Finally did it, bought a Englander 30-NC

[bubbasdad]

Finally bought the stove I've been looking at for a year+. I just figured I better just get it done. One thing is that it will take me a week or 2 just to get the various parts I need. The local Home Depot doesn't have all the pipe and connectors needed, won't have them for a week or 2. I will pick up the stove tommorrow.

 

[johnstra]

Congrats. You're gonna love that stove. It's a fine heater.

 

[blades]

Well, welcome to the NC30 club. HD, you can order on line and have shipped to store for pick up might save some time waiting for a department manager to reorder, or reorder cycle time that they may use. Also eliminates, "well the c-box says we have it, but it isn't on the shelf" syndrome.

 

[BrotherBart]

Here's yer shirt.

 

[Dix]

Congrats !!

 

[bubbasdad]

Well, welcome to the NC30 club. HD, you can order on line and have shipped to store for pick up might save some time waiting for a department manager to reorder, or reorder cycle time that they may use. Also eliminates, "well the c-box says we have it, but it isn't on the shelf" syndrome.

I was kinda surprised, they had 2 stoves in the store, but no 90 degree black pipe and only a couple of 12 inch pipe extensions. And no tophats for the chimmney. They say a week to ten days. Some stuff was "on a truck, somewhere", and some stuff hadn't been reordered. I tried talking to the manager to get a better price, but he said he couldn't. I really tried hard He did say that if I waited to feb, i'd get a better deal. But I've waited long enough.

 

[corey21]

Congratulations!!

 

[Highbeam]

Welcome to the club. You should be able to source single wall pipe from many places if you aren't wanting to wait around.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Try to find the single piece . They are much more solid than the choose your own angle variety. I've also heard of the choose your own angle kind coming apart at the seams.

(broken image removed)

 

[BobUrban]

Good for you. I love my 30 for sure. Probably not the "best" stove but it sure has a following here and I think it is the best value in the solid fuel market. At least after all my research I could not find a better value to heat my home. Solidly built, very efficient, and large enough to pump out the heat for long burns - in the Non-cat market there is little more that you could ask for at any price other than aesthetics. (I do love a soap stone stove)

Keep the pics coming as you install your heater

 

[bubbasdad]

Thanks, guys. I went to a local store that specializes in stoves, and I nearly fell down when I saw the prices. For their chimmney system, they wanted $1800, more than 2x the price of the HD stuff. Now that was the "better" stuff, but even the HD grade stuff was 2X the home depot price. They deal in all the high end stoves, custom fireplaces, and also sell cut stone and pavers. Real nice display rooms, lots of $$$. I am going to go back to HD to order the stuff, I am going to build a hearth in the meantime. Some family stuff came up, i kinda lost a day here. I did buy the 90 at TSC. Have a good one, guys!

 

[stayfitz]

Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing photos

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Try to find the single piece . They are much more solid than the choose your own angle variety. I've also heard of the choose your own angle kind coming apart at the seams.

(broken image removed)

I had one come apart at the seams.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Iv had my 30s (a pair) for several years and just recently i learned that the gap along the refractory board is not supposed to be there. Possibly the reason i get some smoke. Other members here talk of using a 1/4 inch steel rod to make up the difference along the side above the burn tubes. Not sure how the heck they get that in there.

 

[Hoozie]

Iv had my 30s (a pair) for several years and just recently i learned that the gap along the refractory board is not supposed to be there. Possibly the reason i get some smoke. Other members here talk of using a 1/4 inch steel rod to make up the difference along the side above the burn tubes. Not sure how the heck they get that in there.

I used more like an 1/8" diameter welding rod shoved inside the smallest door rope gasket I could find. IIRC, the hole for the baffle boards is a bit trapezoidal, so most of the rod is at the front, with just the gasket at the rear. I think I also used some stove cement stuff to seal along the back edge as well.

Of course, I also did mine before the first burn and before I had the chimney hooked up.

