Large Wood Burning Fireplace Insert Recommendations Please

I am shopping for an insert now and The Lopi Declaration and Fpx 33 are at the the top of my list of choices.. A few questions for you.. Are you able to heat your entire living space with it , how much did you pay for it (if I may ask), and have you had any problems with it...?

Thanks

bearclaw

I'd say the insert is capable of heating 2000 sq.ft. easily in the condition I have (medium insulate, mild winter). But the Colonial home layout doesn't allow heat to spread out that well compare with the newer open floor plan. The insert is in living room on one far end of the house. It can be a tad too hot in that room, but kitchen & dining will be at comfortable 72*F. The 2nd floor will be around 68 in the hallway, which is not bad consider it doesn't have any other air path except for the narrow stair opening.

Do I like it? Yes. Problem? Nothing beside the relatively loud fan. But if I can redo it again, I may want to lift it up 6 - 8 inches off the floor so that I have no need to "craw" to check secondary combustion. And with the mild winter that we have in mid Atlantic, I may opt for a CAT stove/insert for lower heat and longer burn instead.

The insert + surround costed me about $3500 back in 2010.

Cheers....Som

Not many power outages, but the last one lasted for almost 2 weeks... Hurricane Sandy... They say it is a once every 100 yrs storm... I hope they were right. Nonetheless, I cant imagine that 5 inches of stove extending out onto the hearth would make the place that much warmer.

I have and would recommend the Osburn 2400 (3.2 cu ft firebox). It gives great heat output, and burn times of 10 hours are easy. A good friend of mine installed a Lopi Freedom and I like his insert. If I had seen the Buck 91, I might have loked at that ...4.4 cu ft firebox is BIG.

There are lots of stove/insert with great performance. But very few of them are easy to the eye. That's one reason I picked the FPX33. At least it a bit closer to those contemporary ones in Europe.

If you are looking for big go for the buck 91. I think the box is 4.4 cubic feet I also think it has an efficiency rating of 82%. I have the princess insert and love it. I would highly recommend it! I went with the princess over the buck because it has the same efficiency rating and a longer burn time. And a smaller box which means less wood. You should consider the princess.

Also worth mentioning the Buck requires an 8" chimney liner and the Princess (and most other inserts) takes 6". Many chimneys won't fit an 8" liner.

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