Hi all,
It's been years since I logged in but I wanted to provide a brief update on the performance of my Lopi Republic 1750 insert, which was installed in the fall of 2010 and thus this is it's 6th winter but with significant improvements along the way to air-sealing and air flow in the house.
I live in a typical 2 story colonial, approx 2300 square feet excluding basement. Since I got the stove installed I've re-sided the house and used the opportunity to put tyvek up, I've done alot of air sealing, and I recently gutted my kitchen (which was a block to airflow) and sealed alot of areas that were unsealed in the process. I live in southeastern PA and I burn mostly in 15-45 degree weather.
The Lopi is an absolute performer. First off, 6 winters, no problems. The door seal is just starting to fray, the hinges need to be lubricated, and the air intake control still feels like it's sliding over the dripping from a bad weld job - but the stove itself, bricks, and outlets are all perfect. The fan is a tad noisy sometimes, but that's my fault actually due to uninstalling it and not re-installing it correctly. Burns about 2-3 cords per winter and runs super clean - I often burn not great wood, and get my chimney professionally cleaned with a remark that it barely has any creosote buildup.
The insert is in a poor location in my house - a long narrow room where heat needs to come down under s
Second, I'm running it right now to heat the entire 2300 square feet. It's 16 degrees and windy out and my oil furnace kicks on once every ~2 hours to keep the house at 68 degrees. When it's 20-25+ and not very windy, I can keep the furnace off indefinitely.
The trick for me on this insert was to learn to relax and not chase hot temperatures but instead to build fires that can coal up as much as possible with as little air as possible. The sweet spot for me is to build a fire that reaches 450-550 stove top temps and put the air down to about 30% open - then leave it that way until it comes down to 250 degrees stove top temp.Fan at maybe 30% power. It sucks very little air up the chimney and produces maximum heat and good slow burn.
Anyway, I think I spent around $1800 on this stove and with my install was $3k out the door (insulated liner) and then the tax credit that was available back then brought it down alot. It paid for itself in the first 3 years of +3/gallon fuel oil. Now, not so much, but man it's a gem. Lopi is definitely a solid manufacturer by my book.
It's been years since I logged in but I wanted to provide a brief update on the performance of my Lopi Republic 1750 insert, which was installed in the fall of 2010 and thus this is it's 6th winter but with significant improvements along the way to air-sealing and air flow in the house.
I live in a typical 2 story colonial, approx 2300 square feet excluding basement. Since I got the stove installed I've re-sided the house and used the opportunity to put tyvek up, I've done alot of air sealing, and I recently gutted my kitchen (which was a block to airflow) and sealed alot of areas that were unsealed in the process. I live in southeastern PA and I burn mostly in 15-45 degree weather.
The Lopi is an absolute performer. First off, 6 winters, no problems. The door seal is just starting to fray, the hinges need to be lubricated, and the air intake control still feels like it's sliding over the dripping from a bad weld job - but the stove itself, bricks, and outlets are all perfect. The fan is a tad noisy sometimes, but that's my fault actually due to uninstalling it and not re-installing it correctly. Burns about 2-3 cords per winter and runs super clean - I often burn not great wood, and get my chimney professionally cleaned with a remark that it barely has any creosote buildup.
The insert is in a poor location in my house - a long narrow room where heat needs to come down under s
Second, I'm running it right now to heat the entire 2300 square feet. It's 16 degrees and windy out and my oil furnace kicks on once every ~2 hours to keep the house at 68 degrees. When it's 20-25+ and not very windy, I can keep the furnace off indefinitely.
The trick for me on this insert was to learn to relax and not chase hot temperatures but instead to build fires that can coal up as much as possible with as little air as possible. The sweet spot for me is to build a fire that reaches 450-550 stove top temps and put the air down to about 30% open - then leave it that way until it comes down to 250 degrees stove top temp.Fan at maybe 30% power. It sucks very little air up the chimney and produces maximum heat and good slow burn.
Anyway, I think I spent around $1800 on this stove and with my install was $3k out the door (insulated liner) and then the tax credit that was available back then brought it down alot. It paid for itself in the first 3 years of +3/gallon fuel oil. Now, not so much, but man it's a gem. Lopi is definitely a solid manufacturer by my book.
