Newbie advice - Napoleon 1402 insert

[Bork]

Hello all,

a new member on the board here, and new to stoves in general - this place is an AMAZING source of information, almost to a fault. In any case, just some quick background and questions for you pros.


I recently moved into a new house in CT, and would like to upgrade to a wood-burning insert to help keep the oil bills down as much as possible. It's on wooded property, so no shortage of free fuel. About 2400 square feet... not a very open floor plan, but a lot of that space includes a finished basement and a few other rooms that will be shut up for the winter.
There's an old wood-burning stove in the basement (a Waterford 103, https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/11507/), which is nice but doesn't give off quite enough to heat the whole place. In any case, I spoke at length with a local dealer, who laid out several options but mostly recommended the Napoleon 1402. I see that unit gets a lot of good reviews here, so I'm tentatively leaning that way.

So my questions are - considering my needs, is that Napoleon 1402 a good choice? I can get it from the dealer for $1950 (+ tax) delivered, though the best deal I've found so far is Fireplace Village, $1850 delivered with NO tax.

For the liner, the dealer had a kit he offered for $400, and I have a guy that can help me install for like $150. But I see what LOOKS to me like an appropriate kit on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UKD4IM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8) and is only $175. Is that right for that stove? I see that a 6" is what I need, but am otherwise not too familiar with what's out there.


Thanks in advance for any advice, you guys are awesome!

 

[begreen]

Welcome to the forums. Heating a large house from a basement is going to be a challenge in a cold climate. Often, to get it comfortable upstairs the basement needs to be much hotter. The 1402 is a good insert, but probably won't carry the whole load when it gets in the low digits. But there's no saying you can't supplement the heat when needed with the central heating system. Maybe consider moving the Waterford upstairs for supplemental heat when needed?

 

[Bork]

Ah - sorry, I was writing in a hurry and didn't explain well. The insert will go into what is currently a masonry fireplace in the living room. The wood stove in the basement is staying there, I just won't likely use it very often (if at all).


And thank you!

 

[begreen]

Sounds like you should be fine then with the 1402. The Duravent liner mentioned is NOT suitable for wood burning. That's an aluminum liner, ok for gas installs. You need to install a stainless steel liner. Try www.ventingpipe.com, www.dynamitebuys.com or www.chimneylinerdepot.com for liners.

Did the dealer talk about insulating the liner? Is this an interior or exterior wall chimney?

 

[Bork]

Exterior wall chimney. We didn't really discuss the vent in any detail, just the price. I figured I could probably find a generic kit elsewhere, but based on what I'm seeing on those sites you listed, $400 seems pretty good.

 

[begreen]

Your dealer prices are decent. For a single story exterior flue I would go for an insulated liner and I would add a block off plate at the damper area. They may balk at the lower seal, but experience here is showing it makes a nice difference in heat output of the stove.

for more info about the damper seal:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Why_damper_seal_is_needed/

 

[Bork]

Your dealer prices are decent. For a single story exterior flue I would go for an insulated liner and I would add a block off plate at the damper area. They may balk at the lower seal, but experience here is showing it makes a nice difference in heat output of the stove.

for more info about the damper seal:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Why_damper_seal_is_needed/

Haven't seen anything about a damper seal before, but that makes total sense to me. Is that a standard part, or is it strictly a DIY job customized to the chimney?

 

[begreen]

Most installers are thinking on the clock, so if asked they may offer to stuff the damper area with mineral or ceramic wool like Roxul or kaowool. That is better than nothing if done well. But a metal block off plate is better. From what we are seeing here, it looks like many if not most are done DIY.

 

[Bork]

Thanks for the advice so far, I really appreciate it.

Block-off plate looks easy enough, definitely something I can put together myself without too much trouble. But damn... I thought there was a lot of info on inserts, but the number of liner options is downright baffling. Easiest seems like the pre-insulated Magnaflex Insul-flex, but I'm not seeing anywhere near the prices some other folks on this site have mentioned. That stuff is PRICEY.

 

[begreen]

Yeah, we are in peak season now. Prices went up a few weeks ago. The liner is infrastructure. Do it right and you won't need to think about it again. Duraliner is an alternative, but also not cheap.

 

[Joey]

Good luck with the stove Bork, nothing but good things to say about the stove. Its my 3rd year burning mine. I just serviced and cleaned the blowers for the first time, a bit of a job, but you need the right tools. I have a Napoleon dealer close if I ever need any parts or have any questions. Changed the door gasket this year,,,,cause it got burned bad at the end of last season. Think the price you were quoted was fair,,but I believe you can do better. Then again,,this time of year,,you might not do better. Do your homework and research and ask questions. This forum is chocked full of knowledge,,and a fair amount of humor to.

 

[Deron]

We're on our third season with the 1402 in our basement den. I can certainly echo the FACT that it is hard to get the heat to transfer
from our basement upstairs in our ranch home. Like someone else said, the colder it gets, the less effective it is at doing it, you really
need to keep it stoked to have any impact upstairs. It not the stoves fault, but just hard to get the air to move like we'd like it to.
I was thinking about having a vent put in our ceiling to allow the air a chance to escape upstairs. Our house is VERY tightly insulated,
all floors and walls, so it's keeping the air trapped downstairs.

The 1402 has been great. Only flaw was the fiber baffles were on the brittle side, but I hear they've been replaced with a newer thicker
more durable design.

Definitely get a stainless steel liner and get it insulated as well. Ours was a 25' x 6" flexible.

I made out like a bandit on the 1402 a couple years ago, the price back then was around $1800, but I bought ours on HomeClick during
some kind of Columbus Day sale and got it for around $1400 with the door and free delivery.

 

[Bork]

Stove and liner kit are on the way! Installing this weekend, I'll be sure to update with the end results. Another quick stupid question in the meantime:

I definitely want to pick up a stove thermometer, but where would you put the damn thing on an insert? I see most folks monitor the flue temp, but that's obviously not accessible with an insert. I can easily stick a magnetic one on the front/side of the stove, but I understand that's not the best way to read temperature. It looks like the Napoleon 1402 has a small lip above the door, is that enough to take a decent top-surface read?