Give me liberty or give me englander

[kenny chaos]

You guys are great!
No I don't want to spend more than I have to but if the Lopi Liberty is better than an Englander 30, I'll get one.
Question: Can I get some ideas as to how much better (if at all) the more expensive Liberty is?
Thanks in advace-
Ken

 

[Todd]

Both are quality steel stoves. I think the Lopi is built with a little thicker steel. Englander is cheaper and you have a couple of good guys (Mike, Corie) on this forum that work there, give great advise and bend over backwards to help people. Both will pay for themselves over time. Pick the one you like the looks of best.

 

[fespo]

I have the Lopi Liberty now for 3 years. If I can help you out let me know. thanks fespo

 

[kenny chaos]

yes fespo, go ahead and nick pick all the liitle things you don't like. That would tell me alot! Got the blower? 24/7? All nighters?
I got a 200 yr. old stone house that's never been above 68 degrees in the dead of winter. It'll be in a room that's only 12 x 25 but I hope to be able to use a 450cf blower to move it thru the house.
Thanks-
ken

 

[fespo]

Ok Kenny here it goes. I made my own blower set up, I was not going to pay that kind of money for a fan. As for all nighters, it a big box that you can load up with about 22"-23" logs if you do it just right. When Im burning 24/7 I never have to relight the stove, There is enough coals left to start the fire again. The only main problem is the roll pins fell out in late season and the burn tubes moves so i have to readjust if I hit them. The only thing I would LIKE would be a Big Ash pan. My house is about 2100 sq ft. My stove sits in the lower family room which is about 3 ft down from the main level. I have a very open lay out so my heat moves pretty good. I do have a box fan blowing into the family room when the stove is running hot. With this stove I can heat my whole house, my heater is OFF all winter. The only problem I have with my house is we both work and when it's REAL COLD my house is old and loses alot of heat. So the stove can not keep up. Yes there is a good amount of coals left when I come home but not enough to keep the house at the 70s how I like it. Forget about THE BURN TIMES of 10 to 12 hours of real fire. I did put an in line damper on my flue because i have such a strong draft in the winter that it sucks everything out of the flue. If I had to buy again would I? HUMMMMM I really have not check out new stoves since i bought mine. I have looked at the big box store stoveS, they look good, I have heard they are good but just a little lighter grade I think (not for sure). IF I can help you out anymore let me know. fespo

 

[michaelthomas]

Ok Kenny here it goes. I made my own blower set up, I was not going to pay that kind of money for a fan. As for all nighters, it a big box that you can load up with about 22"-23" logs if you do it just right. When Im burning 24/7 I never have to relight the stove, There is enough coals left to start the fire again. The only main problem is the roll pins fell out in late season and the burn tubes moves so i have to readjust if I hit them. The only thing I would LIKE would be a Big Ash pan. My house is about 2100 sq ft. My stove sits in the lower family room which is about 3 ft down from the main level. I have a very open lay out so my heat moves pretty good. I do have a box fan blowing into the family room when the stove is running hot. With this stove I can heat my whole house, my heater is OFF all winter. The only problem I have with my house is we both work and when it's REAL COLD my house is old and loses alot of heat. So the stove can not keep up. Yes there is a good amount of coals left when I come home but not enough to keep the house at the 70s how I like it. Forget about THE BURN TIMES of 10 to 12 hours of real fire. I did put an in line damper on my flue because i have such a strong draft in the winter that it sucks everything out of the flue. If I had to buy again would I? HUMMMMM I really have not check out new stoves since i bought mine. I have looked at the big box store stoveS, they look good, I have heard they are good but just a little lighter grade I think (not for sure). IF I can help you out anymore let me know. fespo

 

[Jfk4th]

