Lopi Liberty overnight burn

[Foggy Mtn]

This is my first year with my Lopi Liberty and in doing research prior to getting I found a lot of questions about key dampers, stove overheating and such so I thought I would make this post to help people in the future. …

My setup is a Liberty with no key damper, around 24’ of double wall pipe with 2 45 degree connectors about 17’ up. The stove is located in the open area of the house with cathedral ceiling about 19’ high. 1950 sqft and the stove heats the entire house.

Last night I loaded the stove with 5 large pieces of hickory north/south on a large bed of coals with a stove top temp of 350. If I tried I could have worked several more smaller pieces in the stove as there was still some space left. I let it burn with air all the way open for around 17 min and began to shut it almost all the way down. Here is a video of how closed down I got the stove with very dry hickory. House was still warm 9 hr later with plenty of coals. Stove was around 300 or so. Low outside was 20. Our house with the high ceiling was pretty hard to keep warm for long periods of time with our last stove. The Liberty will throw some serious heat. And the steel retains heat way longer than I expected.

Hopefully this helps people like me trying to do research in the future. I am super pleased with the stove.

 

[begreen]

I really like the improvements on the new Liberty.

 

[GrumpyDad]

This is my first year with my Lopi Liberty and in doing research prior to getting I found a lot of questions about key dampers, stove overheating and such so I thought I would make this post to help people in the future. …

My setup is a Liberty with no key damper, around 24’ of double wall pipe with 2 45 degree connectors about 17’ up. The stove is located in the open area of the house with cathedral ceiling about 19’ high. 1950 sqft and the stove heats the entire house.

Last night I loaded the stove with 5 large pieces of hickory north/south on a large bed of coals with a stove top temp of 350. If I tried I could have worked several more smaller pieces in the stove as there was still some space left. I let it burn with air all the way open for around 17 min and began to shut it almost all the way down. Here is a video of how closed down I got the stove with very dry hickory. House was still warm 9 hr later with plenty of coals. Stove was around 300 or so. Low outside was 20. Our house with the high ceiling was pretty hard to keep warm for long periods of time with our last stove. The Liberty will throw some serious heat. And the steel retains heat way longer than I expected.

Hopefully this helps people like me trying to do research in the future. I am super pleased with the stove.

that glass and view is so impressive

 

[DBoon]

Last night I loaded the stove with 5 large pieces of hickory north/south on a large bed of coals with a stove top temp of 350. If I tried I could have worked several more smaller pieces in the stove as there was still some space left. I let it burn with air all the way open for around 17 min and began to shut it almost all the way down.

Yikes! Lopi's are easy-breathing stoves - I'm almost scared to ask how hot the top of the stove got - 750 degrees + ? I had a similar chimney setup and there was almost no way I could control the Lopi 1750 with a straight up 27' stovepipe with a key damper, no matter how soon I shut it down.

 

[Foggy Mtn]

after the video I opened a very little bit and it went to 700 but shut it back down all the way and went to sleep. I’ve had no problem controlling it so far. Size of the splits is the big thing seems like

 

[Sealcove]

I had to add a key damper with my Liberty install (2021 Nextgen). With Close to 30 feet of straight pipe (6-7' double wall and the rest Excel Class A), I had far too much draft with dry wood and a full stove. I don't always need to use the damper, but glad to have it for when conditions get things running hot.

 

[Hoytman]

Couldn’t see the video.

What are your burn times so far?

 

[Foggy Mtn]

Couldn’t see the video.

What are your burn times

On our coldlest nights 8 hr with good wood and I’ll still have a bunch of coals and house will still be around 70…whole house. Still learning it bc it’s been mostly mild.

 

[trailrated]

I have the Lopi Endeavor, a little smaller than the Liberty. I'm super impressed with the heat it throws. The thing I'm learning is the air control is finicky. The rod travels about 2 inches in and out but only the last 1/2 inch or so makes a difference in the air control.

 

[Hoytman]

Finally able to see the movie. Stove looks great.

Question:
Do you want/need the stove running that low? Just curious.

I assume most would want the secondaries firing at a slow rate rather not firing at all. I’m not sure how most tend to run their Liberty.

