Lopi vs Osburn

[LadyHawk]

Hi Folks-

I’m a relative newbie who grew up in foggy Northern California in a home heated by an old barrel-style “fire view”. I lived in Washington state rentals with a variety of old no-brand cast iron woodstoves, and now own a home of my own and have the opportunity to replace the old, smoke-belching (re-purposed) insert someone welded feet onto and installed as a freestanding wood-stove).

This current smoke-monster EATS wood and I have the opportunity to replace it with a new, epa certified wood stove.

Which brings me to my question: which stove is best for my space and budget? As a newbie I know that I know enough to ask for advice from those more knowledgeable than I, so here goes:

The home was once a Victorian era community center and then housed two church congregations before being remodeled into a home in the 1970s.
The large rectangular building was partitioned off so that 2/3 of the length is one large great room, and 1/3 is bedrooms, kitchen, and a two story entrance atrium. The walls and roof are insulated, but the floor is not.

The Great Hall has two ceiling fans, apx 4 ft down from the (well insulated) ceiling. It also has five 3x8 foot single pane windows (c.1869)

The two stoves that I’ve narrowed down to are the Lopi Liberty and the Osburn 2300.

I’m leaning toward to Lopi but the cost is significantly more, and I’ve seen some mixed reviews. My concern with the Osburn is that it is a bit smaller. Additionally I like he “radiant heating” feature of the Lopi. Materials and design seem to my uneducated eyes to be comparable.

Thoughts?

 

[begreen]

I like the deeper firebox on the Osburn. You might want to also look at the Drolet Austral II. It's made by the same company as Osburn, same large firebox, but without side shielding. It's a highly radiant stove for quite a bit less money.

 

[LadyHawk]

Thank you, begreen!

I took a look at the Drolet but unfortunately the nearest dealer is over 6 hours away.

The Osburn is available at a reputable local hardware store/dealer, and unless there is a real difference in materials (like the baffle material? Lopi “fire brick” vs the Osburn “c cast”?) or customer service/warranty issues (I live in the Northern California area) I may take another look at the Osburn.
The bigger firebox Does seem like it would heat my large drafty Hall better.
They seem to both use steel re-burn tubes and have a secondary bypass feature.

Thanks again for the input and the recommendation!

 

[lopiliberty]

I love the bypass damper on the liberty. No smoke out the door and it does make for faster sgartups. The firebrick baffle is nice to. Not the cramic that becomes very fragile and can easily get a hole poked in it during the flue cleaning process. The liberty is primarily a side to side loader but 90 percent of the time I load 16in wood front to back

 

[Ben Stark]

I have an Osburn 1600 insert. It is almost 20 years old and it’s been a great stove. Mine came with firebrick for the baffle in it. Burns very hot and clean, even the blower still works quietly, although I seldom use it.

I would recommend Osburn, however it always makes sense to compare options. Please keep in mind that no matter which stove you choose, the newer stoves absolutely require dry seasoned wood. They are a lot different than the older units we grew up with LOL.

 

[LadyHawk]

Thank you LopiLiberty! Yes- I watched a YT video where they were showing off the features of the Liberty and smoke pouring out of my old stove has been such a problem. Am I mistaken in thinking the Osburn 2300 has this same type of bypass damper?
I absolutely see how the firebrick would be both a more durable baffle and also (perhaps?) a better additional thermal mass within the stove body to store and radiate heat. I also like the “convection” feature Lopi advertises. I can’t see that on the Osburn, though I wonder if that’s what that “fin” on the top rear of the 2300 is? The stove is located in the main hall- roughly center right of the house but tucked into a corner alcove under the second-story spiral staircase landing. Perhaps I should try and post a picture of the old Beast.

Ben Stark -Right?!? I remember going to the mill with my parents in the late 1970s and filling up the family van with mill ends which we kids were required to stack in a giant brick and tote into the house in baskets. The idea of burning all that now with my 2 story flue scares the bejeesus out of me!

I noticed that Lopi advertises a moisture meter with their stoves. Seems like it would be a good thing to have regardless, especially in my wet climate.

 

[Ben Stark]

It’s funny you mention the mill ends because we lived close to Rawlings factory that made baseball bats. These bats were milled from kiln dried ash. The left over ends and reject pieces were thrown away, the factory placed huge bins of them out front and encouraged people to take them. My family did the same thing we would load up buckets, boxes, and barrels with the “nubbins” as my father called them. My brother and I built castles out of them and of course my parents burned them too.

My father put way too many bat ends in the old “pot belly” stove one night. They all took off at once and roared like a jet plane and 1/3 of the stove glowed cherry red The stove pipe was also glowing After that he would just toss a few of them in at a time with the other wood, when it was really cold outside.

My apologies for getting off topic.

 

[LadyHawk]

Ben Stark- I can completely relate! Ours were Doug Fir, and there was more than one occasion that the old potbellied stove in the “basement” (really a cement floored converted garage three steps down from the kitchen) got cherry red (yes stovepipe too! ) because it was blazing so hot and packed full of wood.
I remember playing on (wildly flammable! ) foam camping-style mattresses with my siblings all gathered around the woodstove. It used to get cranking in there and we would make-believe the hot, golden-brown foam was “sand” and we were in the “desert”!
Ah the innocent dangers of my childhood. Lol.

