Lopi Freedom and Regency Owners Reviews

[lakeguy]

I wish I had the same luck on CL as you did.

We purchased the Lopi Cod Cod this autumn. The CC is a beautiful , very heavy 3 cu ft stove that is just not performing at all during the shoulder season. We have heated our home with our own firewood for 35 years so we know a fair bit about stoves, operation and firewood .

The Lopi CC has much shorter burn times (full load=5hr), dirty glass, high maintenance and no self monitoring controls. You must be messing around with it a lot! Seems like it has internal design problems still to be worked out.

I thought this pricey, beautiful unit would really perform... Very, very disappointed at this time. Beware! Severe remorse at this point! Study one in operation through start up to extended burn before you purchase. We will run it through the winter I guess, but will be looking at alternative cats or other hybrid cats unless we can get some much better results this winer. Wish this beautiful stove would perform better. Very disappointed! Cosmetics are not enough for serious wood burners.

 

[BrotherBart]

You don't want to hear it but we have several people every year moving from older stoves to EPA stoves that have the same problems that you are having. And every single time with a little burning advice from the folks here they learn a whole new way of burning and get happy with their stoves.

I did. After I found this place in 2006 after I made the change.

Post a new "My Cape Cod Isn't Heating My House" or some such thread and we can start to get ya going.

 

[Grisu]

I second Brother Bart's recommendation of posting your problems in a separate thread. Here is an experience from another Cape Cod owner: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/lopi-cape-cod.108572/#post-1425920 It can work as advertised and we can help you to achieve the same result.

 

[chazcarr]

Can you tell me your experience with Lopi? I am stuck been Regency and Lopi, help me decide.

I have a Regency 2400 insert and I like it a lot.
It really warms my house, but I had to learn to use it, and it only likes dry wood.

If I had to list pros and cons it would be this:

Cons:
- Wood must be dry, one year had to use Envi-8s while waiting for oak to season
- Very delicate baffle. 80 bucks to replace and easy to break if not very careful.
- The fan only has high low settings.
- Bit of a shallow lip that ash build up can spill over, so a ash vac is a must own.
- Had to insulate fireplace in order to get real heat out of it (Probably the same for every stove).

Pro:
- Heats my 2600 sq feet to between 69-84 degrees depending on what room
- Allows me to only use 20 gallons of oil a month (for hot water).
- Burns over 200 degree for 7- 8 hours when loaded with oak.
- cruises at around 500 - 600 degrees for over 3 hours.
- Solid build that allows me to feel safe with it running while I'm out or asleep.
-Three years and still original everything except baffle. Bricks, gasket, tubes all looking good.

Hope that helps. All in all I am pleased with it. Especially for the price with the tax rebate I got for buying it.

 

[jaychino415]

I have a Regency 2400 insert and I like it a lot.
It really warms my house, but I had to learn to use it, and it only likes dry wood.

If I had to list pros and cons it would be this:

Cons:
- Wood must be dry, one year had to use Envi-8s while waiting for oak to season
- Very delicate baffle. 80 bucks to replace and easy to break if not very careful.
- The fan only has high low settings.
- Bit of a shallow lip that ash build up can spill over, so a ash vac is a must own.
- Had to insulate fireplace in order to get real heat out of it (Probably the same for every stove).

Pro:
- Heats my 2600 sq feet to between 69-84 degrees depending on what room
- Allows me to only use 20 gallons of oil a month (for hot water).
- Burns over 200 degree for 7- 8 hours when loaded with oak.
- cruises at around 500 - 600 degrees for over 3 hours.
- Solid build that allows me to feel safe with it running while I'm out or asleep.
-Three years and still original everything except baffle. Bricks, gasket, tubes all looking good.

Hope that helps. All in all I am pleased with it. Especially for the price with the tax rebate I got for buying it.

Thanks for sharing your experience with your Regency.

 

[burnt03]

Another Regency owner here, I have the freestanding F2400 mounted in the basement.

My first stove, purchased used from a neighbor, manufactured 2005. Replaced baffles and bricks when I first purchased it, one year later they're all still fine. Tubes are fine. Should note that I overfired it a couple times the first year (and this year ) and it's still holding up fine.

With dry wood, pretty easy to get the secondaries going even with an oversized chimney (6 x 10 clay tile).

Heated the house (2400 split level) pretty much entirely with wood last winter and was able to keep it much warmer than with electric heat. (21-23 deg C upstairs, 25-30 deg C downstairs).

In short, it's been a great stove so far. Even though I've been stupid and overfired it, it's still plugging away and providing great heat.

 

[chazcarr]

Another Regency owner here, I have the freestanding F2400 mounted in the basement.

My first stove, purchased used from a neighbor, manufactured 2005. Replaced baffles and bricks when I first purchased it, one year later they're all still fine. Tubes are fine. Should note that I overfired it a couple times the first year (and this year ) and it's still holding up fine.

With dry wood, pretty easy to get the secondaries going even with an oversized chimney (6 x 10 clay tile).

Heated the house (2400 split level) pretty much entirely with wood last winter and was able to keep it much warmer than with electric heat. (21-23 deg C upstairs, 25-30 deg C downstairs).

In short, it's been a great stove so far. Even though I've been stupid and overfired it, it's still plugging away and providing great heat.

why did you replace the baffle so quick? and did you replace with another Regency baffle or rigged up baffle?

 

[burnt03]

why did you replace the baffle so quick? and did you replace with another Regency baffle or rigged up baffle?

The baffle was broken when I bought the stove, as were about half the bricks. I have the feeling the old owner didn't take very good care of it (guy was a crack/meth head) but it still stood up (no warping, broken welds, etc). Replaced with a Regency baffle.

 

[aansorge]

(broken link removed to http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/app/4178468177.html)

 

[aansorge]

You need an insert and not a freestander?

These seem to be well liked...(broken link removed to http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/hsh/4185669785.html)

Probably one of the Lopis you are looking at...(broken link removed to http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/hsh/4187289456.html)

If you have a big house...(broken link removed to http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/hsh/4176701772.html)

Did you see this Regency?...(broken link removed to http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/app/4185994478.html)

 

[TradEddie]

While I've only had one full Winter with my Lopi Freedom, I can't fault it, unless I complain that it is way too much stove for the room! The need for well-seasoned wood cannot be overstated, but that applies to any EPA stove. It lights easily, heats quickly, the fan is quiet on low setting, and even if power is out, still heats well enough for emergencies without the fan. I've got about 1900sft to heat, and this easily does that job, it was 14F here one day last year, and I still had to crack a window to cool the stove room! Sweeping is a breeze. I did make one important modification, I shortened the tab on the removable the bypass handle so it wouldn't scrape the finish.

TE

 

[TradEddie]

We've had a Lopi Republic 1750i for 2 years now. It's my first stove, and overall it's been a good experience. We have had a little trouble with opening the bypass when the stove is hot. I'm still working on getting the dealer to correct this, he thinks it's just a gasket getting caught up.

Overall I think the quality of the stove is very good. It heats great, probably puts out more BTUs than we need for our small home. I had considered the small 1250i, but glad I went with the larger size, just for being able to stuff more wood in it for overnight burns.

Cat not included...

I'm surprised nobody has brought it up, but that hearth does not met clearance requirements. That carpet is very, very close. Please consider a hearth extension, for less than $100, it could save your house, or even your life.

TE

 

[930dreamer]

I made the mistake of visiting our local patio/wood stove store this week. The lopi brochure doesn't list the glass/window sizes (OP). I'm not sure I could let loose of $2-3K on a new stove. WOW.