Nashua Wood Stoves: What They Heat, What They're Worth, What Replaces Them
Nashua stoves came out of New Hampshire in the 1970s and are remembered for two things: quarter-inch plate steel construction, and an advertisement in which the company detonated a stick of dynamite inside one. The stove survived. So did the door latch and the glass.
That reputation is why so many are still sitting in basements half a century later. Nashua itself did not survive — the company moved into coal stoves during the early-1980s coal boom and went out of business shortly after. Nothing has been built under the name since.
Quick answer: what replaces a Nashua stove
- NFP-1: Drolet Escape 1200 N, $1,129, 250–1,200 sq ft (Ships in 6–10 weeks)
- NFP-1, Englander option: Englander Blue Ridge 100 N, $1,099, 250–1,200 sq ft (Ships in 1–3 days)
- NFP-2: Drolet Escape 1800 on legs, $1,549, 500–2,100 sq ft (Ships in 2–6 weeks)
No Sales Tax in any state, free shipping over $250 and the full manufacturer warranty from an authorized Drolet and Englander dealer. Not sure which size fits? Call 1-888-914-0022 with your model and square footage. Own an NC-1 or NC-2 coal stove? Read the coal section below first.
The model range
Nashua rated its stoves in cubic feet rather than square feet, which trips people up when comparing against anything modern. Both figures are below — the square-foot column assumes 8 ft ceilings, so adjust if yours are higher.
| Model | Fuel | Nashua's rating | Roughly (8 ft ceilings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFP-1 | Wood | 7,000–10,000 cu ft | 875–1,250 sq ft |
| NFP-2 | Wood | 12,000–16,000 cu ft | 1,500–2,000 sq ft |
| NC-1 | Coal | 6,000–9,000 cu ft | 750–1,125 sq ft |
| NC-2 | Coal | 10,000–14,000 cu ft | 1,250–1,750 sq ft |
NFP is the wood line, NC the coal line. Which one you have determines almost everything about what comes next.
If yours is a coal stove, read this first
We do not sell coal stoves, and no EPA certified wood stove is a substitute for one. They are different appliances with different grates, different air paths and different fuel handling. If you're committed to burning coal, a modern wood stove is not your answer and we'd rather say so than sell you the wrong thing.
If you're open to switching fuels, the rest of this applies — and switching is what most remaining Nashua coal owners end up doing, because household coal supply has become genuinely difficult in most of the country. The same question comes up for Warm Morning and Atlanta Homesteader owners, and coal stove vs wood stove lays out the trade honestly.
Parts and value
Parts for Nashua stoves are effectively unobtainable. There's no factory, no successor company holding the tooling, and no meaningful aftermarket. Anything you need has to be fabricated or salvaged from another unit.
On resale value: these are not collector items. A Nashua in genuinely good condition that needs nothing might fetch a few hundred dollars; one needing work is often worth less than the cost of hauling it. Don't hold onto one expecting an appreciating asset.
And as with any pre-1988 stove, there's no EPA certification, no tested efficiency figure and no emissions number. That rarely matters while the stove sits where it has always sat, but it becomes an obstacle when you relocate it, sell the house, or your insurer asks about the solid-fuel appliance. Call your carrier and your local building department before spending anything either way. Our EPA certification guide covers what today's standard requires.
What replaces a Nashua
Replacing an NFP-1
At roughly 875–1,250 sq ft, the NFP-1 lines up with the Drolet Escape 1200 N ($1,129), which covers 250–1,200 sq ft. The Englander Blue Ridge 100 N ($1,099) is the Englander alternative, and the Drolet Fox ($999) is the least expensive certified stove we sell.
Replacing an NFP-2
The NFP-2 was the whole-house stove at roughly 1,500–2,000 sq ft. The Drolet Escape 1800 ($1,549) is our best seller and sits squarely in that range. The Drolet Escape 1500 ($1,349) covers 500–1,800 sq ft if the NFP-2 was over-sized for the house, and the Drolet Escape 2100 ($1,929) covers 1,000–2,700 sq ft if it wasn't.
The full range is broken out by home size in the Drolet wood stove guide.
The honest comparison
A Nashua will outlast almost anything. What it won't do is burn efficiently. Pre-secondary-combustion stoves send a large share of the fuel's energy up the flue as unburned gas — that's the whole reason the 1988 standard exists. A modern non-catalytic stove burns those gases in the firebox instead, which means noticeably less wood for the same heat across a season.
The adjustment: modern stoves want properly seasoned wood. A Nashua would burn almost anything you put in it, badly. A secondary-burn stove won't perform on wet fuel.
Before you swap
Nashua stoves were typically vented at 8 inches; modern stoves use 6. Expect a new connector, and check the masonry flue — an oversized flue on a modern stove draws poorly and needs relining. See the chimney liner guide and the chimney and stovepipe guide.
Clearances and floor protection come from the new stove's manual — never from where the old one sat. See the hearth pad guide and the installation guide.
Bottom line
Nashua built stoves to survive dynamite, and plenty of them have survived forty-odd years of use. But with no parts, no certification and no efficiency to speak of, there's not much argument for keeping one going once it needs real work.
Escape 1200 N or Blue Ridge 100 N for an NFP-1, Escape 1800 for an NFP-2. All ship with No Sales Tax in any state and free shipping over $250. Browse all wood stoves for sale or call 1-888-914-0022 with your model and the square footage you're heating.
Replacing another vintage stove?
Same honest assessment for the other brands owners still run: Warm Morning, Atlanta Homesteader, Fisher, All Nighter, Timberline, Riteway, Earth Stove and Dutchwest and Federal Airtight.