New Lopi Republic 1750 going in this afternoon

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Augie

Feeling the Heat
Nov 8, 2012
468
North Of Canada
I grew up with a wood insert and remember going every fall to get wood for the next year. Always wanted a stove or insert for myself. A friend is a partner at a local stone yard and fireplace shop so I asked him a few questions and now I have a Lopi Republic 1750 going in this afternoon. I have been stockpiling wood for a month or two and have about 4 full cords S&S now. All of it scrounged but only about 1 of the cords(full not face) are fully seasoned (yes I checked them with a MM ;)) BTW when y'all talk about a cord are you referring to a face or a full usually? A local arborist dropping off the stuff he cant split and sell, he says he will give me 3 loads of lesser wood( willow, pine, dogwood, ect) for every one load of good stuff( oak, hickory, locust) so I am building my stockpile for the next few seasons. There is actually about 1 full cord sitting in the driveway that I need to S&S of elm.... taking me a while to work through it by hand.

Back to the Stove, Put in triple wall chimney yesterday It is a little on the short side, strait up but short, total stack height is only going to be 15' but I have 5' additional in case I have draft issues. Ill just need to put supports up on the roof. Stove is located on one end of 1100 sqft ranch, with a pretty open floor plan in that half of the house. I have opened up vents above all of the doors in the house to prompt convection currents, and plan on running a ceiling fan in the room farthest away from the stove to encourage this. I actually tested this idea with a space heater and helium balloons to see how it would work. Not too bad. The living area is near the stove so it shouldn't be too big of an issue., I have Nat Gas but would like to attempt to burn only wood this year, might not totally work as I don't know if I have enough seasoned wood for all of the overnight burns all year long yet. Guess Ill just see what happens.

Regardless Ill be doing my first break in fire this evening. Have learned a ton here already and look forward to learning more, Pics as soon as she is up and running.
 
Welcome to the Hearth, Augie.
Well, a cord is a cord. 128 cu. ft. Anything else......isn't.
When most of us around here talk about a cord, it's 4x4x8, or some variation to equal 128 cu. ft., but where I live, quite a few folks call a "face cord" a cord. It can be a bit confusing.
If you've only had your firewood a month or two, how can it be dry? Do you get kiln dried somewhere? What is the actual MC on a freshly split piece of this "fully seasoned" wood?
I would be surprised and happy for you if it's actually dry enough to burn well.
Anything below 20% will be nice to burn, and is recommended.
Our mantra/motto around here is ...."without pics, it didn't happen".:cool:
So, where's the pics?;)
 
Congrats, we love ours.

Pics please!!
 
Dogwood, BTW, is not a lesser wood...has one of the highest BTU ratings per pound of any wood. I have burned it with great success. Hope you get a lot of it.
 
So I got a deal and with it I got the Avalon door...LOL same as the Lopi but different name stamped into it.

Have about a full cord 4x4x8 of Dogwood. I know this is a "good wood" will be keeping it for overnight burns later in the winter. The Dogwood came from a CL scrounge, He cut it down last summer, kept it for a buddy who never came and got it. Now I have it:). The MC of the wood I have so far is about 18-22% for the seasoned stuff. About 28-35 for the unseasoned stuff. IF I have to Ill buy a few pressed sawdust blocks to mix in with the unseasoned stuff.

The third is about 15 min in, Starting to close it down at that point, not stuffed full but just loping***(pun intended) about at 350 stove top ,200 10 inches up chimney. and it is burning elm not the good stuf yet.
Happy with it this evening, house is floating at 69ish just closed it down for the night.

PICS!!!! cuz it happened :p Yes I know on the pine in the first there are some ant/worm holes, This is before I have stacked all of it, and this is about 1/8 of total !lol
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Nice and congrats on the stove. I just finished the install of the insert version of that same stove, the Republic 1750i. There's a thread about it a few days back. I've been happy with it so far and you should be too.
 
Could you have the Spokane 1750 (Avalon) rather than the Reublic 1750 (Lopi)? http://avalonfirestyles.com/product-detail.aspx?model=248 Basically the same stove, just from Avalon (sister co to Lopi. Kind of like Chevy Camaro vs Pontiac Firebird).

Nice stove and stacks. You're ahead of us last year with wood (We bought the Cottage in September and had the about 2 weeks after closing). We supplimented with Ecobricks last season.
 
Loving my first night with the stove, Didn't get that cool last night only 28ish, but woke up to 62 in the bedrooms, furthest away from the Stove, and 64 in the stove room. House is distributing heat pretty evenly. Real test will be when we get some nights in the low single digits. Didn't load the stove any more that you see in the pics and choked down got 8hrs with plenty of coals left to light some pine this AM with 140 stove top temps.

Next few Days will be warm lows in the 40's and highs in the 50's. Short stack will be put to the test.

