Supplementing All Electric House with wood burning insert

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ExtraHorizons

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Sep 19, 2008
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Hi everyone,

I'm new here, so I thought I'd introduce myself and let you know what we're planning.

We live in west/central Indiana in a rural area. We have an 11 year old 2300 SF ranch with a finished 1200 SF basement. Our house is all electric, and we FREEZE in the winter as our heat pump doesn't work very well when it gets below 20 degrees. Our electric bills have really been increasing lately so I think it's time to take the jump.

We have a large masonry fireplace (34 x 26) and have been considering an alternate heat source for awhile. We first looked into corn burners, but we have unlimited firewood available; and it seems crazy to pay for corn when our wood will be free. Well- cost free, but not counting my husbands labor. Of course, he gets a new STIHL so he's happy too.

We only have 1 store in our area that sells the masonry fireplace inserts. The dealer recommends the Napoleon 1401 or 1402. I've researched the Napoleon, and it seems like a very nice product with little maintenance involved. The dealer has one 1401 left from last year that he'll sell us for :

Napoleon: 1800 (It has the GOLD door- who ever heard of a gold door?)
Chimney kit: 300
Installation: 400
plus taxes...

The other stove he recommended was a VC that is 1000.00 more. The only real difference is the VC has the catalytic converter and a handy ash pan. Any reasons to go with a VC over the Napoleon?

We plan to distribute the heat through the house by adjusting the air intakes in the rooms, leaving the blower on our furnace running 24 x 7 and turning our ceiling fan on in the great room to distribute the heat that rises. I know our bedrooms will probably be pretty chilly, but if the main areas are warm I can take that.

Does anyone have any other suggestions of things we should consider/review before we purchase?

Has anyone switched from all-electric to supplementing with an insert? Just curious as to how much you feel this lowered your electric bills in the winter.

Thank you!!

Deborah
 
ExtraHorizons said:
Hi everyone,

I'm new here, so I thought I'd introduce myself and let you know what we're planning.
Welcome

We live in west/central Indiana in a rural area. We have an 11 year old 2300 SF ranch with a finished 1200 SF basement. Our house is all electric, and we FREEZE in the winter as our heat pump doesn't work very well when it gets below 20 degrees. Our electric bills have really been increasing lately so I think it's time to take the jump.
Electric rates are continuing to rise, so your making a smart choice.

We have a large masonry fireplace (34 x 26) and have been considering an alternate heat source for awhile. We first looked into corn burners, but we have unlimited firewood available; and it seems crazy to pay for corn when our wood will be free. Well- cost free, but not counting my husbands labor. Of course, he gets a new STIHL so he's happy too.
Is that 34" wide x 26" tall I assume? Thats not all that large, but there is plenty of insert to fit in there. You could also do a hearth stove in front of the fireplace. Its a visual preference thing.
Do you have a sister or friend that needs a man to buy a Stihl for???? Raises hand ;)

We only have 1 store in our area that sells the masonry fireplace inserts. The dealer recommends the Napoleon 1401 or 1402. I've researched the Napoleon, and it seems like a very nice product with little maintenance involved. The dealer has one 1401 left from last year that he'll sell us for :
I don't know much of the Napoleons, but have read a few nice things about them here.

Napoleon: 1800 (It has the GOLD door- who ever heard of a gold door?)
Chimney kit: 300
Installation: 400
plus taxes...
Is $300.00 for a full stainless steel liner with top plate & cap? Sounds like they are quoting only a direct connect? Which is liner up through the damper and into the first lower flue tile only. Makes for a biach cleaning, as the insert would have to be pulled out ever season to clean.

The other stove he recommended was a VC that is 1000.00 more. The only real difference is the VC has the catalytic converter and a handy ash pan. Any reasons to go with a VC over the Napoleon?
VC is having a lil turbulence right now and just was purchased by yet another company. I won't sit here and knock them, but if you search them in the forum, you will see whats up.

We plan to distribute the heat through the house by adjusting the air intakes in the rooms, leaving the blower on our furnace running 24 x 7 and turning our ceiling fan on in the great room to distribute the heat that rises. I know our bedrooms will probably be pretty chilly, but if the main areas are warm I can take that.
You may find the furnace fan will not do as much as you hope it will with distributing heat. Not saying it wont, but there is a chance it wont.

Does anyone have any other suggestions of things we should consider/review before we purchase?
Make a list of wants & needs of your new insert. Blower (a must in my book), I wanted a variable speed blower, and I like that mine has auto on/off set to a specific temp at factory, and a manual on/off. Looks, cf of firebox, etc. Then pick 3 you find closest to your liking. Then narrow to 1. There has got to be more dealers out that way. I would also consider Quadrfire, Pacific Energy, Jotul, Regency etc, etc, etc. Not knocking the Napoleon, just giving options. Its up to you what your wants & needs are, and what insert fits most of them.

Has anyone switched from all-electric to supplementing with an insert? Just curious as to how much you feel this lowered your electric bills in the winter.
Mine doesn't lower much, as Its not electric heat here, so its basically the same consumption year round. So can't help ya there.

Thank you!!

Deborah
Click to expand...
 
