Preemptive Stove Purchase?

[Longknife]

As I always do when I clean my chimney, I try and vacuum out the stove's secondary baffle and air tube. In the process, I noticed the small lip welded along the side of the secondary tube that holds the firebrick up in the top of the stove was fairly deformed (it's been getting worse over the years). Using a bit of leverage as I have before, I attempted to pry it upwards to "flatten" it out. This caused one of the firebricks (which shield the steel secondary baffle plate) to brick. Further inspection revealed that the leading edge of this steel plate has taken a turn for the worst and has deformed quite a bit and eroded (melted). This has caused it to droop down onto the firebrick below, making them a tight fit.

Long story short, I managed to replace the brick (took 3 tries of breaking the bricks trying to squeeze them in) and I started thinking of perhaps taking the stove apart and welding in new steel. Although possible, I don't really want to do this in my finished basement and if the stove goes out, it's not coming back in.

It dates back to 1988 and was marketed as a 75k BTU model. It's put in a lot of faithful work over the years, and I've put near 20 face a cord a year through it for the last 8. I'm pretty confident I could probably get at least of couple of more years out of it.... at the least.

I'm slightly worried about future availability/laws when it comes to woodstoves, and I'm wondering if I should jump on deal now should it come up? Costco and TSC have regularly had good sales on a model I've had my eye on (Drolet HT2000) and I'm worried it may not be available, in say, 3 years from now.

My question is, would it make any sense at all to pre-emptively buy this stove and not install it for a few years (if the right deal comes up)? Is there any legitimate worry about wood burning appliance laws in the near future? The market has changed over the last few years since when I first started eying the HT2000, so I may not see the sale prices of the past, but if it gets close, I'll be very tempted to jump on it.

I'd have a hard time giving up on a stove that still functions fine. Perhaps if a deal comes up, I should just buy and install it and enjoy the benefits of 30 years of "advancement"? I do enjoy running a quality, high-efficiency stove. One I appreciate about my old stove is that the only parts that have ever needed replacing are the firebricks and some gasket. Not propriety baffles, etc..

 

[begreen]

What is the current stove that's installed? Given the age of the stove and the wood volume passed through it, there is a good chance it is past its prime and a new stove will outperform the old one nicely. The HT2000 is being replaced by the HT3000 so there may be some good deals as old inventory is cleared. If the price is nice, grab it while you can.

 

[Longknife]

What is the current stove that's installed? Given the age of the stove and the wood volume passed through it, there is a good chance it is past its prime and a new stove will outperform the old one nicely. The HT2000 is being replaced by the HT3000 so there may be some good deals as old inventory is cleared. If the price is nice, grab it while you can.

It's a See-fire 2100s. While it is vintage, it does seem to run pretty good and I just hate to replace something that still functions well. It's kind of a stubborn point of pride to be running an old stove too.

But yeah, I've ran some pretty nice (new) stoves and it might be nice, as you say, given my volume.

I had no idea the HT2000 was being replaced. I'll keep my eye out on clearance HT2000's as well check out this new stove!

 

[begreen]

Don't see many of those anymore. The Seefire 2100s was a decent design, similar to the Napoleon 1900 and Enviro makes good stoves. Still, if you find a decent clearance deal on the HT2000, grab it.

 

[Longknife]

Don't see many of those anymore. The Seefire 2100s was a decent design, similar to the Napoleon 1900 and Enviro makes good stoves. Still, if you find a decent clearance deal on the HT2000, grab it.

Thanks, I will be keeping my eyes open. Unless I see a good deal, I may go for the 3000 anyway as I like the design a little better.

 

[WinterinWI]

I like the look of the 3000 better than the 2000 too.

Drolet also added another large stove to it's lineup, the escape 2100. Same firebox size as the ht3000. Most of it's specs are identical to the ht3000. I'm currently considering the escape 2100 just because it is slightly shorter than the 3000 and would work better in my situation. It doesn't seem to be available quite yet, but they have it listed on their website.

Not sure why they thought they needed to add a stove so similar to the ht3000, but they must have though it would fill a niche. I'm considering one, so I guess they were right.

 

[begreen]

It looks like SBI has created a 2020 compliant series they call the Solution 3.5. This covers the Escape 2100, Osburn 3500, Drolet HT3500, and a Gateway 3500. The variations are cosmetic, ie: the loading door differs by shape; The façade differs by shape; The pedestal or leg differs by shape and materials; The decorative side panels differ by shape.

The Escape 2100 is poorly named, should be an escape 2900. Drolet marketing has been playing loose with the firebox size. This model looks closer to a 2.75 usable firebox size. Compare the firebrick pattern to the larger Baltic II. Both are supposed to have 3.5 cu ft fireboxes. The lab test for this series found the firebox size to be 2.88 cu ft. The HT3000 appears to have a better convective deck vs the simpler one on the Escape.

Escape 2100 Baltic II HT 2000

 

[WinterinWI]

Interesting. Do you know how the lab determines firebox size? Do they just take a few inches off for clearance to the sec tubes, and some room by the door?

Compare the firebrick pattern to the larger Baltic II

I think the Baltic is smaller though. Based on the drawings, I'm coming up with 3.43 for the escape 2100, and 3.36 for the Baltic. Obviously not all usable as the secondary burners are in that area. But I still think the Baltic would be smaller.

