What’s the best stove insert for low cost?

New or used? What size is the fireplace? How is your house laid out? Do you have a preference for cat or non-cat?

If you search these threads you will likely come across more information than you can handle WRT stoves, bargains and preferences. Folks here are generous with knowledge!

Welcome to the forums, Church.

Do you want an insert/stove? Need more input,, please.

church479 said:

4 bedroom colonial. Fire place is about 3-4ft wide. Looking for a wood stove insert. Last yr. I went through 4cords with just the fire place.

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Post pics of the fireplace and hearth.

Layout too would help. We have a 2000 sqft center hall colonial. The stove is on one end of the house (family/kitchen area) and the living/dining on the other side of the stairs/hallway. Heat naturally rises upstairs to the bedrooms and the cold air pours down the stairs. Far end room upstairs is usually the coolest because it the farthest from the stove. I burn about 4 cord a year and stay very warm in the stove room area. The upstairs is usually about 10-15 degrees cooler depending on where you measure.

I think the Lopi Republic 1750i is a pretty nice deal on a decent sized insert. Cost was a big factor for me, but it seemed that most of the lower cost inserts (Englander and the other brands that are sold at Lowes, Home Depot etc) all had smaller fireboxes that wouldn't heat as much square footage or have as long a burn time. http://www.lopistoves.com/product_guide/detail.aspx?id=303 It will cost something like $2200 before the liner and installation though so it's not super cheap. The tax refund gets you about 1/3 of it back though.

I imagine that this type - (Summer's heat, 1200$ before tax refund) is a pretty great deal for the $!
http://www.lowes.com/pd_239295-7684...oductId=3027302&N=0&catalogId=10051&langId=-1
But the max heat they claim is 1500 sq feet... however if you're not really trying to heat an entire house maybe that would be fine)

How well did the the fireplace heat the house on 4 cords?

karl said:

How well did the the fireplace heat the house on 4 cords?

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I'm guessing pretty poorly.

Church, I went through this last year. The best prices I found on inserts were osburns. I bought the largest one I could get (3.2cf). The lowest prices I found at the time was at www.dynamitebuys.com. Napoleon 1402 is 2.3 cf and pretty reasonable in price. Measure your fireplace and see what fits. Good luck!

When I was shopping 3 years ago the Regency seemed like the best stove for the money. I went with the Lopi because I like the dealer (crusty ol' curmudgeon who didn't try to sell me) but they both seemed pretty good. Of course after the fact you see stoves you may have liked better, but for me it was a total $$$$ thing. So many cords vs so many dollars vs so much heating oil and in 5 years there will be a return of this. I'm sure you're running the same numbers but FOR GOD'S SAKE GET SOMETHING IN THAT HEARTH BEFORE YOU WASTE ANYMORE WOOD

The stove is going to be cheap l if you consider the long term cost of the system.

Back in 2006 I bought the cheap Century insert from Northern Tool. It was advertised to heat 2500 sq feet. I would not recommend this. It was known for developing cracks in the outside corners. It also had a tiny firebox. At $900 it seemed like a great deal at the time.