 

[Hoytman]

I really like the improvements on the new Liberty.

I do too…
-More mass weight
-Different designed and taller door
-Taller fire box
-Better designed door latch
-Ash pan
-Better and moved air control
-Better north/south loading

I’m not sure I like the fiber baffle better than the older styled brick baffle, especially after Lopi made such a big deal talking down baffle board and insulating blankets, but each has their pros and cons.

I think the only 2 things that I’d change on that stove is 4”-6” taller leg option and forget the ash pan and simply make the fire box 4”-6” deeper so you’re not having to empty ash as often.

 

[Foggy Mtn]

Finally able to see the movie. Stove looks great.

Question:
Do you want/need the stove running that low? Just curious.

I assume most would want the secondaries firing at a slow rate rather not firing at all. I’m not sure how most tend to run their Liberty.

Yes sir I could’ve offered better explanation for that. Normally yes I’ll get the secondaries going now that I’m getting a better feel for the stove. I was trying to keep it from running away because I have read a lot of people say they like to run hot.

 

[BucksPA]

This is a very interesting discussion to me. We have a new Lopi Evergreen and we have encountered much of what has been discussed here. Very informative.

 

[Hoytman]

I don’t like the idea of a stove top running full tilt all the time to 700-800 degrees. To me that isn’t control if it goes that high on it’s own and can’t be run any lower. At those constant temps it’s taxing on the life of the stove and there’s no way we could ever stand it that hot in our stove room, which is the main open room, and the largest room in the house.

I’ve got a Lopi Liberty sized stove in my house right now (coal) and with temps outside 25-35F the sides of the stove are running 160ish 24/7 and that is keeping the house about 70F.

This house is weird though. When the temperature hits 20F or into the teens it really seeks to affect this house more as far as it feeling colder inside. Of course, into the teens my stove is still idling along at about 275-300F and capable of running an additional 300-350…that near 400 degrees of cushion…in case it drops to -150F. 😂

I’m seriously beginning to think that even a Lopi Endeavor would still be far too big for this house. I’m pretty certain now that this Liberty is far too big for this house and likely no real reason to try it inside.

Ideally, I’d like my stove to be sized so it burns about medium for most of the cold season. That should do me well in the shoulder seasons and still leave me enough stove for those coldest few weeks of winter without constantly taxing the stove most of the season.

I’m thinking a Lopi Endeavor or possibly the next stove smaller for my 1350 sq ft.

 

[Foggy Mtn]

Yea I 1350 sq ft house would get seriously hot with a Liberty. Especially at rhe outdoor temps you are describing.

 

[Foggy Mtn]

One thing I will add, I did start noticing the stove hard to control. After poking around and doing a dollar bill test I noticed the door latch had moved. Tightened it up per the instructions. The same day I was noticing how hard the ash pan was to close. Ashes had fallen in the far back of the ash pan drawer and was keeping it from getting a good seal at the gasket. Removed those ashes and it’s been good since. I can’t imagine I’m the only person who will ever deal with that so thought it was worth putting on here.

 

[Hoytman]

I’m not a fan of a shallow ash pan, let alone the designs of some ash pans…especially being on wood stoves.

I think if the design is right, and the ash pan is huge (most, even Lopi’s design are far too small, imo) then they’re fine.

The Blaze King, and a few other brands stoves designed ash pans, where you remove a brick and then a steel cap, those are the better designs in my opinion and have huge deep ash pans.

I’m not a fan of the type open to cast iron grates where you simply rake ash into the pan. To me, while very practical, are also very dangerous if the ash door/drawer leaks.

 

[Foggy Mtn]

I don’t like the idea of a stove top running full tilt all the time to 700-800 degrees. To me that isn’t control if it goes that high on it’s own and can’t be run any lower. At those constant temps it’s taxing on the life of the stove and there’s no way we could ever stand it that hot in our stove room, which is the main open room, and the largest room in the house.

I’ve got a Lopi Liberty sized stove in my house right now (coal) and with temps outside 25-35F the sides of the stove are running 160ish 24/7 and that is keeping the house about 70F.

