medium vs large insert

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Csmith

New Member
Jul 3, 2006
28
Aye guys,
I am in northern Virginia and trying to decide between a Pacific insert (rated to 2000 sq ft) and a Summit Insert (rated to 3100 sq ft). Depending on how I calculate it the square footage for my early 80s two story house comes out to 1600-2200. The insert is downstairs and in an 325 sq ft room and sits around 10 feet away from the stairs. The room has a ceiling fan and the intake vent for the forced air system.

If I get the larger stove is it possible: to put a small load of wood in it, set it to low, get an all night burn out of it, and not be baked by it

or is the air intake on the larger stove, even on low, so much larger than that of the medium stove that no matter how much/little wood I put it would either not burn throughout the night, or chase me out of the house ?

Or to put it another way - as the capacity of the stove increases , the minimum air intake increases?

thanks for your help
Charles
 
I have the pacific stove and am selling it to buy the summit this fall my house is 2000+ square feet it is down stairs.

The summit one has ebt burns longer, you dont have to fill firebox right up.
 
I think you would be ok with the larger stove. You don't have to fill it up all the time and burn full blast. If you put the same lbs of wood, say 20lbs in both stoves, they would both put out about the same BTU's and burn times. Those manufactures BTU and sq ft numbers have alot of fudge or unseen variables. Insulation, climate, temps, and floor plans all have different effects on heating your home. My opinion is to go a little bigger than what the manufactures numbers are. It's nice to have that larger firebox when you need it.
 
I went through the same dillema last fall, and finally decided on the Summit over the Pacific. I figured that I could always build a smaller fire in a bigger stove, but not the other way around. Glad I did. Summit burns all night, and easily heats my 1800 sq. foot backsplit even at -40.

If I get carried away and things get too hot in the house, I open a window for a while.

Willhound
 
Thanks elkimmeg. New job has been really, really busy. Working about 70 hours a week, but i lurk when I can, and hopefully by sometime this fall I can get back on board on a more consistent basis.

Couldn't resist this Summit thread though. As has been pointed out in the past, the
Summit will cure all manner of diseases and afflictions, create world peace and harmony, and somehow cause their owner's to treat them as a wierd pagan shrine once installed in the home. :lol:

Or you can just enjoy the awesome heat they throw...


Willhound
 
Smitty, have you decided on anything? I live in NoVa too so we're facing the same weather. I would say to buy the insert with as large a firebox as possible. As pointed out previously, you can always put less wood in and damp it down.
 
I have pretty much decided to go with the Summit.

Finally dragged my big buck 28000 up a hill on a handcart, so I can get serious about actually getting the new stove.

The next big hurdle is trying to find a Summit. Talked with Woodburners Two and I am out of their delivery area - they can put it on a pickup truck but were not sure of the pallet dimensions, so it may end up sitting cockeyed over the wheel well, making it tricky to get it off. Talked with Acme Stove in Springfield (not sure if they carry Pacific Energy, Acme Stove Company (no relation) in Harrisonburg supposively does) and they wanted $600 for delivery. Called the PE distributor in Kentucky, they seem to know less than I did about their dealers. So I am down to chimneysweeponline.com or rolling the dice with Woodburners Two.
 
Smitty said:
I have pretty much decided to go with the Summit.

Finally dragged my big buck 28000 up a hill on a handcart, so I can get serious about actually getting the new stove.

The next big hurdle is trying to find a Summit. Talked with Woodburners Two and I am out of their delivery area - they can put it on a pickup truck but were not sure of the pallet dimensions, so it may end up sitting cockeyed over the wheel well, making it tricky to get it off. Talked with Acme Stove in Springfield (not sure if they carry Pacific Energy, Acme Stove Company (no relation) in Harrisonburg supposively does) and they wanted $600 for delivery. Called the PE distributor in Kentucky, they seem to know less than I did about their dealers. So I am down to chimneysweeponline.com or rolling the dice with Woodburners Two.
When i bought my Pacific E. Summit stove it was on a pallet and i picked it up with my F150 and it fit between the wells. PS my home is 1800 sf and two story and i vote for the Summit as well .
 
