I don't believe that website is referring to Pellet stoves/inserts, but rather wood burning ones.
they upgraded the stoves convection blower so its a little louder.make sure to ask the dealer if your stove will have the upgrade. All stoves have the blowers so there is some noise. the higher the setting the louder the noise. I dont find it to be annoying. Its soothing to me. as long as I hear the stove I know im holding the oilman at bay.
Well, I found some information on stoves vs. inserts in a fireplace. One of the problems with putting a stove in the fireplace is that a lot of the heat gets sucked up the chimney. The inserts were designed to minimize this problem. I also took a trip over to Cedar Mountain Stoves in Newington and was told that a lot of pellet stoves are fed from the back, so sticking them in a fireplace would make filling them awkward.
I think we are going to go with the M55 cast insert. Am I going to be able hear the TV over the sound of this stove?
Would I be better off with a free standing stove or an insert here?
I was in this boat last year. I couldn't find a place in my house that a free standing stove could go that made sense. Either too close to a window or off in an odd spot.
I wound up going w/ an insert. I can hold over a full bag of pellets in my insert. Very easy to load, and from the front. My only real complaint is maintenance. It's more of a pain to work on the unit. Nothing too bad, but an annoyance since you have to slide the unit out.
An insert is usually more expensive. I bought a pretty high end unit. I had a faulty auger motor that shipped from the factory, but after that was resolved under warranty I've been in great shape since.
I wanted a pellet stove and my only real option was the insert. I do miss being able to have a wood fire now and then, but the pellet stove makes up for that in costs savings as well as the enjoyment from seeing the fire in it. It's in my living room/main living space. It really adds a lot of warmth to the room(no pun intended). I heat the entire house with it.
The house is a center chimney cape w/ 1664 square feet, two floors. Built in 1948, decent re-insulation projects over the years but plenty of outside air still leaks in. The stove handles it all.
There is many disadvantages with a insert versus a stand alone. If you have a choice place your stove upstairs as that is where you want the heat. I have seen many people try to heat the upstairs with a stove in the basement and it usually costs more money and isn't as cost effective. If you aren't using the basement there is no use keeping the basement hot while shivering upstairs. Remember a pellet stove is a glorified space heater and not a furnace.
Now getting back to advantages of a stand alone stove versus insert. The stand alone stove will cost less then a insert. You will have a sizable investment in stove pipe that has to go up your chimney versus a through the wall kit. Most of the time you will have a larger hopper to hold fuel and a larger ash drawer meaning you can leave the house for 24 or 36 hours and still have a warm house when you get home. It is a lot easier to maintain the stove if you don't have to dismantle things and pull it out in the open.
If and when you decide to sell it a stand alone stove will sell better then a insert.
I guess I should have asked about house design as that determines a lot of things. You bring up another often overlooked point which is insulating basement walls. Our experience was replacing a wood stove in the basement with a pellet stove. It just didn't work and I tried 3 different stoves before I gave up. I then put a stove on the main level and problem was solved. We have a finished basement but don't use it other then washing clothes so am not worried about it being cool.Hi Rona
You have a point but the style of the home makes a big difference.
I have a split and can heat the whole house quite comfortably with one 45k BTU pellet stove in the center of the basement and 2 floor registers providing 150 Deg F air into the living and kitchen. The bedrooms are a tad cooler for sleeping. This basement install was highly engineered to do the whole job right with no insulation in the basement ceiling and there is insulation in the basement walls.
X2 on the cost and maintenance on the insert.
Thats a Apple thing, happens alot.It's weird, the picture shows up correctly on my iPad but upside down on my PC.
Now I see how you remove the ash from there!I think you will have to turn your house upside down for the pellet stove to work. Other than looks I cannot see any benefit of an insert over a free standing and I have an insert.
I have a flat panel screen above my insert and do not have any problems with hearing sound from the tv. Especially with heat level 4.I have my M55 cast insert about 8 feet from my tv and have never had any problem.
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