Pacific Energy Summit vs. Lopi Freedom Bay

[djpw00]

Hello All - I have been researching inserts to replace the one that I have now. These are the options I have settled on. The Lopi unit I can buy through a local retailer. The PE Summit I have to buy online and have it shipped in. Looking for any and all comments. Trying to heat 2200 sq. ft.

 

[Xikar]

I was in the same boat as you about a year and a half ago. I was torn between the Summit and the Avalon Olympic inserts. After much research and going back and forth I decided on the Summit mostly because the wife was more fond of the looks compared to the boxy look of the Olympic. In my opinion, you won't go wrong with either stove! I can tell you the Summit is a great stove and heats my 2,500+ sq ft home with ease. I'd be more inclined to go with a stove that was available locally to me.

 

[Sean Truesdell]

Same for me here... I was down to the Avalon Olympic and PE Summit. The Lopi and Avalon are the same stove, just different doors and the shop was offering me a deal on the Avalon. In the end several factors swayed me towards the PE, the shop was not one of them as he was pushing the Travis products.

Mantle height was an issue and the Avalon would have needed a heat shield for clearance Summit did not.
Max lintel depth for the Avalon was only 2.5", I had 4" and would have needed an angled elbow for clearance.
The Summit loads NS and the Avalon was EW
The tapered firebox in the Avalon seemed like it would be difficult to load, square in the Summit.
I liked the SS baffle system in the PE line.
PE offers a limited lifetime warranty and Travis offers 7 years.

With the Avalon I liked that you could use 24" splits, and I preferred the boxy wood stove look of it but everyone else I asked preferred the sleek lines of the Summit. All of the feedback I received on this site told me that both were great choices but the loyal PE following around here swayed me a bit too.

Also, ask some other local shops if they can order you the PE. The store I was looking at the Avalon in was not listed as a dealer on the PE website but told me they could still order me the stove and any parts I may need through their distributor so I went through them.

 

[djpw00]

I am really leaning towards the PE but it makes me terribly nervous to make such a big investment without a local person to help if I were to have any problems. The closest dealer is an hour and half away. Thanks for the input so far. I guess I am looking for one argument to sway me one way or the other.

 

[jeff_t]

Also, ask some other local shops if they can order you the PE. The store I was looking at the Avalon in was not listed as a dealer on the PE website but told me they could still order me the stove and any parts I may need through their distributor so I went through them.

Yep, try this. I had a local(ish) PE dealer tell me he could get anything Blaze King, though he wasn't officially a dealer. We even looked up some prices.

The Summit loads NS and the Avalon was EW
The tapered firebox in the Avalon seemed like it would be difficult to load, square in the Summit.

I looked at inserts before I decided to demo my fireplace/chimney. Those funky fireboxes were a big turnoff. Might be okay for the weekend warrior, but really difficult to utilize all the capacity for 24/7 heating.

 

[begreen]

Yes, a square firebox is much more practical for 24/7 burning.