I'm looking at the Lopi Liberty to heat the home and to cook with. Thoughts?

It looks like a pretty good stove, the 24" log length is nice, heating specifications are 1500-2500 sq. ft.  3.1 cubic firebox is a good size.





It's a little lacking on information about their "push button starting system".





I'm using a 1975 Vermont Casting Defiant, with a 3.2 cf. firebox and  will take logs of 24", it will heat 2500 sq. ft. easily and the size of the box is such that you can bank a fire at night, and still have a burn in the morning with the right wood.

 

I almost bought that stove last year. After much research I went with the Jotul F55. It has been a solid heater and I would highly recommend it to anyone. That being said, the Lopi Liberty is a very good stove as well.

Check out the Englander 30-NC.  Very good reputation, very good heater (3.1 cf box, 1500-2000 sq ft) and very affordable ($659 on sale at HD).

I have mine burning as we speak, warming our house from a chilly 62 degrees to 74 now.

good luck!

Take a look at Vermont Casting.  We have had one since 1983 and love it.

Thanks. Can you guys also cook with those stoves?

I couldn't be happier with my Blaze King.  Expensive, but the burn time is incredible and I cut my wood consumption roughly in half since it was put in.

You can cook on many of the newer woodstoves that are for sale. If you are really into cooking and it grilling inside, look at the Jotul F50 with the winter grill.
Unfortunately that stove does not put out enough heat for my house in Maine but if it did, I would own one.
I opted for the bigger stove as we like to hear with primarily wood.

That Jotul F50 or F55 seems right.  Both generates 83k BU and can heat up to 2.5k sq feet.  I guess the only difference is the F50 can also be top fed.

The F50 Rangley also has an ash pan. I did not want an ash pan as that is one more gasket to have to replace. I wanted a simple stove that can heat my house well.
We have been very happy with the performance of our F55 and it should provide us with many years of maintenance free heating. It is one if the only stoves with only one gasket to replace and has no Cat to worry about and the Baffle has a lifetime warranty.

I would suggest going Here to do some research.
It's like the ARFCOM of woodstoves

Good point about ashpans.  Fewer parts is why I'm more inclined toward the F55 over the top loading (and front loading) F50. Besides, I don' see myself grilling (not my style).

Called a place in Denver about the Jotul F55 and they recommended a place in Pueblo.  That's 2 hours closer

The bigger issue is how much seasoned wood do you have?  Now is not a good time to try and find seasoned wood.  At least for this year.

Good luck.

Nice, go check it out and look at some other stoves for comparison. A very good friend of mine also on ARFCOM was looking to replace one of his stoves last year. He saw mine in action and knew how happy I was with it and ended up buying the F55 as well. Maybe I should get a commission from JOTUL

We need a group buy I want a 55

I'm building a cabin next year on the farm we call Bear Mountain so were buying the Jotul F118CB, it has a big ass bear on the side



The reason we call it bear mountain, all these photos came off the same camera in roughly a one month period. I have six more different bears that I just havn't uploaded to my photobucket acct.. 11 total on one camera

Whatever you buy, do not get a Quadra Fire.  

Like many things, make sure whatever you get, service and parts are available locally, and that the shop you go through is squared away.

No comment.

I see that cuttingedge gotz this.

Ditto.



 

I got this Englander 30-NCH installed last November right around this time.  I've only had to use once or twice this year though.

I figure once it gets up to temp, there is about 1500-2000 lbs of steel, rock and concrete board warmed up and giving off radiant heat for hours and hours.

How many square feet are you heating with that stove?

Nice looking install!

I'm wanting to do something really similar with a stove in a basement (NC13 though).  Can you post a closeup pic of how the tile edges up to the stone?

Just over 2000 ft sq.  It works very well.

Thanks!

Wood stoves in basements can be tricky.  Check on hearth.com for more details if you haven't already.  No one recommended the 13-NC over the 30-NC when I asked.  You can always have a smaller fire in a 30, but you can never have a big fire in a 13.  If you have a house big enough for a basement, you probaly have enough house for a 30.  But it all depends on the details, most of which I don't know.

I'll take some pics of the detail work tomorrow.

Thanks,

I looked at that same Lopi stove but decided on a Pacific Energy stove.  You could cook on the PE but it would have been a slow simmer.
I had one of the inexpensive magnet thermometers on the top of the stove right near the flue collar and IIRC it usually read 5-600F.  Seemed to burn well there.

