Glacier Bay Wood Stoves: Coal-Wood Inserts, Parts and Replacements
This guide is about the Glacier Bay wood stove — the heavy coal-and-wood heater and fireplace insert from upstate New York — not the Home Depot faucet and toilet brand that shares the name. If you have a heavy black box in the fireplace with two doors, shaker grates and Glacier Bay on it, you are in the right place.
These stoves were built to last and many still run. The company is long gone, though, and owners usually arrive with one of three questions: what is it, can I still get parts, and what replaces it?
Quick answer: what replaces a Glacier Bay wood stove
- Glacier Bay insert: Drolet Escape 1800-I insert, $1,799, up to 2,100 sq ft (No confirmed date)
- Insert + 25 ft liner: Escape 1800-I liner kit bundle, $2,199 (Ships Nov 17)
- Freestanding, large house: Drolet HT-3000, $1,899, up to 2,700 sq ft (Ships in about 2 weeks)
- Freestanding, small space: Drolet Escape 1200 N, $1,129, 250–1,200 sq ft (Ships in 6–10 weeks)
No Sales Tax in any state, free shipping over $250 and the full manufacturer warranty from an authorized Drolet dealer. Not sure which size fits? Call 1-888-914-0022 with your firebox and chimney measurements.
What a Glacier Bay stove is
Glacier Bay stoves were made in upstate New York, and possibly elsewhere by licensees, during the late-1970s and 1980s wood-and-coal boom. Owners date their units from a 1978 install on Long Island to the mid-1980s. One forum member says the company was originally Gibraltar Stoves, and the Gibraltar (also spelled Gibraltor) shares many of the same interior parts — so a Gibraltar manual or part is often the closest match you will find.
They were sold both as fireplace inserts and as freestanding stoves, and built as dual-fuel coal-wood heaters. Hearth.com's reference page calls them "very heavy duty," and owners still running them describe them as good stoves for their era.
How to identify one
| Feature | What owners report |
|---|---|
| Doors | Solid upper and lower doors, each with an air control knob |
| Grates | Shaker grates worked with a removable handle; ash pan below |
| Firebox | Firebrick lined, about 18" × 17" |
| Baffle | Flat steel plate on side brackets, about 20½" wide |
| Coal plate | Removable plate inside the loading door holds coal in |
| Flue | 8" round opening in the back half of the top |
| Blower | Side-mounted squirrel-cage blower on many inserts; some have two fans |
Some units reportedly have double doors that open for a fire view. Inserts came with a bolt-together surround — two sides and a top. One freestanding unit an owner measured was 25" wide, 25" high and 24" deep.
Parts and value
There is no factory and no successor holding the tooling. What you can still do:
- Baffle. The original is a plain steel plate. Owners have had new ones cut from heavy steel or lighter stainless; one reports replacing his about every five years.
- Blower. Glacier Bay likely did not make its own. Owners suggest pulling a fan, reading its plate and matching it at an industrial supplier such as Grainger.
- Brick and gasket. Standard firebrick and gasket rope fit with some cutting.
Grates, doors and castings are the hard part. If a shaker grate or door frame is cracked, you are hunting for a used Glacier Bay or Gibraltar to strip. Value follows: a working unit sells to someone who wants one specifically, but there is no collector market.
If you burn coal, read this first
We don't sell coal stoves, and no certified wood stove or insert is a substitute for one — different grates, a different air path and different fuel handling. If coal is your fuel, keep the Glacier Bay running or buy a dedicated coal stove elsewhere; we would rather tell you than sell you the wrong appliance.
If you mostly burned wood in it anyway, or you are ready to switch, the rest of this guide applies. One owner calls his a "wood hog" when burning wood around the clock, which is where a modern firebox pays back fastest. Our coal stove vs wood stove guide lays out the trade honestly.
The certification problem
Glacier Bays predate the 1988 EPA wood heater standard, so there is no certification, tested efficiency or emissions figure. That rarely matters while it sits where it has sat for forty years. It becomes a problem when you move it, sell the house or your insurer asks about the solid-fuel appliance. Call both your carrier and your building department before spending money either way. Our EPA certification guide covers the current standard.
What replaces a Glacier Bay
Every unit below ships with No Sales Tax in any state and free shipping over $250, and shows its live shipping status.
Replacing a Glacier Bay insert
Many Glacier Bays still in service are inserts, and the closest modern match is the Drolet Escape 1800-I ($1,799, No confirmed date). It covers up to 2,100 sq ft at 75,000 BTU/h, burns up to 8 hours, takes 20-inch logs and includes a variable-speed blower — the job your old side-mounted fan did. The Escape 1800-I bundle with faceplate and 25 ft liner kit ($2,199, Ships Nov 17) puts the insert, surround and stainless liner in one order.
For a smaller fireplace, the Englander Blue Ridge 150-I ($1,589, Ships in 2–6 weeks) heats 250–1,200 sq ft. The Englander Blue Ridge 300-I ($1,799, Ships in 6–10 weeks) is the USA-built alternative to the 1800-I at 500–2,100 sq ft, and the Drolet Escape 1500-I ($1,729, Ships in 2–6 weeks) sits between at up to 1,800 sq ft. Measure your fireplace opening before choosing; the fireplace insert guide compares all eight side by side.
Replacing a freestanding Glacier Bay
If yours heated a whole floor, the Drolet HT-3000 ($1,899, Ships in about 2 weeks) covers up to 2,700 sq ft at 110,000 BTU/h, takes 22-inch logs and burns up to 10 hours. The Drolet Escape 1800 on legs ($1,549, Ships in 2–6 weeks) covers 500–2,100 sq ft. For a cabin, shop or single room, the Drolet Escape 1200 N ($1,129, Ships in 6–10 weeks) and Englander Blue Ridge 100 N ($1,099, Ships in 1–3 days) both cover 250–1,200 sq ft.
The honest comparison
A Glacier Bay's strength is mass and simplicity: heavy plate, firebrick and shaker grates with almost nothing to fail. Its weakness is that it was built to burn coal well and wood adequately, with no secondary combustion. A modern non-catalytic firebox burns the smoke a Glacier Bay sends up the flue, so it gets more heat from less wood. It also needs properly seasoned wood to do it.
Before you swap
- Flue size. The Glacier Bay's exhaust opening is 8 inches; every unit above uses a 6-inch flue. An insert needs a full-length 6-inch stainless liner to the top of the chimney. See the chimney liner guide and the stovepipe guide.
- Coal residue. A chimney that has carried coal smoke should be swept and inspected before a new appliance goes on it.
- Clearances and hearth. Take them from the new unit's manual — see the hearth pad guide and installation guide.
Bottom line
Keep a Glacier Bay if you burn coal and it still seals. Replace it if you burn wood, you're tired of feeding it, or the grates and doors are going. The Escape 1800-I replaces an insert, the HT-3000 or Escape 1800 a large freestanding unit, and the Escape 1200 N a small one. All ship with No Sales Tax in any state and free shipping over $250. Browse wood stove inserts or all wood stoves, or call 1-888-914-0022 with your fireplace measurements.
Replacing another vintage stove?
Same honest assessment for the other brands owners still run: All Nighter, Fisher, Waterford, Warm Morning, Atlanta Homesteader, Nashua, Dutchwest and Federal Airtight, Timberline and Earth Stove.