Back in the spring of 2014, after 23 years, I had finally had enough of feeding my 48" wide Heatilator with massive pieces of wood, hoping to get ahead of my propane bill. My wife and I agreed that an insert might be the way to go. Well, I made the decision and she agreed (my back couldn't take it anymore).
That's when I started looking online for info and quickly stumbled across this website. I soon figured out that all of the best, unbiased information I could ever hope to find was contained within these website walls. Goldmine!
After about 6 months of on-again, off-again reading here, we decided on getting an Osburn Matrix insert, based on the comments and opinions I found here. The looks were great and the ratings of that unit fit our situation nicely. We have a 1700 sq. ft. earth-contact home, built in 1991. Open design with a hallway heading to the bedrooms/ baths. Attached garage with the fireplace sharing that wall.
We purchased the insert from a local dealer for a couple hundred dollars more than the online dealers. Felt like a good point-of-contact was worth it? Got the 6" hard-pipe liner online (good deal/ good service), made me second guess myself for NOT buying the insert from them as well. Installed it myself with no problems (my work history is construction).
That first winter (2014-15) we burned as much wood as we had before (approx. 3 cords). However, the pieces of wood were smaller and the fire was constant. Instead of burning nights and weekends, only, as we had the previous 23 years. We had a couple of chilly mornings during our learning curve, but never turned the furnace on until late March.
Booyah
That first winter taught me a lot on what all of you all meant by DRY wood. The old dragon we used didn't much care about moisture content. This new one does. And when I get a load of really dry wood in there, the heat output is amazing. Just amazing - compared to the old Heatilator. This Matrix has kept us hot when the thermometer was down to 10*, and will surely keep us very warm below that temperature.
Having graduated from the purchase/ installation concerns of this forum, I am now a frequent reader of the "Wood Shed" forum, as well as the "Gear" forum. I don't pretend to know it all, but I know a whole lot more because of Hearth.com. All thanks to you guys - the contributors to this wonderful site.
This is my first post, just got registered last week. Been reading for 2 years. I now have a 3 year supply of wood stacked up in my shed with next year's bunch split, stacked, top-covered and catching the breeze. Mostly thorny locust, oak and hickory. I drive down the roads and look at trees with a keen eye on the dead ones.
It is an illness, isn't it?
That's when I started looking online for info and quickly stumbled across this website. I soon figured out that all of the best, unbiased information I could ever hope to find was contained within these website walls. Goldmine!
After about 6 months of on-again, off-again reading here, we decided on getting an Osburn Matrix insert, based on the comments and opinions I found here. The looks were great and the ratings of that unit fit our situation nicely. We have a 1700 sq. ft. earth-contact home, built in 1991. Open design with a hallway heading to the bedrooms/ baths. Attached garage with the fireplace sharing that wall.
We purchased the insert from a local dealer for a couple hundred dollars more than the online dealers. Felt like a good point-of-contact was worth it? Got the 6" hard-pipe liner online (good deal/ good service), made me second guess myself for NOT buying the insert from them as well. Installed it myself with no problems (my work history is construction).
That first winter (2014-15) we burned as much wood as we had before (approx. 3 cords). However, the pieces of wood were smaller and the fire was constant. Instead of burning nights and weekends, only, as we had the previous 23 years. We had a couple of chilly mornings during our learning curve, but never turned the furnace on until late March.
Booyah
That first winter taught me a lot on what all of you all meant by DRY wood. The old dragon we used didn't much care about moisture content. This new one does. And when I get a load of really dry wood in there, the heat output is amazing. Just amazing - compared to the old Heatilator. This Matrix has kept us hot when the thermometer was down to 10*, and will surely keep us very warm below that temperature.
Having graduated from the purchase/ installation concerns of this forum, I am now a frequent reader of the "Wood Shed" forum, as well as the "Gear" forum. I don't pretend to know it all, but I know a whole lot more because of Hearth.com. All thanks to you guys - the contributors to this wonderful site.
This is my first post, just got registered last week. Been reading for 2 years. I now have a 3 year supply of wood stacked up in my shed with next year's bunch split, stacked, top-covered and catching the breeze. Mostly thorny locust, oak and hickory. I drive down the roads and look at trees with a keen eye on the dead ones.
It is an illness, isn't it?
Did anyone mention that we like pics. Pics or it didn't happen
