Drolet vs. Lopi vs. Osburn

[gtilflm]

Hi. I'm weighing 3 similar in spec. wood stoves.

• Drolet HT-3000
  • https://www.drolet.ca/us/en/wood-stoves/db07300/
  • Approx $1,800
• Lopi Liberty NexGen-Fyre
  • https://www.lopistoves.com/product/liberty-nexgen-fyre/
  • Approx. $4,000
• Osburn 3500
  • https://www.osburn-mfg.com/en/products/wood-stoves/3500-wood-stove-with-blower/
  • Approx. $3,500

Can anyone speak to the build quality, longevity, etc. of these manufacturers and/or specific models? The price points on the Drolet vs. Lopi / Osburn are so extreme!

I called Drolet earlier and the guy explained that they can offer a lower price point because the HT-3000 is basically like a spec. home. Nothing fancy, no options, etc. which means they don't have to do multiple rounds of testing for multiple different options/configurations, etc.

One chimney sweep/installer I talked to seemed to be down on Drolet and gave the classic, "You get what you pay for" line and said he's had people bail on those after a few years b/c they're unhappy w/ them.... but he was also wanting to sell me the Osburn.

This would not be the primary heat source for us, if that matters. Thanks.

 

[BigJ273]

I looked at osburn before I bought my regency. I liked them. I would agree with the “you get what u pay for” comment. If I remember right osburn has a great warranty. I don’t know much about Lopi.

 

[Newbie78]

Funny enough, the Osburn is nearly exactly the same as the Drolet, only it's wearing lipstick. Do some research.

based on a thread a couple of months ago, I would be inspecting the Lopi's welding job carefully should you go that route.

your salesman is disingenuous.

 

[Woody Stover]

Funny enough, the Osburn is nearly exactly the same as the Drolet, only it's wearing lipstick. Do some research.
based on a thread a couple of months ago, I would be inspecting the Lopi's welding job carefully should you go that route.
your salesman is disingenuous.

Yeah, both those stoves are made by SBI, right? They do a lot of "lipstick"ing, slapping different exteriors on the same firebox.
I'd generally agree with the "get what you pay for" idea. I've seen the Lopi stoves at a shop here, and they look well-made and heavy-duty compared to, say, the Enerzones at another shop. The Endeavor had an ash grate, which I'm a fan of. I don't recall seeing the Evergreen...maybe we overlooked it because the friend I came with was wanting smaller and cheaper.
I like the Pacific Energy stoves as well...got one for my SIL a few years back, a T5, and the friend mentioned above ended up getting a Vista. They are good quality like the Lopis, and have about the simplest construction out there...no bypass to maintain, for one thing. We didn't have a dealer in town, but I didn't think that was too big a deal. I picked up the T5, and the Vista was brought to the friend by a dealer maybe 70 miles away, the next time he came to town on another job.
That said, with the 30% federal tax rebate, you'll never find a better time to get into a new high-quality stove, with less financial hit, so I'd go for it if I was in the market right now.

Woodstove Database | Burnwise | US EPA

 

[Woody Stover]

At the link above, click "currently EPA certified-2020" in the Quick Search box, then drop down the manufacturers. SB I = Stove Builder International.

 

[EbS-P]

I have a Drolet and a jotul. If cared for well the could both out last me. If over fired regularly they will both be junk. One will be pretty looking junk that might get repurposed as a planter the other will just go to the scrap yard.

The cast iron jotul will need a rebuild in 10-20 years. The Drolet probably new firebrick.

If you want to save some money the Drolet is way to go. Spend what you saved on insulation and air sealing. It will go a long way.

Edit. Lopi is a good brand. No hesitations about all 3.

 

[Woody Stover]

The cast iron jotul will need a rebuild in 10-20 years. The Drolet probably new firebrick.
If you want to save some money the Drolet is way to go. Spend what you saved on insulation and air sealing. It will go a long way.
Edit. Lopi is a good brand. No hesitations about all 3.

