Review: Lopi Republic 1250
Reviewed November 20, 2013 by
Mike Woods
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Lopi Republic 1250
We recently bought a Lopi Republic 1250 free standing wood stove. Once it gets going, it is a nice little stove. However, we have not found a dependable way to light it without filling up the room with smoke. I believe this is because, unlike more expensive models, it lacks a damper that bypasses the heat recovery system during lighting. The smoke has to travel toward the front of the stove, around a baffle, and back toward the rear of the stove before exiting through the stove pipe. When the stove is cold, the smoke just pours out the door, or, if the door is closed, out the combustion air inlet. The result is a room full of smoke. Eventually, it will start to draft, but not before filling the room with smoke. The retailer proposed installing a hard piped combustion air intake, but that would be expensive and is not practical in our situation.
Given what I know now, I would not buy this stove or any other stove that did not come with a bypass damper for use in lighting. We have another, larger wood stove that has a bypass damper. It lights smoke-free when the damper is open, but it smokes if you try to light it with the damper closed. I am not at all happy with the Lopi 1250.
Mike Woods
Longview, WA