My Experiences with the RSF Opel 2 (Kind of long)

[mtj53]

I thought I owed these comments to the site and the folks that helped me get this far. I joined www.hearth.com in February of 09'. I spent an unbelievable amount of hours researching the site and gathering information. I had been "lurking" on the site for a few months before I joined. I actually found "Arborsite.com" first, and after posting there, someone kindly recommended I check out hearth.com and I sure owe them! Over the years I have had a ton of furnace problems, most of them in the middle of the night....and my main reason at first for joining here was simply to find a new fireplace or stove to replace the old open fireplace I had which had a draft problem, also I wanted to provide my wife with the fireplace she always wanted to be able to use, and possibly keep my home from freezing if the furnace went out. After asking a whole bunch of foolish questions and learning all I could, I was lucky enough to get in touch with a few guys here who had the RSF Opel fireplace. For what I needed, although at that time I thought a bit pricy considering you really don't know what to expect with something you aren't that familiar with, I thought the RSF Opel would fill my needs very well and possibly have a chance to do better than I expected. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined it going so well, and I thought I'd post that information right here in the forum. I did a review a month or so, but not everyone makes it to the review section right away, or at least I didn't.

I have a 20 year old house that wasn't insulated the best, always been drafty etc. Last few years I have reinsulated most everything and put in some new windows, but still have 24 ft tall ceilings in the middle of the house, and rooms shooting off several different directions from the fireplace room. The last insulating I did was the fireplace chimney chase when the new RSF fireplace was installed. In the best of conditions the house didn't heat very well in past years. I knew (or thought I knew) I would never be able to get everything heated evenly with a fireplace, but I wanted to find a fireplace that would come close, and at least make the fireplace room more comfortable. A big reason I chose the RSF Opel 2 was mainly for the option of hooking it to my central heating system. The more I looked at the RSF Opel, the better it looked and sounded from the few folks I talked with that had one. We started burning last September. In November, for one evening, there was a problem with the central fan in that a connection was loose, (very easy fix) but I ran the LP furnace that night for a couple hours. Other than that, I haven't turned the furnace on all winter. Never have I appreciated the RSF Opel more than last night. There is some pretty cold weather coming in this weekend, I'll be out of town, so I thought I'd let the fire burn out, and clean the chimney before the cold weather hit. Late yesterday afternoon I turned the furnace on, expecting to turn it off after a couple hours when I had the fireplace chimney clean. Well, turns out I have some problem with the furnace because it wouldn't work! So I fired up the RSF Opel again and even though it got down to about 5 degree's last night with far below zero wind chills, It was a nice warm 74 degree's inside my house all over! My LP furnace will run constantly to achieve 74 degree's, and it still wouldn't feel this warm! I can't even begin to explain how good that felt, not having to immediately call the furnace repairman and ask him to come out after hours. I waited and called him this morning.

I now find myself in the position others were in who helped me. I don't have the benefit of years of experience, but I had a gentleman email the other night and ask if after a few months I was still happy with the RSF Opel. I'm very happy to say I would recommend this fireplace to everyone....I know there are a lot of good one's out there, and I realize with different homes come different circumstances, but If any work better than this I'd be amazed. I consider my situation a worst case scenario with having close to 2600 sq feet spread out all over the place. So if anyone see's this post and is wondering if the RSF Opel will do the job for you, give it a serious look, because they sure have made a believer out of me. I was also fortunate in that my local dealer in Dubuque, Iowa treated me fantastic, put up with all my foolish questions, they did an excellent job of installing it, and not for one minute in the 5 full months I've been using it have I regretted this purchase. And last but not least, my thanks to all here that have helped me make an informed decision, especially you guys who called me, emailed me direct, and took time out of your day to answer my posts, I sure appreciated all the help!

To sum up, I'd highly recommend the RSF Opel 2 fireplace!

 

[mtj53]

And I also forgot to add in that long post, each and every time I emailed RSF direct, my questions were answered quickly, truthfully, direct and to the point, that sure means alot when you're making a purchase this big.

 

[LLigetfa]

I wanted to buy the Opel but SWMBO didn't like the arched doors so I got the smaller Onyx. It does an admirable job but struggles a bit when it dops down to -40. I had to go with an Onyx in my former home because that was an alcove install the Open was not approved for the clearance I had in the alcove.

So, why does your picture look like there was never ever a fire in that stove? Was that taken before first fire or can you actually get it that clean? I put my stove in while I was building the house so it was keeping me warm even before all the drywall was up.

