Hey Guys!
I wasn't expecting to join the forum since there is already a TON of fantastic information on here that I can find by searching. With that said, I got lured into joining by reading some of the amazing posts and great atmosphere!
Here's my situation: I've got the following old stove that my dad installed in the house about 30 years ago:
It is warped inside and all the controls are frozen up, and I'd just love to get into the more efficient secondary burning systems (save wood, save environment).
I called a local dealer and he really sold me on the Lopi stoves. The Lopi website is FANTASTIC and the videos are amazing: http://www.lopistoves.com/videos/ (the 5th video "Proper operational aspects when burning wood.." is my favorite).
I was almost going to get the Lopi Endeavor, but after a lot of reading on here, I've realized that I can get the most bang for my buck by purchasing one of the Englander models (Englander, Summers Heat, Timber Ridge all being the same) http://www.englanderstoves.com .
I'll probably end up purchasing from http://www.overstockstoves.com since based on what I've read it is the outlet right from the manufacturer.
We live in Northern California and have pretty temperate climate. With that said, my wife HATES any cold, so while we're not having to heat from freezing up to 70 degrees, we'll be doing a lot of 50 up to 70.
We're in an addition to my parent's house. The family room with the stove is 442 square feet (the box to the left) and the rest of the addition is 535 sq. ft. (connected by a hallway) which is a total of 976 +/-. My parent's house is another 1,700 sq. ft. Here is the floorplan of the addition (parent's part would be to the left):
I was originally going to go with the Timber Ridge TNC30 (Englander NC30) because "bigger is better" and a lot of peeps on here say that you can build a small fire in a big box but not a big fire in a small box. I also like the thought of having more room for the more shapely pieces of wood I'd like to put in the box. (The 13 is only 1.6 cubic feed where the 30 is 3.5)!
Okay, now that you have all the details, here are my questions for the masters:
1. I’d like to go with the 30, but I’m worried it be too big / hot for my space? When we’ve been “heated out” of our family room we usually just open the door to my parent’s house and let the heat flood into their part of the house.
2. The 30 is very deep compared to most stoves that are more wide than deep. I’d have to enlarge my floor / hearth to accommodate the new stove. I’m wondering if it is worth the work.
3. How do you keep a stove (the 13 or the 30) from “overfiring”? How do you turn the stove down? Our old stove would sometimes hit a point where it would escalate hotter and hotter and I was worried I’d have a pool of molten metal and there were not controls to do anything about it.
4. I’m use to a HUGE firebox and throwing in monster large / long logs!! How frustrated would I be with a tiny little 1.6 cu. Ft. box? Would I always feel like I’m playing with a little toy fireplace and putting twigs inside? Would I be frustrated with having to change my habits and make almost twice as many cuts to have short wood? (I guess within reason this is going to happen with either stove?)
5. Our current chimney “stove pipe” is 8 inch. Can I simply use an “increaser” right at the base to go from 6” to 8” without any problems?
6. The Lopi Endeavor has a “bypass damper” that allows you to start the fire super quickly when you bypass the secondary burner. I’ve read that some people have problems lighting fires and getting a good draw. How will I know if this is going to be an issue for me or not? I imagine the manufacturers wouldn’t make a fireplace that would generally have problems starting, right?
I guess of all the questions, the most important right now are the ones regarding the 13 vs. the 30... if the 13 will be big enough and if the 30 will be too hot and more work than it is worth since I'd have to redo the floor.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help you can provide!
I wasn't expecting to join the forum since there is already a TON of fantastic information on here that I can find by searching. With that said, I got lured into joining by reading some of the amazing posts and great atmosphere!
Here's my situation: I've got the following old stove that my dad installed in the house about 30 years ago:
It is warped inside and all the controls are frozen up, and I'd just love to get into the more efficient secondary burning systems (save wood, save environment).
I called a local dealer and he really sold me on the Lopi stoves. The Lopi website is FANTASTIC and the videos are amazing: http://www.lopistoves.com/videos/ (the 5th video "Proper operational aspects when burning wood.." is my favorite).
I was almost going to get the Lopi Endeavor, but after a lot of reading on here, I've realized that I can get the most bang for my buck by purchasing one of the Englander models (Englander, Summers Heat, Timber Ridge all being the same) http://www.englanderstoves.com .
I'll probably end up purchasing from http://www.overstockstoves.com since based on what I've read it is the outlet right from the manufacturer.
We live in Northern California and have pretty temperate climate. With that said, my wife HATES any cold, so while we're not having to heat from freezing up to 70 degrees, we'll be doing a lot of 50 up to 70.
We're in an addition to my parent's house. The family room with the stove is 442 square feet (the box to the left) and the rest of the addition is 535 sq. ft. (connected by a hallway) which is a total of 976 +/-. My parent's house is another 1,700 sq. ft. Here is the floorplan of the addition (parent's part would be to the left):
I was originally going to go with the Timber Ridge TNC30 (Englander NC30) because "bigger is better" and a lot of peeps on here say that you can build a small fire in a big box but not a big fire in a small box. I also like the thought of having more room for the more shapely pieces of wood I'd like to put in the box. (The 13 is only 1.6 cubic feed where the 30 is 3.5)!
Okay, now that you have all the details, here are my questions for the masters:
1. I’d like to go with the 30, but I’m worried it be too big / hot for my space? When we’ve been “heated out” of our family room we usually just open the door to my parent’s house and let the heat flood into their part of the house.
2. The 30 is very deep compared to most stoves that are more wide than deep. I’d have to enlarge my floor / hearth to accommodate the new stove. I’m wondering if it is worth the work.
3. How do you keep a stove (the 13 or the 30) from “overfiring”? How do you turn the stove down? Our old stove would sometimes hit a point where it would escalate hotter and hotter and I was worried I’d have a pool of molten metal and there were not controls to do anything about it.
4. I’m use to a HUGE firebox and throwing in monster large / long logs!! How frustrated would I be with a tiny little 1.6 cu. Ft. box? Would I always feel like I’m playing with a little toy fireplace and putting twigs inside? Would I be frustrated with having to change my habits and make almost twice as many cuts to have short wood? (I guess within reason this is going to happen with either stove?)
5. Our current chimney “stove pipe” is 8 inch. Can I simply use an “increaser” right at the base to go from 6” to 8” without any problems?
6. The Lopi Endeavor has a “bypass damper” that allows you to start the fire super quickly when you bypass the secondary burner. I’ve read that some people have problems lighting fires and getting a good draw. How will I know if this is going to be an issue for me or not? I imagine the manufacturers wouldn’t make a fireplace that would generally have problems starting, right?
I guess of all the questions, the most important right now are the ones regarding the 13 vs. the 30... if the 13 will be big enough and if the 30 will be too hot and more work than it is worth since I'd have to redo the floor.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help you can provide!
You won't see a lot of signs for cordwood in the "city" parts, but you seem them a bit more out and about. Craigslist is full of "$300 / cord" ads right now.