You are going to pay double at least for the Lopi, but both are great stoves. I have an Olympic (same as Liberty from Lopi), my father in law has an Olympic, and my Dad has an Englander that I got for a steal for 449.00 at end of season sale from LOWES. The Englander might have a little bit of cheaper parts but I feel those are ones that are not very important for the stove to burn great! The firebox is big and puts out a lot of heat. The nice thing about Englander, or Summer Heat, or Timberline, or whatever name you want to call it is the service is outstanding. Plus the optional accessories are a very cheap price. Blower for Englander 165, blower for Lopi about 250-275. Gold door for Englander about 300, Lopi about 350-400. The Englander has a nice gold trim that you can buy for the door if you don't want to buy the whole door with gold/brass, this is 45 dollars. The Englander comes with legs and a pedestal, with the Lopi you will pay extra for that

The Lopi has a top damper control or by pass damper that is good for not having smoke puff backs, also good for starting the fire quicker. Plus this by [pass damper makes cleaning your chimney a snap, simply open the damper on top and Viola all the black powder falls into the stove. No removing air tubes or bricks or baffles. The Lopi also has good customer service as Travis Industries which makes Avalon is top notch, but you pay for it here. Lopi you can fit 24 inch logs east/west, the Englander is more like 21 inches N/S loading, both have a large firebox.

I would say if you have the cash go for the Lopi, you won't be disappointed, if you don't have the xtra cash go for the Englander. If you are used to a top notch stove you might be a little saddened at some of the parts of the Englander, but for the money there is nothing better I have seen. This why Englander is such a great stove for the cash, half the price and burns almost as well for most people. Plus Corie here is a nice guy as well as his colleagues that work for England Stove Works. I say Bravo to Englander for such a great stove for the money again!

If your house might need 2 big ones to heat it, you could always buy the Lopi and then wait until Feb 2009 and buy the Englander at LOWES (called Summers Heat there) when it comes down at 50% off for 449.00 or maybe a little higher. I have 2 big stoves and I could use these studs to heat my entire 2,000 sq ft house easily, and I mean easily :coolsmile:

 

[fossil]

Lopi Liberty in the house with a factory blower kit. We're completely satisfied with it. As for "overnight burns", I really think that has a lot to do with what fuel you have available and just what it is you're expecting. We have access here only to softwoods, and so even with the big firebox, it's tough to have much of a hot coal bed left in the morning to simply relight from. Rick

 

[kenny chaos]

Thanks for the replys. I currently have two Riteway 2000's circa 1975. They utilize the downdraft principal, have true secondary air, easy dial heat controlled dampers, a by-pass, and a five cubic foot box. When burned "right", there is no smoke but I still can turn them down for a long nites burn (with smoke). In the A.M. I fire it hard to clean out the chimney and go on from there.
I'm having trouble seeing how it can be improved. I went to my local stove store and we were talking about one stove he had there and I said I needed something bigger. "That won't hold more than two or three logs." He laughed and explained that the Liberty was their big stove! "Oh my. What am I getting myself into" I wonder.
So if the new stove uses 30% less wood AND puts off more heat, then I guess I'm in but I'm sure going to miss the 2000's. Real hard choice.

 

[MikeC5]

I was wandering around a HD in Dayton while on a business trip and saw 2 Englander stoves marked down to around $500. I was shocked. I had no idea you could get a real (though by no means fancy) wood burning stove for that kind of money. I'll be checking HD and Lowes in my area (eastern CT) for a similar deal.

 

[Jfk4th]

I was wandering around a HD in Dayton while on a business trip and saw 2 Englander stoves marked down to around $500. I was shocked. I had no idea you could get a real (though by no means fancy) wood burning stove for that kind of money. I'll be checking HD and Lowes in my area (eastern CT) for a similar deal.

