Jotul Rockland, Lopi cape cod, VC Montpelier or fireplace extraordinaire large flush plus??

[pittpizza]

I appreciate all the feedback. Just for fun and to get my hands on them, again I drove to a nearby Stove Shop today and checked out the Ashford 25 by Blaze King, and lopi large hybrid fyre. The ashford 25's also very pretty stove. The offer lopi there as well. I didn't know Blaze King warranty their cats for 10 years? Almost makes it suspicious. Anybody have any experiences with blaze King's catalytic converters lasting that long? How would you even know when one broke?

You think in general since I'm a first-time wood burner I should try to stay away from a cat? My grandfather heated with wood all my childhood but I never personally have yet.

 

[prezes13]

Be honest my next stove will be blaze king. If you want to heat your house with wood and you are not home all the time true cat stove is great alternative. Lots of people here absolutely love blaze king stoves.

 

[BKVP]

I appreciate all the feedback. Just for fun and to get my hands on them, again I drove to a nearby Stove Shop today and checked out the Ashford 25 by Blaze King, and lopi large hybrid fyre. The ashford 25's also very pretty stove. The offer lopi there as well. I didn't know Blaze King warranty their cats for 10 years? Almost makes it suspicious. Anybody have any experiences with blaze King's catalytic converters lasting that long? How would you even know when one broke?

You think in general since I'm a first-time wood burner I should try to stay away from a cat? My grandfather heated with wood all my childhood but I never personally have yet.

Good morning all,
Just a bit of info on warranty. The 2015 NSPS, EPA REQUIRES manufacturers to provide a 100%, no fault warranty against thermal degradation for a 3 year period. Manufacturers typically get coverage of some portion from the combustor manufacturer. Again, typically, the manufacturer them adds 3 more years of proration. By the 6th year, there is little value.

We were able to get our two suppliers, both based here in the USA, to give us a 100%, 10 year full warranty for what we call a "promotional warranty", so as to not run afoul of federal law. They did so after reviewing our extremely low warranty claims. Not all manufacturers buy from US suppliers!

The 10 years covers the combustor that is in the stove. If it fails and suffer thermal degradation, we cover it...no questions asked. However, we try to then help the customer figure out why it suffered thermal degradation.

All combustors become less effective over time, as do parts in secondary combustion stoves. Study shows after 10 years, combustors produce about 1 g/hr more than when new.

To know if your combustor or for that matter ANY ESSENTIAL ELEMENT for clean burning requires your attention, go out...Look up.

All stoves smoke some, usually at start up and after refueling.

Off to catch a flight...

BKVP

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I wonder why the warranty is in years and not hours of usage? There's a big difference between someone burning steadily for 4 months of the year and someone heating their house solely with wood for 6-9 months of a year.

Other than gaskets in a modern non-cat steel stove, what parts become less effective, say over the same 10 year period? I notice little difference in our stove, but of course I don't have it on a testing rig either.

 

[BKVP]

So, you are the web search guru. There was a study done of secondary combustion units over time. Baffles, refractory panels, thermal blankets, air tubes, all identified as "contributors to increased emissions with age. Some were significant. I'll try to locate as well and send a link via a pm.

 

[begreen]

I remember an old paper done in the late 90's. It was a small sampling. What seemed most significant was the lack of maintenance causing decreased performance. Poor upkeep seems to be a universal problem, regardless of emissions technology. Some stoves are easier to maintain than others, but no stove will continue to work great without some upkeep over its lifetime.

 

[BKVP]

I remember an old paper done in the late 90's. It was a small sampling. What seemed most significant was the lack of maintenance causing decreased performance. Poor upkeep seems to be a universal problem, regardless of emissions technology. Some stoves are easier to maintain than others, but no stove will continue to work great without some upkeep over its lifetime.

Agreed. A clean burning appliance is both properly operated and properly maintained...then there's the whole fuel issue.

 

[pittpizza]

I think I've decided. I think I'm going with the BK Ashford 25. I think I can handle the cat. I like that it sticks out ever so slightly, 2.5 inches. The Mrs. ok'd it and likes the style and I will enjoy the increased efficiency. BK does seem to have the best reputation, at least on Hearth.com anyway.

The Jotul Rockland I would love and is truly probably my first choice, but since my fireplace height is 24 1/2inches and the stove is 23 5/8, the installer is concerned that it will fit, but that he wont be able to attach the liner. I don't want to downsize to the Jotul 450 Kennebec.


