It's official.... Pacific Energy Vista it is.....

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Bocefus78

Minister of Fire
Jul 27, 2010
538
Just Outside Indy
Just got the call......its going to fit! I know its not a huge insert but it is the largest that will fit in my fireplace and also my first woodburner. I'm so pumped.

Now for the idiot noob questions......

1. How much wood will this thing burn up if I only burn at night/weekends? Red oak to be exact. Lets say....in a month time period.

2. Can someone post up some links to the typical "Im new to woodburning help me" stuff... I dont even know what to search for

3. ANY tips related to this particular insert will be great from owners

4. My home is 1800 sq ft. 2 story. about 800 downstairs and 1000 up. Downstairs is all one room. Stairway is about 18 feet from the fireplace with my HVAC air return at the top. You see where I am going with this......is the air return at the top of the stairs going to help recirc. some of that heat in my 3 bedrooms upstairs if I keep the fan running?

5. Tell me how in the world you guys are getting the temp of your chimney pipe?

6. Do rounds burn longer than splits....say a 4-5" diameter round campared to a split of equal size? I know they do in my smoker.....but it runs at 225....not 6-700.

7. Start up procedure.....in detail please......

8. Who knows what else I need to know.....If you think I need to know it, post it here.

Thanks in advance.....Im sure this will become a frequented forum for me.
 
1. How much wood will this thing burn up if I only burn at night/weekends? Red oak to be exact. Lets say....in a month time period.
Depends upon how dry the wood is and the weather.

4. My home is 1800 sq ft. 2 story. about 800 downstairs and 1000 up. Downstairs is all one room. Stairway is about 18 feet from the fireplace with my HVAC air return at the top. You see where I am going with this......is the air return at the top of the stairs going to help recirc. some of that heat in my 3 bedrooms upstairs if I keep the fan running?
I can't speak for your home layout, but the stairs work well to move heat for me, my neighbors and my in-laws.

5. Tell me how in the world you guys are getting the temp of your chimney pipe?
I believe the pipe temps you see mentioned are of the stove pipe and not the chimney liner.

6. Do rounds burn longer than splits....say a 4-5" diameter round campared to a split of equal size? I know they do in my smoker.....but it runs at 225....not 6-700.
Depends upon moisture content. Smokers are completely different animals.

7. Start up procedure.....in detail please......
Many methods. Usually involves a mixture of kindling, a lighter, a firestarter, maybe some newspaper and smaller splits.

8. Who knows what else I need to know.....If you think I need to know it, post it here.
Thermometer. DRY wood.
 
BrowningBAR, thanks for the reply. Where is the best place to buy a MM? What brands/models are popular but not a bank breaker?

Nice name by the way.....I assume thats your deer gun? Getting ready for the opener next week? Ours started last Saturday. No shots fired by me yet. Passed on a small 8 (2.5 year old) and the the neighbor put a .44 in his noggin...... :( LITERALLY!

So much for letting them grow up. Some people never learn.
 
Congratulations on the new stove purchase. For some good tips, explore the articles Craig has posted in the Articles section:
https://www.hearth.com/what/specific.php
And there is a wealth of good information on this site too:
http://www.woodheat.org/

FirefighterJake also assembled a lot of thoughts into this 2 part post:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Jake's_Woodburning_FAQ/
 
Welcome to a fellow Vista Insert owner! It's a great little stove. I had the same issue--it was the biggest that would fit in the fireplace. A few thoughts:

1. I burn about cord and half nights and weekends during the season. Hard to break that down on a monthly basis. Dry wood is essential. Red oak takes a long time to dry (2 years) unless it's cut standing dead. If you don't have really dry wood, get some Bio-bricks or equivalent to mix in.

3. It does have a few quirks to get used to. It's very sensitive to smoke spillage on a reload (it's a small firebox). Wait until the fire has burnt down to coals, open the draft, turn off the blower, open the door slooooowly (not like a refrigerator as someone on here said once), rake the coals to the front, and reload quickly. Cut and split your wood small-- 14 to 16 inches long, no more than about 4 inches in diameter. You won't get an overnight burn, but you'll have coals left in the morning for a restart. Get a stove thermometer. I've mounted mine in the upper left corner of the front of the stove above the door latch.

6. Rounds do burn longer than splits, but see the size criteria above. Don't use all rounds--it won't burn well. I put a larger round in the back and splits in the front and on top. These EPA stoves burn from front to back so on a reload make sure you have some coals in front of the first split to light it.

