Got a quote today - Looking for last minute thoughts before pulling trigger (likely on Lopi Republic

[joefrompa]

Hi all,

I went into a local dealer today that does quadrafire and lopi (I'm doing a wood burning insert suitable for heating ~1800 square feet). They had a quadrafire 3100i and a Lopi Freedom, though I'm looking for a Lopi Republic 1750.

The quadrafire and lopi seemed to have almost identical build quality....really nice units. The Lopi has independent controls for both intake and exhaust....which I think I like for personal control....whereas the quadrafire has a single control that's supposed to optimize air intake on a "timer", automatically adjusting itself.

On the flip side, the quadrafire's fan system looks awesome. If I saw it right, it's fan intakes on the left side and flows back the left side of the unit and then up and out the top and right side. Looked very cool. The Lopi didn't have a fan on it, but it appears to blow underneath and then up and out the top? Likely works great.

However, let's talk brass tacks:

My wood mantel is ~22" above where the insert door will be, requiring me to have a mantel shield. I'm going to get a surround, and a blower.

Lopi Republic 1750 w/ Blower, black door, black surrounding, and mantel shield - $1960

Quadrafire 3100i w/ blower, arch black, black surround, and mantel shield - $2430


Installation is expected to be $1100-1200 for 25 feet of 6" liner in a standard 2 story colonial chimney.

I think these are really nice prices, I'm quite happy with it, and I don't see why the Quad would be worth another $450-500....after the tax credit, I'm looking at only about $2100 for the Lopi!

Any and all final thoughts and input is welcome. I'm looking for last minute feedback prior to pulling the trigger

Joe

 

[tickbitty]

So you have seen both in person? No particular preference in the looks? Sounds like it might come down to that for you. All in all you're going to be the one living with it and looking at it for many years! Are the clearances the same or similar for both stoves?

That's a very nice price for the Lopi 1750, mine cost me a little more for that same setup. I'm really pleased with that stove but the quad looks nice too. What is the shape of the firebox on that quad? The Lopi is cool because the shape is square so you can load the wood either N-S or W-E. We mostly go N-S because it's really easy to load more in there while it's burning.

 

[rdust]

Can't comment on the particular Lopi Model but the stoves are great. I'm happy with my Endeavor, it's hard to beat a steel stove that loads n/s has a brick baffle and bypass for loading/cleaning.

 

[joefrompa]

Thanks both.

Tickbitty - What's your home setup and how does the 1750 do at heating your home? Your climate is fairly similar to me, at least if you are in north virginia.

The shape of the quadrafire box is the same. I've pretty much eliminated that model from my consideration. If I'm going to spend that, then I'm going to go to a Lopi Freedom which looked great in person, comes highly rated, and offers about 10% more output.

Btw, I haven't seen the Republic 1750 in person, but in every picture it appears to be just fine and similar to the freedom (albeit in a more simplified manner).

Joe

 

[tickbitty]

I'm in Williamsburg so I think the climate is similar but you might get a little colder than we do. We're heating a 1400 sq foot ranch, interior fireplace chimney is about 2/3 to one end of the house. We've only had it up and running since January and still have some things to figure in the way of how to get the air circulated best, it's not a very open floor plan as the house was built in the 50s. This year we will work on figuring out some fan placement etc to get the heat down the hall and stuff. But we are really pleased with it, it is such a luxury to have a truly toasty center of the house when it's so cold and clammy out.

The Freedom has a really nice broad view of the fire! I didn't have enough clearances to the sides of my mantel to consider it. The Republic is narrower than the freedom and looks more like the revere. The Republic stoves have nice "fit and finish" but don't have that signature Lopi door and they don't have options for the finish on the doors and etc. The "stove bright" touch up can that came with it is called "metallic black" which is looks kind of like carbon (pencil lead) color. The stove top part is neat, but if you use that damper tool that comes with it to use the bypass damper, the tool scratches the stove top, so we pull the damper in and out with gloves. I think it's an attractive stove but I don't much go in for gold trim and all that stuff anyway, I would tend to opt for the plain stuff anyway so it was a no brainer for me.

 

[btuser]

I've got the Lopi Freedom. I prefered the look to the Quad, and it was the biggest insert I could fit in my fireplace. At the time of purchase (Summer 08) no one even had stoves, and dealers were pulling them out of the wall in their displays to sell them as the same price as new. I'm glad I got the stove, but I'm of course always second- guessing myself. I didn't want a cat stove, but when you add up what it really cost to feed a stove the price of replacement isn't that much.

The flue bypass is sweet. Nice when you clean, but may not be needed for loading if you have a strong draft. I think it was about $300 more than the Regency, so about $300 for that option.