enerzone 1.8 cu ft. enough?

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salmonhunter

Burning Hunk
Apr 16, 2012
104
newbrunswick canada
Well I had planed on buying a pacific energy super insert as I was told that it would fit my current fireplace but after I got to the shop to pay for it the guy tells me its too big and he recomends that I get the enerzone 1.8 cu ft insert. Anyways I decided to go ahead and order that and after I get home I start thinking to myself damn I hope its big enough to heat the house. My house is a split level 1200 sq ft home. Do you guys think this insert will be enough? Also I tried to do a search to find out reviews for that stove but didnt find anything, anyone familiar with that stove or even that company?
 
I think the salesperson is blowing a bit of smoke. The difference between a 1.8 cu ft and the 2 cu ft PE Pacific Super is trivial. More important is the firebox shape. The 1.8 Enerzone's is only 13 3/4" deep according to their website. That alone would have me looking at the PE as long as it fits. I like North/South loading and more wiggle room. The PE is also noted for its long burn time and will still convect in a power outage.

In full disclosure I have a PE stove and like it a lot. Here is a website with some more info on them:
http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/inswood.htm
 
Get some card board and build a mock-up of the PE and see if it fits your fireplace. If it does, then I'd find a new dealer.

Nothing wrong with that enerzone though. It should be up to the task, but isn't a N/S loader which is convenient.
 
I have the earlier version of the Super, and can vouch for the N/S loading option. The fire box is a demon for burning.
 
yea I wish I had room for the PE but ohh well I guess il find out this winter if that stove is enough or not, hopefully so. I will give the salesman a little credit though the asked if I already had my firewood (which i do) and then he rambled on about how too many people wait til its to late to get there wood and end up with problems all winter with wet wood.
 
It can get it done. You just need to be somebody that stays up late for the overnight reload. The Enerzone is a good stove, just a little on the small side for long burns. Feed'er late and get up early.

Or just don't worry about it if the other heater comes on sometimes and enjoy cutting the bill back.
 
if you can go bigger I suggest you find out if the bigger one will fit. I bought a smaller stove as a rookie and hated the every two hour fill up. I spent 1,100 hundred on a stove with a 1.3 cf box and it heated 1700 sq with an upstairs but i was constantly loading the stove and the coals will fill the stove quick too, after alot of research I bought an Osburn 2000 with a 2.3 cf fire box and Im sure it will give me the extended burn times im looking for . Moral to the story get the biggest unit you can and still be safe and let her rip , and save money by doing it once.
 
So the salesman was saying the PE is to big for your house or it is to big to fit in the fireplace? The North South loading on the PE is really nice.
 
Sounds like a shallow fireplace. What dimensions are you working with salmonhunter?
 
yea what im saying is the PE wouldnt fit in my current fireplace opening. my fireplace dimensions are 22.5 height, 19 depth, 29.5 width at the front and only 19.5 width at the back of the fireplace so the side walls are slanted. I couldnt even fit the enerzone 2.0 cu ft in my fireplace he said I had to go with the 1.8. Kinda sucks cuz I work 10 hr shifts and my wife says she doesnt want to touch the stove at all. Maybee she will change her mind when winter comes, and sees how nice wood heat is. ohh well either way we should save on the oil bill even if we dont cut it out all together
 
Well, you certainly will be a lot warmer with the stove than without. With the right wood you should get some overnight burns with at least enough coals for a restart. If your wife can add a few splits during the daytime, you may get to round the clock burning.
 
I'd be a little worried about the small size, but the Enerzone stove seems to be a pretty good stove. We are able to get 8+hr burn times with very little trouble (assuming I was burning dry wood... that problem has been solved this year...). When we were looking at stoves, it was a tie between the Regency and the Enerzone. The build quality seemed the same. We chose the Enerzone because the glass warranty was better. The price was the same.

My wife will run the stove (and in fact enjoys doing so), and we only burnt around 100 gallons of oil in the winter, all of which was burnt in the hot water tank.

Good luck!
 
My Xtd was a 1.8 cu ft stove, I am heating roughly the same amount of space as you but my house is 2 story, it would heat the downstairs good until the really really cold days with high winds, the downstairs would avg about 76-78 but on the really cold days would get down to the 70's. My biggest gripe about that size stove was the overnight burns, the downstairs heat pump would kick on at 68 and I would hear it kick on around 3am which would drive me nuts.

With a split level maybe the heat will travel better upstairs, but I would be trying to figure that out as well with putting up TP on the walls to see how to best move the air.
 