Some Lopis are welded plate-steel, including the Evergreen. Of course, you don't have to worry about re-builds with the welded seams. OTOH, there's something to be said for cast iron or soapstone stoves that can be partially rebuilt with available parts. With plate-steel, you don't have that option WRT the stove body.
For sure, spending on insulation and air-sealing will pay off in winter and summer, and can let you heat the place with a smaller (cheaper) stove.

 

[gtilflm]

I have a Drolet and a jotul. If cared for well the could both out last me. If over fired regularly they will both be junk. One will be pretty looking junk that might get repurposed as a planter the other will just go to the scrap yard.

The cast iron jotul will need a rebuild in 10-20 years. The Drolet probably new firebrick.

If you want to save some money the Drolet is way to go. Spend what you saved on insulation and air sealing. It will go a long way.

Edit. Lopi is a good brand. No hesitations about all 3.

Thanks for the info. The house is already built and we did a really good job on air sealing and insulation. The blower door test (if you know what I'm talking about) had excellent results.

When you say "over fired regularly".... what does that mean? We're newbies to all of this. 😀

 

[Woody Stover]

Thanks for the info. The house is already built and we did a really good job on air sealing and insulation. The blower door test (if you know what I'm talking about) had excellent results.

When you say "over fired regularly".... what does that mean? We're newbies to all of this. 😀

Until you are familiar with how the stove burns, build smaller fires, and use larger splits for a more controllable burn. You don't want a roaring fire in there when you are bringing the stove up to the temp where it can reburn the smoke--you may overheat stove parts or your stovepipe. More dense woods will aslo gas off slower, and more under control.
There's a learning curve to all of this. Use the search feature to start getting up to speed. There's a good "sticky" thread by begreen at the top of the Hearth Room topic page, "Starting a fire and running an EPA stove."
Once you have got sufficient wood burning, and established re-burn, and have the air cut low, the rest of the burn should proceed without concern about overfiring your equipment.
So...how long has your wood been split and stacked? If you don't have any wood yet, try to get some soft Maple or other fast-drying species that, if split 4" per side, stacked single-row and top-covered only, where wind can blow through, will be reasonably dry enough for you to burn this fall. If your wood isn't dry, <20% moisture content as measured on several of your larger splits, after re-split and tested in the center of the fresh face, your stove won't put out the heat you need and your chimney will build up dangerous creosote relatively quickly.

 

[EbS-P]

Thanks for the info. The house is already built and we did a really good job on air sealing and insulation. The blower door test (if you know what I'm talking about) had excellent results.

When you say "over fired regularly".... what does that mean? We're newbies to all of this. 😀

Generally an over fire is where stove parts start to glow (this doesn’t include the catalyst) or just gets hotter than it was designed to run. Most would say a stove top temp over 750 is an overfire.

New house with a good blower door you might need an outside air kit for the stove.

Edit. I love my Auber AT 200 thermometer alarm.

 

[Woody Stover]

In Spokane, you may have access to beetle-kill pine that has been dead for a while, and will test dry already.

Generally an over fire is where stove parts start to glow (this doesn’t include the catalyst) or just gets hotter than it was designed to run. Most would say a stove top temp over 750 is an overfire.
New house with a good blower door you might need an outside air kit for the stove.
Edit. I love my Auber AT 200 thermometer alarm.

Yep. And good point about the outside air kit if the house is very tight.
If you don't have an Auber with an alarm, use your phone timer when you are ramping the stove up to temp on a new load, so you don't forget to cut the air in a timely manner as more wood gets burning. You will inevitably get distracted at some point, so get in the habit of using the phone timer, from the start.

 

[gtilflm]

Until you are familiar with how the stove burns, build smaller fires, and use larger splits for a more controllable burn. You don't want a roaring fire in there when you are bringing the stove up to the temp where it can reburn the smoke--you may overheat stove parts or your stovepipe. More dense woods will aslo gas off slower, and more under control.
There's a learning curve to all of this. Use the search feature to start getting up to speed. There's a good "sticky" thread by begreen at the top of the Hearth Room topic page, "Starting a fire and running an EPA stove."
Once you have got sufficient wood burning, and established re-burn, and have the air cut low, the rest of the burn should proceed without concern about overfiring your equipment.
So...how long has your wood been split and stacked? If you don't have any wood yet, try to get some soft Maple or other fast-drying species that, if split 4" per side, stacked single-row and top-covered only, where wind can blow through, will be reasonably dry enough for you to burn this fall. If your wood isn't dry, <20% moisture content as measured on several of your larger splits, after re-split and tested in the center of the fresh face, your stove won't put out the heat you need and your chimney will build up dangerous creosote relatively quickly.

