Century FW2900 vs. Englander Blue Ridge 300L (Vs. Budget Models)

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

Here's a ton of boring background, so feel free to skip down to where I wrote "STOVES RULE!" Our house is vertically L-shaped on a steep hillside with the bottom floor being about 1000 sq. ft. and the upper part being another 1,500 sq. ft. The living room and kitchen are on top of the lower floor and the bedrooms go back into the hillside down a hallway with ground under them. The stove is located in the middle of the downstairs at the stairs going up to the living room/kitchen/bedrooms hallway. The heat basically goes up the stairs and our current stove does a pretty good job of keeping it hot up there, except the bedrooms, but I think you'd have to get box fans going and really work to heat those off of the stove. Our yearly temp averages are 39-67F. If you like seasons, this is not the place for you. We also have 250 overcast days per year. During the gray season (November to June) the stove is the only thing that keeps me sane. It's usually just chilly enough with the constant cold winds down from the Bering Sea that I will light my last fire of the year on Father's Day. We burn Shore Pine and Sitka Spruce because they fall down all over our property during frequent windstorms here during the warmer periods and I squirrel away Alder and Fir, if I can get it for cold snaps. It's rarely that cold, so we're usually burning low BTU wood and keeping the flue hot to lower creosote formation. We've also got a really long chimney, so the draw gets crazy.

Right now we've got a beautiful red porcelain 1989 Pacific Energy Spectrum D-Series. It's rated at 89,000 BTUs and 1,800 square ft. North-South, I think you call it. It's been put through the ringer...and it's time to retire. At our last house we had a Non-EPA Regency East-West I never particularly cared for. It was hard to start and one time a visitor went to stoke it and the log rolled back out and smashed the glass. We had a Fisher Papa Bear growing up and man, what I wouldn't give to light one more fire in that thing.

There's no way I can afford a new PE, though, and...they don't deliver. The only stove dealer in town sells Lopi and he couldn't get me out the door lower than $4,000.

STOVES RULE!

As such, I'm having a very hard time figuring out what new stove to get. Lowe's has a bomb deal now on a 2,500 square foot rated, the Master Forge WS110 which is $560 delivered. From my research it seems identical to the Cleveland Huron H110, though they have wildly different BTU numbers (49,138 vs. 80,000). They both have 2.5 cu. ft. fireboxes and can take 18" wood. I was also looking at the Vogelzang VG2520-P which boasts 112,800 BTUs, a 2.5 cu. ft. firebox and can take 21" wood. I was also toying with an Ashley 3,200 square footer which claims to do 152,000 BTU and has an oversize firebox in the hopes that maybe I could heat those far-flung bedrooms a bit. It's also my understanding that the square footage rating and BTUs are just kind of made up. Note also, that my BTUs are going to be lower no matter what I buy because I burn low quality (but free and easy to get) wood.

I love stoves. I don't want a turd. Money is only getting tighter. There's also the potential cost of some chimney repair. A certified technician said it looks fine, but I'm going to get a second opinion because I don't like how it looks. Usually those guys try to sell you a whole new chimney every time they sweep...

Therein lies my problem.

I've been thinking about dipping into my savings to get either a Century FW2900 which is 75,000BTU/2,900 sq. ft. rated and has a 2.4' firebox and says it can take 20" wood, but 16" is preferable.

The Englander Blue Ridge 300L(P) also has a 2.4 cu. ft. firebox, is rated for 75,000 BTUs, but only 2,100 sq. ft. It's an E-W, and it also says it can take 20" wood.

These are both lower BTU rated than our PE.

These are more than double the cost of the Master Forge and the same price as the Vogelzang, but unlike those two they are made in North America, which is important to me for safety and durability. We've got a lot of kids running around, hence the lack of money. It'd also be nice to have good support instead of some fly-by-night import company- I've worked with PE before replacing the baffle, firebrick, gaskets, and insulation and they were pretty helpful. The only annoying thing is they only ship to dealers. So I had to have them ship it to a dealer that lives hundreds of miles away and then have that dealer ship it to me. I'd like a company that could mail me a part to my door if I needed it.

They've both got the lower air control like our PE which I prefer, whereas the cheaper stoves all have the slider up top. I think it's easier to look up and manage the "fire cloud" as my friends call it without your arm in the way.

Again, we come into this BTU/Square Foot drama. On paper, the Englander couldn't heat our house even though the BTUs and firebox are the same size? Both of them are lower BTU-rated than our PE, but rated for significantly more square foot? Would they heat less on the whole? On paper our PE can't heat the house, either.