 

[begreen]

The lab report lists the precise firebox dimensions that they tested with. The Baltic II has a slightly deeper firebox. Note the extra front firebrick.

 

[WinterinWI]

Yes the baltic firebox is 1.125" deeper, but the escape 2100 is 4.5" wider, and roughly the same height. That's what the dimensions in the manuals show anyway (shown dimensioned to inside of firebrick). Its in the pictures I attached a couple posts up. Doing the math, the cf comes out slightly higher on the escape than the baltic.

Anyway, didn't mean to hijack the thread. Good luck finding a new stove longknife.

 

[begreen]

You could very well be right. The Baltic has an extra row of full-sized bricks laid sideways on top. Not sure if this makes a difference. We need a measurement from firebox floor to the tubes. I could only get the actual lab measured firebox dimensions from the Solution 3.5 test docs. Couldn't find them in the older Baltic II test docs.

 

[WinterinWI]

Going off of the dimensions in the manuals, the firebox cf of the escape 2100 looks slightly bigger than the baltic II. Not enough to make much of a difference, but if the escape is truly 2.88cf like you say, that's a much bigger difference. Shouldn't have to go down to a stove shop with a tape measure this day and age. Maybe I'll hold off on the purchase for a little bit. Thanks for the info.

 

[begreen]

I had a conversation with SBI about accurate specs for their stoves a few weeks back and pointed out that several years back, their stove firebox dimensions were spot on. Then, maybe 7? years ago the firebox size suddenly grew, for the same stove. Magic! I dug up some old docs to back this up and pointed out the discrepancy since between actual firebox size and marketed firebox size. Here was the response:

The 1.44 relates to the test load volume and the 1.9 to the overall firebox volume. We both agree that it is very rare to completely fill the firebox to its maximum capacity, but people do refer to the maximum volume specification to size the heating capacity of the unit. If we put only the recommended loading volume which is evidently smaller, people will think the stove is too small and may end-up with an oversize stove.

This is a new specification we need to provide, but there will be a transition period for the industry to make sure consumers understand this new value and what impact it has on the purchase a woodburning heater. Our objective is to make sure they get a product that fits their needs. We had the same challenge with the new method of showing the heating capacity and efficiencies, new calculation methods present values much lower than before. Education is key and we will do our best to display and explain new calculation methods as they are available.

This is essentially wrong, the lab techs are entering the exact firebox dimensions. Some even put in the report the points from which they measured. I mentioned this when responding. No conversation since then. Maybe more people need to point this out. BTW, this is not to pick on SBI, I have found this true with multiple stoves and am glad that the new test reports are including their measurements.

 

[Trey1979]

As I always do when I clean my chimney, I try and vacuum out the stove's secondary baffle and air tube. In the process, I noticed the small lip welded along the side of the secondary tube that holds the firebrick up in the top of the stove was fairly deformed (it's been getting worse over the years). Using a bit of leverage as I have before, I attempted to pry it upwards to "flatten" it out. This caused one of the firebricks (which shield the steel secondary baffle plate) to brick. Further inspection revealed that the leading edge of this steel plate has taken a turn for the worst and has deformed quite a bit and eroded (melted). This has caused it to droop down onto the firebrick below, making them a tight fit.

Long story short, I managed to replace the brick (took 3 tries of breaking the bricks trying to squeeze them in) and I started thinking of perhaps taking the stove apart and welding in new steel. Although possible, I don't really want to do this in my finished basement and if the stove goes out, it's not coming back in.

It dates back to 1988 and was marketed as a 75k BTU model. It's put in a lot of faithful work over the years, and I've put near 20 face a cord a year through it for the last 8. I'm pretty confident I could probably get at least of couple of more years out of it.... at the least.

I'm slightly worried about future availability/laws when it comes to woodstoves, and I'm wondering if I should jump on deal now should it come up? Costco and TSC have regularly had good sales on a model I've had my eye on (Drolet HT2000) and I'm worried it may not be available, in say, 3 years from now.

My question is, would it make any sense at all to pre-emptively buy this stove and not install it for a few years (if the right deal comes up)? Is there any legitimate worry about wood burning appliance laws in the near future? The market has changed over the last few years since when I first started eying the HT2000, so I may not see the sale prices of the past, but if it gets close, I'll be very tempted to jump on it.

I'd have a hard time giving up on a stove that still functions fine. Perhaps if a deal comes up, I should just buy and install it and enjoy the benefits of 30 years of "advancement"? I do enjoy running a quality, high-efficiency stove. One I appreciate about my old stove is that the only parts that have ever needed replacing are the firebricks and some gasket. Not propriety baffles, etc..

I got the ht2000 last year and it did great my first year

2018 drolet ht2000

 

[Longknife]

So I just noticed the HT3000 is on sale at BMR for the next few days. Pretty tempted to jump on it, although the old SeeFire is running nice this week (as it always does after the fall cleaning).

I had been hoping for Costco to put something on sale (i.e. HT2000) as they include delivery and some extras (plus the Costco return policy) but I may have to go for this one. Seems like a hard stove to beat for $1400.

HT3000 wood stove

HT3000 wood stove. • High efficiency • EPA certified • Has the largest combustion chamber of all appliances in the XL wood stoves category • With its molded C-Cast baffle, the HT3000 offers unmatched durability • Wood logs can be loaded over width or depth, making the HT3000 one of the most...

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