about to purchase this stove. Does anyone have or previously had this stove? Just wondering your overall opinion on it. Just looking for any last minute reviews/suggestions before I spend $4k for stove, liner, labor, etc. Any useful tips? With a 2.9 firebox, how many pieces of wood does it use on 1 load? What is the maintenance? How are the burn times? Fan loud or relatively quiet? any info is helpful. thanks.
Lopi Freedom insert
- Thread starter brakatak
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
- Status
I have a freedom bay, it's ok but I'm not sure I'd go this route if I were doing it again. Best burn times I get out of it are about 6-8 hours. It can heat my 1800 sq/ft house no problem though. If the power is out it can barely heat the room it's in though. The blower is very loud on high, loud enough to make me turn up the tv.
If I were doing it again I think it'd take a stronger look at a blaze king princess, mostly for the longer burn times. I might actually modify my hearth and place the Englander nc30 that I bought on clearance at HD in there and see if that helps burn times.
If I were doing it again I think it'd take a stronger look at a blaze king princess, mostly for the longer burn times. I might actually modify my hearth and place the Englander nc30 that I bought on clearance at HD in there and see if that helps burn times.
You will be very happy with Freedom! The only Maintenance required is a good cleaning each season. You will get 6-10 hrs out of a good load, if it's loaded full. Many people make the mistake of throwing a few pieces in ontop of the coals and complain about the short burn times. For the longest burn, get the stove good and hot with a good coal bed established, rake the coals to the front and then pack it full from back to front. The fan is not overly loud, they are all loud on high! I found that I never used it on high anyway. It's a great heater! The only reason I sold mine was because I didn't use it after the Cape Cod was up and running. Sold it to a friend that needed a new insert.
How many square feet are you heating? Will it be primary heat or just back up?
How many square feet are you heating? Will it be primary heat or just back up?
I've got.this stove. Very solid. You're not going to get the same burn times or ease of burn for that matter with a non cat stove, but that's a separate post.
Burn time is subjective. It comes down to heat output and capacity I can get between 4hrs and 12hrs with the same load of wood depending on how much heat I want and how quickly. One thing I would suggest with this stove 16" splits so you can load North/South. I find it much easier to load tightly and still have adequate air flow for a clean burn.
Burn time is subjective. It comes down to heat output and capacity I can get between 4hrs and 12hrs with the same load of wood depending on how much heat I want and how quickly. One thing I would suggest with this stove 16" splits so you can load North/South. I find it much easier to load tightly and still have adequate air flow for a clean burn.
thanks for the info..makes me feel good about the 4K purchase. I hope to heat whole house at 1700 sq ft. Definitly will be running it from 6pm to 7am everyday, and all weekends. while at work, i'll probably have my oil thermostat set low. so I hope to heat with wood 75% of the time.
You'll do fine with that stove. Lopi builds them well. Just be sure to feed it dry wood. No EPA stove performs well with poorly seasoned wood.
Absolutely heed the advice about dry wood, minimum 2 years split and stacked in the sun for oak and hickory, less for most other woods, if you don't have that wood already, you may be screwed for this winter. Also buy a good stove top thermometer and learn how to use it, you'll get the longest steadiest burn times that way. You'll never hear the fan on low, and should never need it any higher.
Mine easily heats this ~1900sqft, although we're south of you, my only problem is getting the heat around the house, that's not the stove's fault. I posted a picture here last Winter at 14F outside, 84F in the room with the stove, toasty.
Loading N/S and raking coals forward will give you longest burn times, but it takes practice and patience. Don't expect to throw in some logs 5 minutes before you leave for work and expect to come home to leaping flames 9 hours later, but if you plan ahead, choose the splits well, reload 15-30 minutes before you leave, give enough time to adjust the air, then you'll come home to a hot house and easy relight.
Enjoy, if you have dry wood you won't regret the investment. If you buy "seasoned" wood from a dealer now, you'll probably curse this site all the way through 2013/2014. There are strategies to help deal with less than ideal wood, but they're, well, less than ideal.
TE
Mine easily heats this ~1900sqft, although we're south of you, my only problem is getting the heat around the house, that's not the stove's fault. I posted a picture here last Winter at 14F outside, 84F in the room with the stove, toasty.
Loading N/S and raking coals forward will give you longest burn times, but it takes practice and patience. Don't expect to throw in some logs 5 minutes before you leave for work and expect to come home to leaping flames 9 hours later, but if you plan ahead, choose the splits well, reload 15-30 minutes before you leave, give enough time to adjust the air, then you'll come home to a hot house and easy relight.
