Decision time: Drolet Escape 1800 or Englander 13 ?

[RickBlaine]

People of Hearth:

I am from the land called NEWBIE. Your world is strange. Please help me.

Drolet Escape 1800 on pedestal (Firebox volume is 2.4 cu ft. Heats 500 - 2,100 sq ft w/ 75,000 BTUs)

vs.

Englander 13-NCH on legs (Firebox volume is 1.8 cu. ft. Heats 1,200 - 1,800 sq ft w/ 60,000 BTUs)

Menards vs. Home Depot

$650 each....I contacted each company and found their customer service departments to be pretty good.

Background:

My house is 1450 sq ft brick ranch with an unfinished basement. I will install the stove in the fireplace on the first floor. Drolet makes an Escape model with legs but the least expensive I found it was $1,300! Only the pedestal model is on sale at Menards. I prefer legs but not at twice the price. The Drolet pedestal is welded on, so I can't swap that for legs myself.

The Englander 13 comes with both pedestal AND legs- YOU decide which you like.

Englander 13 puts out fewer emissions than the Drolet Escape. Englander is American-made, Drolet is Canadian. Not trying to heat the whole house 24/7, just trying to supplement the natural gas furnace and enjoy a nice warm wood heated fire and a nice view. As another hearth.com member said here last week, having a fire brings people together to talk, not sit in front of a TV.

I know I should take the manufacturer's BTU ratings and "sq ft heating capabilities" with a grain of salt, and I would be happy with either stove, but is there any advantage one has over the other?

I just got the building inspector to sign off on my plan today. They agreed I did not need an Outside Air Kit. But they did tell me that if I went with a Drolet Austral or the Englander 30, I would have to extend the raised hearth. Don't want to do that. Want to buy a stove and get busy.

Any advice, even to tell me to stop being a post whore, would be welcome.

Thank you!

 

[mol1jb]

I would go with the bigger fire box. Makes things nice not having to reload so often.

 

[Hardrockmaple]

Have you got your wood supply? Has it been cut/split/stacked for 8-12 months? Honestly, ya need good dry wood to make this work properly.

 

[Dix]

I love my 13. It is an awesome heater. It does, how ever, only get a 4-6 hour burn time on primo firewood due to the smaller firebox.

I am looking at a 3rd stove (house layout is craptastic), and the Drolet is at the top of the list, with the bigger firebox. The burn time difference is astounding between the 1.5 & the 2 CF.

Your call. YMMV.

Welcome to the forums !

 

[tekguy]

Dont forget to read the manuals for each stove and check clearances and hearth requirements before you buy

 

[RickBlaine]

Thank you for the direct and clear replies folks.

The wood has been cut, split, stacked, and out there drying for 2.5 years. It is 90% Black Locust wood and 10% Maple. 5-6 cords total.

A friend's mother has the Englander 13 and loves it. She also gets 4-6 hours, and compliments from every visitor. And lots of heat.

The firebox cubic foot difference is 1.8 (Englander) or the Drolet (2.4)....either will fit fine in the masonry fireplace.

Thank you!

 

[reaperman]

The 13's firebox isnt very deep, so east/west loading is almost a must unless you cut your lengths exceptionally small. Otherwise its a nice little heater. On the other hand, being its a smallish firebox, once hot, it doesnt take much wood to keep it there. By feeding it a few pieces of small diameter branch wood ( 2-3") every so often, keeps the stove warm throughout the day. Then load er up at night with normal size splits.

 

[W.B.]

I love my 13. It is an awesome heater. It does, how ever, only get a 4-6 hour burn time on primo firewood due to the smaller firebox.

I am looking at a 3rd stove (house layout is craptastic), and the Drolet is at the top of the list, with the bigger firebox. The burn time difference is astounding between the 1.5 & the 2 CF.

Your call. YMMV.

Welcome to the forums !

I will second this. I had the Summer's Heat version (re-branded for Lowes, same firebox) and loved it but the burn times weren't what I was hoping for. I averaged 5-6 hours to reload. The Englander is designed for E/W loading, but I found mine worked exceptionally well with 10" splits running N/S. It put off plenty of heat for my 1000sf, 1940s house.

That being said, I opted for the larger firebox of the Escape for my new install. I'll be picking it up this weekend, so I can't offer any reviews on the stove yet. I think either one would be a fine choice, but I would give the edge to the Escape with the larger firebox if you're looking for a little longer burn times.

 

[RickBlaine]

Thank you Gents...this is informative and very helpful to me in my purchase of my first wood stove.

 

[Mark Richards]

People of Hearth:

I am from the land called NEWBIE. Your world is strange. Please help me.

Drolet Escape 1800 on pedestal (Firebox volume is 2.4 cu ft. Heats 500 - 2,100 sq ft w/ 75,000 BTUs)

vs.

