Looking for a new wood Insert, too many to choose from?

cbirdman75 said:

Hello everyone,

I have been reading up for the past few months on wood burning inserts and not sure what way to lean. Lots of good products out there. I live in western Pa. in a newer home thats 2800 Sq. ft. open ceilings with lots of openings for the warm air to rise to the second floor. The inserts that caught my eye are the Quadra-Fire 5100i, Lopi Freemdom bay and the Pacific Energy Summit. I would like a long burning insert with lots of BTU's and easy maintenance. Like to hear from people that own these models too. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance, Chris

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You might want to look at the Lopi Declaration too. It puts out the same BTU's and firebox size as the Freedom with the nice flush mount that my wife wanted.
2800 sq is pretty big for an insert and the 12 hour burn times they claim are pretty optimistic.
But all and all I am very happy with my insert I'm heating 2300 pretty well with it.

Happy hunting!

Ditto what BB said above.

Go to local dealers and check out the ones you are interested in. Open them up. Look at the 'controls'. Check out the blowers......Ask questions. Come back here and ask more questions and after awhile you will know which one you want to buy.

As BB said , go with the best dealer, it makes a huge difference once the sale is completed and you need help.

I'm sure all three will be great units. I personally can speak to the Quad, their rock solid warranty and their immense heat output. Many good things to say about my 3100i, very few minuses on the stove so far.

cbirdman75 said:

I got a price on the Quadra Fire 5100i $3149 (Nickel) + 24' Insulated liner $863 + $650 to install unit and 24' liner and cap. Grand total $4650-$4750
on the Tax credit I'll save about $1428 or so and get a $200 Stihl gift card.

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how'd you come across the stihl gift card? I though that was a harmon deal?

If it's a long burn your looking for maybe take a look at the Blaze King insert?

I love my Jotul C550 insert. Last year was the 1st year we used wood as our almost primary fuel source and I was very happy. We burned wood about 80% of the time and the house was a comfortable 65* or better all the time (60* upstairs in the bedrooms but we like that). We often used wood as the primary source 100% of the time for several weeks at a time and all was fine. Sometimes it was too hot and we had to open the doors and windows to cool things down a bit. After some tweaking here and there we began to figure out what worked best for our needs. Our winter temps were typically in the 25* - 30* range and barely went above freezing for most of the winter.

We fell in love with the looks of the Jotul C550 and are very happy with everything including the performance of this fine insert. Good seasoned hardwood makes a huge difference as well! One thing I noticed is that your friends will let you know how much they like it as well during their visits.

BrotherBart said:

The Rockland will run you around $2,900.

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BB is right on. I paid $2,900 in May (before it "qualified" for the tax credit) for my Rockland including Surround.