Suggestions for small but quality wood burning insert?

[MikeandLiza]

Hi,

We're starting to look for a small wood insert - we're recent 1st time homeowners, and have no idea what we're doing.

That said,

We have a very small fireplace opening, about 26(w)x27(h) in the front, and even narrower in the back.

Our house is a two-story colonial, about 1500 square feet, with a basement.

We basically want to supplement our oil heat, because our oil bills have been out of control this winter.

We'd like to spend no more than $2500 total... is this realistic in this area? (South of Boston)

Any suggestions on local dealers, models of inserts we should be looking at?

Thank you so much for any suggestions

 

[DBoon]

Hi Mikeandliza,

I have a Lopi Answer. They make this in an insert and a freestanding stove. It has a "double-layered" external firebox that makes it a little better at getting air into your living space if used as an insert. It's a very solid, well-built stove. Pacific Energy makes a similar size/construction stove, but it looks a little more industrial (though it is very solid and well-built also).

I bought mine with basic trim lines and paid about $2600 installed with chimney pipe. That's about the floor of what you could expect to pay. It pretty much heats my 1250 square foot house in Central New York until the temperature goes below 20 degrees C, and puts a big dent in my fuel oil bill. I have an older house, but it is well-insulated and has wooden storms windows. My floor layout is not ideal - it's a long house with the stove in the front and the bedrooms in the back, and the bedrooms are definitely cooler than the front, but we don't mind it that way.

I've been quite happy with this stove, and would not consider a larger stove. If you are only going to be a part-time burner looking to augment your heating, be cautious of some of the advice that you will get from hard-core 24/7/365 burners here about getting a stove one-size larger than you think you'll need. A bigger stove might require hearth modifications, and might not match your needs. Just my two cents. You are not in what I would consider to be a super-cold climate.

Feel free to PM me if you want to spend additional time discussing this.

 

[Dix]

Check out the Englanders at the box stores. You can see what they have on line. You don't have your location in your profile, adding that might help from people local to you.

Don't forget your tax credit when shopping

Start on next years wood NOW.

Welcome to the forums !

 

[MikeandLiza]

DBoon - we'll take a look at that one, thank you. We're definitely not planning to heat the house exclusively with the stove, just make it a little cozier in the evenings and weekends.

Eileen - we're located about 15 mins outside of Boston. I'll edit the profile info soon as I figure out how Does Englander make a good quality stove? They seem to be a little less expensive than other ones I've seen...

 

[cycloxer]

If you are in southern Mass, I would head down to Preston Trading Post in Preston, CT and take a look at a Jotul C 350 or a C 450 Kennebec. These guys are the largest Jotul dealer in the US, they are very nice, knowledgable, and have very good prices. Quite a few people on here have bought stoves from them. You can't go wrong with Jotul quality and performance. Depending on how big of a stove you want, either would be a good choice. Here is their site:

http://www.prestontradingpost.com/jotul_kennebec.htm

 

[tickbitty]

Hi,

We're starting to look for a small wood insert - we're recent 1st time homeowners, and have no idea what we're doing.

That said,

We have a very small fireplace opening, about 26(w)x27(h) in the front, and even narrower in the back.

Our house is a two-story colonial, about 1500 square feet, with a basement.

We basically want to supplement our oil heat, because our oil bills have been out of control this winter.

We'd like to spend no more than $2500 total... is this realistic in this area? (South of Boston)

Any suggestions on local dealers, models of inserts we should be looking at?

Thank you so much for any suggestions

Check out the Lopi and Avalon inserts, the specs online will show you the specs you need for the fireplaces. You may be able to fit the medium inserts from either of these brands in your fireplace opening. (Check the combustible clearances though.) A bit bigger insert will give you much more bang for your buck so I would try to get the biggest firebox you can fit in there so you can get some lengthy burns out of it. My Lopi insert sticks out of the front of the fireplace quite a bit so it is almost like a freestanding stove in the amount of heat it radiates. With our liner and install we ended up just a little over your total cost.

The pricepoint on the Englander/Summer's Heat/timber ridge stoves (all made by Englands Stove works but sold at different box stores) is really good, and was tempting to me but their current insert heats "up to" 1500 sq feet and that means the max... plus I wanted one that stuck out a bit more. But these would definitely put you well within your price range even with the liner and etc. and people seem to think they are good. They are made in USA. If that's not important either there is a whole thread on here of people who love their Vozelgang colonial stoves, made in China and very inexpensive, definitely under $1000. I could not speak for them but you could check that thread of enthusiasts.

