What are the best medium sized stove brands?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

GrumpyDad

Minister of Fire
Feb 23, 2022
1,232
Champion, PA
I realize that is a vague question, and many favor their brand and only have experience with that brand while others are life long burners with various stoves. Some favor steel over cast iron, and vice versa. But let's talk about BRANDS.

So qualify 'good brand' with the following:
-How well their stoves perform.
-How easy it is to get it to perform. By easy, I mean you dont need to fiddle with it every 15 minutes or for that matter every hour. You can run it all day or all night without intervention for the most part.
-How safe their stoves perform. Not safe would be a stove that just doesnt hold the temperatures, smolders down, creates a ton of creosote in your chimney or conversely suddenly goes into a box full of flames and overheats and without human intervention would create a potential problem.
-SUPPORT! A company that will actually help you without having to call 900 times, send 900 emails, file a complaint with the BBB etc etc.

I see Blaze King, Pacific Energy, Jotul and other brands mentioned in here alot.

Most know I currently own a VC Dauntless, and have recently consider switching over to a Jotul after watching one in action at a store, and it was my original pick but I just couldn't get one soon enough. To avoid making the same mistake twice, to ensure a Jotul F45 was for me, I read a few threads in here and realized a continual theme: The jotul seems to have too much air coming in, making it hard to control the fire. That concerns me a bit because the reason for me swapping stoves is to allow my family to easily and safely operate the stove.

So I really want to do this right, and consider every stove for my space - but Id love to hear from everyone how they stack rank stove brands.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Slimdusty
Drolet, Osborn (all of the SBI family really)
Woodstock
Lopi
Regency
 
Drolet, Osborn (all of the SBI family really)
Woodstock
Lopi
Regency
Ah I forgot about Drolet in my thoughts recently. That was one of the first stoves I considered.
Soapstone concerned me when I looked at it. Ive seen stone go through thermal shock, it's not pretty.
 
Last edited:
It looks like the Drolet "Capetown"'s price has come way down. It's a Belgium made stove and looks quite beautiful in pictures. I suspect that drolet is trying to clear stock on that model. Anyway, it's certainly appears to be a quality piece.


since you seem to be interested in attractive looking stoves...
that does look nice. It might be a tad too big for my space though.
 
It's not a big stove. Wide tho. Not deep.

and it doesn't have a hideous backside like the jotuls...

and look at the price. Probably with free delivery from myfireplaceproducts, idk. And they unequivocally stand behind their product.
 
It looks like the Drolet "Capetown"'s price has come way down. It's a Belgium made stove and looks quite beautiful in pictures. I suspect that drolet is trying to clear stock on that model. Anyway, it's certainly appears to be a quality piece.


since you seem to be interested in attractive looking stoves...
Is the entire inside refractory? Replacement parts i the future might be an issue. Plus I’m not super gentle loading my stoves.

Edit. Get a N/S loading stove
 
Is the entire inside refractory? Replacement parts i the future might be an issue. Plus I’m not super gentle loading my stoves.

Edit. Get a N/S loading stove
Get a NS stove? Well I have one on my short list but that list may be expanding soon.
 
Get a NS stove? Well I have one on my short list but that list may be expanding soon.
Or just cut everything short enough to load north south.

is the tax credit important? 30% off a blaze king is still more expensive than a Drolet. But the Ashford 30 is a nice stove.
 
I realize that is a vague question, and many favor their brand and only have experience with that brand while others are life long burners with various stoves. Some favor steel over cast iron, and vice versa. But let's talk about BRANDS.

So qualify 'good brand' with the following:
-How well their stoves perform.
-How easy it is to get it to perform. By easy, I mean you dont need to fiddle with it every 15 minutes or for that matter every hour. You can run it all day or all night without intervention for the most part.
-How safe their stoves perform. Not safe would be a stove that just doesnt hold the temperatures, smolders down, creates a ton of creosote in your chimney or conversely suddenly goes into a box full of flames and overheats and without human intervention would create a potential problem.
-SUPPORT! A company that will actually help you without having to call 900 times, send 900 emails, file a complaint with the BBB etc etc.

I see Blaze King, Pacific Energy, Jotul and other brands mentioned in here alot.

Most know I currently own a VC Dauntless, and have recently consider switching over to a Jotul after watching one in action at a store, and it was my original pick but I just couldn't get one soon enough. To avoid making the same mistake twice, to ensure a Jotul F45 was for me, I read a few threads in here and realized a continual theme: The jotul seems to have too much air coming in, making it hard to control the fire. That concerns me a bit because the reason for me swapping stoves is to allow my family to easily and safely operate the stove.

So I really want to do this right, and consider every stove for my space - but Id love to hear from everyone how they stack rank stove brands.
Where did you read the Jotul F45 has too much coming in? I guess this could be true for most non cat stoves with tall chimneys but there are ways to control this. I’ve burned a lot of stoves cat and non cat and this F45 has been the easiest and most reliable set and forget stove to burn. Other medium sized stove I think you should consider is the PE line and Lopi endeavor.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcrtops
PE Super, Lopi Endeavor, Jotul F45.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bcrtops and Dix
I second the PE.
 
hey grumpy,i know there hard to find in the states but ja roby makes a pretty much bullet proof stove bought the ultimate in 2018 and have been burning every winter non stop have not had to do a thing with it not even change a gasket.trust me i'm not very delicate with it.changing some bricks this summer thats it.there heating beasts depending on ur wood 3 sometimes 4 hours of actual heat not the 92 hr pretend heating. have coals 15 to 20hrs after fire to light next load i love it.my house 1800's stone no insulation leaky doors.my burning wood bought so u know it ain't that dry imagine with 2yr dried oak oooooooh
 
Last edited:
The Ultimate is a very large stove, not a medium stove. It is not a good fit for this situation and is no longer sold in the US. It looks like the largest Robys now sold in the US are the 1.9 cu ft Cook, Cicero, Chief, Cuistot, Elda, & Marmiton.
 
hey grumpy,i know there hard to find in the states but ja roby makes a pretty much bullet proof stove bought the ultimate in 2018 and have been burning every winter non stop have not had to do a thing with it not even change a gasket.trust me i'm not very delicate with it.changing some bricks this summer thats it.there heating beasts depending on ur wood 3 sometimes 4 hours of actual heat not the 92 hr pretend heating. have coals 15 to 20hrs after fire to light next load i love it.my house 1800's stone no insulation leaky doors.my burning wood bought so u know it ain't that dry imagine with 2yr dried oak oooooooh
3 to 4 hours of heat from a stove that big?
 
We love our PE non cat Vista. This is the small one. The Super is the medium size. These stoves are very easy to use. Also like how they are made in Canada.
 
The Ultimate is a very large stove, not a medium stove. It is not a good fit for this situation and is no longer sold in the US. It looks like the largest Robys now sold in the US are the 1.9 cu ft Cook, Cicero, Chief, Cuistot, Elda, & Marmiton.
oh ya i know but there smaller ones bassically same tech very idiot proof
 
oh ya i know but there smaller ones bassically same tech very idiot proof
Which is the same as regency Lopi Pacific Energy and many other stoves.