:cool:
 
Could you have the Spokane 1750 (Avalon) rather than the Reublic 1750 (Lopi)? http://avalonfirestyles.com/product-detail.aspx?model=248 Basically the same stove, just from Avalon (sister co to Lopi. Kind of like Chevy Camaro vs Pontiac Firebird).

It is, My friend got me a screaming deal, I asked him for the largest viewing area and the Avalon door glass is slightly larger, according to him the Spokane and the Republic come from the same place in the same package, they ship the door separate because that is the only thing that differed.
 
Have run it through 3 break in cycles, did the last to 650 stove top temps on a medium size load of pine. Enjoying this stove a lot already. I never knew how nice it was to come home to a 75 degree house after a run outside in 45 degrees
 
Could you have the Spokane 1750 (Avalon) rather than the Reublic 1750 (Lopi)? http://avalonfirestyles.com/product-detail.aspx?model=248 Basically the same stove, just from Avalon (sister co to Lopi. Kind of like Chevy Camaro vs Pontiac Firebird).

Nice stove and stacks. You're ahead of us last year with wood (We bought the Cottage in September and had the about 2 weeks after closing). We supplimented with Ecobricks last season.

How did that work out for you? Could you elaborate a little on how you supplemented?
 
I am glad you like your stove. I predict it is going to drive you crazy that you only have 1 cord o seasoned wood. Fear not, all my one year seasoned wood performed awesome during year two. Double you wood supply and you will be set for dry wood:)
 
I am glad you like your stove. I predict it is going to drive you crazy that you only have 1 cord o seasoned wood. Fear not, all my one year seasoned wood performed awesome during year two. Double you wood supply and you will be set for dry wood

I probably will, but I have a line on about 2 more full cords dry of mixed hardwoods that Im working on getting. Should only be time and fuel :cool:
And went out this morning to test some willow that I got in August and haven't looked at since I put it up, about 2-2.5 face cords or so. It is 21% now on a freshly split piece, I thought it would be at 30%+. I can burn that while I am home(I work from home) so pretty much all day even if I have to reload more often and run wide open with smaller loads to get it to burn cleanly.

I have a short stack and the roof is easy to get to, so Ill be burning the almost seasoned stuff during the day in smaller loads and wide open saving to better stuff for overnights and when I leave the house. And Ill be checking the stack a few times this year cleaning as necessary.
 
Did some mods to the stove and I like her even more. Replaced the firebrick on the sides back and top with insulating fire brick . This has allowed me to keep secondaries going at lower primary air settings.

This has been a great purchase and I would recommend it as a stove for anyone who wants a nofrills secondary style stove.
 
I'm really glad to hear that you're happy with your 1750. I have one getting installed on Saturday (if all goes according to plan), and I can't wait! I've been doing a lot of prep work to be ready. First, I had to source, purchase, and stack wood that'll hopefully be burnable this winter (seems like I should be ok). Second, I had to tear out and rebuild my hearth and mantle for clearances (the stove that came with the house was unsafe and unused by us). Now I'm planning a wood shed project for the spring when I have an idea of how much wood I'll need for a season of burning. I'm a little obsessed right now :)
 
Good to see that the stove is working well for you. Is that the correct door handle position? It looks like it is 180 deg. off.

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Enjoy the stove! I burned a Lopi(Endeavor) for two seasons and really liked it. Travis Industries makes a quality product.
 
Nice looking setup there Augie, glad to here you are enjoying it.
Thought something looked different, Begreen nailed it, does your wood handle get hot in front of the glass ?
 
The door handle doesn't get to hot, I had the door cracked in that picture. So yes the handle was 180 off in that picture.
 
I went ahead and sealed all of the stovepipe joints between the stove and the triple wall in the ceiling with high temperature black rtv silicone. It has improved the draft a bit more giving me the ability to dial back primary air even more, even earlier. Not a huge improvement but for a $2.79 tube of RTV it was worth it.
 
Loving the stove still, keeping the house toasty, but as a new burner I think I haven't been running the stove optimally, and some of my wood has been suspect. I have pulled out some wood that I thought might be ready to burn but wasn't, the cherry will season for another year or two before it makes it back in the stove. I hear the telltale tinkling of creosote when I knock the stovepipe. I have run about one half to three quarters of a cord so far running just about 24/7, my furnace hasn't run at all since install,and planned on sweeping after about a month to evaluate my burning no matter what. Some of the early burns were bad because I was getting a dirty window. Haven't had that issue in the last couple of weeks though, guess I am learning. I will report back with results.
 
Well that was quick and easy. Got about 3 cups ish. Pretty happy with things thoughts?
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How many cords were burned since the last cleaning?
 
Between 2 and three face cords. Initially I was burning some very wet cherry and letting the fire smoldering overnight. I know, I know, big mistake, I have Learned from that, after about two weeks. :p Since then I have been burning some well seasoned pine maple and dogwood stovetop temperatures have been better, 500-700 now, and flue temps stay above 270 until I get to the coal stage of the burn.
 
Sounds like you are getting the hang of it. The next sweeping should look even better.
 
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