 

[PAJerry]

If you can find a local dealer, you might want to check out the Pacific Energy Vista. We've had ours almost three years and it has been great. Maybe not as fancy as some but a rugged, easy burning unit. With good, seasoned wood it puts out a lot of heat.

 

[summit]

If you can find a local dealer, you might want to check out the Pacific Energy Vista. We've had ours almost three years and it has been great. Maybe not as fancy as some but a rugged, easy burning unit. With good, seasoned wood it puts out a lot of heat.

i agree, we have had good luck with the ones we have out there. simple, rugged, compact... and the blower comes WITH the unit instead of being an optional 200+ $ part.

 

[fredarm]

If you can find a local dealer, you might want to check out the Pacific Energy Vista. We've had ours almost three years and it has been great. Maybe not as fancy as some but a rugged, easy burning unit. With good, seasoned wood it puts out a lot of heat.

i agree, we have had good luck with the ones we have out there. simple, rugged, compact... and the blower comes WITH the unit instead of being an optional 200+ $ part.

Here's another vote for the Vista insert. Got a nice fire going in mine right now.

 

[MikeandLiza]

Wow, thank you all so much for you suggestions - definitely a lot to think about and research. Good thing we found this site !

We were thinking about contacting Linwood Stove in Hanson, MA - they have a good BBB rating. Anyone heard of them?

This might sound silly, but our biggest concern is fire safety - are all modern stoves pretty much safe as long as they're installed and operated correctly?

 

[begreen]

Nothing silly about that. Safety should be one's primary concern. The key to safety is the proper installation and operation of the stove. Follow the manual's tested safety guidelines for installation.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Hi,

We're starting to look for a small wood insert - we're recent 1st time homeowners, and have no idea what we're doing.

That said,

We have a very small fireplace opening, about 26(w)x27(h) in the front, and even narrower in the back.

Our house is a two-story colonial, about 1500 square feet, with a basement.

We basically want to supplement our oil heat, because our oil bills have been out of control this winter.

We'd like to spend no more than $2500 total... is this realistic in this area? (South of Boston)

Any suggestions on local dealers, models of inserts we should be looking at?

Thank you so much for any suggestions

Do yourself a favor: Measure the hole and get the biggest stove that will fit in it within your budget.

 

[Hogwildz]

Hi,

We're starting to look for a small wood insert - we're recent 1st time homeowners, and have no idea what we're doing.

That said,

We have a very small fireplace opening, about 26(w)x27(h) in the front, and even narrower in the back.

Our house is a two-story colonial, about 1500 square feet, with a basement.

We basically want to supplement our oil heat, because our oil bills have been out of control this winter.

We'd like to spend no more than $2500 total... is this realistic in this area? (South of Boston)

Any suggestions on local dealers, models of inserts we should be looking at?

Thank you so much for any suggestions

Do yourself a favor: Measure the hole and get the biggest stove that will fit in it within your budget.

2x, and also you may want to consider a hearth heater type, one that sticks out further out of the opening. That way more out on the hearth, more area to release the ehat into the room, and maybe less into the old firebox so less deep and not as restricted as to the rear width of the old firebox as it narrows.

 

[KB007]

My neighbour has the PE Vista. It's a well built insert, tho the box is fairly small (1.4cuft iirc). He tells me hed like to get a bigger firebox if he coudl afford to.

There are a couple of other small inserts that may work for you - the Napoleon 1100, and the Regency i1200.

+1 for measuring before you head off to buy something. Take pictures and full dimensions width, depth, height, width and height at the back etc... and head out to the store. You'll need to include the cost of a liner as well presumably.

You might be surprised when you start looking - you may have enough space for something larger.

Here's the min dimensions from my Napoleon manual for the 1402 (medium) insert:
Your EPI 1402 fi replace insert must be installed only into a solid fuel burning fireplace that is at least 14 inches deep 26 inches wide and 22 inches high with an approved lined chimney at least 15 feet high (4.6m).

 

[fredarm]

My neighbour has the PE Vista. It's a well built insert, tho the box is fairly small (1.4cuft iirc). He tells me hed like to get a bigger firebox if he coudl afford to.

Yes, it's a small firebox but it's what would fit in our small fireplace. It's fine as a supplemental heater but I wouldn't want to try to use it as a sole source of heat.