Quadra-Fire Isle Royale quandry.....

[Shari]

This is my first post to the list. I have been reading and reading and reading. Great group here! I have a few questions so thought I would list them here:

1. I have fallen in love with this model: Quadra-Fire Isle Royal Top and front opening, porcelain enamel finish, etc. 3.0 cu firebox and really want to purchase it BUT the dealer says the company will no longer be making their free standing stoves and will be instead focusing their future production on the inserts only. The dealer has only one stove on display (ooohhh so tempting to buy now) but I hesitate to purchase this considering the comment the company will no longer be making them. What to do - purchase or no?

2. By the way, their price is $2,700 not installed, no additional options nor accessories (price reduced from $2,900 because it is the last one!). From reading the reviews on this list of this model that price seems awfully high! It is the Chestnut color so that might account for about $200 in price over the black color. Anyone know of a better price if I decide to go along with this purchase?

3. Here is info on installation: It would be inside/outside of a masonry fireplace on raised hearth. Flooring is hardwood and realize we would have to extend a small non-burnable surface out a bit farther on the floor - not a problem. Total square foot of the ranch home is around 1750 sq.ft. Existing fireplace is central location with open living area of around 950 sq.ft. with bedroom wing off of that. This stove is rated for up to 2,500 sq. ft. but we would like to be able to get some heat to our unfinished full sq. ft. basement as well. Would this stove blast us out on the living area of the home? We do have an existing ceiling fan near the fireplace. The existing fireplace is 3' deep with stone on all 3 sides (8' stone wall is in kitchen, 3' stone wall in foyer and 8' stone wall with fireplace opening in living room). With current fireplace, the stone wall in the kitchen radiates heat when a fire is going in the fireplace. Our thoughts are to basically push the stove 1/2 way into the existing firebox so we can still realize some radiant heat from the exterior or the stove without excess heat being trapped inside the firebox. Are we thinking correctly or should we put the entire stove outside of the firebox?

4. One last question: What are the current thoughts on outside air for this stove?

Current heat: OIL forced air

Thanks for any answers!

Shari

 

[humpin iron]

Its a good stv, if you like it you should move fast. Quad has decided to stop production for now, plans are to resume in the new year. At this time their cast stvs are the slowest seller in the line. In the time it takes to make one cast stove, 3 pellet stoves can be made, pellet stoves are the bigger seller right now.

As to your decision to price shop.................do you realize what time of the year it is? ..........good time to get a deal on AC

 

[Shari]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, I do know what time of year it is but my price question is that the reviews on this particular model seem to show the current price is about $900-$1000 more than it was last year at this same time. Having no other dealer to compare with I am simply asking if this dealer is high or not.
Shari

 

[MishMouse]

According to Quad's site that stove's suggested Retail Price: $2,499.00 - $3,249.00 US*
So I would say you are in the ballpark for that stove, especially since you have an extra coating on it.

 

[Jags]

To address your heating needs questions---I think you got it about right. The stove is a very capable heater (I am heating 1750 sqft of old farm house with it). If I am picturing your setup in my head correctly, you would have a good balance of heat storage/radiation as well as some of the raw heat that you will get from the exposed parts.

As far as price...its probably in the ball park when all things are considered.

If you have any questions on how this baby operates, feel free to fire away.

 

[granpajohn]

... the company will no longer be making their free standing stoves and will be instead focusing their future production on the inserts only.

This doesn't sound quite right to me. I wonder if he is refering only to the cast iron lineup at QF?

I'm not in the stove biz, but it seems that most places make a stove and then adapt it to insert use.

The QF4100i has been advertized in the past as their first cast iron insert, but it is really a steel stove with cast face and trim pieces. (Nothing wrong with that though.)

OK well; guess I'm no help to Shari, but I would be interested to hear something about this rumor from another member.

 

[begreen]

I really hope this isn't true, the Isle Royale is a great stove. Be sure to set it out far enough on the hearth to allow complete opening of the top load door. Use that requirement to determine how far into the fireplace opening it sits.