This house is weird though. When the temperature hits 20F or into the teens it really seeks to affect this house more as far as it feeling colder inside. Of course, into the teens my stove is still idling along at about 275-300F and capable of running an additional 300-350…that near 400 degrees of cushion…in case it drops to -150F. 😂

I’m seriously beginning to think that even a Lopi Endeavor would still be far too big for this house. I’m pretty certain now that this Liberty is far too big for this house and likely no real reason to try it inside.

Ideally, I’d like my stove to be sized so it burns about medium for most of the cold season. That should do me well in the shoulder seasons and still leave me enough stove for those coldest few weeks of winter without constantly taxing the stove most of the season.

I’m thinking a Lopi Endeavor or possibly the next stove smaller for my 1350 sq ft.

I’m still learning this as it’s my first season with it but if I want less heat output I just load less wood and or close it down faster. Huge over night loads when it’s cold you have to use large pieces. From what I’ve seen if I can get more than 7-8 pieces in there then I’ve used pieces that are too small and it can easily get 750 ish If you close it down after 15 min burning open air like the manual recommends. But again you could close it down sooner and help control it that way. I love t the stove. The other night i got 10 hr of warm house on an overnight load and had a bunch of coals when I put more wood in.
I’ll add this too. The room temperature swing or heat bell curve is going to be more significant with the Liberty than some other stoves. I actually love it. Reminds me of being a kid at my grandparents and coming inside from the cold and the stove nearly melting your clothes when you’re warming up next to it. LOL.

 

[weee123]

That video almost looks like it’s smoldering, what were your flue temps?

 

[Foggy Mtn]

That video almost looks like it’s smoldering, what were your flue temps?

Yes it was but read my second post. No clue on flue temp

 

[Sealcove]

On the ash pan, every single time I empty it I visually check the space and clean as required. Had to do the same with the Jotul F600. As noted, it is critical that the pan fit properly.

Posting a note again on overnight burns as we finally have a little cold again. It was 22F when I loaded the stove around 8pm last night. Currently it is 12F a 20 knot NW breeze at 6am. Big bed of coals and stove top is reading 350F 10hrs later. I will probably load in another hour as downstairs temp in whole house is still just above 70. Total square footage is a little above 2000. So not extreme cold, but comfortable 10-11hrs for my house and I could easily wait until 12hrs and have a house still in the mid 60’s. Low single digits to below zero changes that to more like 8-10 if I want to maintain those inside temps.

 

[BucksPA]

I do too…
-More mass weight
-Different designed and taller door
-Taller fire box
-Better designed door latch
-Ash pan
-Better and moved air control
-Better north/south loading

I’m not sure I like the fiber baffle better than the older styled brick baffle, especially after Lopi made such a big deal talking down baffle board and insulating blankets, but each has their pros and cons.

I think the only 2 things that I’d change on that stove is 4”-6” taller leg option and forget the ash pan and simply make the fire box 4”-6” deeper so you’re not having to empty ash as often.

I removed and replaced our baffle boards, blanket and plates yesterday on our Evergreen. If you have a Lopi with a two-board and blanket setup, be cautious-boards are very fragile. Ask me how I know. Also, removing and replacing the secondary damper assembly was torture.

I would be curious if anyone had tips for this job on this brand/stove.

 

[Victor Bravo]

I have an older Endeavor stove which has seen heavy use for many years. I heat a 2,300 sqft house with it. I noticed that the air damper is not very linear and you are only using a small amount of travel to control the stove. i'm not really thrilled about this. I also had the air damper after a couple of years get harder and harder to pull which was accompanied by loud metal to metal scraping sounds. My solution was to drill out the rivets and remove the damper for cleaning and lubrication with graphite. I re-installed the unit using screws to make it easier to maintain in the future. The design issue I don't like is the "ash lip" just below the door. It is too close and if any ash spills out it has to be clean or it interferes with the bottom door seal. It should have been move 1/2" lower. Overall I'm happy with the stove and glad I bought it.

 

[Hoytman]

My Liberty and many other stoves I’ve had my head inside to look around in could all benefit from lowering the ash lip further below the load door as well as having even slightly deeper fireboxes. Blaze King Princess and King have them all beat in this regard.