Yep, mine came in a standard pick-up also. Two of us (me and the installer) were able to wrestle it off the truck with some well placed oak planks for ramps. We then tilted it up on end, carefully so as not to bend or crease the outside shroud, and trimmed the cross members on the pallet with a saw. Doing so allowed us to squeeze the whole thing, pallet and all through a standard 34" door. With the aforementioned oak planks we skidded it down 6 stairs, and onto a moving blanket which allowed us to skid it across the tile floor to the final location where we removed it from the pallet. A short lift (about 12" onto the hearth) and we were in business. All of this was done, of course, without the door installed, or the firebrick in place, which comes in seperate boxes anyway.

Willhound
 
Aye just wanted to add an exclamation point to this.

Got the summit insert, fired it up the other night when it was 65 degrees outside and by only loading two/three small splits, keeping the blower on low and the air intake on medium or so, was able to the keep the upstairs at a comfortable 78 degrees, i.e. it didnt chase me out of the house, so by:

1) the volume of wood (type as well)
2) blower speed
3) the adjustment of the air intake

you really end with a lot of control on the amount heat the stove is putting out

-from a purely economic standpoint, I possibly could have gotten away with a smaller stove, but (as others have pointed out before) if you go too big you can always load less wood (or open a window ;) , but if you go too small - well obviously your options are more limited

-I am somewhat convinced that the stove's suggested heating area is overstated by a 1/3 (of course I like to keep the house around 80 and am too lazy to load the firebox)

-overnight burns even for a novice such as myself are easy

-the stove has cured my leprosy, given me the ability to fly, and to become invisible for short periods of time (okay maybe thats Tequila, but I really like the stove)
 
Smitty said:
Aye just wanted to add an exclamation point to this.

Got the summit insert, fired it up the other night when it was 65 degrees outside and by only loading two/three small splits, keeping the blower on low and the air intake on medium or so, was able to the keep the upstairs at a comfortable 78 degrees, i.e. it didnt chase me out of the house, so by:

1) the volume of wood (type as well)
2) blower speed
3) the adjustment of the air intake

you really end with a lot of control on the amount heat the stove is putting out

-from a purely economic standpoint, I possibly could have gotten away with a smaller stove, but (as others have pointed out before) if you go too big you can always load less wood (or open a window ;) , but if you go too small - well obviously your options are more limited

-I am somewhat convinced that the stove's suggested heating area is overstated by a 1/3 (of course I like to keep the house around 80 and am too lazy to load the firebox)

-overnight burns even for a novice such as myself are easy

-the stove has cured my leprosy, given me the ability to fly, and to become invisible for short periods of time (okay maybe thats Tequila, but I really like the stove)

Where did you buy your stove?
 
BrotherBart said:
Where did you buy your stove?


Woodburners Two in Falls Church ( http://woodburnerstwo.com )

(looked for official PE dealer in NoVa, but no luck, contacted PE they were no help, found Woodburners Two but they would not deliver to my lake of the woods, so ended up transporting via pickup )
 
Unless you are talking about a 2 room cabin, my theory on inserts is get the biggest insert you can fit in your fireplace.My old appalacian fits in the firebox snug.
 
Todd said:
Oh no! Not another Roospike! 8-/
O' Yes .......You better believe it ! The Summit right now as we speak is working on a cure for cancer too.
Welcome to the S.M.W.S.C. "Summit Magic Wood Stove Club" Smitty.
Smitty is telling the Summit story like it is .........Ha ha .

Congrads Smitty . Fire it up brother man .
 
Congrats Smitty. My Summit has been burning pretty much non-stop for two weeks now, and I like it just as much this year as I did last year. Maybe more, as I've been able to figure out pretty much where I like my settings for various parts of the day to stretch the wood and keep the house comfy without overheating.

Will
 
I have the biggest insert my fireplace hole would accept, a osburn 2400.

I figure it should be run with the fan on high... all the time or I am wasting potential heating energy (unless we are watching a movie with a very quiet tone...). our place is way "too small" for that unit according to "specs" but I can throttle the burn rate pretty easily with the damper, but we do have a fully open floor plan ... and like it hot.

we are in love with them, and the dancing flames through the big window are also a hit with every visitor.
 
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