 

[mtj53]

I knew that question would come up I actually had every intention of firing up the fireplace as soon as it was installed, but once the guys got here, the installation went extremely quick, in and out within about 1 1/2 days, and the stone was in, so I took a chance and kept on patching the wall and putting the stone in. In that photo, it had never been fired yet. It was also still around 75 degree's during installation so we saved the first fire until it was all completed. It was actually sort of funny, the gentleman that I arranged the installation through thought I was crazy, I wanted him to leave the fireplace in the drive so I could fire it up a few times and break it in as I have read on other posts here to keep the burning paint smell out of the house. But things moved along at a speedy pace and we got to use it shortly after it was installed anyway....that picture was taken one afternoon, and the first fire was within a couple hours! Not so clean anymore as you can imagine.....

 

[[email protected]]

mtj53...you have had the opel 2 now for several years..any problems??..i am about to pick it for my 1800sf, 23 ft cathedral insulated new cape..open plan, tight house...what say ye?...

 

[mtj53]

Smasse64...
I'm very sorry it took so long to answer this post, been a very hectic year for me and have not been able to spend much time on the computer lately. I stumbled onto your message by searching RSF opel posts. To answer your question if I'm in time I still love my Opel 2 and I wouldn't change a thing. To date I still keep my furnace off and even though I've been doing this a few years I still consider myself far from an expert. I'm still amazed I can heat a house as large as mine of 5 cords of wood each year, and actually that has gone down a bit as I keep getting ahead on my seasoned wood. Probably would go down quite a bit more but every fall I get anxious to start the fireplace up! Sitting here enjoying a nice fire while answering your post. Really looking forward to this year because the wood I will be burning will be split and seasoned three full years. To sum up I'd say you bet, still highly recommend the RSF Opel 2.....

 

[daleeper]

mtj53, great report. I like the options that the Opal has, and would consider it if I were forced into a fireplace. What kind of burn time do you have with a full load? I would enjoy a photo of it in action.

 

[rideau]

How much do these cost?

 

[mtj53]

Daleeper,
I usually load the fireplace up for the last time around 10 pm, let it burn at full air for about 10 minutes before I start shutting the air down and come morning (6 am) there are way plenty enough red coals to throw a few chunks of wood on to get it started again. Usually after 8-9 hours though is about when the temperature starts dropping down quite a bit, you can gain another hour by opening the air back up again to burn off the coals....

I should have a photo around here of it going somewhere....still continue to be surprised. The other night it got down to around 20 degree's outside so I started the fire and after the first few logs burned off, I loaded three more and exactly 1 hour and 10 minutes after I started the fire I turned the air all the way down and literally for hours the flames danced around on top the wood with more blue flames than red. I got a 3 to 4 minute video but am still trying to figure out how to upload that into my photobucket acct. When I figure that out I'll post a link....

Rideau--That's a pretty general question because it depends on the dealer and installation and options like ductwork hookup & blowers and all that good stuff....I don't remember exact numbers but can tell you with my LP costs after burning a few years this has already paid for itself. Of course about two months after the guys installed the fireplace the power went out for over 12 hours on a ten degree night. Far as I was concerned it paid for itself that evening, power out, freezing cold and no worries whatsoever. Now that's peace of mind....

 

[mtj53]

Can't find a photo Daleeper but if I did this correct here'a short video for you....This video was shot after the fireplace was only burning a bit over an hour....after you have the fireplace going for a few hours it's nothing short of amazing....I'll try & get a video of that soon...

http://s405.photobucket.com/albums/pp135/mtj54/RSF Opel 2 Fireplace/?action=view&current=RSFOpel2.mp4

 

[K2Orion]

The RSF Opel 3 is on my short list now. I'm finshing our walkout basement in our 1200 sf ranch and want the look of a fireplace with the functionality of a forced air wood furnace. I found your post while searching. I have a few questions, if you dont mind.

First, how well does the "Bi-metallic Air Control" work at keeping the heat output consistent? Is it simple to use?

Second, how are you distributing the heat? Do you have zones coming from the fireplace or is it ducted into the central air ductwork?
If ducted into the central air, how does the heat distribution compare to your regular furnace? Is it running off a thermostat?

Third, what options did you get to move the heat around?

