Best Fireplace insert

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John McDonald

John McDonald

New Member
Jan 12, 2013
19
Gonzales,Louisiana
Who make the best insert for a wood fireplace? I'm talking top of the line. It will bee heating a 2000 sf house. The insert should have the best warranty and made out of the best materials. Does'nt matter if it's the most exspensive or the cheapest .
 
Kind of like asking what is the best car. Very subjective, and lots of variables. Very happy with Jotul 550, but lots of happy insert owners out there.
 
I got FPX because it's what I could sell the wife on. Buttttttttt, if I could have say, tiled in the fireplace hole, put in a nice free-standing, I would have done that...what are your options?
 
Several stoves have a "limited" lifetime warranty. Regency makes fine stoves, so does Enviro, Jotul, Lopi, Pacific Energy, Osburn, etc.. It is more a case of finding the one that has the right features, look and fit for your needs. Is this going in a masonry fireplace?
 
Is the style or look important? How open is the fireplace room to the rest of the house? How large is this room or area?
 
A loaded Question!!

Again you will get many replies. MAny like
blaze kings, I think there appealing as well for the long burn times. But when you kind of do the math out on how big they are, other stoves are not that much different in burn times. I have a High Valley 2500, and can heat my 2500 sqft with stove on one side of the uninsulated house. Its pushing it but I can get by with reloads from 8-12 housrs. When its not as cold I can go 24 hours on a load.
 
Ok, that reduces options. It also means you will have to have the blower running to get heat out. Travis inserts (Lopi/FPX) would be a good place to start. The Jotul C550 is a quality unit that has a classic look. For a more contemporary look, there is the Hearthstone Clydesdale. Still need to know more about the house and fireplace room. I'm not sure if any of these will fit without fireplace dimensions. And I'm not sure how well they will heat without knowing more about the area the fireplace is in and the openess of the floorplan.
 
The house is not built yet so I can make it any size I want.The house is going to be a open floor plan with the fireplace on a inner wall in the center of the house around 2000 sf.
 
Look at RSF. Also RSF Renaissance Rumford. An actual fireplace that burns clean like an EPA stove or insert. Look aat their web site. Quality units, lifetime warranty, very solid. Not inexpensive.
 
If the house isn't built yet why get an insert (said the guy with the insert)? Go with a fireplace and and make it look however you want. There's at least one recent very nice example on the forum (calling Scotty).
 
John McDonald said:
Can I get a fireplace as effecient as a insert.
Click to expand...

At least as efficient. Inserts are a bit of a compromise that convert a poor heating fireplace into something functional. A purpose built fireplace does not have to compromise.
 
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or get a free standing stove to get more heat out than having an insert which sits in the fireplace and heats bricks, that if an outside chimney you loose to the outside.
 
You also have the choice to build a nice brick hearth that you can put just about any freestanding stove you want, more choices and if the power goes out you still get heat, also a freestander will heat better than an insert.
 
In some cases a ducted fireplace can heat better than a freestander because it can blow heat in other areas of the house that are closed off from the stove area. That's why I asked questions a while back about the stove area and house layout. The location of the stove or fireplace relative to the floor layout can make a big difference in how well the heat convects throughout the house.
 
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