Any feedback on the Napoleon 1402 insert??

[southland]

Anyone have any experience with the Napoleon 1402 insert, or the Napoleon brand in general? I'd like to know how loud the 1402's fans are and how good is the build quality? Any known issues with it? I've never seen a Napoleon stove in action and I don't know anyone who owns one.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Joey]

I own a 1402 Napoleon stove. I've only had it for a few months and an extremely satisfied with it. You do hear the fans when they are running, but they are not extremely loud. Since the stove does not sit way back into the fireplace, you get all that radiant heat coming off the unit. You dont get this with the flush mount inserts. That is part of the reason I went with the 1402. The stove is high quality. I looked at many other stoves before going with this one. The one thing I dont like is the fact that it can only take 18 inch logs. Some of the other manufacturers stoves take up to 22 inch logs. I would recomend....good luck,,,happy burning........Joe

 

[Capt]

Since I only just installed mine LAST NIGHT, I can't give much feedback, cept the fans aren't that loud, no need to turn up the tv when they kick on. Overall quality seems good, and the price is inexpensive. Heatit here on the forum also has the 1402, that's how and why I decided to get the 1402, after looking over his and seeing it in operation.

 

[Fsappo]

Napoleon wood stoves in general are a decent 2nd tier product that offers good quality and performance for the price, from my experience. They always seem to be a good value. Maybe not a Quad/Lopi/Regency/Hearthstone but a big step up from the hardware/tractor store/tool catalogue products

 

[Jake]

I've got the smaller version and lLOVE it

Its not real loud, I can burn overnight with it....

 

[smabon]

I get my 1402 last December and it did a great job heating my 1300 sq ft house. I burned 24/7 with it as my primary heat source. I am very happy with the stove. I also think that it is one of the better looking inserts out there Over all the fans aren't that loud. Usually you wouldn't have them running at high anyway. I was told that fans do a better job heating when they are set at low to medium, this way as the air is pushed around the stove it will have more time to be warmed up. Every once in awhile the surround would rattle but all I have to do is just give it a tap and it would stop. I didn't have any problems getting a full night burn with it. I just loaded it full with the wood running east/west and it would last all night. The only problem I did have with the stove and I am not totally sure it was the stove that caused it was that my electric bill just about double compare to the year before I had the stove. I will be doing some investigating this year to see if it happens again and what is causing the high electrical use. Over all I am very happy with the stove. Maintainance is low, the fans are easy to get to if you need to clean them or work on them. I have 3 cats and a dog, so I cleaned them every couple of months when I am burning. I installed it myself, pretty straight forward. The directions are not the best, especially when it comes to putting in the bricks. I had to go back to my dealer and look at one that he had set up. Don't think that you would be disappointed if you got one.

 

[Joey]

Hey Pro...good info....what are you burning at night for a all night burn??? I get my machine up to about 650 with the box about 3/4 full, if I overfill it, the temp gauge goes into the overfire mode, not by much, but its still there. I think if I filled the box to the top for a all night burn,,the machine would get to hot. I shut my air control all the way at night also..any help would be appreciated....

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Anyone have any experience with the Napoleon 1402 insert, or the Napoleon brand in general? I'd like to know how loud the 1402's fans are and how good is the build quality? Any known issues with it? I've never seen a Napoleon stove in action and I don't know anyone who owns one.

Thanks in advance.

Never burned one but they look well made. Next stove I buy they will be on the short list.

 

[ControlFreak]

I have heated with a 1401, the older brother of the 1402 for 12 years. The difference is the fans. My fans are 4 blade fans, while the 1402 has quieter squirrel cage fans. I am very happy with this stove. If I ever replaced this stove I would only hope that the replacement performs as well as this one.

I always load North South and have no problem with getting a full night burn with it. I pack the firebox with as much wood as will fit and the damper is closed off by the time it reaches 550 deg F.

They may call this a 2nd tier insert. That would be the case only because it may not be as pretty as these others. I heat a 2900 sq ft well insulated 2 story colonial with this and about 200 gallons of oil each winter. Oh btw: the oil also produces my hot water, assisted by a solar panel.

 

[ControlFreak]

Hey Pro...good info....what are you burning at night for a all night burn??? I get my machine up to about 650 with the box about 3/4 full, if I overfill it, the temp gauge goes into the overfire mode, not by much, but its still there. I think if I filled the box to the top for a all night burn,,the machine would get to hot. I shut my air control all the way at night also..any help would be appreciated....