We currently heat with a small smokedragon insert in a masonry fireplace on an exterior wall? It works OK, but does not heat evenly, especially because the kids like their doors closed. And it is impossible to move the heat down to the basement. The blower is noisy, but necesary, and the firebox isnt large enough for a true overnight burn. On cold nights, when its running hard, the insert runs out of wood and the heat pump kicks on.

If an RSF Opel does what the website says, then one in our basement would solve all these "problems" and look great too!!

 

[northwinds]

The RSF Opel 3 is on my short list now. I'm finshing our walkout basement in our 1200 sf ranch and want the look of a fireplace with the functionality of a forced air wood furnace. I found your post while searching. I have a few questions, if you dont mind.

First, how well does the "Bi-metallic Air Control" work at keeping the heat output consistent? Is it simple to use?

Second, how are you distributing the heat? Do you have zones coming from the fireplace or is it ducted into the central air ductwork?
If ducted into the central air, how does the heat distribution compare to your regular furnace? Is it running off a thermostat?

Third, what options did you get to move the heat around?

We currently heat with a small smokedragon insert in a masonry fireplace on an exterior wall? It works OK, but does not heat evenly, especially because the kids like their doors closed. And it is impossible to move the heat down to the basement. The blower is noisy, but necesary, and the firebox isnt large enough for a true overnight burn. On cold nights, when its running hard, the insert runs out of wood and the heat pump kicks on.

If an RSF Opel does what the website says, then one in our basement would solve all these "problems" and look great too!!

It's good that you are doing careful research. I liked everything about this unit. I looked at the Opels about 3 years ago. My only concern was whether it would dump heat into the basement from the main floor. The installation guys I talked to here were not confident enough for me to go ahead. They said the the Opel could move around heat on the main floor well enough, but it's always a problem getting heat to go down. I'd love to hear someone with experience otherwise. They are great looking units.

 

[WiscoWoodman]

I have an RSF Opel 3 and am happy with it in heating my 2500 square foot home. I use a heat dump to push air into the room behind the fireplace and also the standard fan to help kick air out the front. I rarely use the heat dump because a ceiling fan does a good enough job pushing heat around the corner into that room anyway. Only when my inlaws/guest stay here in the winter do I use the heat dump, since it helps push more heat toward our spare bedroom down the hall. The heat dump is also a pretty loud fan. The standard fan is very quiet though...don't even hear it. We use that all the time.

You asked about the The Bi-metallic Air Control keeping the heat output consistent. To me, it's just an air control similar to most efficient stoves and fireplaces. Burns faster or slower when turned up or down. The fireplace is great and puts out heat, but I wouldn't expect it to do anything magical to heat much more consistently than most other stoves. Last night the outdoor low must have only dropped to the high 20's because our house got overheated and my wife opened our bedroom window. It certainly didn't adjust automatically to lower heat. There apparently is some thermostat feature you can install which might have helped, but I'd be skeptical of it. Its a woodstove... it puts out heat with the main heat output driver being the quantity (and quality) of fuel you put in it.

If you had the fireplace in the basement, there is a decent chance you could duct good heat up into a couple rooms above. Our house heats well because it is very open concept... heat rises in vaulted living room fireplace up to the bedrooms above. We really don't need a blower at all as long as we utilize the ceiling fan in the living room. Not sure how effective the central airduct option would work for a more closed concept.

My biggest problem with the RSF Opel 3 in its most common setup is that when you open the door ash inevitably drops out (like all stoves), but then some of the ash gets sucked up into the air intake vent under it. This ash gets sucked up into the basic fan.... which is starting to struggle to work lately, and the ash eventually blows out the top. So our house gets dusty easily. However, all the RSF Opel 3 closest fireplace competitors seem to have this same design, as it is effective to pull heat under, across, and out the top using only convention. I could be wrong??? Thinking about ways to modify the fireplace to fix this problem... ie move the air intake to the side instead of the standard vent under in front.

Anyway, the RSF does put out great heat, so with the right blowers/ducting it should do you right.

 

[Acpeters21]

I ordered an Opel 2 on Friday. I'm replacing a fmi circulating fireplace that was installed in this house by the previous owner. I am hooking it up to the central hvac my house has 26ft cathedral ceilings in the main part and 2700 sq ft . All my duct work is down in a 4 ft crawl space will the blower that the factory sends push enough air or should I get a bigger one? Can both the fireplace and central heat run at the same time ? And how much is a load of wood do u load it to the top or two or three logs.

 

[WiscoWoodman]

Load it up, let it get real hot, then turn air down for long controlled burn. You want to avoid opening and closing door while burning which cools the inside of fireplace to stop secondary burns (smoke burning) and hurts efficiency. So big long loads.

