all things endeavor (2020)

[ewok_1968]

have combed through this site and the internet at large for info, tips, experiences, etc. regarding the Lopi Endeavor (2020). there's some good info out there, but it's pretty thin and spread out. so, i thought i'd start a thread where thoughts and musings can be shared about this specific stove. maybe this can be an open ended exchange of info regarding this stove?

just got ours on 12/30/2020 and have been mightily impressed. we didn't get the green start or blower. top-down starts with door closed seem fast and safe. the ceiling fan moves a lot of air, so we figured to opt out of blower for now. also- no fresh air intake. it just pulls room air. no bells and whistles!

burning pine at 7-15% moisture harvested from friends nearby land. 4-5 year old standing dead beetle kill. lucky me!

thoughts so far...

1. starts and heats effortlessly. i've read complaints that the stove requires door to be open and that heat is slow to flow. maybe it's the wood? curious to hear what people take as the root cause(s) for these issues.
2. still not sure where to read the best temp. found the thread where different positions were suggested. i have two magnetic thermometers and have moved them around a fair bit to see where "hot-spots" are. middle of the lower section usually runs about 100°F hotter than the rest. for viewing, i like the left side of diagonal rise between top surfaces.
3. rocked the stove pretty hard last night and got the second floor of house up to >90°F. fire pouring out of air tubes like water was very beautiful! gaining confidence in the stove not running away from me. middle top (hottest spot) never got above 700°F for this burn.
4. i have to clear the ash pan every other day. i suppose i could ignore it and just shovel ash but i don't. the stove is pretty quick to extinguish with controls open, and so easy to relight/heat, i'm settling into a rhythm of letting it burn out.
5. ordered the SLK-24 pipe cleaner- have some ideas how to make a pretty minimal mess. hope i got the right set!

real curious to hear from other with this stove! learning from others is the best.

cheers!

 

[jmb6420]

I like my 2020 Endeavor too. I've had it since October. I opted to get the fan and green start. The fan helps me move the heat down the hallway to my bedrooms. The green start was added as a novelty but it turns out I really like it. On a cold start it establishes the draft and gets a good fire going on about 5-10 minutes. On a reload after going all night, I can throw some splits on, hit the button twice (air only) and have a blazing fire quickly. I really haven't had anything to complain about yet. Starts easy, puts out good heat, responds to control. I'm happy with it.

 

[ewok_1968]

I like my 2020 Endeavor too. I've had it since October. I opted to get the fan and green start. The fan helps me move the heat down the hallway to my bedrooms. The green start was added as a novelty but it turns out I really like it. On a cold start it establishes the draft and gets a good fire going on about 5-10 minutes. On a reload after going all night, I can throw some splits on, hit the button twice (air only) and have a blazing fire quickly. I really haven't had anything to complain about yet. Starts easy, puts out good heat, responds to control. I'm happy with it.

are you able to burn it hot enough to keep the glass clean? it kicks so much heat out for us at lower temps, that the airwash thing doesn't really work for us. not really a problem. also, do you find that the air control is sensitive through its range of travel? i feel like ours works just fine other than to say that 90% of the range of control comes in the last half inch of travel.

 

[jmb6420]

The control is touchy the last half inch. Sometimes I have to readjust a little after it settles in. I am currently still building the house this stove is in. I still have some work to do in the attic so house doesn't have ceiling insulation yet. Yes! I burn it hot enough to keep the glass clean. I can't wait till I can insulate to cut down on burn time and wood use.

 

[ewok_1968]

learned a big lesson tonight! not sure exactly what i need to change in my practices to make it better but... i had noted the air control seemed ineffectual at times. sometimes, randomly, i could close the stove down and get reburn very easily- while other times not really at all (even with the air control punched all the way in). tonight, i was watching a medium fire get hotter and hotter- not responding to the air control at all. then i got to thinking about earlier today when i cleaned out the ash drawer! ding ding ding i am a ding dong. i unlatched and relatched the drawer handle which caused the fire to settle down instantly. lots of air was entering through a poorly seated drawer. long boring story, but it it helps anyone else- yay! i'll do a real thorough cleaning and inspection next time to make drawer reinsertion more consistent. i'll also be taking things a bit farther apart because i really want to see what the air control mechanism really is/does. that is all

 

[ewok_1968]

also found a cool video on how our stoves are made. hijacked this link from another thread on this forum (hope that's okay!). https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/travis-tour-building-the-endeavor.184769/

 

[gnfraser]

have combed through this site and the internet at large for info, tips, experiences, etc. regarding the Lopi Endeavor (2020). there's some good info out there, but it's pretty thin and spread out. so, i thought i'd start a thread where thoughts and musings can be shared about this specific stove. maybe this can be an open ended exchange of info regarding this stove?

just got ours on 12/30/2020 and have been mightily impressed. we didn't get the green start or blower. top-down starts with door closed seem fast and safe. the ceiling fan moves a lot of air, so we figured to opt out of blower for now. also- no fresh air intake. it just pulls room air. no bells and whistles!

burning pine at 7-15% moisture harvested from friends nearby land. 4-5 year old standing dead beetle kill. lucky me!

thoughts so far...