Joey,
650 is normal for this stove as measured on the top in the center. If you close off the draft a little sooner, it should run a bit cooler. The temp on the top of the stove will also depend upon how fast the blowers are running. If you're accustomed to burning a smoke dragon, this stove (and perhaps any other EPA stove) will make you think that you're overfiring because of the intense heat of the fire, especially once the whole load is going. Once the fire is up to temp, you'll be able to toast bread if you hold it close enough to the glass.
Dan

 

[Joey]

Thanx Controlfreak, 650 is right in the overfire zone according to my Rutland Thermometer. I keep it right in the middle on the top of the stove. I was reading thru the manual again last night, and could not find a specific number for a overfire condition. The stove works awesome, no smoke from chimney at all while its hot. Would ya happen to know where I can get a bit more info about this stove?? I have read the owners manual about 10 times...and been on the website a few times also. Thanx again,,,just trying to tweek this thing a little more before the really cold weather comes.....Joey

 

[Squiner]

I installed this stove a few months ago. I have had about 6 small fires and just in the last week some bigger fires. No issues at all yet, and it burns very well. Still had enough coals this morning to fire it up again. That is with only three medium splits from the night before.

I just got back from vacation in northern NY at my parents uninsulated camp. The camp has PE freestanding stove so I was burning that for about two weeks. I would stuff the PE for overnight burns but the secondaries would not ignite as well as the Napoleon do. I only got the front secondary air ports to ignite on the PE. The Napoleon usually always has full ignition of all the secondaries. Also on the Napoleon, when I shut down the primary air, the only flame is at the secondaries, not on the wood. The PE always had flames on the wood when dampened all the way down. I'm very new to wood burning and I don't know if the wood at the camp has more moisture or not. Just providing my observations.

Jim

 

[ControlFreak]

Thanx Controlfreak, 650 is right in the overfire zone according to my Rutland Thermometer. I keep it right in the middle on the top of the stove. I was reading thru the manual again last night, and could not find a specific number for a overfire condition. The stove works awesome, no smoke from chimney at all while its hot. Would ya happen to know where I can get a bit more info about this stove?? I have read the owners manual about 10 times...and been on the website a few times also. Thanx again,,,just trying to tweek this thing a little more before the really cold weather comes.....Joey

Where to get more information? You are already there. Just keep asking questions and experimenting. Search this forum and you'll find a pretty good amount of info on the 1401. I would consider anything above 650 degrees as hotter than you need to be. I find that 550 is the real operating sweet spot when it's up to full temperature with a full load. With a partial load you may or may not get this hot. If it wants to go to 650 with the draft fully closed, don't worry about it. I have had mine up to 800 a number of times and when you get there, the draft is so strong that you can't slow it down much, so there's nothing to gained by getting that hot. It's not a risk of burning your house down, but more of losing your load of wood up the chimney. I recall the manual speaking of excessive temperature creating some damage to the gold plating, that is if you have the gold door. I do have the gold door, and it looks today just like it did 12 years ago. Money well spent as far as I'm concerned. As I'm sure you have read here before, moisture content in your wood is the biggest issue you'll struggle with and will have to learn how to properly season your wood for the area you live in, and the wood you're getting.

 

[Joey]

Thanx a bunch for the advise...I'm a research nut ! I had it today about 3/4 full, draft closed and it was running around 650 degrees. I left the house for about 4 hours, blowers were off, and when I came home, my firebox was entirely empty but still hot...only ashes left. I put some more kindling in to get it started again, and she fired right up. I have a killer draft also...35 ft chimney. I'm still wondering how I will get an overnight burn. I guess I'm just afraid to load up the box to much...but I will experiment with it. Thanx again for your help. Enjoy your holiday,,,Joey

 

[ControlFreak]

Joey,

Are you saying that you are burning with the blowers off? Not a good thing to do.

With the 35 ft chimney you may have more draft than you should have, and that can definitely lead to what you're experiencing. Look at the manual and see what it says about chimney height. If you're running it with the blowers off, then you can also be aggravating the situation. Pulling heat out of the stove with the blowers will bring your temperature down significantly, reduce your draft and extend your burn time.

Your stove should not be eating a 3/4 load in 4 hours, unless you're burning soft wood. If you have too much draft now when it's not even very cold out, you'll really have too much draft when it gets colder. If you can't make an adjustment to your chimney, then your only choice is the stove.

It is possible to make an adjustment to the draft control in your stove so that it closes more to compensate for an extreme case. They put a hard limit in there so even when it's closed, there's still a pretty good opening remaining. Unfortunately, you'd have to pull the stove and tip it on its back to get to the bottom, which means taking out all the bricks, etc. It's just a simple sheet metal tab that you can adjust to get more closure. It takes far more time to pull the stove than it takes to make that change to the draft limit.

Dan

 

[Joey]

Thanx so much Dan. I have been runnin the stove with the blowers off. I do turn them on occasionally,, but when its not all that cold in the house,,I dont use them. Same reason you stated. I dont wanna get killed with the electric bill. Do I need to operate the fans all the time when the stove is running??? Or just when I want to heat it up in the house,,,or when the stove is getting to hot..thanx again....Joey.