7. Start up procedure is a hotly debated topic on this board. Many swear by the top-down procedure, but I find the firebox of the Vista too small for a good top-down result. I use a front to back start with a little top down thrown in. I place a larger split in the back, some kindling or a Bio-brick in front with half a Supercedar on top. I then put some more kindling on top (or if I'm using Bio-bricks, make a teepee with two bricks). Open the draft, light the Supercedar, close the door and off it goes. When it's really cold I find I have to get the draft going by putting a piece of crumpled newspaper on top and light that.

A good source for moisture meters and stove thermometers is Harbor Freight or Northline Express.

Enjoy your stove! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
 
You made a good choice. We've had ours for 4 years and it heats our 1350 sq. ft. cape just fine.

I agree with all that fredarm wrote. Make sure your splits are small to get the maximum heat and good burn. I use slabwood cut to 16". It is much less expensive than cord wood and burns much better. Only maintenance issue I have had was with the manifold in the front of the stove. For some reason it was tack-welded in and the ends curled over time causing a bit more difficult loading. I finally removed it, bought a new manifold and just set it in place. Has worked out just fine and only cost about $15.

You might want to practice removing the secondary burn baffle before you get going with the stove. With the small firebox, it's a bit tight to get out, and I've found that it's best to clean the top of it off twice a season since fine ash accumulates up there - but we burn 24/7 all winter here so it might not be an issue for you for a long time.

Enjoy your stove. It's built rock-solid and you'll be amazed at the heat!
 
Bocefus78 said:
Just got the call......its going to fit! I know its not a huge insert but it is the largest that will fit in my fireplace and also my first woodburner. I'm so pumped.

Now for the idiot noob questions...... But first welcome to the forum.

1. How much wood will this thing burn up if I only burn at night/weekends? Red oak to be exact. Lets say....in a month time period. Hard to say . . . I will say this . . . a lot of folks (myself included) thought we would get a woodstove and only burn nights and weekends . . . that lasted about three days before I decided that it was really easy to run the woodstove 24/7 (in some ways it is easier to do so) . . . and I figured that I would save a lot of money by doing so. I think full-timers probably go through an average of 3-6 cords of wood -- obviously the size of the stove, how hot folks like it, insulation, climate, etc. all play a part along with whether they are burning in cycles and burning 24/7 or part-time.

2. Can someone post up some links to the typical "Im new to woodburning help me" stuff... I dont even know what to search for. Well I did take a little bit of time to write this up . . . it may help. https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Jakes_Woodburning_FAQ/

3. ANY tips related to this particular insert will be great from owners Can't help you here.

4. My home is 1800 sq ft. 2 story. about 800 downstairs and 1000 up. Downstairs is all one room. Stairway is about 18 feet from the fireplace with my HVAC air return at the top. You see where I am going with this......is the air return at the top of the stairs going to help recirc. some of that heat in my 3 bedrooms upstairs if I keep the fan running? I have a two-story Cape at about 1,800 square feet . . . and I pretty much heat most of the house simply by using a fan and pointing it towards the stove from the adjacent room . . . some rooms are a bit cooler (i.e. the bedroom farther away on the first floor), but overall the house is heated pretty well without resorting to using anything more than a simple fan that you probably already have in your own home.

5. Tell me how in the world you guys are getting the temp of your chimney pipe? Thermometer . . . specificially a probe thermometer for use with my double wall pipe. I would highly encourage you to get either a magnetic thermometer for a single wall flue or probe style thermometer for double wall flue . . . they really help newbies . . . and veterans alike . . . burn better and more efficiently.

6. Do rounds burn longer than splits....say a 4-5" diameter round campared to a split of equal size? I know they do in my smoker.....but it runs at 225....not 6-700. I would guess the answer would be yes . . . that said I tend to keep some decent sized rounds and decent sized splits for my "overnight" fires. I use either type without prejudice.

7. Start up procedure.....in detail please...... Top down fire . . . it would be easier if you just read the wiki and found the section on starting fires . . . you can also do a search for how I lit a top down fire in my Oslo last year.

8. Who knows what else I need to know.....If you think I need to know it, post it here. You need to know that Backwoods is right about just about everything . . . except for his misguided attempt to convince me that splitting wood vertically with a hydraulic splitter is the best thing since sliced bread and microvave popcorn. ;)
Oh yeah . . . also stick around here . . . you will learn a lot . . . I'm still learning.Thanks in advance.....Im sure this will become a frequented forum for me.
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