Lopi Stoves Cat/noncat

[wizarma]

I am new to the wood burning business. The house I moved into though was set-up for a wood burning stove(firerock and chimney) and I have cut firewood off the property for years(mainly to sell to freinds). I am going to look at a Lopi stove(unknown model) that is for sale. How do I tell if it is a catalytic converter model or not? I have heard the cat models are expensive to maintain and would prefer to stay away from them.

Thanks

 

[pattyz]

We have a Woodstock Keystone stove cat. IMO they are not costly at all, compared to the amount of chimney cleaning non-cats might require. You do have to reg. clean the combuster, but these things burn so much cleaner. A cat stove would normally have a lower box area extending from the upper part of the stove into the firebox. Look for a mesh screen type area. Cats kind of take up room in the area you load wood, (most models). Life can be good with either kind of stove as long it is not a old model, which tends not to be clean burning as they are in the past 5 yrs or so.

 

[CT-Mike]

I may be wrong, but I don't think Lopi makes CAT type stoves.

 

[madrone]

Second that. I'm pretty sure there aren't any Lopi cats. Look for tubes with holes in them across the inside top. I like my Lopi quite abit.

 

[Gomez]

How old is the stove? All the Lopis I've seen have a nameplate with the model.
And I also don't recall any cats on their stoves.

 

[fossil]

There was a model called, I think, the Golden Eagle, which was a catalytic stove. No catalytics in recent years' model lines from Lopi that I'm aware of. Rick

EDIT: In any case, if you can, take a camera with you and get some pics all around inside & out of the stove, look closely for nameplate data on the back, and get back with us here & we'll do our best to help you figure out what it is and what kind of condition it's in.

 

[Pagey]

I cannot recall any current Lopi catalytic models. However, as a Lopi Endeavor owner and as someone with limited experience with their Liberty model, I can assure you that, barring some sort of disaster, you will NOT be disappointed with their products.

 

[wizarma]

First of thanks for the good info.

I have looked at the stove it is a model 380/440. The guy says it is around 15 years old but not used that much. He claims it is a high effeciency but it does not have the "reburn" tubes in the top. He wants $800 for it. I am attaching photos. Would I be better off buying this or a new Napolean 1100PL for $1250?

 

[JMF1]

I think you can do better than that for $800. Check out the Englanders, alot of people here have them and love 'em. If you post some specifics on your needs and your home, I'm sure you'll get plenty of good info from actual use, which helps!

 

[fossil]

It's an OK looking old stove for a wood eating smoke dragon. Too bad it's not a 520...precursor to the modern stoves. But even then, you'd have the problem of dealing with an 8" flue collar. For his price, I'd definitely pass on this old stove. You can get yourself a brand new, EPA approved, efficient woodburner for little more than that. Rick

 

[madrone]

Ditto. It's a "more efficiency", not a "high efficiency" stove. You could do worse, but you can do much, much better for that much money.