For a good light show, load two splits N/S on either side of the doghouse, start a fire between them, then put a third split on top of them with a couple inches of clearance in the rear. This is also about the best way I've found so far to burn it.

 

[BobUrban]

welding rod or any mild steel rod(also found at HD) inside some door gasket rope and lay it along the gap on one side or the other NS. You can move one fire board to get it in place and then put the board back. If it needs adjustment on the back end you can go through the outlet hole on top.

Note: this is not required to burn the stove successfully but it seems to help and is an easy mod. Probably 99.9% of NC30 stoves are being burned right now all across the country w/o it. It is just those of us here on hearth have a little obsession with maximizing stove performance at minimal cost. We are kind of the freakish minority.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I stuffed kaowool along the edges of the stove above the stove board. I now have a ton of Roxul in my basement I'm waiting for a use for. I'd probably use that now.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I think BB and a few others cut the doghouse out but I really don't care to do that.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I think BB and a few others cut the doghouse out but I really don't care to do that.

What? Cut out the doghouse? Why?

 

[BrotherBart]

Taking out the two screws holding the doghouse in is hardly "cutting" it out. It is back in to give E/W burning a shot this season. After seven N/S burning seasons. With my draft that thing makes a blast furnace out of the stove. It was taken out and the doghouse air holes blocked off to give a more consistent burn across the load when burning N/S.

 

[Redbone]

Me too. Yesterday I ordered the Summers Heat 30 model from Lowes. It's a bit more cost than HD, but easier to schedule the delivery, and Lowes will bring it inside the house, so it's a better fit for me than listening to the wife complain about moving it . It's replacing a 5-year old Englander 13 NC that I'm moving to another building. I went with the 30 as the replacement because I want longer burns, and we plan to double the size of the cabin in a couple of years. The 13 has been a great stove, no complaints at all. The door stays clean, and the stove will run me out of the cabin when I burn it hot. I looked at Regency and Pacific Energy, but can't see the benefit of twice the cost. The construction quality of the Englander is very similiar, the weights are about the same, so what's the difference (I know the PE has a stainless steel baffle, that's about the only thing I could see).

What is the doghouse, and what does removing it accomplish?

Thanks. And, by the way, this is a great website!

Rick

 

[El Finko]

What is the doghouse, and what does removing it accomplish?

Given the amount of time I spend in the doghouse, removing it is not an option.

 

[Highbeam]

The doghouse is that little snout sticking up into the the loading door opening from the bottom. On the inside there is an air jet that blows on your fire all the time. This is nice if you need it, but can be too much air if you don't.

 

[bubbasdad]

Try to find the single piece . They are much more solid than the choose your own angle variety. I've also heard of the choose your own angle kind coming apart at the seams.

(broken image removed)

Is there any place I can buy all the pipe made up this way, the flat, form your own sections make me think that they will not seal up?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The only pipe I've ever seen come fully round is the stainless pipe. That stuff is really expensive, but nice. I had to use a section inside my thimble at an old house. The steel singlewall that you snap together will seal up just fine. The only thing I have to say about singlewall is the cheap stuff (like you find at Lowes) can be really frustrating to put together. It will work though. I used it at my family cabin when the store didn't have the good stuff. The heavier gauge stuff will slip together easier. It's probably related to the tooling. I'm sure it's all made in China, but they pay more attention to the more expensive stuff. The 7 year olds vs 5 year olds do the labor.

Sometimes you have to cut a piece. There are a number of ways to do this. I've used tin snips (be careful of sharp edges), a hack saw, sawzall (which yanks the pipe back and forth rapidly) and my favorite is the angle grinder with a cutting wheel on it. Use a piece of tape to give a nice sharp line to follow. If you have to crimp an end smaller, you can pick up a pair of crimps at a plumbing store.



Just slowly work your way around the pipe squeezing and shrinking the metal.


Matt