travis indstries - Avalon VS Lopi?? whats the difference? whats better?

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vicker

New Member
Nov 11, 2011
22
Long Island, NY
Hello Forum
This is my 1st post. So after a lot of research, i have narrowed my search down to a Lopi or Avalon insert. my question is are these essentially the same brands since they are made by the same manufacturer. Are the differences mostly cosmetic or is there a difference in quality? is one of these a lesser quality and one more high end? in looking at the models they seem to share similar optons and built characteristics (fire brick, by-pass damper etc.) would love some feed back to help finalize my decison.
thanks everybody.
Rob M.
 
Lopi has been the flagship of the Travis stove fleet, while Avalon has been more value oriented. At heart they are a lot alike, like a Buick to a Chevy.
 
They're the same. Lopi has a solid brass door with heavier hinges but other than that there is not a lot of difference that isn't aesthetic. They use the different branding for market share. They can have two dealers in a given area rather than just one. Usually one dealer will carry FPX and either Lopi or Avalon and they'll set up another dealer with the brand the guy carrying FPX didn't take. I was lucky enough to be in an area that they let us carry all three. THey were super nice lines to have and are the cream of the crop when it comes to hearth products. Great product, great variety and great warranty. Good company to deal with all together.
 
Originally, Avalon and Lopi were two different companies, and were very dissimilar in design and construction. This began to change when Travis Industries bought both companies and commenced production in the same facility. As modifications were made to both lines to improve efficiency and meet EPA emissions regulations, the two lines began to resemble each other more and more in the areas of construction and functionally, until the main difference became aesthetics.

Why some Travis models have a baffle bypass, and some don't:
The East-West loading firebox and restricted secondary combustion area on some models had a tendency to cause smoke spillage into the room at startup and when the door was opened to add fuel. The baffle bypass was incorporated as a solution to these problems. Models that don't have the spillage problem, whether built by Travis or other manufacturers, don't need it and don't have it.
 
thnx chimney sweep. i thought it was just a added option. its good to know that units that dont have arent lacking in the option or added functionality but rather simply dont need it. what is a east-west loading firebox? is that where the logs are laid left to right as oppsed to front to back?
 
Travis uses the same door on a wide variety of stoves / inserts. Where the 'ovalized' door is used it's identical from one model to the next, the difference is the size of the container that it's attached to, which saves on a myriad of costs. And where once there was a brass door option apparently that has been discontinued.

One company producing two vastly different stoves / inserts is inefficient. It was a natural consequence that the designs would converge once they were brought under one organization. It's far less expensive to have one firebox approved versus two.
 
We LOVE our Avalon Rainier 90..........and the folks at Travis Industries have been super fine to deal with.

-Soupy1957
 
Hey Vicker. welcome aboard. Have no experience w/ the inserts you are looking at so nothing to add about that but thought I would mention a brand new dealer selling Travis just opened in Port Jefferson. I stopped there today looking for Rutland glass cleaner. They are selling all lines (Lopi, Fireplace Xtro and Avalon). Don't know if that's near you but might be worth a look. Have no idea if they are any good but I glanced at their prices and they didn't seem out of line.
 
vicker said:
thanks jatoxico. do you have a name for this dealer and maybe a number?

Check your in box (top of pg "Your Control Panel").
 
I was comparing the warranty between the Lopi Endeavor and the Avalon Spokane 1750.

Lopi has limited 7 year warranty and Avalon has a limited 5 year warranty.

It appears on year 6 and 7 the Lopi unit has this additional coverage:


Years 6 & 7 - COVERAGE: PARTS ONLY
Firebox Assembly:
Firebox, Baffle Supports, Air Tubes, Air Channels, Convection Chamber
Door Assembly:
Solid Brass or Cast Door, Latch Assembly, Glass Retainers
Air Control Assembly
Slider Plate, Pressure Plat
 
Shane said:
. Usually one dealer will carry FPX and either Lopi or Avalon and they'll set up another dealer with the brand the guy carrying FPX didn't take.

Interesting... all of the Travis dealers I know of around here carry all 3 lines, & don't split them up at all like you decribe... maybe with the small population of most Montana towns, there's no need for Travis to have multiple dealers in one locale?
 
Treacherous said:
I was comparing the warranty between the Lopi Endeavor and the Avalon Spokane 1750.

Lopi has limited 7 year warranty and Avalon has a limited 5 year warranty.

It appears on year 6 and 7 the Lopi unit has this additional coverage:


Years 6 & 7 - COVERAGE: PARTS ONLY
Firebox Assembly:
Firebox, Baffle Supports, Air Tubes, Air Channels, Convection Chamber
Door Assembly:
Solid Brass or Cast Door, Latch Assembly, Glass Retainers
Air Control Assembly
Slider Plate, Pressure Plat

just looked... Lopi has a 5 year warranty on their Republic 1750, & Avalon has a 7 yr warranty on their Rainier... so what I am thinking is that they both offer a 5-yr warranty on their "econo" stoves, & a 7-yr warranty on their "regular" stoves..
 
I've been using a Lopi Endeavor for three years. While it a great design, I have found it to be of shoddy construction. The damper operation is so noisy it will wake the dead. The Bypass damper is a great feature. The stove will hold a workable fire for around six hours. My neighbor has a Blaze King......now that is an impressive stove. Before buying a Lopi Endeavor I would look at other options. $.02
 
Originally, these were different companies and different brands.

Avalon was started by a guy who left Lopi. They came up with some advanced designs, while Lopi lagged a little behind since they went through a bankruptcy or re-org (they were broke in one way or another).

Avalon then ran out of money too - they were a very small company and were taken by one of their large distributors. They had to put themselves up for sale. I could have bought the company for about 200K. Cheap!

Lopi (Travis Industries) ended up buying them for access to their designs and dealers.

Over the years, the designs have melded - the biggest reasoning for the different brands became the ability to open more dealers.....think Buick and Olds, etc.
 
downriver said:
I've been using a Lopi Endeavor for three years. While it a great design, I have found it to be of shoddy construction. The damper operation is so noisy it will wake the dead. The Bypass damper is a great feature. The stove will hold a workable fire for around six hours. My neighbor has a Blaze King......now that is an impressive stove. Before buying a Lopi Endeavor I would look at other options. $.02

This might be a thread of interest.
 
Treacherous said:
downriver said:
I've been using a Lopi Endeavor for three years. While it a great design, I have found it to be of shoddy construction. The damper operation is so noisy it will wake the dead. The Bypass damper is a great feature. The stove will hold a workable fire for around six hours. My neighbor has a Blaze King......now that is an impressive stove. Before buying a Lopi Endeavor I would look at other options. $.02

This might be a thread of interest.

Thanks...I popped the rivets, disassembled it and blew it out once....was ALMOST quiet for a while......now it just screeches along. As I said, shoddy construction for the price. It will be my last Lopi/ Avalon product and I view it as an expensive mistake. Guess I'll go take it apart again.
 
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