Best time/place (on sale) to buy an Englander stove?

[302w]

I'm looking to buy an Englander 300L unless I find a great deal on a comparable stove somehow. I can wait a little on when I buy it.

Is there a "good" place to find Englander stoves on sale after the heating season? Lowes/HD/Tractor Supply don't carry them so I can't find one on clearance. Local mom/pop stores don't carry them either. I haven't shopped for a stove before, so I'm not sure if they are discounted in the Spring..

 

[NickW]

You MIGHT find a sale in spring, but don't bet on it. Good luck.

Get going on wood. Start getting quick seasoning hardwood like ash and some low BTU woods like pine, aspen, silver maple, box elder right now if you don't have a well seasoned stash already. Get wood now, install the stove over the summer or fall. Wood not properly seasoned will make you hate burning. Find BTU charts with seasoning times (they are just a general rule of thumb and depend on climate/location of stacks). Segregate by seasoning time/quality until you get 3 years ahead. I would never stack ash and oak in the same stack.

 

[302w]

Thank you for the candid feedback. Good to know I probably won't save any money. I may pull the trigger sooner.

I'm actually already a stove user. I'm looking to replace my Fisher!

 

[brenndatomu]

Englander got bought out by SBI of Canada, but I think they may be still made in Virginia...maybe?
The best place I have found to get a decent deal on a SBI stove is here...with free shipping. They have some sales on occasion, I have seen some pretty decent deals at times! This is basically their factory store by the way...and ships out of South Bend Indiana most times.

https://www.myfireplaceproducts.com/us/en/heaters/stoves/?sort=Size

 

[brenndatomu]

Hopefully you are already aware that there is going to be a bit of a learning curve coming from a Fisher to a modern stove...

 

[302w]

Yes, I'm going to find it very odd to not throw wood in it every half hour!

 

[NickW]

Low BTU woods are your friend in shoulder season with EPA stoves. I can get a good 6 hours out of a full load of pine, aspen and silver maple in my NC30. Smaller loads still burn hot but shorter times. Gotta get up to a good operating temperature.

 

[302w]

Adding more questions to this thread...

1. What is the longevity of the 300L? Can I reasonably expect to have it 10+ years?

2. I found a unused Madison (2000 sf model, can't read tag) on Facebook. Are the Madison stoves any more reliable or desirable than a 300L? The auto air "smart stove" feature concerns me. I admittedly don't know much about it, but it seems like one more thing to break.

3. Are any spare parts recommended for either stove? I don't know much about EPA stoves but if certain items (manifolds, burner tubes) give out after a few years I'd like to buy a spare set now.

 

[bholler]

Adding more questions to this thread...

1. What is the longevity of the 300L? Can I reasonably expect to have it 10+ years?

2. I found a unused Madison (2000 sf model, can't read tag) on Facebook. Are the Madison stoves any more reliable or desirable than a 300L? The auto air "smart stove" feature concerns me. I admittedly don't know much about it, but it seems like one more thing to break.

3. Are any spare parts recommended for either stove? I don't know much about EPA stoves but if certain items (manifolds, burner tubes) give out after a few years I'd like to buy a spare set now.

Really the baffle and gaskets are the only things that will normally need replaced

 

[brenndatomu]

I can't remember, was the Madison the one they had all kinds of door issues with?

 

[ManitobaSky]

The larger of the two Madison stoves was the one with door problems, I don’t remember the smaller one having major issues.

The 300L on legs is on sale now on the site linked earlier. I personally would go with the 300 or Drolet sister model.

​

 

[302w]

I probably will go with the 300L. I hate Facebook Marketplace sometimes.

Why do you reccommend the 300L? I'll only buy the Madison if I can get it for a good amount less than a 300L.

 

[ManitobaSky]

The Madison is out of production and the company has been bought by SBI, so replacement part may be an issue in a few years.

 

[302w]

I ended up ordering the 300L. Thanks everyone!

 

[302w]

I am a bit disappointed after running the stove for one night.

Admittedly, I haven't attached a blower yet and I'm not running a ton of fans since the stove is still burning off the protective vegetable oil it shipped with. I replaced a 2000 sf rated Fisher with this "500-2100sf" rated 300L and the Fisher cranked out a lot more BTUs. The surrounding area got HOT with the Fisher.

I hope it's user error, but with the air vent wide open the stove just isn't putting out the heat I expected.

 

[Highbeam]

I am a bit disappointed after running the stove for one night.

Admittedly, I haven't attached a blower yet and I'm not running a ton of fans since the stove is still burning off the protective vegetable oil it shipped with. I replaced a 2000 sf rated Fisher with this "500-2100sf" rated 300L and the Fisher cranked out a lot more BTUs. The surrounding area got HOT with the Fisher.

I hope it's user error, but with the air vent wide open the stove just isn't putting out the heat I expected.

Pretty common report from folks upgrading from old smoke dragons to modern stoves.

 

[302w]

I'm reaching stove top temps in the low to mid 600's but my ambient room temp doesn't seem to rise much. Is there something I'm missing?

I did install a chimney pipe damper. That seems to help quite a bit. There is a 100 degree difference before and after the damper.

Should I be messing with the air intake when chasing high-heat or just leave it fully open? I did try closing it 1/4-1/2 to allow the secondaries to burn.

 

[weee123]

So with the tube stoves you want to knock the air back to allow the secondaries to fire off, that’s where you get your heat. Most usually run their stoves at around 10% open or less depending on outside temperature and how the fires doing. Leaving the primary air all the way open is a good way to turn the stove into a night light and send the heat up the chimney.

Also I hope you kept the fisher for now. Not everyone likes how modern tube stoves run.

 

[302w]

So with the tube stoves you want to knock the air back to allow the secondaries to fire off, that’s where you get your heat. Most usually run their stoves at around 10% open or less depending on outside temperature and how the fires doing. Leaving the primary air all the way open is a good way to turn the stove into a night light and send the heat up the chimney.

Also I hope you kept the fisher for now. Not everyone likes how modern tube stoves run.

I seemed to lose temperature when I closed the air intake. My flue temps seemed to drop to below 300 when doing this.

I also admittedly have an oversized 8" chimney. I'm trying to compensate by using the flue damper. I'm dropping a liner in once my roof is snow-free.

Yes, I've also kept the old stove for now. I love it, but it burns an insane amount of wood.

 

[NickW]

Adding the blower will move a lot more hot air off the stove. An insulated liner will help keep flue temperatures up helping draft. Keep at it until you find "your" settings, which will change once you add the liner.

Mine with a full hardwood load is damper about 10-15% open air 25% open for the first 1 1/2 hours or so once up to temperature, leave the air 25% open and slowly open the damper to 25% open to cruise.

 

[weee123]

I seemed to lose temperature when I closed the air intake. My flue temps seemed to drop to below 300 when doing this.

I also admittedly have an oversized 8" chimney. I'm trying to compensate by using the flue damper. I'm dropping a liner in once my roof is snow-free.

Yes, I've also kept the old stove for now. I love it, but it burns an insane amount of wood.

So what size is the flue coming off the stove? If it’s 6” you can’t attach it to a larger chimney as it will kill your draft and create a ton of creosote. If that’s the case that’s most likely what your issue is. The chimney is the engine that runs the stove. If it doesn’t draft enough the stove won’t run right. Conversely, if it drafts too much, it’ll do the opposite of what’s happening to you right now.