Looking for Advice

[Whosehot]

At 63 I'm retired, and my wife and I just recently downsized to a ranch style home. It was built in the mid 60s and has a very nice brick fireplace on the south wall, in the living room. I own a 60 acre wood lot, so I am thinking of purchasing a wood burning fireplace insert, since the fuel would be free. I have burned wood before, but only in free standing stoves, a Vermont Castings Defiant and a Jotul box stove. I have no experience with the inserts, so I was hoping to gain some knowledge here. The only inserts I have seen are the Jotul brands, and based on my experience with their stove, that's the way I was leaning, unless I hear something here that would dissuade me. Any one have any experience with the Winterport or the Kennebec inserts, made by Jotul? Also, what is the typical cost of the liner, insulation and installation. Is there a per foot price that is pretty typical or average? I know I've asked a lot here, but any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[jatoxico]

I'm sitting in front of my Jotul 550. Very solid and high quality. That said there are many good and possibly better options depending upon what you're trying to achieve. Do plenty of searching and reading here.

Some folks get surprised by expense of the liner. I think I paid about $1200 but it will depend a lot on the ease of the install. Ideally the liner should be insulated and the install should include a block off plate. To help guesstimate post up if this a exterior or interior chimney and the dimensions of the existing liner?

If possible try to find an insert that extends well onto the hearth. That will allow it to heat w/o having to rely so heavily on the fans which can be especially valuable in a power outage and will versatility when loading wood.

There are two types of modern stoves that achieve high efficiency. Those with secondary burn tubes and those with catalytic converters. Both burn smoke and other exhaust gases. Cat stoves are known for there ability to run low and slow meaning they can run clean at lower temps where as tube stoves need to be at a certain temp to operate. This allows some cat stoves to get some long burn times. Both need dry wood (min 2 yrs cut split and stacked).

If you intend to run the stove overnight you'll need to get one with a decent sized fire box. The two Jotuls you mentioned might be a bit small. Could you possibly put a free standing stove on the hearth?

 

[begreen]

Welcome. There may be lots of options. How well it will work will depend on the room size, how open the room is to the rest of the house, ceiling height, etc.. Can you describe the house and floorplan? The liner cost is going to depend on the chimney height, liner quality and whether there are confounding factors like the chimney ID or offsets.

Whatever you decide, be sure to have a good stash of fully seasoned firewood. Modern stoves need dry wood to perform well.

 

[Whosehot]

I'm sitting in front of my Jotul 550. Very solid and high quality. That said there are many good and possibly better options depending upon what you're trying to achieve. Do plenty of searching and reading here.

Some folks get surprised by expense of the liner. I think I paid about $1200 but it will depend a lot on the ease of the install. Ideally the liner should be insulated and the install should include a block off plate. To help guesstimate post up if this a exterior or interior chimney and the dimensions of the existing liner?

If possible try to find an insert that extends well onto the hearth. That will allow it to heat w/o having to rely so heavily on the fans which can be especially valuable in a power outage and will versatility when loading wood.

There are two types of modern stoves that achieve high efficiency. Those with secondary burn tubes and those with catalytic converters. Both burn smoke and other exhaust gases. Cat stoves are known for there ability to run low and slow meaning they can run clean at lower temps where as tube stoves need to be at a certain temp to operate. This allows some cat stoves to get some long burn times. Both need dry wood (min 2 yrs cut split and stacked).

If you intend to run the stove overnight you'll need to get one with a decent sized fire box. The two Jotuls you mentioned might be a bit small. Could you possibly put a free standing stove on the hearth?

Wow! I guess a lot has changed since I heated with wood back in the 80's and 90s. After reading your reply, it's become obvious I need to do more homework. I was actually hoping to have a flush fit against the face of the existing fireplace, with the burn unit contained in the existing firebox, so as not to steal any space from the room. That's why I had not considered a free standing unit. This is a pretty tiny home, at only 1,400 square feet.I do absolutely intend to run the insert/stove overnight. 1400 square feet should not be difficult to heat. My guess is from floor of the hearth to the top of the chimney is 16 ft., max. I will "GOOGLE" a Jotul 550 because I'm not sure what you're saying here? Thanks for your reply.