Don't have any wood yet. We've been thinning on our property and it's all Ponderosa Pine. So, I guess I technically have some wood. All the trees that have been cut down are about 6-7" in diameter or smaller. Most of it was felled in fall (2022) and we've been working on cutting them into manageable rounds and stacking them like this in different locations...

As I understand things, Ponderosa Pine isn't great to burn, but if it's REALLY dry, then it's fine.

 

[gtilflm]

In Spokane, you may have access to beetle-kill pine that has been dead for a while, and will test dry already.

Yep. And good point about the outside air kit if the house is very tight.
If you don't have an Auber with an alarm, use your phone timer when you are ramping the stove up to temp on a new load, so you don't forget to cut the air in a timely manner as more wood gets burning. You will inevitably get distracted at some point, so get in the habit of using the phone timer, from the start.

An installer told me yesterday that the outside air kits in my area are mandatory by code. Will look into the temp. alarm thing once we're further down the road. Thx!

 

[Woody Stover]

Don't have any wood yet. We've been thinning on our property and it's all Ponderosa Pine. So, I guess I technically have some wood. All the trees that have been cut down are about 6-7" in diameter or smaller. Most of it was felled in fall (2022) and we've been working on cutting them into manageable rounds and stacking them like this in different locations...

Pine is fast-drying, and if you get it split and stacked now, should be under 20% by fall, I'd think.
Get a cheap moisture meter at a home center or online, about $15. Then cut several of those sticks to final length and split/ test right away in the center of the fresh wood. That will give you an idea of how wet it is now, and how far you have to go.

 

[Woody Stover]

Charts vary, but this one has Ponderosa at 14.7. The other numbers on this chart look good, about what I've found when burning some of those species. As you said, Ponderosa BTU isn't great, but it will work until you can fortify your stacks with some longer-burning stuff for when it's needed.
The Pine will put out plenty of heat but won't last as long, so you'll be loading more often. It also doesn't produce a lot of ash, so that's a plus..

BTU Values of Wood Species

Wood species type BTU values of a cord burning wood in a wood stove

www.wood-heating-solutions.com

 

[Newbie78]

here's some "lip-sticking", except it's been applied very poorly by someone who claims they "build the finest wood stoves on the planet". That particular Lopi shouldn't have made it through QC inspection. That is, if Lopi backed up their fluffy, boastful words with exceptional quality.

Thread 'New Lopi Answer - rusty interior'
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/new-lopi-answer-rusty-interior.196231/

Yeah, both those stoves are made by SBI, right? They do a lot of "lipstick"ing, slapping different exteriors on the same firebox.
I'd generally agree with the "get what you pay for" idea. I've seen the Lopi stoves at a shop here, and they look well-made and heavy-duty compared to, say, the Enerzones at another shop. The Endeavor had an ash grate, which I'm a fan of. I don't recall seeing the Evergreen...maybe we overlooked it because the friend I came with was wanting smaller and cheaper.
I like the Pacific Energy stoves as well...got one for my SIL a few years back, a T5, and the friend mentioned above ended up getting a Vista. They are good quality like the Lopis, and have about the simplest construction out there...no bypass to maintain, for one thing. We didn't have a dealer in town, but I didn't think that was too big a deal. I picked up the T5, and the Vista was brought to the friend by a dealer maybe 70 miles away, the next time he came to town on another job.
That said, with the 30% federal tax rebate, you'll never find a better time to get into a new high-quality stove, with less financial hit, so I'd go for it if I was in the market right now.

Woodstove Database | Burnwise | US EPA

you do not "get what you pay for" these days... it seems especially true in woodstoves.