It should be ok as far as sizing goes. Just don't fill it up during milder weather and let the stove go out between burns. As far as heat in the basement, that is less likely to work well. However, you could do like BroBart did and use a big fan at the top of the stairs blowing it down with brute force.

 

[Shari]

To address your heating needs questions---I think you got it about right. The stove is a very capable heater (I am heating 1750 sqft of old farm house with it). If I am picturing your setup in my head correctly, you would have a good balance of heat storage/radiation as well as some of the raw heat that you will get from the exposed parts.

As far as price...its probably in the ball park when all things are considered.

If you have any questions on how this baby operates, feel free to fire away.

Pyro,

Thanks for the reply. I'm kind of doing this whole idea on my own as hubby has been ill for a long time and, as they say, I'm just trying to keep the home fires burning! We have the physical help to get the stove installed but the decisions/etc. are all on me. What are your thoughts about the outside air draw? Would this be needed? I ask because I am a bit confused where in the site line that would exit our house. Is this line something that could be taken down into the basement, run along the basement rafters and then exit basically ground level or 12" high along the outside of the house? Or does this line have to go up through the roof? Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question but I have not read any statements on the message board as to the exact 'exit' location of this line. The outside of our home is also stone 1/2 way up the sides so the installation of this line might take some time to figure it out.

By the way, our house is 1958 vintage with newer bronzed aluminum storm windows probably vintage 1980's but we do have the ugly thermopane large/wide front window with two sash windows on either side. I mention the thermopane window specifically because it is exactly across the room from the exiting fireplace.


Again, thanks for responding and hope you can address this question.

Shari

 

[Jags]

If I were in your boat, I would probably opt out of the OAK kit. Sounds like a big pain in the butt. It also doesn't sound like you are in a situation that an OAK we be of any big benefit. Keep in mind, that there would be no downside to using an oak, but its not really needed in most situations. If it were easy, I would say go for it. Doesn't sound easy for you.

Oh, an OAK usually enters the house at a low level, not like another vertical stack or anything. More like a dryer vent.

Edit: OAK stands for "outside air kit".

 

[Shari]

Question: What are your thoughts about the top load? Do you use that or do you load wood from the front?

Shari

 

[pyro68]

we have a lopi leyden which is a cast top / front load stove, my wife loves the top load and I only open the front doors if I'm starting a fire. Top load really comes in handy. She used to worry about coals rolling out the front on the last stove we had, now if I wanted to put a stove in that wasn't top load I'd have to wait until she was gone, and then probably find somewhere else to live!!

 

[pyro68]

If I were in your boat, I would probably opt out of the OAK kit. Sounds like a big pain in the butt. It also doesn't sound like you are in a situation that an OAK we be of any big benefit.
Edit: OAK stands for "outside air kit".

I agree with this 100% OAK, maybe in a small room if the house is extremely air tight. Maybe in a home with a serious neg. pressure issue, but most of the time a stove will burn just fine pulling room air. Think the option is greatly over rated.

 

[scotty]

If I were in your boat, I would probably opt out of the OAK kit. Sounds like a big pain in the butt. It also doesn't sound like you are in a situation that an OAK we be of any big benefit.
Edit: OAK stands for "outside air kit".

In 35 years we've never used OAK....but then our old house leaked air. This brand new house is much tighter...so tight you can hear a "whoomph" when you shut an outside door. In this super tight house we burned the Lopi Leyden last winter using regular inside air draw and didn't have any problems. Sometime soon I plan to switch to OAK - partly out of curiosity and partly because OAK it is slightly more efficient. OAK is certainly not necessary. My advice is to avoid it for now.

We did play with a Isle Royale for a few hours at the dealer before buying the Lopi and agree that the Isle is a wonderful stove. Beautifully shaped, nifty European engineering, nice ornate side wings, and we also preferred the chestnut color. The price we were offered was for the used demo stove and was about $2500 delivered. So your price seems in line. I'm an engineer - not a dealer, but I'd value a good dealer over a good deal. Particularly if this is your first stove spend the few hundred extra dollars with a dealer that makes you feel comfortable.