Go back to Dayton, rent a vehicle and bring it home. Might be hard to find one now anywhere else

 

[stoveguy2esw]

hey , the liberty is a great stove. nice features solid company making them , but i wouldnt say "better" heat output is probably close enough to call a toss-up. the liberty is probably a bit better looking if it comes stock with the gold door and legs (available on the 30 as options) as for clean burning , nothing repeat NOTHING burns cleaner in a large firebox unit (greater than 3 CF) the 30 i think is made from a bit thinner steel(1/4 and 3/16th) but if you take a second to look at it the unit's functional components such as the secondary manifolds are welded out rather than tacked in. this allows the unit to be literally stronger than units which are built of unreinforced plate steel even though it may be thicker. BTU for the buck , i havent seen anything that can touch it. dont get me wrong , the liberty as i said is a great stove , and i dont think you would be disappointed with it should you go that way, but IMHO it aint better. bear in mind though , im biased somewhat, but ive been in this buisness for 15 years now and its the single best large woodstove we've produced in my time at ESW and thats saying a lot with the units we've had over the years.

 

[BrotherBart]

Actually Mike the stove body of the Liberty is 3/16" just like the 30-NC. I looked at the Liberty and didn't see anything but a step-top that stuck up in the air a lot more than it needed to and bought the 30 instead. On the 30 the bend in the minimal step-top pretty much gives it the structural rigidity of of a 5/16" top plate. Most stove makers anymore use 5/16" for flat tops and 1/4" for step tops for that reason.

Both great stoves. Buy the one ya like to look at and that fits where ya want to put it. You will be happy with either one.

 

[Corie]

Really and truly, there is no reason to build the body of a wood stove out of steel greater than 3/16" think. The rules are different when it comes to coal stoves and I can understand that I lot of them are built from 1/4" for that reason. The inside components of the stove are what take the real abuse (i.e. the brick retainers, dogbox region, etc).

 

[RedRanger]

Really and truly, there is no reason to build the body of a wood stove out of steel greater than 3/16" think. The rules are different when it comes to coal stoves and I can understand that I lot of them are built from 1/4" for that reason. The inside components of the stove are what take the real abuse (i.e. the brick retainers, dogbox region, etc).

Well than maybe you can explain to me why I feel so much better buying one with 5/16 steel on top and 1/4 on sides?

And when the price for a decent sized insert 2.5 cu.ft is only 1569 bucks. Not really a lot of loot, but sure makes me feel good about the structure of the thing. You see, you are missing the point, lots of older people still want quality at a decent price. I will take 5/16 over 3/16 anyday,specially when the price is comparable. Any day of the week :coolsmirk:

 

[stoveguy2esw]

in 1977 my dad bought a stove from ESW nothing in the unt was over 1/4 inch, the unit today with a coat of paint could dang near pass for new and it has heated his 3600 square foot house for 30 years almost exclusively. i hope i last as long as that stove will.

 

[kenny chaos]

So the 30 has no by-pass? Does that affect the WFA (wife approval factor)? If I get a 30 from overstock, do I have to go somewhere else for the blower?
Found a 2 year old Liberty nearby with all the fancy trim and etched glass. I could pick it up for $1500. Still twice the 30.
And am I sure I wouldn't prefer something outside?
Decisions, decisions.
Thanks-
Ken

 

[Jfk4th]

Yep, the 30 does not have a by pass damper but that does not make or break a stove in my book. It is a nice feature to have especially when cleaning the pipes but again it should not be a deal breaker. If you can get the 30 for 750 that is pretty good, how much for shipping? But, $1500 for the Lopi Liberty is a good deal, check it throughly before buying though, why is he getting rid of it so soon? Again check it out, used stoves are great if you have the eye but peace of mind with new is great/better. You can easily purchase the blower from England stove works online or go to their website and find local dealers. I love my Olympic which again is just like the Liberty, but I liked the way the Englander 30 burned after I curred it for my Pops, my Dad is going to be a happy man with I get that baby back in his cabin this spring

If you have the extra cash go for the Liberty if it is in great shape, if you need to buy wood, well you know what to buy then maybe. Plus, a blower for Liberty 275, blower for Englander 165. Does the Liberty have a gold door, that is a nice finish and I would grab it then. If not the options are cheaper on the Englander to purchase

No worries, no stress(don't be like me and think about this purchase while driving your wife crazy.... ;-) ) either way you are going to have a nice large firebox stove :lol: which will give you years of happiness