I bought my house in August and getting an insert for the fireplace was one of my first priorities.
My parents were nice enough to get me some estimates for a few similar sized inserts from three area retailers when they went to the state fair. The place that's closest to my house happened to have the best prices and I liked that they had their own staff for doing the installation. I looked hard at the Enviro Kodiak 1200 but went with a Lopi Republic 1250. The Lopi was a little cheaper and they're made about 45 minutes from here. The guys at Anderson Fireplace and Spa in Marysville, WA were great to deal with from purchase, to installation, to getting accessories later.
I picked up a blower for my insert the day before Thanksgiving and it makes a HUGE difference. To demonstrate how little my electric heat got used, my biggest electric bill was $100 for two months. I kept the thermostat at a low setting and every now and then the heat would be running when I got home from work at night.
With the new house and stove I also needed a new saw so I picked up a new MS290. No complaints there.
My wood supply started at zero, then went up and down through the season, and it's not stacked in one single location on my property, but I'm guessing I burned about 4 cords.
In the morning I'm starting construction of a wood shed that'll hold about 3.5 cords. That'll give me 5 cords of neatly organized and covered storage, plus room to stack between trees like I've been doing. And I already have the wood to fill the shed.
For cleaning the chimney I bought a Sooteater. Great product! My chimney is as basic as possible so the Sooteater is perfect for it. I cleaned it on January 1st and again last week. The whole process takes about 10 minutes.
Overall I'm happy with my heating situation. My insert isn't in the ideal location in my house but it got the job done. Using a fan to push cold air down the hall helped a lot but I'll pick up a second fan by next season to help out.
My parents were nice enough to get me some estimates for a few similar sized inserts from three area retailers when they went to the state fair. The place that's closest to my house happened to have the best prices and I liked that they had their own staff for doing the installation. I looked hard at the Enviro Kodiak 1200 but went with a Lopi Republic 1250. The Lopi was a little cheaper and they're made about 45 minutes from here. The guys at Anderson Fireplace and Spa in Marysville, WA were great to deal with from purchase, to installation, to getting accessories later.
I picked up a blower for my insert the day before Thanksgiving and it makes a HUGE difference. To demonstrate how little my electric heat got used, my biggest electric bill was $100 for two months. I kept the thermostat at a low setting and every now and then the heat would be running when I got home from work at night.
With the new house and stove I also needed a new saw so I picked up a new MS290. No complaints there.
My wood supply started at zero, then went up and down through the season, and it's not stacked in one single location on my property, but I'm guessing I burned about 4 cords.
In the morning I'm starting construction of a wood shed that'll hold about 3.5 cords. That'll give me 5 cords of neatly organized and covered storage, plus room to stack between trees like I've been doing. And I already have the wood to fill the shed.
For cleaning the chimney I bought a Sooteater. Great product! My chimney is as basic as possible so the Sooteater is perfect for it. I cleaned it on January 1st and again last week. The whole process takes about 10 minutes.
Overall I'm happy with my heating situation. My insert isn't in the ideal location in my house but it got the job done. Using a fan to push cold air down the hall helped a lot but I'll pick up a second fan by next season to help out.
