Hi All,
I currently have a Drolet Escape 1400i wood burning fireplace insert that i'm considering upgrading. It has been a solid stove for a great price and has been a good introduction to wood burning for me. But, this is my third season with it and i've come to realize its shortcomings. My home is a 2,050 sq. ft. ranch built in 1971, in central Michigan. It has standard fiberglass insulation in the walls but is now well insulated in the attic (over R-60). Not super air tight but not an old farmhouse either. I installed a stainless steel 6" liner with cap when I installed the stove, and the fireplace is centrally located in the house, no trouble with draft. I have added 24" worth of tile in front of the fireplace when I installed new flooring in the room (see pictures). The fireplace and opening is large, I have lots of clearance around the small Drolet.
My goal of the woodstove is to heat the house during the shoulder months (late September through November, March-May), and assist the natural gas boiler during the coldest months to save $$$. The hot water heat lends itself well to this because the house has 4 zones (3 upstairs) so I can heat the majority of the house with the stove and just use the boiler for the bedrooms overnight. Because the house is a large ranch without a particularly open floor plan it isn't realistic to try to heat the whole house without the room with the fireplace to be >80-85 degrees. The ambiance of the fire is nice as well, but not my primary reason.
The drolet has good heat output, nearly enough for the size of the house. It's rated at ~50k BTU which would be enough to heat the house except for January/February if its heat output was more consistent. Therein lies the problem-the firebox is only 1.8 cubic ft. so I can only fit 3-4 decent size splits (E/W) at a time. Getting a decent overnight burn is difficult, 5-6 hours is about the limit to have enough coals to quickly restart a fire and not let the stove get cold enough for the thermostat controlled blower to shut off. It also doesn't have much height to hold ash (bigger problem when I'm burning Ash wood!).
So, i'm looking for suggestions for a good value insert with longer burn times. I work ~8-5 every day so I'd like to be able to load the stove before bed (7-8 hours) and have decent heat output overnight, restoke/reload while I'm getting ready in the morning and last for 9-10 hours until I get home to reload again. Given the option I'd prefer to not have a cat stove but if that's required to get the 9+ hour burn times then I would consider it.
Thanks for all feedback,
-Josh
I currently have a Drolet Escape 1400i wood burning fireplace insert that i'm considering upgrading. It has been a solid stove for a great price and has been a good introduction to wood burning for me. But, this is my third season with it and i've come to realize its shortcomings. My home is a 2,050 sq. ft. ranch built in 1971, in central Michigan. It has standard fiberglass insulation in the walls but is now well insulated in the attic (over R-60). Not super air tight but not an old farmhouse either. I installed a stainless steel 6" liner with cap when I installed the stove, and the fireplace is centrally located in the house, no trouble with draft. I have added 24" worth of tile in front of the fireplace when I installed new flooring in the room (see pictures). The fireplace and opening is large, I have lots of clearance around the small Drolet.
My goal of the woodstove is to heat the house during the shoulder months (late September through November, March-May), and assist the natural gas boiler during the coldest months to save $$$. The hot water heat lends itself well to this because the house has 4 zones (3 upstairs) so I can heat the majority of the house with the stove and just use the boiler for the bedrooms overnight. Because the house is a large ranch without a particularly open floor plan it isn't realistic to try to heat the whole house without the room with the fireplace to be >80-85 degrees. The ambiance of the fire is nice as well, but not my primary reason.
The drolet has good heat output, nearly enough for the size of the house. It's rated at ~50k BTU which would be enough to heat the house except for January/February if its heat output was more consistent. Therein lies the problem-the firebox is only 1.8 cubic ft. so I can only fit 3-4 decent size splits (E/W) at a time. Getting a decent overnight burn is difficult, 5-6 hours is about the limit to have enough coals to quickly restart a fire and not let the stove get cold enough for the thermostat controlled blower to shut off. It also doesn't have much height to hold ash (bigger problem when I'm burning Ash wood!).
So, i'm looking for suggestions for a good value insert with longer burn times. I work ~8-5 every day so I'd like to be able to load the stove before bed (7-8 hours) and have decent heat output overnight, restoke/reload while I'm getting ready in the morning and last for 9-10 hours until I get home to reload again. Given the option I'd prefer to not have a cat stove but if that's required to get the 9+ hour burn times then I would consider it.
Thanks for all feedback,
-Josh