Re HVAC and Burnung , prob no reason you can't go both.

 

[Seahunter]

Maybe I can help with some of your concerns about the Opel. We've had one installed and heating our home for almost 15 years.
Our area (Ontario, Canada) gets below 0 temperatures for most of the winter (December to March) and winds on average about 15 mph (we live on an open hillside). The house is 15 years old, well insulated, with good windows. It's 1500 (50' X 30') square feet, a ranch bungalow with a full basement that's completely open on one wall with walk-out doors and large windows on that wall. The other side of the basement which faces the prevailing winds from the west is completely in ground so the house looks like a mid-sized 1 floor bungalow from the front (west side) and a larger 2 storey from the back. The fireplace is centrally located in the lower level. We built the fireplace into a wall with the backside projecting into a utility room that's actually the furnace room. The oil furnace is in that room and sits right behind the fireplace. That makes it very easy to duct the fireplace into the furnace ducts which run directly above the fireplace and around the house.
If this isn't clear I can post pictures. We set the fireplace up on 8" pressure treated wood so there is a space beneath it too.
In any event, it looks good from the front in the large rec room (30 X 30) and is very easy to service from the back. The chimney is about 15' long and almost straight up from the fireplace so it's easy to clean too.
The entire insulated zero clearance box around the back of the fireplace projects into the furnace room and, even with the highest heat from the fire, you can place your hand on it anywhere without feeling any heat (maybe a little right by the chimney connection on top).
The ducting is simply flexible aluminum air duct tubing (the expandable type) that runs from the openings in the top of the fireplace to the hot air duct above it - only about 3'. I tried to put a duct fan into the duct but it only lasted a few weeks because of the heat. Now we just let convection take heat up into the duct and from there around the house. I don't run the furnace fan because I'm afraid the force of it will push air down the duct and back into the fireplace heat box. I don't think that even a flapper in the duct would stop that and it doesn't seem to be necessary.
The basement is extra high (10') so the hot air from the fireplace fan goes up and we use a good quality fan on the upper floor at the top of the open stairwell to draw the heat upstairs.
We too have had a problem with ashes falling out of the doors when stoking the fire. It actually causes 2 problems - the house is always dusty in the winter and the fireplace fan motor draws in some ashes. We've replaced the fan 3 times in 15 years. Here that fan costs almost $300 (ridiculous) but the motor is made in Germany and I have not yet found a good substitute. We also sometimes place a quiet room fan to blow across the face of the fireplace and spread more of the heat around the room. To save the fan motor, we always turn it off before opening the doors and to reduce the dust we always clean up the ashes before turning it back on.
I'm hoping to design a filter using furnace filter material that will fit into the intake on the fireplace fan to keep ashes from blowing around. I suppose I could put a filter into the exhaust as well. That would also reduce the fan noise although it's not really "noisy".
The Opel keeps our house warm on even the coldest nights. Some of my neighbors with similar houses use a tank of oil every month ($500+ per fill) but we fill the tank once a year. We burn about 4 cords of wood but that will increase to maybe 5 or 6 when we retire and are here full time. When I'm home for several days, I fill the fireplace at night (10PM) and then I can start it up easily in the morning (7AM) and add more maybe twice during the day. The rec room is easily 75-80 degrees while the upstairs is 60 to 65 which is how we like it. Most of our entertainment is in the rec room and we like it a bit cooler for sleeping. We cut our own wood so the savings are incredible. Typical heating costs here for a house this size are $1500 to $2500 a year and rising. We might spend $500 for chainsaw and tractor fuel. If you have an efficient system to getting and moving wood, it's not hard to do. We actually enjoy it and smile all the time about the savings.
Only very occasionally when it's very cold (-20 is not uncommon) and very windy (20mph+) for several days in a row does it seem harder to keep the house warm. Then we simply keep the fireplace full and hot all the time - or put on a sweater!
Without a removable ash box we need to kill the fire to clean it out and that's about once a week. I do it in the morning when the fire is low anyway. I just open the doors and let the coals burn out with regular rakings to get them all. You don't have to wait until it's completely cold. A good double wall ash can will take hot coals. Just get them outside quickly to cool off. The fireplace is still warm so it's easy to get it going again.
Keeping the fireplace hot as much as possible keeps the chimney clean too. I have a chimney brush and check the chimney every spring and fall. I have run the brush down it for fun but, even at the very top, there's almost no ash and no tar. The insulated chimney and hot fires keep it clean.
I have also replaced the rocks once. They break more easily as they age and throwing a log into a hot fire will crack them. Several are cracked right now so I will replace them in the spring. That's a 10 minute job.
Also it's vital to keep the door gaskets in good shape. It's easy to do yourself and the instructions show you how to adjust the doors for a good seal. Without that, you will burn through wood very quickly and get less heat.

