Wood insert in Seattle

Heated with electricity in old stone house never froze but never comfortable .heating just didn't cut it bought proper size stove now instead of walking with hat and sweater i can relax in t-shirt guality of life thats it!

Hey Sunshine, welcome to the forum. When I first bought my house it was super drafty and always felt cold in the winter. I installed an insert the second winter in the house and it made such a difference. The house is so much warmer now, and we've saved thousands in oil. Installing the insert allowed us to stay warm while we continued to make improvements to the house.

That being said, wood burning requires a lot of work and space to store wood. Do you have space to store wood in your yard? Do you have a source for cheap or free wood? If not then maybe a pellet insert is a better option. As stated the best way to keep the house warm is to improve the insulation in the house. But for us it made sense to increase our heating sources first, so we could live comfortably as we made improvements every year (and still continue to do so.).

begreen said:

Is there a flush pellet insert on the market?

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Isn't their hearth requirement different? According to the OP the main reason for a flush insert is that it won't require changes to the hearth.

You do have acess to free wood: its called scrounging on craigslist. The only problems are its only available when someone cuts a tree down in their yard or after a storm, you have to haul it, you have to split it yourself, and its always green wood.
we can burn most days in king county, but there are occasional burn bans during winter.