Drolet vs Englander vs ComfortBilt: Which One Fits Your House?

We carry three brands. They do not overlap much, which makes this easier than it looks — most people can be pointed at the right one in about two minutes.

Here is the short version, then the detail.

Brand What it is Buy it if
Drolet Wood stoves, the widest range we sell You burn cordwood and want the most firebox per dollar
Englander American-built wood stoves, inserts and camp stoves You want US manufacturing, or you need a fireplace insert
ComfortBilt Pellet stoves and pellet inserts You want thermostat-controlled heat and bagged fuel

Step one: wood or pellet?

This decision comes before the brand, and it usually settles itself on one question: what happens when the power goes out?

A wood stove keeps heating. A pellet stove does not — it needs electricity for the auger and blower. If outages are routine where you live, or the stove is your backup plan, you want wood. If you have reliable power and want to set a thermostat and forget it, pellet is the easier appliance to live with.

The other split is fuel. Cordwood runs roughly $10–$15 per million BTU delivered, and close to nothing if you cut your own. Pellets run roughly $18–$30. Pellets buy convenience, not cheaper heat. Our full wood vs pellet comparison works through it properly.

Wood means Drolet or Englander. Pellet means ComfortBilt or the Englander 25-CBPAH.

Drolet — the wood default

Drolet Escape 1800 wood stove on pedestal, side view

Drolet is made by Stove Builder International in Quebec, one of the largest hearth manufacturers in North America. It is the brand we point most wood buyers at, for a simple reason: the range is wide enough to fit almost any house, and the firebox-per-dollar is the best we sell.

The ladder, by size:

Model Best for Price
Fox Small spaces, cabins, decorative cast door $999
Spark II Small to mid rooms $999
Deco Nano Compact, contemporary styling $1,079
Columbia II Mid-size rooms, up to 1,800 sq ft —
Escape 1500 Mid-size rooms $1,349
Deco II Contemporary, up to 1,800 sq ft $1,349
Escape 1800 The volume seller, up to 2,100 sq ft $1,549
Heritage Traditional styling $1,589
HT-3000 Large or open-plan, up to 2,700 sq ft $1,899
Escape 2100 Large homes $1,929
Heat Commander II Whole-house ducted wood furnace $4,349
Bistro cookstove Heat plus a real wood-fired oven $2,849

The Escape 1800 is the one most people land on — 2.4 cu ft firebox, 75,000 BTU/h, up to 2,100 sq ft, 20-inch logs. If you are heating more than that, the HT-3000 steps up to a 3.5 cu ft firebox and 22-inch logs. Full breakdown in Best Drolet Wood Stoves.

Englander — American-built, and the insert answer

Englander Blue Ridge 500 wood stove, front view

Englander is built in Virginia. Since 2022 it has been owned by SBI — the same parent as Drolet — with the American factory continuing production. So you get US manufacturing with a major hearth company behind the warranty. The history is in our SBI brand guide.

Two reasons to pick Englander over Drolet:

You want it made in America. Straightforward. The Blue Ridge line runs 100 ($1,049), 300L ($1,419), 300P ($1,449) and 500 ($1,749), compared in Best Englander Wood Stoves.

You have an existing fireplace. This is the big one. Englander is where our wood insert range lives — the 150-I ($1,589), 300-I ($1,799) and 500-I ($2,219), all with blowers included. If you are converting an open masonry fireplace to a real heater, this is the line to look at — see the insert guide. You will also need a liner; our chimney liner guide covers sizing.

Englander also covers camp stoves the other brands do not: the Cub ($269), Black Bear ($299) and Grizzly ($369), plus the Cub kit bundle at $429.

ComfortBilt — pellet

ComfortBilt HP22 pellet stove in black, front view

If you have decided on pellet, ComfortBilt is our main line — 80.5% EPA-certified efficiency, 7-day programmable thermostat control, and a hopper range that covers everything from a small room to a large house.

Model Best for Price
HP50S Slim cabinet, tight spaces, 80.4% efficient $1,899
HP21 Compact entry $1,949
HP61 Mid-range $2,299
HP22 The volume seller — 42,000 BTU, up to 2,800 sq ft, 55 lb hopper $2,399
HP22N 80 lb hopper, up to 32 hrs per fill $2,599
HP22i Pellet insert for an existing fireplace $2,799
HP75C Largest in the line, 80.7% EPA-certified $4,899

Most people want the HP22. Step to the HP22N if you would rather fill the hopper every other day than every day. Full comparison in Best ComfortBilt Pellet Stoves, and buying the stove with its hearth pad as a combo saves $249.

Two pellet alternatives worth knowing: the Englander 25-CBPAH ($2,199) carries a 120 lb hopper rated up to 75 hours per fill — the longest run time we sell, and American-built. And the Drolet ECO-65R ($4,129) is the cleanest-burning stove in our catalog at 0.77 g/h with a 105-hour hopper.

Pick by situation

Your situation Start here
Power goes out regularly Drolet or Englander wood — no electricity needed
You have an open masonry fireplace Englander wood insert or ComfortBilt HP22i
You want to set it and forget it ComfortBilt HP22
You have free or cheap firewood Drolet Escape 1800
Made in USA matters to you Englander Blue Ridge
Heating 2,500+ sq ft with wood Drolet HT-3000 or Escape 2100
Whole house, ducted Drolet Heat Commander II
Cabin, shop or small room Drolet Fox or ComfortBilt HP50S
You want heat and an oven Drolet Bistro cookstove
Tent or camp Englander camp stoves

If the space is tight

The most common reason a stove will not fit is clearance to combustibles, not floor space — and it is usually solvable. A certified wall heat shield reduces the required clearance, and the $439 modular shield is certified for nearly everything we sell: the Columbia II, Deco Nano, Escape 1200/1500/1800/2100, Fox, Spark II, Heritage, HT-3000 and Blackcomb II, plus all four Englander Blue Ridge stoves.

Before you rule out a stove on space, read our heat shield guide — or call us with the stove model and the distance to your nearest wall.

What is the same across all three

Every stove we sell is EPA 2020 certified, ships free to your curb across the lower 48, and carries No Sales Tax in any state. We are an authorized dealer for all three brands, so warranties are factory-backed and parts come through the manufacturer. And we ship from stock — no build queue, no dealer quote.

Still not sure?

Call 1-888-914-0022 with your square footage, your insulation, and whether your power is reliable. That is genuinely all we need to point you at one model. We would rather send you to the cheaper stove that fits than the expensive one that does not.

Related guides

Updated August 2026

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