I've had some limited experience with Napolean products recently and so far I'm impressed. They seem to be very well made stoves, both the pellet and wood stoves. Enjoy! What are you doing for wood this year? Do you have some seasoned wood ready to go?

Welcome to wood heat.
 
Hogwildz said:
Is that 34" wide x 26" tall I assume? Thats not all that large, but there is plenty of insert to fit in there. You could also do a hearth stove in front of the fireplace. Its a visual preference thing.
Do you have a sister or friend that needs a man to buy a Stihl for???? Raises hand ;)
Click to expand...

Hehe good try :) I'm sure a splitter will be next! You're right, it is 34 x 26. I guess it just looks big as most people have those tiny little fake fireplaces now :)

Napoleon: 1800 (It has the GOLD door- who ever heard of a gold door?)
Chimney kit: 300
Installation: 400
plus taxes...
Is $300.00 for a full stainless steel liner with top plate & cap? Sounds like they are quoting only a direct connect? Which is liner up through the damper and into the first lower flue tile only. Makes for a biach cleaning, as the insert would have to be pulled out ever season to clean.
Click to expand...

Very good question! It says "positive flue connect kit" on the quote. He did mention stainless steel, but I will certainly find out about it. I don't think it's a full liner. It's a tall chimney, we've got 10' ceilings in that room and a pitchy roof.

Does anyone have any other suggestions of things we should consider/review before we purchase?
Make a list of wants & needs of your new insert. Blower (a must in my book), I wanted a variable speed blower, and I like that mine has auto on/off set to a specific temp at factory, and a manual on/off. Looks, cf of firebox, etc. Then pick 3 you find closest to your liking. Then narrow to 1. There has got to be more dealers out that way. I would also consider Quadrfire, Pacific Energy, Jotul, Regency etc, etc, etc. Not knocking the Napoleon, just giving options. Its up to you what your wants & needs are, and what insert fits most of them.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions. It does come with 2 heat blowers, but I'm not sure about variable speeds. Good point.
 
cmonSTART said:
I've had some limited experience with Napolean products recently and so far I'm impressed. They seem to be very well made stoves, both the pellet and wood stoves. Enjoy! What are you doing for wood this year? Do you have some seasoned wood ready to go?

Welcome to wood heat.
Click to expand...

Thanks Master! I've found a few negatives about Napoleon, but they seem to be isolated to people who had poor service from the dealer. The unit itself seems to be pretty well accepted.

We are SO lucky in the wood dept. My family has quite a bit of wooded property, and we have friends with woods as well. They were logged about 2 years ago, and there are HUNDREDS of tree tops that have been seasoning for at least a few years. We've still got about 2 ricks left from last winter, and it will just take some effort to get the rest we'll need.

Most of the trees cut were hardwoods, so this should make for some good fires.

We figure about 10-12 ricks per year based on what some of our friends say.
 
I highly suggest the full liner install. I did my own with 27" here. When cleaning time comes, its a matter of pulling the baffle out, some have baffle tubes, and sweep the junk right into the stove(with door shut), then after it settles scoop or shop vac it out(make sure shop vac has the pleated filter in it). Other wise, its pull the insert out, and they can never seam to get it real clean where the junk falls around the outside of the liner.
Another thing to check/ask dealer, can the baffle or baffle tubes be easily removed to allow for cleaning without pulling the insert out? Makes lief much MUCH easier.

Ok OK, ya talked me into it, if shes getting me a Stihl & a splitter, I'm sold, tell her I accept ;)
 
I live in an all electric basement rancher with finished basement. 1800 up and another 1000 finished basement. Our lowest one month electric usage in the winter was 1000 kwh. Once the insert was installed late November, I was able to keep the upstairs more than comfortably warm without running the heat pump.

Of course, your actual mileage may vary.
 
I installed an insert 2 years ago as a supplementary heat source in the an unused masonry fireplace in a family room. The house is heated with electric baseboard heaters. From a review of power bills I have saved about 4250 kilowatt hours each heating season just with having a fire on on weekday evenings and throughout the weekend.

Having lived through 2 ice storms, one with a 3-day winter power outage, I would recommend a wood stove or insert in our northern climate.

In terms of options I would look at a blower. I have one on the Regency I 2400 insert and find the automatic on/off setting for the blower is a useful feature.


Hope this helps.
 
Thanks so much for the replies.

I'm looking over our electric bill- and we use LOTS. Last January we used 4600 KWH in Jan alone. Our lowest month is October where we used close to 2200. My family has horrible allergies, so we can only open our windows during "non-allergy season". Which in Indiana is very seldom. If we can use the wood burner even 75 percent of the time, then hopefully we can get down close to the October usage more frequently. That would probably save us close to 50.00/month. It will take a few years to pay off the insert, but comfort has to count for something as well.

When we first moved in our entire electric bill averaged 190-200/month. So we used to think being "All Electric" was great. I know our usage hasn't gone up that much, unless the 3 computers I run all day suck that much down:) I'm guessing the rates have really increased over the last 10 years.

We're definitely looking into the flu lining. I have a sneaking feeling our quote was only for a few feet up. Thanks for the warning on that, we never would have known to ask!
 
I hope the wood burning does not affect your allergies also?
 
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