insert questions

Big? Economical? Warm? Sounds like an englander 30NC. It's probably the best value in wood heating and it's a darn good quality stove! They sell at Home Depot for 1000 to 1100 dollars? Spend the money you save on good dry wood and you're in business!

Ya, somehow "insert" didn't register with my brain. That shoots my last post.

Some people here will call them cheap....I cant say I wholey disagree but so far, I love mine. I purchased mine mostly based on price. Being young, new college grad, new home owner, newlywed. not much money to go around. I love burning wood and wanted to keep my costs of heating the house lower then blowing through oil. While this year my wood supply is limited, i have pleanty for the next year maybe two, so far for free. (minus saw, fuel, and my labor)

I picked mine up from...cant really recall. Me thinks northern tool or something. was something like 899, came with blower and surround, not to mention a tax credit. My house is a rancher, one story with a long sweeping floor plan. there are two addtions to the house and the stove is in the back far portion of the house. I have been able to get the family room kitchen etc. close to 80 and in the far back parts of the house I can get in the 70's.

My biggest complaints with the stove are, small firebox, something like 1.7ft^3. so I have to reload it more often then I would like to, but its fun to play with. I installed all myself in a few hours. I have a pretty short exerior chimney but my draft seems fine. If i load north to south, maybe a large split east west in the back I have no problem burning for the stated 8 hours. not much more after that though.

I love the large glass, stays clean and the secondaries put off a wonderful light show.

So I am not advicating it, but I love mine so theres one to take a look at.

I just bought a Jotul Kennebec insert, with double doors. 10% off retail (2678) + tax credit applies to this unit. I would check on whatever you purchase to see if it qualifies.

Will

I have the Rockland, they are supposed to be good up to 2000 square feet. My house is 3200 so it is not quite big enough to do the whole house but helps alot and looks great, part of the family now. I say get bigger than you think you may need, you can always make a smaller fire. One thing to consider is putting a stand alone unit in the fireplace (check out the WoodStock website, they are inexpensive and very popular here). If I were to do it again I think I might do that because you get the benefit of radiant heat as well as what the blower can offer. Inserts do not produce as much heat as a standalone in my opinion.

Take a look at the Kodiak 1200 by Enviro I have the 1700 and I'm pretty happy with it. Looks like the 1700 is a little to big because of your depth at the top.

You have found a great resource here, there are many knowledgable folks willing to share what they have learned. My advice would be to start using the search feature to answer some of your questions. You may find some info that will affect your choices--for example, if you are hoping to run your stove full time in the cold season you will want a unit with a firebox volume of at least 2 cubic feet to be able to achieve an overnight burn. It can be done in a smaller unit, but a bigger firebox will accommodate more fuel, and two cubic feet is a good place to start for an overnight burn.



All of the units you mentioned are well respected, high quality inserts. There are some more affordable units available, many of which will do a great job providing heat for your home. I would recommend shopping around, and using this website to do some additional research. Check your local hearth retailers as well as some of the online vendors, and keep an eye on Craigslist (but be aware that many used stoves are not EPA rated, and buying used can be a gamble). I tried really hard to purchase an insert locally, but could not find a dealer that could get me the unit I wanted so I ordered online. Keep in mind that an insert will almost always need a blower to work efficiently, and some manufacturers will charge extra for the blower and/or the surround panels. This can change the price of a stove by many hundreds of dollars.



Remember that the depth of your fireplace at the top is not the same as the depth at the highest point of the insert. As well, some inserts have an adjustable depth and can be set farther out onto the hearth. Depending on the construction of your fireplace, you may also be able to remove a few bricks to gain some extra room. Another important consideration is the clearance from combustibles requirements--each stove has these requirements listed in its manual, and most of these manuals are available online. You may find that you need some sort of additional hearth protection in front of your insert.


My situation required a unit that would not only fit into my rather small fireplace, but would not hang over the short (8") hearth. It was difficult to find one with a large enough firebox to allow easy restarts in the morning. I settled on the Osburn 1600. The Osburns are high quality units, and very affordable. You can check them out at http://osburnstoves.com/html/wood.html. One of their employees is a member of Hearth.com (FyreBug). Some of the other inserts I looked at were made by Lopi, Quadrafire, Country, Blaze King, Regency. There are many more, so do some research on what is available to you, and ask some specific questions on the forums here. The stove ratings section can be a helpful resource. I didn't find as many ratings on the Osburn as i would have liked, so I used the Private Message feature to contact some members who have this unit for additional info. Another way to get info on a particular stove would be to start a thread in the Hearth Room asking folks who have that stove to chime in with their opinions.



Keep up the search, good luck finding the right insert for your home. You are in good hands here.

Englander 13 insert if price is important. Pacific Energy mid-sized insert (Pacific or Super, depending which fits) if you're willing to spend a little more.