 

[webby3650]

Do any of the local dealers carry Enerzone? It’s a line of stoves that are a bit cheaper and are higher quality than a lot of the drolet or osburn that is made by the same company. They are only available at some hearth stores though.

 

[begreen]

I love the bypass damper on the liberty. No smoke out the door and it does make for faster sgartups. The firebrick baffle is nice to. Not the cramic that becomes very fragile and can easily get a hole poked in it during the flue cleaning process. The liberty is primarily a side to side loader but 90 percent of the time I load 16in wood front to back

I think you may be thinking ceramic board. The CCast baffle is not fragile. The Liberty is a stout and well made stove but it's primarily an E/W loader. The Osburn 2300 and 2400 have a deeper more square firebox that loads both N/S and E/W.

 

[LadyHawk]

begreen- I just learned about the difference between e-w and n-s loading for the first time on this site, and I can see that to get the best out of my stove a deeper understanding of that will be important.

Thank you all so much for the great (and helpful) information, as well as the “sounding board” for this important decision.

 

[begreen]

Both are good stoves, each has some advantages.

 

[LadyHawk]

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Thank you, begreen!

I took a look at the Drolet but unfortunately the nearest dealer is over 6 hours away.

The Osburn is available at a reputable local hardware store/dealer, and unless there is a real difference in materials (like the baffle material? Lopi “fire brick” vs the Osburn “c cast”?) or customer service/warranty issues (I live in the Northern California area) I may take another look at the Osburn.
The bigger firebox Does seem like it would heat my large drafty Hall better.
They seem to both use steel re-burn tubes and have a secondary bypass feature.

Thanks again for the input and the recommendation!

https://myfireplaceproducts.com/us_en/heaters

Check out the site for the Drolet. Free shipping, no need to worry about a dealer. I ordered mine here and it was great.

Regards loading- I would hate if I was limited to e-w.

The lopi is a nice stove, a friend has one and I really like it.

But, for loading and $$$, I'd go with the Drolet.

C-CAST baffles are tough enough. I have one and it's fine. Much better than vermiculite.

 

[begreen]

View attachment 238494

Either choice is going to burn a lot less wood. Just be sure the firewood is fully seasoned.

 

[LadyHawk]

Yes, begreen - I think I will invest in a moisture meter as soon as I can.

ED 3000 the Drolet does look good, but I’m restricted to local dealers- I’m the fortunate recipient of a woodsmoke reduction program that offered an incentive grant to replace older woodstoves in my area with newer epa certified models and thus reduce woodsmoke pollution. I applied and was lucky enough to be selected for one of the grants. The terms of the award require the stove be purchased from certain approved local vendors. Although this restriction certainly reduces my choices, it also keeps the money more “local” and in my small rural area that’s important.

I am pretty convinced that at this point I’m going with the Osburn 2300. The reviews and feedback I’ve gotten all support my feeling that this is the better value for money, and although it says on the “spec sheet” that it is rated to heat a smaller space, the firebox is the same volume, the listed btus are comparable, and I do like the deeper square firebox better than the lopi “wide rectangle”. The Great Hall the woodstove is located in heats up quite nicely and is already equipped with ceiling fans. My understanding from all of you is that the two stoves are on par, and it’s an “apples and pears” type personal choice. I’ll do one last visit to both dealers to look the stove floor models over again in person, but I’m 99% convinced I’ll go with the Osburn 2300.

Thank you all so much!!

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Yes, begreen - I think I will invest in a moisture meter as soon as I can.

ED 3000 the Drolet does look good, but I’m restricted to local dealers- I’m the fortunate recipient of a woodsmoke reduction program that offered an incentive grant to replace older woodstoves in my area with newer epa certified models and thus reduce woodsmoke pollution. I applied and was lucky enough to be selected for one of the grants. The terms of the award require the stove be purchased from certain approved local vendors. Although this restriction certainly reduces my choices, it also keeps the money more “local” and in my small rural area that’s important.

I am pretty convinced that at this point I’m going with the Osburn 2300. The reviews and feedback I’ve gotten all support my feeling that this is the better value for money, and although it says on the “spec sheet” that it is rated to heat a smaller space, the firebox is the same volume, the listed btus are comparable, and I do like the deeper square firebox better than the lopi “wide rectangle”. The Great Hall the woodstove is located in heats up quite nicely and is already equipped with ceiling fans. My understanding from all of you is that the two stoves are on par, and it’s an “apples and pears” type personal choice. I’ll do one last visit to both dealers to look the stove floor models over again in person, but I’m 99% convinced I’ll go with the Osburn 2300.

Thank you all so much!!

I think you'll be happy with it!

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, I always appreciate hearing folks reasoning when thinking about stuff like this, and you were very considerate in your response.

Please let us know how it works out!