 

[Woody Stover]

it's been applied very poorly by someone who claims they "build the finest wood stoves on the planet". That particular Lopi shouldn't have made it through QC inspection. That is, if Lopi backed up their fluffy, boastful words with exceptional quality.
you do not "get what you pay for" these days... it seems especially true in woodstoves.

Yeah, when I did production welding, there was an inspector at the end of the line and sub-standard work was pulled and repaired.
These companies should make QC a priority, especially if they are having a hard time hiring and keeping experienced employees, as many businesses are right now.
I tried to find the particulars of the Lopi warranty on their website, but all I found was a vague reference to "materials and workmanship warranted up to 7 years." I need more specifics, and could probably find them. I didn't take it any further, though.
That's another thing I like about Pacific Energy, their "floating firebox" design. Less welds subjected to possible stress and failure.

 

[Newbie78]

SBI warrantees their welding job "lifetime"

the welding on both of my Drolet's is superlative.

 

[Woodcutter Tom]

SBI warrantees their welding job "lifetime"

the welding on both of my Drolet's is superlative.

Which Drolets do you have? The welding on my Escape 1500 caused the front face under the window opening to 'cave' inward. Thus the front of the stove where the door closes is not on a consistent plane. This is causing me all sorts of trouble with the door seal. I have two with this condition.

 

[Newbie78]

Well. That's crappy.

I inspected my stoves in a most anal fashion when they arrived. Lol. Kinda drove my wife crazy. Not really, but she'd heard enough about things she could barely even notice...

we have a Columbia II and a Legend III. There is not a single flaw in the Columbia. It is perfectly welded and assembled. The Legend III was almost perfect. Welding perfect. Assembly not quite as. One of the sideshields was not perfectly lined up. Close, but not perfect. An easy fix by me. It took a hit during shipping and I had to realign a leg too. Another easy fix. Myfireplaceproducts paid for my time to fix those things. Generously. I have found their customer service to be refreshingly awesome in these times of generally poor customer service in many cases.

have you talked to drolet about your issue(s)?

 

[joop]

probably an overfire

 

[gtilflm]

So.... I was just about decided on the Drolet.

Then I decided to call a bunch of chimney sweeps / repair guys to see if they had a take. They did, and it wasn't great. Pretty much to a man, they said that Drolets were pretty junky and one guy claimed them to be "dirty burners". Said he put an HT-3000 in for his son and it has had problems. They also seemed to be fans of Pacific Energy units for the most part. Many of the calls I made were to guys in Canada, as Drolet is produced there.

I also called several retailers (also in Canada). They all said that they haven't had complaints / issues with the Drolets they've sold. One retailer in the U.S. said that they looked into carrying Drolet, but passed based on poor build quality.

If anyone has any more insight on any of this, that would be great. I feel like we're back to square one and it's really frustrating.

 

[joop]

drolet is a well built stove everybody who doesn't own one will have an opinion ,simple stove easy to use, who would want that lol.i bought my stove can't mention namesomeones watching but after i bought it read a few bad things like it will fall apart in a couple of years or rust out.i can honestly say it's probably the best money iv'e spent in a long while not one complaint about it not one.canadians how can i say this ,were cheap but like quality so nothing is really fancy they just work.BUY IT U WILL BE SATISFIED.by the way have had my stove since 2013ish not a hiccup canadian made

 

[joop]

iv'e noticed some people will buy epa stove and just chuck wet wood in it like the older stoves and then complain that it's a piece of crap.they don't know how to burn in new stoves they don't check moisture of wood,or they throw in wood and let it burn air open to feel the heat.most new stoves not all, always exceptions are very good if set up and burnt properly.you'll notice the one that does have a problem 1% will shout from the rooftops the ones that don't just shutup and burn

 

[begreen]

I also called several retailers (also in Canada). They all said that they haven't had complaints / issues with the Drolets they've sold. One retailer in the U.S. said that they looked into carrying Drolet, but passed based on poor build quality.

They may have chosen to go with the Osburn line which is the same stove but with better detailing, a more robust baffle, and potentially a better dealer markup.