HELP! me pick between inserts...

[coHoser]

Between a Lopi "Revere" insert, a Pacific Energy "Pacific" or a Napoleon 1402P.

I need to decide today, or by Friday at the latest. Any input is welcome good or bad.

Thanks, Mark

 

[mellow]

Check out the ratings section to get an idea:

https://www.hearth.com/ratings/search.php

 

[begreen]

A completely biased opinion (and it's just that) in order of preference would be the Pacific, then Lopi, then Napoleon. I put the Pacific first because I like the long burntime and low maintenance. But I have friends with the Avalon Ranier (Lopi Revere equiv.) and it is a solid, good heater.

 

[cd64133]

Depends on how much you want to pay.

Both the Pacific and Lopi were more than we wanted to pay and the cost has gone up since we looked earlier in the summer. Lopi is a really nice stove as we had one when I was younger and some in the family still use them.

We went with Napoleon as this is our 1st stove in our home. However, we are still waiting on the back ordered door and the stove was back ordered when we initially purchased. We did receive the stove but no door so we have a nice paper weight right now.

I am not too concerned about our door as we ordered early and I would hope that we are towards the top of the list for receiving back ordered doors. If I were ordering now I would be more concerned about when I would be receiving my stove/door.

 

[the_dude]

Depends on how much you want to pay.

Both the Pacific and Lopi were more than we wanted to pay and the cost has gone up since we looked earlier in the summer. Lopi is a really nice stove as we had one when I was younger and some in the family still use them.

We went with Napoleon as this is our 1st stove in our home. However, we are still waiting on the back ordered door and the stove was back ordered when we initially purchased. We did receive the stove but no door so we have a nice paper weight right now.

I am not too concerned about our door as we ordered early and I would hope that we are towards the top of the list for receiving back ordered doors. If I were ordering now I would be more concerned about when I would be receiving my stove/door.

I have spent most of my career in a manufacturing environment. I am somewhat baffled by the scenario above. I would think, at the very least, the build ratio would be one door to one stove. If anything, you would think that they would build more doors than stoves, because it is likely that a door or two will be sold as replacement parts. The fact that they even deliver the stove without a door is embarassing.

 

[cd64133]

Depends on how much you want to pay.

Both the Pacific and Lopi were more than we wanted to pay and the cost has gone up since we looked earlier in the summer. Lopi is a really nice stove as we had one when I was younger and some in the family still use them.

We went with Napoleon as this is our 1st stove in our home. However, we are still waiting on the back ordered door and the stove was back ordered when we initially purchased. We did receive the stove but no door so we have a nice paper weight right now.

I am not too concerned about our door as we ordered early and I would hope that we are towards the top of the list for receiving back ordered doors. If I were ordering now I would be more concerned about when I would be receiving my stove/door.

I have spent most of my career in a manufacturing environment. I am somewhat baffled by the scenario above. I would think, at the very least, the build ratio would be one door to one stove. If anything, you would think that they would build more doors than stoves, because it is likely that a door or two will be sold as replacement parts. The fact that they even deliver the stove without a door is embarassing.

I agree the situation I am in is not ideal and had I known that I would have received the stove without a door then I would have thought twice before making the purchase. But it is what it is. Napoleon is not the only mfg that has the stove and door purchase separate but they are one of the few.

The dealer I bought from advertises on this site and I am sure have read some of the threads about them not being able to deliver the doors with the stove due to mfg shortage. I would think they would not want to deliver a stove without a door so maybe they will rethink there delivery procedures.

 

[jbroich]

Ladies and gentleman,

time to report that after months and months of research I have purchased the Lopi Declaration. Very exciting. Expecting installation in around 4 weeks. And, yes, I will post images. Should be quite an operation: it's a towering masonry chimney. I'll take picture of the daredevils who will be up there.

(After a first visit to a dealer with a terrible attitude, I went with a very nice couple who operate a shop in Garrettsville, OH.)

I grew up in a home heated by a huge steel smoke dragon and a nice, big soapstone stove in the house. Spent many a summer days hauling, splitting, and stacking wood as a kid. High natural gas prices have driven me back into the welcoming arms of wood heat. My story is probably quite typical.

Thanks to everyone here who offer so much good advice and take the time to comment on the performance of their various wood burners. This website has incredibly good ratio of helpful folks to jerks. Really great.

JBinOH

 

[thechimneysweep]

These are all plate steel models with cast doors, and the manufacturers don't have their own casting facilities. The doors are outsourced, to foundries that might supply doors to several stove manufacturers. Typically, the doors are ordered from the foundry well in advance, in quantities to match projected sales. In this year of extraordinary wood stove sales, the foundries are getting orders for doors at 2x or 3x the normal quantity, often from several manufacturers at once! We've already encountered several door back-orders, and don't see the situation improving any time soon.