1. starts and heats effortlessly. i've read complaints that the stove requires door to be open and that heat is slow to flow. maybe it's the wood? curious to hear what people take as the root cause(s) for these issues.
2. still not sure where to read the best temp. found the thread where different positions were suggested. i have two magnetic thermometers and have moved them around a fair bit to see where "hot-spots" are. middle of the lower section usually runs about 100°F hotter than the rest. for viewing, i like the left side of diagonal rise between top surfaces.
3. rocked the stove pretty hard last night and got the second floor of house up to >90°F. fire pouring out of air tubes like water was very beautiful! gaining confidence in the stove not running away from me. middle top (hottest spot) never got above 700°F for this burn.
4. i have to clear the ash pan every other day. i suppose i could ignore it and just shovel ash but i don't. the stove is pretty quick to extinguish with controls open, and so easy to relight/heat, i'm settling into a rhythm of letting it burn out.
5. ordered the SLK-24 pipe cleaner- have some ideas how to make a pretty minimal mess. hope i got the right set!

real curious to hear from other with this stove! learning from others is the best.

cheers!

Great feedback as we're keen to buy the Lopi Endeavor or Liberty depending on heat ouput, We have about 1600 sft and a high ceiling in the living area only. Will the Endeavor perform for that space? Dont want to go too big with the Liberty in case in cooks us out and we end up running it too low.

 

[jmb6420]

Great feedback as we're keen to buy the Lopi Endeavor or Liberty depending on heat ouput, We have about 1600 sft and a high ceiling in the living area only. Will the Endeavor perform for that space? Dont want to go too big with the Liberty in case in cooks us out and we end up running it too low.

My house is about 1850 sft and the Endeavor heats it without any problems. I can bring the temperature up from 64 to 72 with a half load of red oak. I’m in Ok with R19 wall and R39 ceiling insulation. Since installing the ceiling insulation I’ve had to learn to build smaller fires and less often. It can be 20 degrees outside and I’ll maybe have 2-3 half full burns. Usually just 2 since I like it cold at night. I get up and light a fire and then again in the pm. Warms the house up and then I’ll let it cool during the night. It can really crank out the heat. I do have the blower which moves a lot of air quietly. I also got the green start as a whim and actually really like it.

Lopi Endeavor 2020
Lopi Republic (Shop)

 

[ewok_1968]

Great feedback as we're keen to buy the Lopi Endeavor or Liberty depending on heat ouput, We have about 1600 sft and a high ceiling in the living area only. Will the Endeavor perform for that space? Dont want to go too big with the Liberty in case in cooks us out and we end up running it too low.

we get cooked out pretty easily, but i have a tendency to load it too full, so that's my bad. second winter with the stove, and i'm finally giving in to the fact i need to to finesse it with a little less wood on each load. 1600 sf sounds like it's right in the pocket! i bet you'll love it.

other things... i don't feel like the factory install of door/drawer gaskets was very well executed. so, i redid all gaskets this fall and the stove became a fair bit easier to control. the other thing- we gave up on the ash drawer. since we burn pine, it just fills the drawer too fast for us. so, we ignore the ash drawer and just shovel once a week- way less messy for us. different wood may lead to different accumulation rates.

 

[jmb6420]

we get cooked out pretty easily, but i have a tendency to load it too full, so that's my bad. second winter with the stove, and i'm finally giving in to the fact i need to to finesse it with a little less wood on each load. 1600 sf sounds like it's right in the pocket! i bet you'll love it.

other things... i don't feel like the factory install of door/drawer gaskets was very well executed. so, i redid all gaskets this fall and the stove became a fair bit easier to control. the other thing- we gave up on the ash drawer. since we burn pine, it just fills the drawer too fast for us. so, we ignore the ash drawer and just shovel once a week- way less messy for us. different wood may lead to different accumulation rates.

I like ash drawer. I didn’t at first since I came from the old style Endeavor but once I got used to it👍 I burn mostly oak so I don’t accumulate ash as fast as some but I’ve got in the habit of emptying the ash drawer every other day. Quick, easy and pretty much mess free.

 

[gnfraser]

thanks all for your responses, we went with the Endeavor as there was a 2020 model on the floor that we bought at a reduced price otherwise a long wait here in Australia. It comes with the 4 tubes and not the 1 larger one that was a modification for the earlier models in Aust...at least thats what Lopi told me. The other thing I saw was the little black box at the inside front of the fire box in a centre position. I was told it is the main air flow. Is that a standard feature of the 2020 model as it looks like it might get in the way when setting the fire?
Thanks again

 

[begreen]

That might be the doghouse, which often is where boost air for fire starting is introduced. A lot of the primary air enters the firebox at the top of the door as airwash to keep the glass clean.