Enjoy, if you have dry wood you won't regret the investment. If you buy "seasoned" wood from a dealer now, you'll probably curse this site all the way through 2013/2014. There are strategies to help deal with less than ideal wood, but they're, well, less than ideal.
TE
Ram 1500 with an axe...
Minister of Fire
since i only decided to buy a stove 2 months ago, my first goal was to get aggressive on wood storage and accumulating wood. I built my wood shed last month and just ordered 2 cords of "seasoned" . I split a couple oaks a few months ago but ill burn those next year. The 2 cords I had delivered i hoped to burn this year, will i be completly screwed this year? what should i expect for performance? will i have issues with creosite or anything? thanks for the info and honesty.
Attachments
![[Hearth.com] Lopi Freedom insert](/talk/data/attachments/106/106011-cd18851d2c0275b30bfaa39f56af3578.jpg?hash=c5WNm4mbW_)
Don't be afraid to reject a load of wood. Before they unload the truck, grab a few random splits off the truck and examine them closely. Look for greyed and checked ends. Feel their weight, are they too heavy? Knock a pair together, do they give a thud or do they ring with a musical tone? Thud indicates unseasoned. Resplit the splits and press the freshly split wood against your cheek. Is it warm and dry or cool and damp? If you have a moisture meter use it on the freshly split face of wood and check.
If the load of wood is partially seasoned and it is wood that dries quickly (like ash) then you might get enough drying time by fall. It depends on how much dry wind can blow through the stacks.
If the load of wood is partially seasoned and it is wood that dries quickly (like ash) then you might get enough drying time by fall. It depends on how much dry wind can blow through the stacks.
Augie
Feeling the Heat
Find a tree service tell them you would like a load or tow of soft woods or maple. Usually they sell the better wood themselves(oak, ash, hickory ) but have to pay to dump the less desirable wood(cotton wood, pine, maple) if you can get some of that, get it split and stacked quickly in sunny windy places in single rows with topcover you should be good to go this year. I'm in my second year burning and that has been my plan. Now I'm good to go for the next couple of years and can start getting pick about my scrounging
Ram 1500 with an axe...
Minister of Fire
I love it, but you should get what you plan to burn this year in the sun and wind in a single line, then you will be good to go.....what exactly do you have?
There is always the remote possibility that you did get properly seasoned wood, but the overwhelming experience of so many others here suggests otherwise...
If stacked and split now, several species will be dry enough to burn without too much trouble this season, but oak and hickory will not. The oak you split this spring might be dry enough in 2014/2015, but will be great by November 2015. I'd sort through your two cords and take out any faster drying woods, stack them in a single row in the sun, not in that nice shed.
Wet wood will cause overall poor performance, less heat, shorter burn times, more wood consumption, and more creosote. Modern EPA stoves are far more sensitive to wet wood that older stoves. I burned 6 month old oak in my old insert, but a year later could barely get that same oak to burn in my new Lopi.
TE
If stacked and split now, several species will be dry enough to burn without too much trouble this season, but oak and hickory will not. The oak you split this spring might be dry enough in 2014/2015, but will be great by November 2015. I'd sort through your two cords and take out any faster drying woods, stack them in a single row in the sun, not in that nice shed.
Wet wood will cause overall poor performance, less heat, shorter burn times, more wood consumption, and more creosote. Modern EPA stoves are far more sensitive to wet wood that older stoves. I burned 6 month old oak in my old insert, but a year later could barely get that same oak to burn in my new Lopi.
TE
fox9988
Minister of Fire
I switched to an EPA stove Oct. '12, burning red oak that I c/s/s in Feb '12. Certainly not ideal but I had no problems. 30+ years of burning green oak in a pre-epa might have helped. You can expect more creosote and smoke, less heat and efficiency with green wood. Keep stocking your wood supply. Seperate fast drying species and stack them in single rows in the sun/wind, as suggested. You can also supplement with biobricks or pallet wood. The first year is the toughest, all down hill after that. Welcome and good luck.
Ram 1500 with an axe...
Minister of Fire
Augie
Feeling the Heat
My cotton Wood and Pine gets Double stacked, it is already almost ready to burn after 2 months everything else gets single
NextEndeavor
Burning Hunk
We are very pleased with our Lopi. First year with marginal wood was tough, but really didn't know it then. Dry wood is wonderful. If you're buying a new Lopi, believe they come with a moisture meter now. You'll like the bypass damper for lightups and reloading.
Thats right, unless the dealer keeps some extras in stock, then there is a chance that it would pre-date the Moisture meters. Since this just started earlier this year.
- Status
Similar threads
