Napoleon s20I

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gunCRF450

New Member
Feb 1, 2021
2
South Carolina
2000 sq. ft. ranch home built back in 1956. Ran a heavy duty Dare IV slammer insert since 1979. Time for a replacement.

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Crown / chimney was in bad shape and needs attention yet. May pour a new concrete crown come spring, add a top plate with additional 2' - 3' of chimney, waterproof, seal up the flashing, etc.

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Ordered a s20I from Rockford and everything else for the install. Can't thank them enough for all the help.


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Cleaned / brushed / hack'd until I had a straight shot to the top of the stove.

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Chimney measures 14'2" from the top to the bottom of the hearth.

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Backerplate is on backorder. Made a block off plate out of Flashing & Roxwool. Hearthpad is on the floor in front instead of rug.

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Fired the stove up Friday night and ran a small test fire. Ran more short runs Saturday getting used to the air settings & stove temps. Yesterday it rained most of the day and never got much above 35F outside. Draft seems to be great for now, but may need a couple more feet for warmer temps.

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Got one of these on top. Sweet spot so far with 20% & less seasoned OAK splits is 4 - 6 hrs @ 400F. Living room & kitchen a nice 72 degrees. Went to bed last nite @ 10PM, got up @ 5 and had plenty of coals to get the stove going again b4 leaving for work @ 7:30.

I started hanging out here in the forums at the beginning of January when my old stove bit the dust and learned as much as I could from reading all the posts & knowledge from everyone.

Had my doubts about these new EPA stoves but so far I'm really pleased.

Thanks so much!

Gun

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Is that the S20I or S25I? That looks bigger than I expected. I have no dealers with an actual model to look at. I feel like all the brochures I look at show the larger model but say its the smaller version. Hard to get an actual perspective. I am currently in the market for an insert and the S20 is one that I am looking at but was hoping to find something larger. Also looking at the Pacific Energy Neo 2.5 and the Lopi Nexgen Fyre medium flush.

1000sqft ranch built in 1955
 
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I got the S20i. Nice little unit with decent burn times. I wanted the S25i but my fireplace was not deep enough. I can load it east to west with 4 - 5 splits and it'll slow roll & put out plenty of heat. I like being able to get up in the morning and have a nice bed of coals to work with.
 
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I got the S20i. Nice little unit with decent burn times. I wanted the S25i but my fireplace was not deep enough. I can load it east to west with 4 - 5 splits and it'll slow roll & put out plenty of heat. I like being able to get up in the morning and have a nice bed of coals to work with.
If I cant get the Lopi or Neo, the S20 will probably be my go-to. I have an installer coming out to measure next week. I will see what he says. Thanks for giving your feedback on it. I appreciate it.