Couple of questions for a first time wood burner

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shorenetworks

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Nov 20, 2012
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We are about to put a deposit down on a Napoleon 1402 wood insert and now after mesuring the room I am worried that I might be buying too much stove.

House is 1250 Sq feet Rancher with the fireplace locacated at the far end of the house on an outside wall. We are in South Jersey

The stove is rated for 800 to 2000 Sq feet.

So the question is should I look at getting the 1101 insert as thats rated for 600 to 1600 Sq feet?

Or am I better off with the 1402 since I am looking at being able to run the stove overnight without reloads.

Also if anyone has personnal experance with one of these units I would love to hear about it.

Thank you in advance

Chris
 
We are about to put a deposit down on a Napoleon 1402 wood insert and now after mesuring the room I am worried that I might be buying too much stove.

House is 1250 Sq feet Rancher with the fireplace locacated at the far end of the house on an outside wall. We are in South Jersey

The stove is rated for 800 to 2000 Sq feet.

So the question is should I look at getting the 1101 insert as thats rated for 600 to 1600 Sq feet?

Or am I better off with the 1402 since I am looking at being able to run the stove overnight without reloads.

Also if anyone has personnal experance with one of these units I would love to hear about it.

Thank you in advance

Chris


I'm a newb at this also, but have done a lot of reading here processing what insert would work best in my scenario. In a nut shell, with a 2.25 cu ft fire box, the 1402 is considered medium. The 1101 has a firebox of 1.7 cu ft. and is considered small. For 1200 sq ft, I would go with the 1402. There are other factors to consider, i.e., the size of the room it's heating, how much of the total house you want to heat, the house's room layout and its insulation qualities.

I'm sure others more knowledgeable than me will chime in.
 
Hello Chris, welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place for all your woodburning questions. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful folks here. Let me start with my comments. When sizing a stove the most important spec is the firebox size. The 1402 has a medium sized one with 2.25 cu ft. I would guess that for the size of your house and your climate it would be adequate if you want to heat the whole house with it. Of course, that also depends on the level of your insulation. As you already stated it will also allow you to do overnight burns which is much more difficult with smaller inserts. Are you also putting in a full insulated liner in the chimney? Since you have an exterior chimney it will help tremendously with draft and less creosote formation. Putting a block-off plate in the damper area is also a good idea.

Finally, do you already have several cords of wood split and stacked for at least 1 year? Modern EPA stoves require wood with an internal moisture content of less than 20% to burn efficiently. The experience here is also that you can rarely buy seasoned wood if you were thinking of going that way.
 
Welcome to the forums!

If my geography is good, you can get some decent cold periods in NJ. How old is your house? How is the insulation? As others mentioned it is hard to get overnight burns with a smaller stove.

Just remember: you can light a small fire in a big stove but can't light a big fire in a small stove. From my experience and from everything I have read in these forums, it's always better to go bigger. Especially if you want overnight burns.

One recommendation I will give (like Grisu did) is to start getting some wood. Others will tell you the same. It can take 2-3 years for hardwood to dry out and burn the way the stove is designed to do. If you do not have any, try finding a good dealer that sells PROPERLY seasoned wood. Get a moisture meter, split a piece open and take the measurements. Around 20% is what you're looking for.

Andrew
 
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Welcome to the forum Chris.

Your concern is understandable. Do keep in mind that we rarely hear of anyone with a stove too large but do hear many times of a stove too small. I would also keep in mind not only the output of heat but the ability to hold a fire all night long or all day long when you are at work. The 2+ cu ft firebox should provide enough to do this.

There are also ways to handle the situation if the stove room gets too warm. One very nice way has the added benefit of getting the warmer air to the cooler rooms. The trick is to use a desktop fan, setting on the floor in a hallway or doorway, set on low speed and aimed AT the stove room. That is, blowing the cooler air into the stove room. This has an amazing effect of moving the warm air where you want it. Much better than trying to blow the warm air.

I would also draw attention to what Grisu has posted about the wood. This cannot be stressed enough and it will be difficult at this time of year to find any wood that has been seasoned, or dried enough. Bear in mind that all wood sellers will say their wood is seasoned. Do not believe it.

Good luck.
 
Welcome to the forum Chris.

Your concern is understandable. Do keep in mind that we rarely hear of anyone with a stove too large but do hear many times of a stove too small. I would also keep in mind not only the output of heat but the ability to hold a fire all night long or all day long when you are at work. The 2+ cu ft firebox should provide enough to do this.

There are also ways to handle the situation if the stove room gets too warm. One very nice way has the added benefit of getting the warmer air to the cooler rooms. The trick is to use a desktop fan, setting on the floor in a hallway or doorway, set on low speed and aimed AT the stove room. That is, blowing the cooler air into the stove room. This has an amazing effect of moving the warm air where you want it. Much better than trying to blow the warm air.

I would also draw attention to what Grisu has posted about the wood. This cannot be stressed enough and it will be difficult at this time of year to find any wood that has been seasoned, or dried enough. Bear in mind that all wood sellers will say their wood is seasoned. Do not believe it.

Good luck.


+1 about the wood.
 
Well I just had the 1402 installed. My house is around 2300 sq ft. So far it heats the house with no problem. It burns overnight without much difficulty. Righ now I am just throwing one log on every 2-3 hours and the stove runs 300-450 degrees. Have had it up to 600 degrees no problem. Filled it last night at 10:45, got up at 6:00 this morning and had visible red coals on bottom and the stove read 200 degrees and the fan was blowing. Got it going before I left for work at 6:30. Left for work and the hot wifey did too. She got home at 4:00 today and there was red coals under the ash and she started it no problem with some pallet kindling and had it roaring by the time I got home at 4:30. It works very well.
 
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