You could simmer at that temperature but not much more.  We had a decorative water dish sit on the stove and it would evaporate a half gallon or so over the course of a day.

We always used the LP cooktop, but if you had to use the stove, either simmer beans or whatever on the stove or just rake coals to the front and cook on a cast iron skillet or dutch oven right in the firebox.

i saw this home built in a shop yesterday and it was painful if you where within 3 feet of it i loved it.
It leaked air like a sieve around the door. I need some pipe.
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Yea, the proverbial "smoke dragon"!  I want to build one of those for my shop, but I have to have someone install the chimney pipe and the installers around here (at least the ones I've talked to) won't hook up a non-EPA rated stove.  There is also the issue of having a wood burning stove in a vehicle building to consider as well.  Oh well.

And I see that I owe someone some pics.  Hopefully tomorrow.

Here are some pics I think of what you were asking for.







And here's whats underneath it all:

That's exactly what I wanted to see.  Thanks!!

You might look into the triple wall stainless chimneys.  I am building a house and am installing a chimney to the basement.  I haven't used it yet but everything I've read about them says that the manufacturer wants a 2 inch gap to combustibles around the chimney but supposedly you can put your hand against the chimney while it's running full blast.  The 2 inch air gap is in case there is a chimney fire.  

My neighbor has a chimney in his house and it was installed grossly incorrectly.  It's only a double wall chimney and it right up against a 2x6 stud.  Not even close to right but it hasn't caused any problems.  He's still going to have it fixed but it's been working like that for 10 years or so.  So, I'm sure that a triple wall chimney would be safe even in your older house.

Also, you mentioned that you have a chimney but not one you trust.  Can you run stainless chimney pipe up the flue?  There is flexible stainless chimney pipe that is made to go up the inside of a flue.  It can line a flue that's not safe in itself to use but the stainless liner makes it safe.  My mom had a stainless liner installed in a clay tile chimney and it took a chimney that barely worked to a chimney that worked great.

FYI....in my area Home Depot has the best prices on the Duravent triple wall chimney pipe.

And I have some answers:

1. No.  I did the design and then contracted out the demo of the original zero clearance fireplace, installation of the chimney, rebuild of the alcove, the stonework and then installation of the wood stove (in that order).

2. Chimney goes through the roof, straight up.  The chimney is in the center of the house (pretty much); our spare bedroom is behind the alcove, so pretty much all the heat goes into the house and not conducted to the outside by the chimney.

3.  Haven't really measured and/or assessed the chimney at the top of the house, except to check for smoke after firing up a cold wood stove as a check on how seasoned my wood is.   There is not much pipe above the house, pretty much just the chimney cap, see pic below.

My #1 nonnegotiable when designing and installing this stove was safety.  So there is four layers of Durock Next Gen on the hearth floor and two layers in the back wall (which were not needed) and the entire upper alcove is covered in Durock, which was also not needed, but it's nice for the piece of mind.

The only problem this year:  It hasn't been cold enough to run it!


ETA: this pic was taken about 10 minutes after getting a fire started in a cold stove.  As you can see, no smoke.  That's one indication of a good EPA rated stove burning well seasoned wood.

Insulated Class A pipe is wonderful stuff. First and foremost, it's rated to survive a chimney fire without breaking down and catching the structure on fire. That's not to say embers exiting the pipe won't catch it but at least the chimney won't burn through. That being said, if you burn properly you shouldn't EVER have to worry about a chimney fire, especially with modern EPA stoves because they burn so clean.

Regarding the temperature of the class A pipe. I can't say what it is right out of the stove but my pipe goes straight up out of the roof. I can climb in the attic with a full inferno going in the firebox and touch the exterior of the Class A pipe about 8 feet from the stove without burning myself. It is definitely warm, but not "hot".

Disclaimer: that is in an exposed, non-conditioned portion of my home. Obviously when I have a full inferno going in the stove it's bitter cold outside. The pipe will certainly get hotter than that in a "trapped air space". Class A pipe does require a minimum 2" clearance to combustibles for that reason. 6" flue is 8" OD so it requires a 12" opening of non-combustible materials. Most makers of Class A pipe will offer a "wall thimble" for passing through a wall. This acts to "seal the opening" yet keep the combustibles away.


