PE Summit vs. Avalon Olympic vs. Lopi Freedom Bay

[nanama72]

I have been searching around these forums for a long time, trying to sort out what is the best way to heat our home. I stared out wanting a pellet stove, but that won't work because we'd have to extend our raised hearth (18-19 inches) which would add $2000 on to already a $4000 investment to put it in the fireplace and there's really nowhere else to put it. So then I looked into woodstoves, same problem. So now I am trying to find out what would be the best wood stove insert to heat our home to reduce the whole endeavor to a price around $4000 for stove, installation, liner, etc.

We live in a 2200 sq foot open floor plan with cathedral ceilings, and the chimney is on an outside wall in the living room with the kitchen on the other end and an open loft upstairs hall with some rooms we don't need to heat all the time. The house was built in the 80's and is pretty well insulated.

Right now we keep our thermostat on 60-62 to save $$ on the oil bill and the warmest room of the house is our bedroom upstairs. We do have ceiling fans but haven't used them because we want to keep our electricity bill down too.

What I am hoping is that by using wood as our main heating system, I'll be able to be warm especially in the downstairs.

I have narrowed down the competition to 3 stoves based on reviews, box size, and BTU. Quietness of the fan is also somewhat important since my fiance is very sensitive to noise. I looked at the new Jotel C550 today but with it's flush design I'm not convinced it can provide the heat of these others. I also ruled out the Napoleon and the Clydesdale.

So the contenders are: Pacific Energy Summit, which I know has a faithful following here, Avalon Olympic, and Lopi Freedom Bay. I really don't care as much about looks as I do about function, and the goal is to not use the oil next year to heat our home.

I am going on assumptions that a larger box in which to put the wood and more of the stove actually sticking out of the fireplace is going to provide more heat. I am a bit concerned about the fact these are all steel stoves and wonder about caste iron vs. steel in these decisions.

Any advice or experience would be great. Thanks so much.

 

[nanama72]

I see there is a good analysis of PE Summit vs. Avalon Olympic. Anyone have anything to say about Lopi Freedom Bay? Thanks so much

 

[iceman]

I have been searching around these forums for a long time, trying to sort out what is the best way to heat our home. I stared out wanting a pellet stove, but that won't work because we'd have to extend our raised hearth (18-19 inches) which would add $2000 on to already a $4000 investment to put it in the fireplace and there's really nowhere else to put it. So then I looked into woodstoves, same problem. So now I am trying to find out what would be the best wood stove insert to heat our home to reduce the whole endeavor to a price around $4000 for stove, installation, liner, etc.

We live in a 2200 sq foot open floor plan with cathedral ceilings, and the chimney is on an outside wall in the living room with the kitchen on the other end and an open loft upstairs hall with some rooms we don't need to heat all the time. The house was built in the 80's and is pretty well insulated.

Right now we keep our thermostat on 60-62 to save $$ on the oil bill and the warmest room of the house is our bedroom upstairs. We do have ceiling fans but haven't used them because we want to keep our electricity bill down too.

What I am hoping is that by using wood as our main heating system, I'll be able to be warm especially in the downstairs.

I have narrowed down the competition to 3 stoves based on reviews, box size, and BTU. Quietness of the fan is also somewhat important since my fiance is very sensitive to noise. I looked at the new Jotel C550 today but with it's flush design I'm not convinced it can provide the heat of these others. I also ruled out the Napoleon and the Clydesdale.

So the contenders are: Pacific Energy Summit, which I know has a faithful following here, Avalon Olympic, and Lopi Freedom Bay. I really don't care as much about looks as I do about function, and the goal is to not use the oil next year to heat our home.

I am going on assumptions that a larger box in which to put the wood and more of the stove actually sticking out of the fireplace is going to provide more heat. I am a bit concerned about the fact these are all steel stoves and wonder about caste iron vs. steel in these decisions.

Any advice or experience would be great. Thanks so much.

where in westrn mass are you?

 

[iceman]

I see there is a good analysis of PE Summit vs. Avalon Olympic. Anyone have anything to say about Lopi Freedom Bay? Thanks so much

well, i have the pe summit... i got it based on the reviews here and pricing in the real world... most of the other stores .. had stoves that were relatively the same, but they wanted more money. based on the people here i got the summit so i could save..there are cheaper stoves as this was more middle range for me, but it had the biggest fireboxfor the buck. as you have said, you have a 4000 budget, my stove with install, liner, and wood was still under that!
I would have loved to get the hampton 300 but its smaller and more expensive..
another thought... a lot of people are putting stoves in a fireplace and not inserts if you can fit a summit that might also be an option .. you could probably go down a little in size as the "whole" stove will be heating you house not just air blown from around the stove

 

[Jimbob]

Summit.

 

[Shane]

Personally I'd go with the Freedom in lieu of the Freedom bay. My old boss burned both in his home for approx 4 years each and he said the radiant heat was better from teh Freedom since it didn't have those false bay windows. Other than that all three are excellent stoves and a bad decision cannot be made with your choices.

 

[nanama72]

Thanks for all your input. That's interesting about the Freedom vs. the Freedom Bay. My understanding was that the Freedom Bay offered more convection heat, but I don't know much about that and the fact is our plan is open enough that radiant heat vs. convection doesn't make much difference. I think we're also going to have to turn on our ceiling fans once we get this installed.

We actually don't have any money right now, this would all be on credit but from the pricing I've done, it seems like $4000 is likely the investment we'll have to make.

My previous experience was all with cast iron radiant heat. Can anyone comment on how steel compares?

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Todd]

Why would you have to extend your hearth for a pellet insert? Clearances are only a few inches, aren't they?

 

[nanama72]

For inserts we wouldn't have to extend the hearth thanks. It's only when we're considering putting in a real woodstove, and we we want to heat the whole house. The local pellet dealer told me that a pellet insert could not be expected to replace oil heat.

Thanks so much

 

[asmith1]

I burned an Olympic freestanding stove for three winters in the house we recently sold. I liked it but I like the extended burn time thermosat on the summit a lot. I just found out we have a PE dealer in the area or I may have bought that instead. Our new house is 1600 sqt and well insulated so the summit would be overkill. When the secondary burn got going in the Olympic it wold run real hot and fast with no primary air and just decent draft. It did keep the house warm.

 

[Shawn]

I have the Freedom Bay and really like the insert. I live in a 2300 sq ft ranch that is not really an "open" floor plan. But, I use ceiling fans and one fan blowing down the hallway toward the bedrooms. The stove really does a great job heating our house. Overnight burns are achievable - and I'm still a bit reluctant to really load the stove up at bed time. My wife prefered the bay window appearance of this insert versus some of the more "traditional" fireplaces. This is the second year I have had the Freedom Bay - between last season and this current season I have burned about 5 cords of wood. I have had no complaints with the dealer, the insert, or the manufacturer.

 

[Henz]

Olympic ALL THE WAY@!!

 

[Highbeam]

I would prefer a steel stove on the basis that the cast iron stoves all need to be rebuilt. The welded steel does not and is cheaper usually. The cast iron looks better to me and seems to offer more mass for stored heat but you are looking at inserts which by nature are convection stoves meant to heat air.

I owned a freedom bay and it was fine. The draft adjustment rod was hard to move and the bypass damper was squeaky. The stove was nice and large and burned well. I needed to demolish the chimney so the stove was replaced with a freestander.

You live in a cold palce and with 2200 SF I would get a big firebox. Your choices reflect that. I vote for the summit insert.