 

[moterhead3]

I've had a 1402 for 2 years and am very happy with it. I run the fans all the time, mostly on low, havn't noticed any difference on my electric bill. Mayby because my circulator on my oil burner isn't running. I'm heating a 1600 sq ft rancher with a daylight basement, oil for my hot water, I used 150 gallons last year. At night I usually load the firebox tight, cut the damper back at about 300 to 350, it will climb to about 500 at its peak and have enough coals in the morning to start back up after I put wood in. The only thing I don't like are the screw locations to get to the fan covers. I've got a collie, so I clean them often.

 

[southland]

Thanks for the info everyone. I found a used Napoleon insert and I purchased it for my second fireplace. From the picture, I thought it was a model 1402, but the owner said it was a 1401. However, I cannot find a model number on the stove. Anyone know what the difference is between a model 1401 and 1402 insert? The manual they gave me has a print date of 10/02/06 and lists both models on the cover.

 

[smabon]

Thanks for the info everyone. I found a used Napoleon insert and I purchased it for my second fireplace. From the picture, I thought it was a model 1402, but the owner said it was a 1401. However, I cannot find a model number on the stove. Anyone know what the difference is between a model 1401 and 1402 insert? The manual they gave me has a print date of 10/02/06 and lists both models on the cover.

As far as I know the main difference between the 1401 and the 1402 is the type of fan that they have. The older 1401 has a 4 blade fan while the 1402 uses squirel fans. pull off the fan covers and take a peak. or you can probably tip the stove onto its back and look at the fans from the bottom to see what type they are. I have read a couple of times about people having to uninstall their insert to adjust the stopper on the draft. It is talked about above. If I was you I would adjust the stopper before installing it so that you can close down the draft more. Enjoy the stove

 

[ControlFreak]

Thanx so much Dan. I have been runnin the stove with the blowers off. I do turn them on occasionally,, but when its not all that cold in the house,,I dont use them. Same reason you stated. I dont wanna get killed with the electric bill. Do I need to operate the fans all the time when the stove is running??? Or just when I want to heat it up in the house,,,or when the stove is getting to hot..thanx again....Joey.

Joey,
I wouldn't run the stove without at least running the fans on low to keep some air circulating through the fan enclosures and to protect the fan motors from the heat. If you don't need the heat, then burn smaller fires, maybe just 2 or 3 splits. Never just one split. A single, lonely split doesn't burn well.
Dan

 

[Joey]

Thanx...now I'm trying to figure out what temperature the stove would go into an overfire condition?? I contacted Napoleon directly a few days ago, with no response. The manual does not give any hard numbers when referring to an overfire condition. I do have two stovetop thermometers to monitor stove temp. Would just like to have a number for a overfire condition for my own peace of mind.!!

 

[ControlFreak]

Thanx...now I'm trying to figure out what temperature the stove would go into an overfire condition?? I contacted Napoleon directly a few days ago, with no response. The manual does not give any hard numbers when referring to an overfire condition. I do have two stovetop thermometers to monitor stove temp. Would just like to have a number for a overfire condition for my own peace of mind.!!

Joe,
Keep in mind that this is assuming that you're running the fans on at least a low speed. Anything above 650 is hotter than you need to go and I would consider in the overfire territory. The hottest I've had my stove up to was 800, and I've done that maybe 5 times over 12 years by forgetting to close it down. At that temp, the draft is so strong that you can't hardly slow the fire down. I guess that's the definition of overfire. If you are in this overfire condition it's not something that you have to get terribly excited about. It's not going to burn your house down, its just that you are wasting your wood because so much heat is just going up the chimney.

When the stove gets to 400 start closing it down in small increments until you get to 500 or so. The temp may continue rising up to 550 or so. If it climbs up to 650 with the draft closed, don't worry about it. It depends a lot upon the condition of your set up, but use this as a good starting point. The rule of thumb is you want to close off the draft as early as possible without hindering the secondary combustion.
Dan

 

[Joey]

Thanx again Dan,,,,finally gettin the hang of this.....your tips are appreciated. As long as my wife is nice and toasty,,,I'm a happy man..!!...

 

[moterhead3]

Thats what counts. I got a new chain saw that way.

 

[ControlFreak]

I have to smile when you say this: "The manual does not give any hard numbers when referring to an overfire condition."

I've come to understand that the reason they don't say this is because much of the time they don't really know themselves what "too hot" is. Too hot depends upon a lot of things, and is probably more dependent upon your specific installation than it is about the stove itself. The stove is a heavy steel enclosure lined with firebrick, a door and some openings to let air in and exhaust out. Even if you got it hot enough to make it glow red, it's probably not going to do much to damage the thing. Your biggest risk from getting it super hot is a chimney fire if the prior owner burned a smoke dragon for a long time and didn't clean the chimney.