Catallytic stoves have a honey-comb type of catalytic converter in them to ensure a complete burn. The CAT is engaged once high temperatures are reached and can "sort of" act like a spark arrestor to ensure any embers that reach that point will not pass through unless they are small. That being said if you burn seasoned wood and burn your stove properly you have NOTHING to worry about. Today's fire safety codes, especially those surrounding solid-fuel appliances are EXTREMELY conservative. All stove marketed in the US should be UL listed and they will have explicit installation guidelines and clearances listed in the manual to which you must adhere for fire safety. Those values are conservative and as long as you follow them you should be in the clear.

IMHO you should be more worried about an errant ember popping out while you have the door open than you should with an ember escaping up the chimney.

None, except for the information that Sig provided in his post below yours:  An EPA rated wood stove burning well seasoned wood and an operator (me) who understands good wood stove fire management.

Here's a pic of my chimney cap.  The installer did not recommend a spark arrestor.  He said all they do is trap crap and plug up the chimney.

Went to Big Horn Stoves and Spa in Pueblo, CO this morning and ordered a Jotul F55.  It's simplier than the top (and front) loading F50, but I've not need of top loading and as a cooking style don't grill my foods.  Thanks everyone.

Great choice, you will be very happy with its performance. If you have any questions about its operation, feel free to ask. This will be my second winter heating with this stove.

Some stoves have optional screens to keep embers from popping open when the door is left open.

Most of those screens for woodstoves are only for operating with the door open. The door will not close with the screen in.
If you are worried about embers falling out while you open the door, get a stove pad or better yet a stove board to put in front of the stove.
The door should be closed unless you are lighting, cleaning or reloading the stove. They do not operate efficiently with the door open.
Keep your chimney clean and you won't have to worry about embers going up the chimney and will also significantly reduce the chance of chimney fires...

I'm replacing my old blaze king with:

Hampton HI400







 

My FIL has a top loader and it heats like a mo fo.



It a catalyst stove which is what you want if you are gone for long periods of time over the quad fire type,



 

The point of my post was you should be worried about the ember that comes out the door and not the ones that come out the pipe. Yet, the ember that comes out the door comes out when you're there, with the door open and you should see it and address it immediately. One thing to keep in mind is that in order to comply with code and UL listing, in most cases you MUST have at least 18" non-combustible in front of the door of the stove for that reason. Any ember that is of concern would have to fly over the 18" and land on something combustible. If you're concerned then increase that 18" minimum (there is no maximum) to a level where you're comfortable. The whole point I was trying to make is that it isn't really anything to be concerned about. I have the 18" minimum and I have, on occasion, has something land further than that but almost every single time it was due to my negligence and I always knew immediately to check the area for embers.



This would be my main concern. EPA stove DO NOT LIKE wet wood. As a matter of fact, high moisture content not only hampers, but sometimes altogether prevents them from operating the way they were designed. If they are not operating properly they are most likely dumping unburned volatile compound up the chimney. High moisture reduces stack/pipe temperatures causing condensation and those gasses condense on the sidewalls of the pipe in the form of the dreaded creosote. A good, hot fire can ignite this creosote (its a volatile, flammable "tar like" substance) yielding a chimney fire.

In my opinion if you aren't going to properly season all of your wood then your hesitations and concerns may be warranted as that is likely going to be your biggest risk factor for a chimney fire. If you are only a "back-up burner" or "emergency burner" there are ways to mitigate this risk but all of them involve having a supply of seasoned wood on-hand. You can cut/buy firewood now and store it in a wood-shed to prevent rot/decay. You could theoretically store wood like this for decades without losing the wood to rot as would happen outside. There is a small concern of burning wood that is "too dry" but that can be overcome pretty easily by wise burning and/or mixing of green wood with the seasoned wood. If a woodshed is out of the question you can choose rot resistant wood species and store it outside. Black Locust and Hedge (Osage Orange) are the 2 best rot-resistant species but there are other lesser resistant species (white oak is one).

FWIW, I started burning wood in 2010 and I LOVE IT. The warmth, the ambiance, the feeling of self-sufficiency, and most importantly "I'll keep my house whatever temp I want and don't have to pay an arm and a leg"... some people set their thermostat at 67-68 in the winter; 68-70 is the threshold in our house, if it gets that cold we're lighting a fire... we generally try to keep it between 72-77 in the family room (room with the stove) which keeps the rest of the house 68-72...

Did you use the $200 jutol discount coupon deal they are running?
http://jotul.com/us/promotion

Yes.  It covered what I would have paid for the sales tax and a bit more.

Have you gotten the stove? How is it performing for you?