I love the Opel. We looked at many fireplaces before choosing it including talking to neighbors and watching theirs in action. The reasons for choosing the Opel are many: 2 doors is easier to open and close and load; no ash box is simple, less fuss, less openings, easy to clean and really no dustier; fan in front is easier to clean and repair; ducting is easy; installation was very easy.

If you have any questions or want pictures just let me know. You will find like us, that the fireplace is a critical part of your home and way of life. The longer you have it, the more apparent that becomes.

 

[So-indiana]

Just echoing pretty much what everyone else is saying on here about the Opel Stove. We have the opel 2. Now granted we just had it installed this week and have only had a fire for one day but I am in love with this thing. I set the thermostats down to 66° when I started the first fire. Two hours later it's 70° in here. We have heat pumps in our 2300 ish square-foot house In our house has never ever felt this warm! I'll update as time goes by but so far the Opel two has proven itself to me.

 

[Eugene]

Hello, I know this is kind of old thread but I hope I can get an answer. I'm installing Opel 3 this friday, with air intake and air outlets on sides of a fireplace. The fireplace is in a corner of a room, and the sides are not wide, about 15 inches. So, outlets are relatively close to walls, and on one side we have a window with curtains. I wander how hot the air is, when it gets out of the air outlets? Could it be too hot for the curtains or for wooden rods?
Also, how high should I place the outlets? The installers said the outlets could be as high as only 6 inches to the sealing, but I'm guessing in this case the all hot air would be on top of the room, and the bottom of the room will be cold.
Could you please share any experience with such configuration (intake and outlets on sides of Opel 3), or any thoughts about this?
Thanks in advance,
Eugene

 

[Seahunter]

Hi Eugene.

On my installation, I use the cold air intake on the bottom left side (not the bottom - the side at the bottom).
I use the hot air outlet on the top of the fireplace - right on top, not the side. The hot air rises directly into the hot air plenum of the central furnace which runs directly over the Opel.
To heat the room where the fireplace sits, I use only the front fan which draws air into the bottom grill and blows out the top grill.
That room, about 30 X 35, is always very warm, say 75-80, even on the coldest, windiest nights. Of course it gets a lot of that heat by radiation.
The rest of the house stays comfortable for sleeping, say 65+.

The hot air coming from the top grill on the front and from the hot air outlet on top is very hot but not enough to start a fire. You can hold your hand in the airflow indefinitely although it's quite hot.
So I'm pretty sure you have no danger of a fire but I'd still try to keep flimsy combustables a short distance away. Even 12" would do.

Don't forget to insulate the outside air intake piping so you don't get condensation in the pipe. I also insulate the pipe between the hot air outlet on top to the furnace plenum just to preserve the heat and to keep the small furnace room where it's all located from getting hot.

Generally the cold air intake should be as low as possible and the hot air outlet as high as possible. That's with respect to their position on the furnace.
If the hot air outlet is close to the ceiling, you're right, the air up there will be warm but not near the floor.
You can use a room fan to move the room air around or a ceiling fan to drive it down.

I don't see how the outlet can be close to the ceiling. The fireplace is about 36" tall. Mine is set up on 8" Pressure Treated square posts which raises it even closer to the ceiling but it's still 4' or more below the ceiling. The upper grill on the front where the hot air exits can be turned so the air blows down. It ought to be OK.

I will say that I never cease to be amazed at how good the insulation is on the hot box. Even with a high temperature roaring fire, the zero clearance box at the back is never hot. I can always place my hand full y on it anywhere.
The only part that gets hot is the black painted front and only really hot area, say dangerously hot, is the flat steel directly around the door.

I don't know if this answers your questions but hope so.

 

[Eugene]

Thanks Seahunter, it helps a lot. I'm installing clean facing version of Opel 3, so it doesn't have grids on the unit, but have gravity vents connected to the unit with flexible pipes. So I can install them as high as I want. The curtains next to one side with hot air outlet are very close, but seems like it would be Ok.
Thanks again for the information,
Eugene