 

[joepenn]

Pacific energy inserts are crap. I purchased the pacific insert and have been very disappointed with it. The stove was delivered with multiple finish flaws on it. It had scratches all over, it had imprints from the bubble wrap on the bay lip. it had rust and scratches on the side panels. The retailer I purchased it from (Dussingers stove shop in Lancaster, PA) would not stand behind the product. I called the factory and they referred me to the regional distributor who then referred me to the local sales rep. I have not heard anything back from any of them in over a month. I even offered to fix the problem if they would send me some touch up paint and I still have not heard back from them. The finish was so bad on it it scratched off by rubbing your fingernail on it. On top of that I had to wait over a month for the trim piece to arrive. They said it was back order. I would highly recommend going with the Lopi or quadra fire. I am not a happy satisfied customer, I hope that it burns better than it looks and is built.

Joe W
Lancaster, PA

PS One of the basic rules of business is this. For every happy customer they tell 3 or 4 people for every unhappy cusomer they tell over ten people.

 

[begreen]

Sorry to hear about your problems Joe. I'd be grumpy too. The good news is that your experience so far appears to be far from the norm. Was this a brand new stove or a return that sat in the warehouse?

 

[joepenn]

I was told it was a new stove. I can understand an occasional defective product but the lack of customer service and communication from the other parties involved is unexcusable. Is was self employed for 7 years and I know that if I treated my customers like that I would have not been in business that long. I hope that they stand behind there product and correct these issues, but after sending emails and phone calls for a month my patience has wore thin.

 

[RedRanger]

I was told it was a new stove. I can understand an occasional defective product but the lack of customer service and communication from the other parties involved is unexcusable. Is was self employed for 7 years and I know that if I treated my customers like that I would have not been in business that long. I hope that they stand behind there product and correct these issues, but after sending emails and phone calls for a month my patience has wore thin.

I have found PE themselves to be very helpful, dealers are another ball of wax. Just saying at one time I needed schematics for my old 1985 insert, and they bent over backwards to help me. And they really didn`t have to-cause it was obvious to them that at the time, I just wanted to keep the old one burning.

 

[kbrown]

We have been looking at various inserts for the past month. Biggest factor for us is the cost and we selected the Napoleon 1402P. Disappointed to hear that it will be December '08 before it will even ship from factory. Funny how most of the dealers that we visited (about 5) never even mentioned any problem with the high demand causing a long wait. Only one made that statement right up front; but we still pushed ahead figuring it will not get any better. Wondering how hard it would be to install this myself or pay close to $1000 for install. We have fairly straight forward fireplace; about 15' tall chimney. What is the reasoning for using insulated pipe and should it be all flex or straight? Very much a newbie on this; coming into this from having used a Cozy Grate system for the past two years. Chimney sweep found crack on flue pipe so this seemed to be a logical move versus having a chimney rebuilt that just looses heat.

 

[crazy_dan]

well I have a great dealer then because the door gasket was installed incorrectly at the factory, juts slipped down on 1 corner. I called the dealer and they asked if I was going to be coming to Jefferson city today. I said no they said If i wanted to reapply the door gasket then they would overnight me a tube of adhesive, Or I could bring the door in the next time i was in Jefferson city an d they would do it. I got my tube the next day on the FedEx truck they spent $18 to overnight me $3 tube of gasket cement.
I am a very Happy PE owner, love my summit, love my dealer and their customer service also.
I will be a repeat customer if I ever need to replace the summit.

 

[budman]

Ladies and gentleman,

time to report that after months and months of research I have purchased the Lopi Declaration. Very exciting. Expecting installation in around 4 weeks. And, yes, I will post images. Should be quite an operation: it's a towering masonry chimney. I'll take picture of the daredevils who will be up there.

(After a first visit to a dealer with a terrible attitude, I went with a very nice couple who operate a shop in Garrettsville, OH.)

I grew up in a home heated by a huge steel smoke dragon and a nice, big soapstone stove in the house. Spent many a summer days hauling, splitting, and stacking wood as a kid. High natural gas prices have driven me back into the welcoming arms of wood heat. My story is probably quite typical.

Thanks to everyone here who offer so much good advice and take the time to comment on the performance of their various wood burners. This website has incredibly good ratio of helpful folks to jerks. Really great.

JBinOH

Great choice on that stove. :coolsmirk:

 

[Jake]

I've got a 1101 and couldn't be happier with it, I bought from a Local dealer who provides great support