The firebox on the Ashford is 2.3 cu feet and that is slightly bigger than the mid size lopi/fireplace extr. The fireplace extr. and lopi large hybrid fyre makes me worry about the cat in it. BK having that 10 year warranty is comforting.

I want the longer burn times that I am more confident that I'll get with the Ashford. I have been hearing a lot of bad things about the Vermont Castings Montpelier, especially with the fan and fan noise. That's something I just don't want. these are a lot of money and I'll be pissed if the fan starts rattling after only 2-3 years.

One concern is size. I want to be able to heat my 1450 sq foot house. Stove is on first floor in living room. There is a large opening to living room and dining room on that floor and the upstairs is a small hall with 3 small bedrooms and a bath. Decently insulated 1950's colonial.

Do you think I'll regret downsizing from the larger stoves (large hybridfire or large flush plus)? Think the Ashford 25 can handle it?

 

[Pertzbro]

One concern is size. I want to be able to heat my 1450 sq foot house. Stove is on first floor in living room. There is a large opening to living room and dining room on that floor and the upstairs is a small hall with 3 small bedrooms and a bath. Decently insulated 1950's colonial.

Do you think I'll regret downsizing from the larger stoves (large hybridfire or large flush plus)? Think the Ashford 25 can handle it?

You'll have a hard time pushing heat to the far reaches of the home. Wood Stove/Inserts/Fireplaces, etc. Are space heaters. Closer to the unit the warmer/hotter it is. Further away and temps drop considerably.

Common things like leaving doors open, ceiling fans on, box fan blowing cold into stove room will help push the heat around the home as best it can.

If you're wanting to heat with wood on a more primary basis - BK is the way to go. Good decision.

 

[pittpizza]

You'll have a hard time pushing heat to the far reaches of the home. Wood Stove/Inserts/Fireplaces, etc. Are space heaters. Closer to the unit the warmer/hotter it is. Further away and temps drop considerably.

Common things like leaving doors open, ceiling fans on, box fan blowing cold into stove room will help push the heat around the home as best it can.

If you're wanting to heat with wood on a more primary basis - BK is the way to go. Good decision.

The necessity of moving air around is likely true of any stove, right. If I get a "large" stove (Jotul 550, lopi large hybrid or fireplaceX large flush wood plus) I worry that I may be too hot in the room with the stove in it. My Ceilings are low so I think I should probably go with something with around a 2.2 or 2.3 cu ft firebox.

Whats crazy is that the Jotul has a 2.2 firebox but claims much more heating capacity than others. IMO the square footage is pretty darn arbitrary and sort of a fiction.

 

[begreen]

The sq ftg heated range is large because the variability of homes is large. There's a major difference in heating a 2000 sq ft home in western OR than in MI and that is before all the variables of construction are accounted for. Insulation level, glass area, ceiling height, overall sealing, all affect heating directly and some quite dramatically.

 

[pittpizza]

The sq ftg heated range is large because the variability of homes is large. There's a major difference in heating a 2000 sq ft home in western OR than in MI and that is before all the variables of construction are accounted for. Insulation level, glass area, ceiling height, overall sealing, all affect heating directly and some quite dramatically.

Yep. Makes total sense. I'm guessing, conservatively I'll probably be able to reach the higher end of the estimates because (1) Pittsburgh, cold, but not super fridgid. Most winter days in the 20's and 30's. (2) low ceilings. 3 1950's colonial home with decent insullation and a very open floor plan. I think I'll be good with the ashford or similar 2.2 cu firebox range.

I've read a lot of threads on these forums and see a lot more comments about their stoves doing the job than comments about stoves not quite getting it done. Some of the reviews clam that but who knows what kind of wood people are burning. Still, if its hearth users writing the reviews, they probably know to burn dry wood. Remarkably, there are zero reviews on the ashford 25 by BK but everyone rant and raves about BK generally. The trend definitly does seem to be going more towards Cats lately. How can you argue with the 10 year warranty?

 

[begreen]

Well I hope you post a review and remind fellow Ashford 25 owners to post them in the review section too. They're helpful to folks later on.

 

[Tegbert]

I have an ashford 25. I haven’t written a review yet but so far so good. On these shoulder season days it does the sole job of heating our 1900 sqft home to the low 70s on the opposite end of the house. Could also use just it heating the whole house in the teens if I ran it on high all the time but I have another stove so I run both and turn them down to extend the burn times to my schedule.


Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25

 

[begreen]

Good feedback. If you could add this to the reviews section that would help. The reviews in the reviews section are pretty general. If the stove is doing what you hoped it to do, then all is well.