OK, looking for general advice on whether or not to even buy an insert. We just purchased our home about a year ago. After reading a lot on the internet, we decided to change from all electric, to a propane furnace, believing that it would be cheaper than electric. Since natural gas isn't available here, we bought a tank, and I ran all of the lines myself (we're not inside city limits, so no code folks to worry about). I asked both the propane company and the furnace installer to check it for leaks and proper install, and both said it looked as though a pro had done it. All that work, and $2100 for the furnace and install, and I am convinced that we made a mistake. $360 to fill the tank, and we went through it in a MONTH! And this is Texas! So anyway, my goal in posting here, is to not repeat my earlier mistake. I'd like to install a wood burning fireplace insert in place of our current traditional fireplace. What I want to know is, can I really expect to provide most of the heat for my 2200 Sq Ft home with a wood burning insert with a blower? I understand that since I have a single story home, which is basically a ranch style, that I will need fans and/or vents between rooms, in order to get the heat throughout the house. That's no problem. What I don't want to do, is go to all the work and $$ of researching/finding/buying/installing the insert, only to have it not provide very much heat. We currently have a "factory built" fireplace, with an 8 inch pipe, and the chase is brick, on the exterior of the house, with an 8 inch liner. It looks nice, but it doesn't provide much heat. Also, we occasionally get smoke in the house, which I hope will be eliminated with the insert, since I understand they are basically air tight.
All that being said, here are my questions(for now):
1) will a good insert with a blower and say, a 70,000 BTU rating effectively provide a substantial amount of heat in my home?
2) will the insert solve, or at least drastically reduce, the smoke in the house?
3) If a particular insert calls for a 6 inch exhaust pipe diameter, is it OK to go larger?
If it does indeed seem like my expectations are reasonable, I may then get more measurements and other specifics, and ask for help in deciding on a make/model/type.
Thanks!!
All that being said, here are my questions(for now):
1) will a good insert with a blower and say, a 70,000 BTU rating effectively provide a substantial amount of heat in my home?
2) will the insert solve, or at least drastically reduce, the smoke in the house?
3) If a particular insert calls for a 6 inch exhaust pipe diameter, is it OK to go larger?
If it does indeed seem like my expectations are reasonable, I may then get more measurements and other specifics, and ask for help in deciding on a make/model/type.
Thanks!!