Suggestions for Wood Burning Insert?

[MikeC5]

Hi, I've been reading through the many postings here regarding fireplace inserts and am impressed with the level of information available and the helpful people to be found here. I'm leaning towards a wood burning fireplace insert for my existing masonry chimney (clay tile lined, brick outside and inside the room). It is an exterior wall at one end of the house so I don't have any illusions of being able to heat the entire house evenly with it. It's a 2 story colonial of about 1000 sq ft per floor. Fire place opening is 34 wide x 29 tall x 22 deep but tapers back on the left and right to 27 wide at the back. I'm thinking of installing myself with a ss flex liner (to the top of the chimney). We keep the house pretty cool on HW baseboard oil heat (62 F) and are really just looking to have the fireplace room warm & cosy with maybe some benefit to the rest of the house and keep the thermostat at 60 F. Can anyone recommend a brand that they had good luck with, especially DIY installers? I was thinking coal burning for more convenience but despite the domestic origin, coal is pretty expensive here in eastern, CT for 40 lb bags (about the same as pellets).

 

[RedRanger]

Mike: I think with the 34" width you could fit the pe summit in there. A while back the summit owners on this forum practicallyl had a forum within a forum, that`s how much they like their mighty steel beasts. Maybe do a search on this site about those summits.

I just bought a enviro kodiak cause the summit wont fit in my opening, maybe the summit owners will chime in here but from what I have seen neither one of these awesome heating inserts could exactly be called handsome. But if you are looking for heat with a nice overnite burn, well, those two are the only ones that I am familiar with.

:red: Alright, summit owners, I already know that my beast is gonna be uglier than yours. Enough said about that!!

 

[begreen]

Welcome Mike. Start looking at 3 cu ft inserts that will fit your fireplace. The Pacific Energy Summit is a good place to start. But it's fine to also consider other stoves that your local dealers support and sell if PE is not close by. Though in CT everything is close by even if it's in the next state . Quadrafire, Napoleon, Avalon, Regency are some well known and trusted brands. If you want a dressier insert take a look at Jotul.

You'll want to insulate the liner so it will be good to know the interior dimensions of the flue tile before ordering.

 

[MikeC5]

Thanks very much guys.. 3 cubic feet is a good place to start. Is there such a thing as insulated flex line? My flue is offset to one side of the fireplace and I will also have to negotiate the damper opening.

 

[flewism]

I'm not aware of an insulated 6" SS flexline but , they do sell insulation material to wrap your liner prior to installation. Now the difficulty of installing with insulation will depend on the size of your flue tiles, as the insulation I've seen is about 3/4" thick.
We have a Napoleon #1401 insert in the family room fireplace, and I'm happy with it. my liner is not insulated and I have great draft but, my chimney is not on an exterior wall.