I like the Century more. It's a N-S loader, and it sits taller than the other stoves at 34" high vs the 31" high Englander. The cheaper stoves are below 30". They'll never match our red PE in style. The Englander does have cool mountains on the glass, though.

We've also got an extra long chimney and I had to install a damper to help our PE keep it under control. If anyone has any sense of any of these stoves being able to close the air off better than the others, let me know.

If anyone knows if any of these stoves do better with softwoods, that'd be cool, too.

I'm curious if any of these stoves do air intakes or baffles differently than each other. Our PE has constant "Boost Air" from below the door, then a single sliding lever on the side that controls the heated "Air Wash" intake from above the door simultaneously with a rear air intake for the baffle.

I've kind of narrowed it down to these options, unless anyone else has any recommendations in the under $1,200 delivered range.

Even if you don't have any input- I hope this was at least a fun read. I spent over and hour writing it, but I've reached the point where I'm so tired it's a ramble.

 

[EbS-P]

I’m pretty sure those are the same stove. SBI is the parent company. Same fire box in the Drolet 1800 escape. If you want more heat. They make a bigger one the 2100. Look at the True North TN20. It’s a value brand of Pacific Energy. A n/S loader.

If you cut your own wood you can cut short to make a N/S loader. Not sure it’s better and N/S tends to burn much quicker than E/W in my 1800 with a damper and 23’ of insulated liner.

I have no experience with what output you are getting with your current model.

 

[Gearhead660]

If you are looking for economical burners, the SBI line(Century, Drolet, Osburn) and Englander are good choices. I would steer away from the Ashley, Vogelzang stoves. Haven't heard good things about them. Flue damper will most likely be needed for the SBI stoves, as they are easy breathers. Probably for the Englander also.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

I’m pretty sure those are the same stove. SBI is the parent company. Same fire box in the Drolet 1800 escape. If you want more heat. They make a bigger one the 2100. Look at the True North TN20. It’s a value brand of Pacific Energy. A n/S loader.

If you cut your own wood you can cut short to make a N/S loader. Not sure it’s better and N/S tends to burn much quicker than E/W in my 1800 with a damper and 23’ of insulated liner.

I have no experience with what output you are getting with your current model.

Okay, wow. I've literally got a spreadsheet for all of this and I didn't even look at parent companies. Not quite sure I understand, but this Englander and Century and the Drolet 1800 you mention are all essentially the same stove? Do you have a sense of why they all post different heating abilities and prices?

That True North sure looks like a naked version of our PE Spectrum. My budget keeps going up with every stove I look at. All the pics make it seem like a smaller stove, though. The manufacturer's website doesn't make any claims as to the space it can heat.

You've given me something to think about with E/W, though. Would that potentially slow down my chimney draw? Our 1980s E/W Regency in our old house was always hard to start, but it had really long burn times. It was a basement monster with a bunch of tubes attached to some very thick boxing around it to vent to different rooms. It looked like an overgrown insert versus a stove.

If you are looking for economical burners, the SBI line(Century, Drolet, Osburn) and Englander are good choices. I would steer away from the Ashley, Vogelzang stoves. Haven't heard good things about them. Flue damper will most likely be needed for the SBI stoves, as they are easy breathers. Probably for the Englander also.

It looks like Osburns are quite a bit more expensive for about the same size/numbers? Do you have a sense of why that is? I'm learning quite a bit about stoves through this process, but it's still hard to get a feel for why some things are more expensive. What's going to translate into heat, longevity and safety, you know what I mean? It seems like Century/Englander are the budget SBI line?

As an aside, Costco has a pretty good price on a Drolet Deco Alto. It's a few hundred less than I can find it online elsewhere and Costco doubles all manufacturer warranties. I suppose I should be figuring that into my spreadsheet, too.

 

[begreen]

It is not realistic to compare stoves based on the maximum (peak) output. This number is far from what one will achieve on a day to day basis with the stove. One would need to be stoking the stove like a fireman to maintain that output.

Century is SBI's bargain line. The house currently is being heated with a deteriorating 2 cu ft stove. In the low price range target of $1200, the Century 2900 is a good affordable replacement. Treat the baffle with care and it will do fine.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

It is not realistic to compare stoves based on the maximum (peak) output. This number is far from what one will achieve on a day to day basis with the stove. One would need to be stoking the stove like a fireman to maintain that output.

Century is SBI's bargain line. The house currently is being heated with a deteriorating 2 cu ft stove. In the low price range target of $1200, the Century 2900 is a good affordable replacement. Treat the baffle with care and it will do fine.

