Stoves

Choose wood if you want powerful heat output, the full sensory experience of a real fire, and complete independence from electricity. Choose pellet if you want automatic ignition, a thermostat that maintains your set temperature, and a fuel that's convenient to store and load.

Gas is the most convenient option: push-button control, a thermostat, the cleanest-burning of all fuels, and flame technology that looks like a real wood fire. Pellet stoves burn safe, recycled wood waste, light automatically, hold a set temperature by thermostat, and offer long burn times.

All Lopi wood and gas fireplace, insert, and stove models will work in a power outage, and the gas models have a battery back-up. Pellet appliances rely on electric augers and fans to run, so wood and gas are the fuels to choose if outage-proof heat matters to you.

There's no universal answer, since it depends on local fuel prices and how you use the stove. Lopi offers a Cost of Heating Worksheet through its dealers to compare what your current setup costs against a new high-efficiency stove or insert, and notes that its high-efficiency gas models use turndown ratios that drop heat output, and operating cost, once the room is warm.

Lopi recommends removing burn platform buildup and ash a minimum of once a week, or as needed for consistent operation. The exact routine depends on pellet quality, how much you use the stove, and the unit itself, and your owner's manual has the full maintenance schedule.

Modern ones come remarkably close. Lopi says its flame technology looks like a real wood fire, with variable flame regulation and heat output so you can dial in both the look and the warmth. Seeing one burn in person at a showroom is the best way to judge.

An insert is designed to convert an existing open fireplace into an efficient heating appliance, and it must be installed into a code-conforming masonry fireplace or a listed and tested manufactured wood-burning fireplace. If there's no fireplace to work with, a freestanding stove is how you add heat to a space or replace an old, inefficient stove.

Gas is the cleanest-burning of the three fuels, with pellet close behind as a highly efficient, clean-burning biomass made from recycled wood waste. Modern EPA-certified wood stoves are remarkably clean too: the large Lopi Liberty NexGen-Hybrid wood stove emits just 0.9 grams per hour.