coals and fill it up its hard to damper down it just keeps on roaring so i pulled the ash pan out and placed a magnet over the intake hole and that shut it down. then i removed it and the fire burned 8hrs perfectly. so now i wait till coals r just right and then i add larger splits and its been working great. just wish that the air control was capable of shuting the stove down. i might take mine off and make it longer so ill be able to cut all air to the stove if i have to. look under yours and youll see how much air is able to get in when damperd all the way down.

 

[nailbender]

So far I'm a happy Napolean owner. Its a 1400 leg model that has coals in it nine hours later, its in the mid 30's. As far as the
blower goes , I was a bit confused from the instructions also but I looked before I did the knock out and noticed there was not
room for the fan between the back sheild and the fire box. I got mine at Zooblers not sure if it was a great deal or not but it
seemed to be the best bang for the buck!!

 

[Thomask9590]

Ya, I wish I could close the stove right down, like an emergency having to leave the house or chiney fire.

 

[HittinSteel]

Others here (non Napoleon owners) talk about being careful when reducing the air to fully closed because it may choke out the fire. My experience thus far is that it will not happen with the Napoleon (assuming well seasoned wood). I have been getting the stove pipe up to temp (400 degrees or so) with kindling and small splits and then dampering to a 4 setting and then a 2. Once these initial splits have created a nice coal bed, rake the coals to the front and load her up. I then open air all the way back up until there are plenty of flames in the stove charring the wood. I then go to a 4, then a 2 and depending on what it looks like flame wise, I may damper all the way down at that point.

I really like the stove so far and am still learning. I have found that I think my stove is fully broken in and has become a little more predictable.

 

[MotoBoyMatt]

Can anyone comment on the effeciveness of the Napoleon blower on a 1400 model stove? I'm contemplating buying a blower but not sure if it's worth the couple hundred bucks.

 

[rumme]

I just ordered a napoleon 1900 p woodstove. It will be delviered Monday . I payed $ 1350 SHIPPED TO MY house and that included the woodstove door . It seems like that is one heck of a good price for this model. I havent decided if I should install it so the intake air is fed from the outside of my house or to cut a hole in my floor of my living room and put the flex pipe thru there to suck cold air out from the crawlspace, or...just use it like it is and feed it the warmed air inside my house. My home is only a few years old and it is pretty air tight , but I could always crack open a small window.


When I get it, should I burn a hot fire in it, outside first, to dry all the paint on it and eliminate the fume problems in the house on first startup ?

 

[n3pro]

I have been happy with mine, wish I went for the medium size then the small, heat output is great but the burn times and limited size of splits are tough. My biggest problem is miss judging the size of the spits and putting in too large and out of room to put any more. I like the decorative trivet. I have a steamer on one side and a candle on the other with the thermometer in between. Have an ash pan but don't use it much, just as easy to shovel a little out with the shovel each load. The nice thing with the small firebox though is it don't take long to heat it up and get the secondary burn.

The wife bakes cookies for the the neighbors, delivered last night and was pleased to hear the question "have you used your wood stove yet", and I smile and say "yup 24/7" and they say "Really? you should have your chimney checked, there's no smoke!". Never using an EPA certified stove I was a little concerned living in a suburban cul-de-sac about complaining neighbors but after last night I am please that they don't even know I'm burning!

 

[MotoBoyMatt]

Is anyone running a blower on their Napoleon?

Does it significantly increase the heat output of your unit?

 

[kjayhawk]

Is anyone running a blower on their Napoleon?

Does it significantly increase the heat output of your unit?

Yeah, I'm running the fan on my 1400 ... and while I'm not sure it significantly increases the heat output, it does help to distribute the heat evenly across the room and even up the stairs.

When I don't run the fan, the heat seems to hover near the stove.

Hope this helps!

 

[drhiii]

I purchased a Stanley fan that one can direct the vent. Fit perfectly behind the stove. Run it on low, which is still quite vigorous. Blows excellent hot air through the top and side vents of the stove, and distributes around the rooms nicely. In fact, I was amazed at how hot the air that comes across the top of the stove is, consistently. I will get warm air for up to 8 to 10 hours after I load 'er up. A tad noisey, but doesn't bother us at all. We far prefer getting that volume of warm air distributed. 1907 Victorian not the most energy efficient, but no worries with the 1400 pushing heat out, and this Stanley doing its thing. I have it set on a timer so it comes on for 5-7 minutes every hour and distros warm air. Cost me all of $39. Can't beat it, and I can move it if I want to do other things. 5 degrees out, and toasty inside.

PS, following is the Stanley fan. Tho got it for much less on sale... http://www.nextag.com/Stanley-Bostitch-Stanley-Pivoting-73235080/prices-html

Can anyone comment on the effeciveness of the Napoleon blower on a 1400 model stove? I'm contemplating buying a blower but not sure if it's worth the couple hundred bucks.

 

[ControlFreak]

Is anyone running a blower on their Napoleon?

Does it significantly increase the heat output of your unit?

Hi Matt,

Yes, it definitely increases the heat output of the stove, but that statement must be qualified. When the fire is running with full yellow flames, you can run the fan as fast as you want. However, as the fire transitions to blue flames and coals, you may need to reduce the fan speed or you'll pull so much heat out of the stove that you'll stifle the draft, and you'll wake up to a big pile of coals in the morning.

So, the fan is worth the price paid, if you need the extra heat, and you'll have to experiment to figure out the max fan speed you can run with an overnight burn.

Dan

 

[Burd]

Im burn the 1402 insert I love the heat out put .But I really dont like the fact of not have the full control of the air supply. I think that if we did have bettter control of the air that we would be getting longer burn times and the means of smutthering the fire out if needed.
Alll in all the napolean name speaks for it self Great prices and well made. The house is in the 70 and out side it in the 30

 

[drhiii]

I too would like a bit more air flow control. One can gain that by adding a damper above the stove, but that is not the place where I would ideally want it.

Overall tho, for the price, am very happy with my 1400 pedestal. It has been below 15 for a few days now, not that big of a deal but for this area, we usually get low dips followed by spates of moderate 20s to 40s, and some warmer days. We are hardly living in a harsh place (front range of Colorado), so the Napoleon suits this locale well.

 

[carp]

Is your air control loose in the brackets that hold it? Mine were in my 1400 which allowed a lot more air in then needed. I made mine a snugger fit and can now damper a full load down to where I want it. For the occasional one that does get out of control I slip metal tape between the damper and stove further reducing the air gets. Careful though, easy to get burned.