I wouldn't worry about the size of the stove that much especially if that is the only thing that fits in your fireplace. It will still keep you toasty and cut way down on your heating bill if not completely eliminate it. My wife has no problems running our stove and with time and a little bit of patience I will bet your wife will be running yours like a champ. Congrats on the stove, looking forward to seeing the install!
 
Well 2 days ago I had the installer show up to install the enerzone 1.8. It ends up not being able to fit so the installer calls the shop that I bought it from and the guy who sold me that stove comes in takes some measurements again and tells me that the 1.8 isnt gonna fit and asks if I would be ok if he upgraded my insert to the pacifc energy vista for an extra $150. He said normally that insert is $300 more then the one I was getting but he decided he would pay half for my troubles. I said yea that seems fair so after another hour the salesman comes back with the 2nd stove, after the instaler measures the 2nd stove he says that one aint gonna fit either, and he says im gonna have to get the small regency stove. So now im sitting here with the liner in my chimney and waiting on an even smaller 1.4 cu ft insert. I wish the dealer could have told me I could only fit a 1.4 cu ft insert. If I knew that I would have looked into other options like maybee getting a wood furnace to replace my existing oil forced air furnace. Or maybee even putting a big wood stove in the basement or something. Im gonna start a new thread to see if anyone uses a small stove like 1.4 cu ft. I had my doubts on the 1.8 now I gota go with a 1.4. I would hate to have to spend all that money on a insert that doesnt do much to keep the house warm
 
Well 2 days ago I had the installer show up to install the enerzone 1.8. It ends up not being able to fit so the installer calls the shop that I bought it from and the guy who sold me that stove comes in takes some measurements again and tells me that the 1.8 isnt gonna fit and asks if I would be ok if he upgraded my insert to the pacifc energy vista for an extra $150. He said normally that insert is $300 more then the one I was getting but he decided he would pay half for my troubles. I said yea that seems fair so after another hour the salesman comes back with the 2nd stove, after the instaler measures the 2nd stove he says that one aint gonna fit either, and he says im gonna have to get the small regency stove. So now im sitting here with the liner in my chimney and waiting on an even smaller 1.4 cu ft insert. I wish the dealer could have told me I could only fit a 1.4 cu ft insert. If I knew that I would have looked into other options like maybee getting a wood furnace to replace my existing oil forced air furnace. Or maybee even putting a big wood stove in the basement or something. Im gonna start a new thread to see if anyone uses a small stove like 1.4 cu ft. I had my doubts on the 1.8 now I gota go with a 1.4. I would hate to have to spend all that money on a insert that doesnt do much to keep the house warm

That does suck... 1.4 cu ft is not big....

Is someone gonna be home all day??

Your gonna stay warm with it for sure. Just a matter of how warm the other rooms are?
 
Do you have room for a hearth style stove. Like a Regency Hearth heater or something of that nature?

Boy, I know that gets frustrating when they cant read a tape measure...
 
If by hearth heater you mean a regular wood stove it would be a tight squeeze on the main lvl of the house I would have to put it down stairs in our finished basement. On the good side my wife and I work almost opposite shift so maybee she can keep the fire going
 
If by hearth heater you mean a regular wood stove it would be a tight squeeze on the main lvl of the house I would have to put it down stairs in our finished basement. On the good side my wife and I work almost opposite shift so maybee she can keep the fire going

Talking about something like this...I dont know if you have the hearth depth for it thou.

 
We're a bit short on enough specifics to make suggestions. If you can supply some pictures and fireplace dimensions we can supply some more ideas.
 
my fireplace dimensions are 22.5 height, 19 depth, 29.5 width at the front and only 19.5 width at the back of the fireplace so the side walls are slanted. The hearth sticking out infront of the opening is 16 inches heres a couple pics to show what I mean. That hearth heater looks pretty neat Il have to ask the dealer if that would be able to fit in my existing opening.
 

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Looks like the main issue is the strong taper to the back of the fireplace. That will require an insert that has a shallow back dimension. What's the back H and D? Have you considered extending the hearth a little for a freestanding stove?
 
extending the hearth sounds hard and expensive. Not sure if I would want to tackle that one myself. Im afraid I would mess it all up and the wife would kill me
 
You may be able to get a Napoleon 1402 in there (2.25 cf firebox). What's the width of the fireplace 12 1/4" from the outside brick to the inside fo the firebox?

You may have trouble with the height if you need an offset box to connect the liner to the unit. Check it out. http://www.fireplacepro.com/napoleon-1402-specifications.html
 
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