New Home, Time for a insert?

I was in a similar situation as you. We had an old fireplace that we stuck a pellet insert in. From your original post, it sounds like the cost is a big deterrent for you, and pellet stoves are not generally cheap. Even a cheaper unit will run you 2K to 3K, after install and liner. Have you looked on craigslist?

Brother Bart was right in the other forum.. at this point dry wood will be a big issue now and moving forward for the next season. I have both, a pellet burner and wood stove. Run 3 chord through the stove and 1.5 tons through the pellet burner. They both have their advantages. If you do not have a spouse at home to keep the stove burning or do not have your own wood supply.. pellets are for you. From my experience, the price you pay or convenience of the pellet fuel is... cleaning. You have to clean a pellet stove once a week or every other. This may be a 10 minute or 25 minute process. You can stack a ton of pellets in 15 minutes... a chord of wood will take much longer than that. Wood you have to plan 2 years ahead. Pellets.. get it done by august unless you are pig... ahem. I like the fact that you can set a pellet stove by a thermostat. Turn it down at night.. pump it up 1 hour before you get up. Same for when you get home. Any good stove is an expense. Payback (ROI) should be secondary to comfort. You would never keep you room at 75 with oil or propane (gas is a different story). It is very easy to do so with a wood stove (almost impossible not to) and less expensive with a pellet stove.

With a geothermal system.. hopefully you have a good installer who is local. Lots of moving parts and it does use more electricity than fossil fuel heaters. I would definitely put in a second source of heat that can keep your place warm when the geo pumps fail. Because it is not your main source of heat, keeping wood around is much more difficult and a ton of pellets.

I have had both also. but now have a pellet insert. When I had the wood insert the heat was awesome but cutting , splitting and stacking ,hauling was like a part time job or hobby. Plus the wife didn't like the bugs/dirt and stuff that comes with the wood. When I was burning wood I had a pickup truck, stil saw, Hydraulic splitter, maul ,wedges, tarps, With the pellet insert dump a bag of pellets in and set it and forget it. But for some reason sometimes I do miss the wood.

You will be extremely limited looking on Craig's list for a used insert and you don't know what fits. Inserts are more difficult to maintain because of access. Consider a freestanding unit that you exhaust thru the fireplace flue.

If you have the room, I'd consider a freestanding unit as well. Much greater selection, both new and used.

I don't think you ever said what your primary heat source is, did you? That definitely would factor into everything. Like DB said, if you have room seriously consider installing a free standing unit. The exhaust system is much cheaper to send it right out an outside wall rather than up the chimney. I say this having two inserts myself! hahaha. Also with the fireplace and a freestander you would still have the option of using the fireplace in a pinch.
As I often posit, living in Ohio, you probably have a source for coal and there are a LOT of very beautiful, efficient state of the art coal burners out there now. No more of the 'grand dad's basement monsters'. My brother in law told me today that he paid $170 a ton for rice coal for his Keystoker in NE Pa. that puts out 90,000 btu's. You won't find any pellet stove that comes close to that. AND coal has WAY MORE btu's per ton. Just saying.

I agree..mine is free standing in a hearth. Easy to clean is key.

Look at AMFM energy. You could get a Englander insert for $1350. Not sure what cost of install or venting would be, but it's a more economical option, plus you have the customer support of Englander, which is second to none.

Many people who visit here have bought the refurbished AMFM stoves and have been very satisfied. A 2200 sq ft unit for $999??? That's a heck of a deal!
With propane, you definitely could save money with a pellet stove! I speak from experience with that one!

If you're not using pellets for primary heat then I'd consider leaving the fireplace as is. I like my pellet stove inset and it has saved me thousands in oil costs over the few years I've had it. But I miss my fireplace and burning a wood fire. So if you're just going to use it part time, get one of those balloon things to prevent your fireplace from losing heat when you're not using it, and enjoy a crackling fire. My 2 cents.

Cold1313 said:

I found this on Craigslist.... what do you think?
http://cleveland.craigslist.org/ppd/4171440162.html

They also said "Still have one Fahrenheit E 50 furnace new, and one E 50 used"

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Can't help you with the Magnum insert, don't know anything about those.

The Fahrenheit pellet furnace is supposed to be a pretty good unit. There are several members and former members that had the Fahrenheit and were pretty happy with the unit. I actually considered purchasing one of those units, but changed my mind after I called the company. It's only rated at 50K BTU, IIRC. Many have claimed it puts out more heat than that, but I'm afraid it would not be enough for my house. I'm heating a 2400 sq ft colonial, and have issues with air leakage and high winds. That, and there are pretty strict limitations on the venting, and I just couldn't find a good install location in my house.

Might be worth calling Fahrenheit to discuss installation options. I wanted a furnace, but it just wouldn't work for me.

The balloon thing is a heavy piece of inflatable rubber that you place where the damper is and then inflate with a hand pump or some other way. It blocks off the area so heat in your room doesn't vanish up the chimney. The link shown one, but the ones I've seen are sturdier.
http://www.amazon.com/Chimney-Balloon-Fireplace-Damper-Stopper/dp/B000ILEIFY

Cold1313 said:

I would think the fiberglass insulation that I have shoved up in there would work better, no?

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As long as you are totally sealed off at the top of the chimney, you should be fine.

Negative. The fiberglass will still allow air to pass through it. You want something to prevent air movement, something impermeable. The fiberglass will slow air down, but not stop it.

mithesaint said:

Negative. The fiberglass will still allow air to pass through it. You want something to prevent air movement, something impermeable. The fiberglass will slow air down, but not stop it.

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I second that one. If you aren't going to seal it at the top, then you need a solid barrier down below. BUT you would do best to run flexible pipe from your insert all the way up your chimney and terminate it up there through a galvanized sheet of steel that is sealed to the top of the chimney.