I think ANYTHING is going to be a heating and safety upgrade. I'll be sad to see the Spectrum go. I've already got a shop stove, but maybe someone can make use of it in their shop or fishing shack on the river.

 

[EbS-P]

As an aside, Costco has a pretty good price on a Drolet Deco Alto. It's a few hundred less than I can find it online elsewhere and Costco doubles all manufacturer warranties. I suppose I should be figuring that into my spreadsheet, too.

Same 2.4 cu ft fire box as the others so essentially the same stove. That Costco price with a blower is the best wood stove deal I have seen in a while!

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

So the Drolet Deco Alto is an E/W and is essentially the same stove as the England 300P but with a taller pedestal. The Century FW2900 and Drolet 1800 are essentially the same N/S stove. The TN20 has a smaller firebox than those four at 2.0 cu. ft., but it's essentially what I have now and ostensibly I can expect the same or better performance.

I'm seeing:

FW2900 at $1,200.
Englander Blue Ridge 300P at $1,300.
Drolet Alto Deco at $1,350.
Drolet 1800 at $1,500
TN20 aruond $1,800.

And my understanding is these will all do about the same job heating.

I had one of those welded little stick hinges actually break off my PE Spectrum and it looks like the TN20 and the FW2900 both have that style. The Drolets and Englander from the pictures appear to have a different style of hinges, although I can't really tell if they'd be stronger.

I feel like the Drolet Alto Deco is pretty cool because of that underneath wood storage. That always looked kind of gimmicky to me, but man does it look fancy. Not that anyone goes down to the lower level really, except me to load the stove and the dogs and cats to sleep in front of it.

 

[begreen]

The Deco Alto is both E/W and N/S loader. Looks like it has the same firebox layout as the Centruy FW2900.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

The Deco Alto is both E/W and N/S loader. Looks like it has the same firebox layout as the Centruy FW2900.

Okay, I guess I'm not that savvy at eyeballing that part.

I think I've decided on the Deco. I feel like I should support a smaller stove store, instead of a soulless corporation, but man, that is a good savings.

 

[Gearhead660]

Okay, wow. I've literally got a spreadsheet for all of this and I didn't even look at parent companies. Not quite sure I understand, but this Englander and Century and the Drolet 1800 you mention are all essentially the same stove? Do you have a sense of why they all post different heating abilities and prices?

That True North sure looks like a naked version of our PE Spectrum. My budget keeps going up with every stove I look at. All the pics make it seem like a smaller stove, though. The manufacturer's website doesn't make any claims as to the space it can heat.

You've given me something to think about with E/W, though. Would that potentially slow down my chimney draw? Our 1980s E/W Regency in our old house was always hard to start, but it had really long burn times. It was a basement monster with a bunch of tubes attached to some very thick boxing around it to vent to different rooms. It looked like an overgrown insert versus a stove.

It looks like Osburns are quite a bit more expensive for about the same size/numbers? Do you have a sense of why that is? I'm learning quite a bit about stoves through this process, but it's still hard to get a feel for why some things are more expensive. What's going to translate into heat, longevity and safety, you know what I mean? It seems like Century/Englander are the budget SBI line?

As an aside, Costco has a pretty good price on a Drolet Deco Alto. It's a few hundred less than I can find it online elsewhere and Costco doubles all manufacturer warranties. I suppose I should be figuring that into my spreadsheet, too.

Century is SBI's budget line. Drolet is there mid price/option line. Osburn is there high end line. Think of it like a Chevy and a Cadillac. Osburns are just more fancy, eye appealing. I have a Century CW2900 insert. Been running it for almost 9 years. No issues, works great. Been stone cold reliable. Take care of your stove and it will last a long time.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

So, after all the discounts and whatnot, the Drolet Alto Deco with the 100 CFM variable speed blower was: $1,295.99 delivered from Costco.

Thank you, everyone (begreen, EbS-P, Gearhead660) for all the advice and I hope maybe this thread can help other people choose if they're as confused as I was (still kind of am, let's be honest, but I think I get the gist of it).

I liked all the SBI stoves in one fashion or another (the Century was my favorite, not too keen on the Englander, Drolet Escape seemed nice), but it was really the price with the blower that got me as well as the height with the wood storage underneath. I've got a bad back and knees and that little bit of extra height might actually help me.

It's three weeks out on delivery, so if people are interested I can revive this thread in the Spring and say how the install went and how it's handling heating.

 

[begreen]

Good luck, that's a good looking stove. Feel free to ask questions if they come up when installing.