 

[Whosehot]

Welcome. There may be lots of options. How well it will work will depend on the room size, how open the room is to the rest of the house, ceiling height, etc.. Can you describe the house and floorplan? The liner cost is going to depend on the chimney height, liner quality and whether there are confounding factors like the chimney ID or offsets.

Whatever you decide, be sure to have a good stash of fully seasoned firewood. Modern stoves need dry wood to perform well.

Hey West Coast, I will get back to you tomorrow. Busy night. Thanks for your reply. I will be in touch.

 

[Whosehot]

Hey West Coast, I will get back to you tomorrow. Busy night. Thanks for your reply. I will be in touch.

Sorry it took a while to get back. Picure if you will a 40' by 32' rectangle, and that would be the footprint of the ranch home. It is pretty much divided into 2, not quite equal, halves. The front portion, which faces east, has a great room which is 16' X 22" . That is the room where the fireplace is situated on the south wall. At the north end of that room is a divider wall, which houses the front entry way, and going further north is the kitchen and dining area with the same 16' width and an 18 ft length.The back half of the house is made up of a 3ft wide central hallway, (2) 12X12 foot bedrooms , one on each end, a central bath, and walk-in closets in each bedroom. Standard 8 foot ceilings, throughout the house. There is an unheated, seasonal breezeway on the north end which makes up the last of the living space. From the floor of the fireplace to the top of the chimney, I'm guessing is 16 feet, or slightly less. Let me know if I gave you enough info. Thanks. Tom

 

[begreen]

Ranch homes with the fireplace on one end tend to have a large gap in heating by wood, especially in the bedrooms. The insert will heat up the great room nicely but that is where most of the heat will stay without some circulation assistance. A good quality 16 ft insulated liner installation will probably run about $14-2000. I would also recommend having a damper area sealing, block-off plate installed. That will keep more heat around the insert stove's jacket which will help improve heat output. The Jotul C550 is not a large heater, but it should take care of the great room quite well.

The divider walls will restrict heat circulation. How much so will depend on the opening between the kitchen area and the great room. Circulation can be helped with ceiling fans, by wall cavity fan, by a simple table or box fan set on the floor in the cooler area blowing cool air toward the great room. If there's a basement another possibility would be to use a quiet inline fan that is ducted to suck cooler air out of the bedroom area and blow it into the great room.

 

[jatoxico]

I do absolutely intend to run the insert/stove overnight. 1400 square feet should not be difficult to heat.

The only inserts I have seen are the Jotul brands, and based on my experience with their stove, that's the way I was leaning, unless I hear something here that would dissuade me.

The Jotuls will likely heat the space just fine when running but if overnight is a high priority not sure you'll be happy. Give the dimensions of your firebox for other ideas.

 

[jetsam]

I bought a Blaze King Princess insert for supplemental heat, and it wound up doing the entire job by itself. Oil burner didn't kick on once this winter.

BKs are expensive, but offers a low-and-slow long burn capability that no other stove can get close to. This is good if you want to burn the stove any time of the year that the house needs heat without suffering big temperature spikes and dips- or if you just need a really long burn because you won't be home.

It also sticks out a fair bit, making it a good choice in case of power failure. (Well, a worse choice than a freestanding stove, but better than a flush insert.)

 

[webby3650]

In general, the Jotul inserts do not have the rave reviews that the stoves do. I've had several freestanding Jotuls. All were really nice heaters. The inserts seem to be somewhat hindered from the reviews I've seen, first hand and on this site.

I've had a lot of stoves, none have been more satisfying as my Blaze Kings. Look into the new Ashford and Sirrico inserts. Flush, long burns, and not too bad looking either!

 

[begreen]

If the fireplace has the depth to accommodate a deeper firebox I would consider one that is more square than shallow. This allows either N/S or E/W loading. The Enviro Kodiak 1700 or Boston 1700 is a good performer.

 

[jetsam]

I didn't get a good feel from the OP whether he wants a wood burner to be his primary heat, supplemental heat, or just cosmetic. Sounds like he has some options for any of the above, though.