Brand New Lopi Leyden Owner...Pics

[jtcm05]

Hi all. I am the proud new owner of a Lopi Leyden PS in the oxford brown enamel finish. Installed it yesterday onto a hearth that I built myself. See pics below. What a bear! Of course, I haven't actually fired the damn thing up yet because the Simpson 4" Pelletvent kit that I bought did NOT have a 4" stove appliance adapter but rather a 4" to 3" adapter pipe which doesn't fit the Leyden's 4" exhaust port. Does this not make any sense or is it just me? I understand that most PS have 3" exhausts, but why would they be buying a 4" vent kit in the first place? OK, end of rant....sorry.

Other than that the install went fine pellet vent kit installed easily. I removed the fuel gate from the pellet chute. I have a ton of New England Wood Pellets waiting to be used.

One thing I was looking for was experiences with Lopi's log set they sell. I can imagine it's pretty expensive. Does it help with the stove's lack of the "wood fire" look enough to make it worth the price or does it just cause extra cleaning? Here's a few pics of the hearth and stove. Started by having to cut out a section of the baseboard register for a clean look. Also installed an outlet for the stove on a dedicated 15amp circuit and an adaptation for powering the top half of the receptacle by a portable generator outside the same exterior wall.

 

[tumbles]

This topic was addressed prviously but the gist was they just get in the way of the flame and it's just one more thing to clean. I have the exact same stove and I find the fire just fine. I do believe it can cause some extra ash too. I wouldn't bother unless your significant other insists upon it. My stove stove didn't recommend it and they sell the darn things. Hope it helps. I love mine by the way but there is definitely a learning curve. I'm learning everyday. I think I'm finally getting now. Heats great and it's beautiful to look at. Muss has been a great help. Nice job of the hearth and I love the brown enamel. Good luck and happy burning.

 

[tinkabranc]

Beautiful setup! Nice work!
Congrats and Happy Heating

 

[crausch]

Yes very nice setup! I love the stone panels behind the stove. The Lopi dealer in my area was asking $80 for the log set for the "Pioneer" or "Yankee" model. Tumbles was right about the pros and cons of the log set be disussed previously on other threads. Some like them, others find they hinder cleaning or cause more maintenance. Some has said that they get brittle after awhile. Search the forum and draw your own conclusion. Enjoy your stove!

 

[j00fek]

great setup!

 

[lecomte38]

where is the fire??

 

[tj11]

That looks spectacular! One of the nicest I've seen.

 

[Xena]

Sweet set up. Love that enamel paint job.

 

[lass442]

Amazing! What a nice job you did on the hearth & backdrop. It looks like it would've been a bear to do.
I like the dedicated power and backup plan. SMART! ( Dedicated = won't backfeed into anything else in the house, right?) Very smart, indeed.
I doubt if you'll miss the log. It'll probably be more aggravation than it's worth.

 

[peterpski666]

Nice, I have the same stove. I like the back walls you did, I may copy that someday. The log kit from what i have heard is better for special occasions, it will be in the line of fire for daily cleaning, uh, I mean every other day, well, depending on your pellets, occassional cleaning. Welcome to the learning curve!
My biggest gripe with this stove is cleaning pellets out of the top lid so they dont block the emergency lid stop, that and it has nowhere near a 40# hopper. Other than that, you will love it, heats my 1800 sf colonial like a champ.

How close is that AC unit to your vent?

 

[imacman]

Beautiful stove! And a great job on the install. Really nice that you took the time to take pics as things progressed.

Hope you get the pipe issue straightened out, and then we need some serious burning pics!

 

[Wood Nugget]

I have the same stove and love it. My wife and I have talked about the log set, but now that we have the stove and I am learning to operate it and teaching her as I go, she might not be thinking about it as she was before. Once your stove is burning and you see how the fly ash accumulates in front of and on the sides of the burn pot you might agree. A log set seems like it would get in the way and collect a lot of ash on top. Every day and a half or 2 days I have to sweep a lot of ash into the ash pan. It isn't hard to do, and I do it while the stove is running, but a log set would definitely get in the way and probably require me to shut the stove down. I would burn yours for a while and make your own decision. The flame and ambiance is nice without the logs.

 

[sydney1963]

Beautiful set up! Thanks for sharing.

 

[jtcm05]

Wow. I'm amazed at all the replies. Thanks to you all very much for the kind words. Yes, we really wanted the stove to be a focal piece in the new large family room. Not to mention safe, which is why I went above and beyond installing it. This has been a two year process from the initial planning stage until now and this site has been a truly invaluable source of information.

Thanks for the opinions on the log set. We will most likely hold off on it for the time being. I contacted Simpson regarding the stove adapter and they could not offer me a good reason to my question to why the 4" kit doesn't come with a 4" adapter except to say that most stoves have a 3" outlet. Now why those with 3" outlets would be buying a 4" vent system is beyond me. Oh well.

Hopefully I'll have this thing fired up by this weekend. If anyone's interested in the stone work behind the stove, here is the link to the product I used... (broken link removed to http://www.culturedstone.com/products/productdetail.asp?id=21) I am certainly no mason, but it came out pretty decent.

I'd say the A/C unit is about 5-6 feet from the vent termination outside the wall. I cover the entire unit and opening over the winter anyway. Didn't think that would be an issue.

 

[BubbRubb]

Very nice stove and equally nice install.

 

[Xena]

Now why those with 3" outlets would
be buying a 4" vent system is beyond me.

Hi John, Many stove Mfg's will recommend 4" pipe if the run is over
a certain length or at high elevations.

My particular stove required 4" pipe for vertical installs over 15.
I have 15' of pipe so I went with the 4" duravent.

 

[jtcm05]

Hi John, Many stove Mfg's will recommend 4" pipe if the run is over
a certain length or at high elevations.

My particular stove required 4" pipe for vertical installs over 15.
I have 15' of pipe so I went with the 4" duravent.

Well, I stand corrected and informed! Thanks zeta.