Do i need a larger stove?

[Ltrain]

I have a two story 2500 sqft house built in 1908. Bought a lopi endevor in january. It is centrally located on the 1st floor house and it does put out enough btu's to heat the house. Also, the tolerances on the endevor were appealing, it saved us from having to put up heat protection on the walls. But...

1. Too much ash, have to empty twice a week.
2. Can't keep the house warm if i throttle it down.
3. Squirrel cage fan is noisy, but it does help with heating the house. however it seems when we run the fan at higher speeds the ash build up is more...i think
4. Damper control is super noisy
5. Occasional back draft on windy nights unless we keep the damper opened up more
6. It was installed using the exisiting 8" pipe from a previous wood stove. Dealer sad it should be ok and i wasnt interesred in replacing the entire outside pipe. Not sure if this has a negative impact on the endevor.

 

[aansorge]

Your lopi is a great stove, but you have a bigger house than it is intended to heat. If you really want to heat your home 100 percent with wood and hate ash build up, consider a blaze king king. This large stove has the ability to fully heat your home, only needs to be emptied of ash once a month, has close clearances to combustibles when it has the fan kit and side panels, and can be cranked down tight for slow burning 40 hour burn times during warm weather. Plus it is meant for an 8 inch flue.

Otherwise, learn to live with the Lopi's slight inadequacies and enjoy it.

How far north are you?

 

[aansorge]

One other thing...if you decide to keep the Lopi, consider shoveling out a little ash every morning. This way you keep the ash down to a tolerable level and never need to totally empty and then restart your stove. Having a bed of ash on the bottom helps modern stoves run better, you just don't want it too thick.

 

[Ltrain]

I will have to see if the dealer sells those. I know they sell jotul's and lopi's. They have a return program which allows us to trade in the stove for a full refund minus 10%. I like the sounds of the blaze king especially the 8" flue and good tolerences.

We live right on the 45th parallel near salem, oregon.

 

[WellSeasoned]

I have a jotul, the castine, meant for smaller homes, but any of its big brothers would do the trick. The ashpan is handy for sure.

 

[Ltrain]

Your lopi is a great stove, but you have a bigger house than it is intended to heat. If you really want to heat your home 100 percent with wood and hate ash build up, consider a blaze king king. This large stove has the ability to fully heat your home, only needs to be emptied of ash once a month, has close clearances to combustibles when it has the fan kit and side panels, and can be cranked down tight for slow burning 40 hour burn times during warm weather. Plus it is meant for an 8 inch flue.

Otherwise, learn to live with the Lopi's slight inadequacies and enjoy it.

How far north are you?

How come the blaze king specs are less btu/hr compared to the lopi?

 

[aansorge]

Most manufacturers over-rate their BTU's especially over a complete burn cycle. The giant Blaze King will out heat the Lopi and do so on longer burn cycles. It has twice the capacity is a big part of the equation.

 

[Hogwildz]

The ash can be relative to the wood your burning. Some wood leaves little ash, other leave more. Some leave more coals than others. Especially if burning less than dry wood. The draft problem could very well be because your venting a stove made for a 6" stack, and your using an 8" along with the elbows in the stack , which is lessening the draft to start with. While Blaze Kings surely get much applause here, when they are ran harder for more heat production, the heat output will be similar to what you have, and those 40 hours burn times will diminish. You may find it easier and less expensive to fix the issues on hand with the stove you have, and save a few grand.

 

[PapaDave]

The ash can be relative to the wood your burning. Some wood leaves little ash, other leave more. Some leave more colas coals than others.

Yep.
That's about the plan I'm on....2 times/week, emptying ashes. However, it's very dependent on the wood I'm using.
The stove, once throttled down, should produce adequate heat for quite a while, unless the wood is sub-par. What are your stove temps when you do this?
I'd need to look it up, but that stove seems small for the space, especially one of that vintage unless very well sealed and insulated. It was on my short list for a new stove a while back, but my house is 1/2 the size of yours.
Are you seeing flame or is the fire smoldering (that sounds like an oxymoron, or something ). Like Hog said, the stack affects the burn, and if oversized could cause problems, unless it's very tall.
So many variables.
We need more info. on type of wood, how long it's been c/s/s, stack height and all that stuff.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

My harman stove manual states that if you have to run the stove at full throttle all the time your stove is too small for the space your trying to heat. That said i run the harman with the throttle all the way DOWN most of the winter to heat 3000 SF unless i just started a cold stove and the house is cold. Sounds like in your case your draft would fail if you ran the stove on low all the time.

 

[jeff_t]

Tell us a little more about your setup. I see a pipe goong up into an elbow, then thru the wall. Is that into a masonry chimney, or class A pipe? How tall? Modern stoves need a good draft, and some more than others.

What kind of wood are you burning? How long has it been split and stacked? Do you have a moisture meter?

The Endeavor is probably small for your house. Your dealer program sounds pretty good. I'd consider trading it back for the Cape Cod or Liberty, or one of the bigger Jotuls. Your chimney may play a big part in the decision, though.

 

[lopiliberty]

I have the liberty and heating 2400 sqft and it is a heating machine. Temps usually between 80 and 90 in the living room. I was on the fence with either the endeavor or the liberty. I know the endeavor with the fan would have heated my house but I wanted something with a big firebox cause it get mighty cold here sometimes. As for the ash I have to empty mine once or twice a week depending on how I run the stove. I have the fan but rarely use it but I think it rather quiet even on medium speed. As for the noisy air control spray some graphite on the slider plates once in a while and the noise will stop. If you absolutely don't like the endeavor you can't go wrong with a blaze king king. If my liberty ever wears out I can guarantee you there will be a blaze king in its spot

 

[tomahawk]

May also want to look at the insulation in your house and any drafts around windows or doors. Your stove MIGHT be fine with some upgrades to how your house holds the heat in. The lay out of your house may also be an issue, older houses tend to have a lot of smaller, more broken up type of rooms. 1908 was a long time ago.

 

[Sprinter]

Several issues going on here.

1. I wouldn't worry about the ash build up.

2. Your stove is 2.2 cf. That's usually considered pretty marginal for 2500 sf of house, but it depends on the house and the climate. Unless the house has been upgraded for insulation and drafts, and if the climate is cold, the stove may indeed be too small and a 3 or 4 cf stove may be more serviceable for you.

3. Fans trade radiant heat for convection heat and will cool the stove itself down. Some like it that way, some not, but the same number of BTU's end up in the house regardless. it seems to be a matter of preference. Personally, I like the radiant effect and have no fan at all.

4. Don't know.

5. There are aftermarket chimney caps that are designed to help wind problems.

6. As Hogwildz pointed out, 8" pipe on a 6" stove may not be working well for you. It will affect the draft.