Englander 13-NCH on legs (Firebox volume is 1.8 cu. ft. Heats 1,200 - 1,800 sq ft w/ 60,000 BTUs)

Menards vs. Home Depot

$650 each....I contacted each company and found their customer service departments to be pretty good.

Background:

My house is 1450 sq ft brick ranch with an unfinished basement. I will install the stove in the fireplace on the first floor. Drolet makes an Escape model with legs but the least expensive I found it was $1,300! Only the pedestal model is on sale at Menards. I prefer legs but not at twice the price. The Drolet pedestal is welded on, so I can't swap that for legs myself.

The Englander 13 comes with both pedestal AND legs- YOU decide which you like.

Englander 13 puts out fewer emissions than the Drolet Escape. Englander is American-made, Drolet is Canadian. Not trying to heat the whole house 24/7, just trying to supplement the natural gas furnace and enjoy a nice warm wood heated fire and a nice view. As another hearth.com member said here last week, having a fire brings people together to talk, not sit in front of a TV.

I know I should take the manufacturer's BTU ratings and "sq ft heating capabilities" with a grain of salt, and I would be happy with either stove, but is there any advantage one has over the other?

I just got the building inspector to sign off on my plan today. They agreed I did not need an Outside Air Kit. But they did tell me that if I went with a Drolet Austral or the Englander 30, I would have to extend the raised hearth. Don't want to do that. Want to buy a stove and get busy.

Any advice, even to tell me to stop being a post whore, would be welcome.

Thank you!

I have had the Drolet 1800 escape pedestal stove since the beginning of this winter and have used it to heat my 1930's below average insulated 1750 sq ft home located in the barren windblown tundra of SW Minnesota. This was a VERY COLD winter and my wood wasnt all up to par. With that said, it did a nice job heating my house this winter 24/7 with propane backup to get us through the nights when I didnt want to get up and reload the stove. With less than perfectly dry ash and cottonwood firewood it would keep the furnace from coming on even when temps dropped below 0F. The house wouldnt get much above 68 degrees however on those days and useful heat burn times were 3 to 4 hours at best. On days when temps have been in the 20's I can easily get the house in the mid 70's and then 5 to 7 hours of useful heating are the norm. It is easy to operate and the glass stays super clean now that I've learned how to burn correctly. Fan is a bit noisy on high but the tolerances to combustibles are fantastic and are what led me to this stove in the first place. So far I think the stove is of excellent quality and the 5/16" top plate just looks right, plus it is a handsome stove if I do say so myself. I've had it up to 700 degrees with no issues other than it running us out of the room. For $650, I see it is an unbeatable bargain IMHO. The manual says it is a 2.1 cu ft firebox and I tend to agree and during full on burning you can forget about using the ash dump feature, an ash shovel and bucket work far better. Maybe next year with my wood all under 20% moisture I wont have the coaling issue quite as bad as this year. Good Luck, whichever one you choose just remember to give yourself time to learn how it burns, it is a learning process and my advice is that it is better to burn it hot than to burn it slowly at first otherwise you get creosote buildup. After you learn how to get it hot you will naturally learn how to tame it down for the longer burns.

 

[RickBlaine]

Thank you for your review, Mark. The fact that you are in the windblown tundra of SW MN makes me sit up during your description of how well it heated your house.

The firebox volume size seems to be in dispute. The Drolet website, brochure, and re-sellers all list the firebox volume at 2.4 cubic feet. Wondering if this description is, what other members have stated, the firebox size minus the bricks inside?

Still learning here....nice to have learned that it is not just square footage of house that counts, but the square footage of the room the stove is in, the year the place was built, the insulation in walls and attic, the windows and how well everything is sealed, the state and town the stove is in, and the inside temps when it is cruising....You hit them all, thank you.

 

[tekguy]

Thank you for your review, Mark. The fact that you are in the windblown tundra of SW MN makes me sit up during your description of how well it heated your house.

The firebox volume size seems to be in dispute. The Drolet website, brochure, and re-sellers all list the firebox volume at 2.4 cubic feet. Wondering if this description is, what other members have stated, the firebox size minus the bricks inside?

Still learning here....nice to have learned that it is not just square footage of house that counts, but the square footage of the room the stove is in, the year the place was built, the insulation in walls and attic, the windows and how well everything is sealed, the state and town the stove is in, and the inside temps when it is cruising....You hit them all, thank you.

The nc13 has a pretty steep r requirement for the hearth if I remember right, I bought one on clearance on a whim and than sold it later, if the building dept noticed that and said its OK then no worries, think its r2

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

You may want to consider a Drolet Myraid or Austral. 3.1 cu ft box. Like they say, you don't have to load it full but yet the added fire power is there if/when you need it..
The 1.8 box on the englander 13 made me shy away from it. I wanted a longer burn time.
Just something to consider