Pushing the stove into the fire place ought to work just fine. Try it first where you like it best. It can always be changed. It will radiate some heat to the rocks, and that will also enable you to use such a large stove without overheating the house. The Isle does have a wide range of heat adjustment which will help when you use it to heat the smaller room. BUT - when not burning hot it will soot the chimney and the chimney cap much faster- it could require cleaning the chimney more than the typical once per season. using a modern type large stove in a small house can work OK, but I strongly recommend that you design the chimney system for easy cleaning.

Other thoughts: No, it won't heat the basement. Cast iron stoves heat a lot by radiant transfer and heating the basement will take some more thought. Put one of those electric heaters that look like little hot water radiators down there in the interim to keep things from freezing. They are an inexpensive and safe way to get a little heat into a room.

You are going to love the top loading. Be sure to position the stove to take advantage of top loading.
Enjoy! scotty

 

[Jags]

Question: What are your thoughts about the top load? Do you use that or do you load wood from the front?

Shari

I'm a front doors guy. I have used the top load on mine, but to be quite honest, I like better placement than just dropping the wood in. Thats just me. The other thing I have found is that when using the top load, because of my inability to place the logs properly, I try to get more in than I should, and sure as heck when I go to close it back up, I am hitting the tubes at the top of the stove. But thats my fault.

 

[Poult]

One of the reasons I bought the Isle Royale was the top load, but even so I don't use it most of the time. Sometimes just to drop a split in where you are walking by and it's one of those "gee, should I add more wood right now or do it later" moments.

But like you, I really love the stove, too, and if you have "fallen in love with it", then that's a really good reason to get it. Anytime you buy something that is going to make work for you, like a wood stove is, the more you enjoy it the easier the job is going to be.

I don't have an outside air kit and don't see any reason to get one. To me it seems like a "special conditions" type of thing and that most houses aren't going to require one.

This stove was a bit of a stretch for me financially, but once I saw it I didn't want anything else, and mine is the plain jane regular old black one. If I were stove shopping, knowing what I do about the stove now, I'd buy it all over again. I will say it helped that I've got a local dealer, which made it just that much easier to buy.

 

[jtp10181]

Shari, sounds like you were in the store I work at. I don't think the price of the stove went up $1000 since last year. I know every fireplace MFG had at least (some 2) price insreaces this year but not that much. The prices in the reviews could be steal prices people got on floor models or discounted slow moving clearances stuff, or some dealers just have really low prices to compete.

FYI "humpin iron" is right on for the reasoning about TEMPORARILY stopping production of the cast iron wood stoves.

 

[Baron62]

Question: What are your thoughts about the top load? Do you use that or do you load wood from the front?

Shari

Hi Shari, I also bought the Isle Royale this year and have found it to be a nice upgrade from the VC Intrepid I had before this stove. The stove can burn for up to 10-12 hours and is very controllable. This stove can put out some serious heat. I also bought this stove for the top load feature, but have found that most of the time I use the the front doors as I can pack it better. If I use the top door it has has to be when the beast is not so hot as it can get quite hot above the stove. If you have a small fire, a split or two from the top can be done without a firefighters suit. Bottom line is that this is a nice looking and good performing stove. In regards to price, the dealer I purchased mine from was asking $2900 for the flat black one when I last talked to him. I would think pricing will ease in the spring with oil coming down. Hope this helps

 

[BJ64]

Hmmm..I declare the decision final. Shari needs to get the Isle Royal.

Next we need pics of the install and first fire!

 

[Shari]

Question on the porcelain enamel: Does any have this finish? Does it chip easily?

Shari

 

[BJ64]

Question on the porcelain enamel: Does any have this finish? Does it chip easily?

Shari

I don't know if our Lopi has the same finish as the Isle Royal, but we have not had any issue with the finish at all. I suspect that the Royal comes with a dab touch up paint just in case.