Thoughts on this insert

[Stump_Branch]

I have recently bought a Vogelzang Colonial insert for my house, maybe a bit late to ask but, Does anyone else here have one? Any one have any thoughts on them? I am planning on installing it this weekend (ill try for some pictures) maybe even getting a fire going as well. I am not planning on living in this house forever, bought it to fix up and sell, but most certainly want to be comfortable while doing so. Is this stove a decent one? is was on the lower end of the price scale. (whole house needs work so money tends to be tight)

Thanks

 

[BrowningBAR]

I have recently bought a Vogelzang Colonial insert for my house, maybe a bit late to ask but, Does anyone else here have one? Any one have any thoughts on them? I am planning on installing it this weekend (ill try for some pictures) maybe even getting a fire going as well. I am not planning on living in this house forever, bought it to fix up and sell, but most certainly want to be comfortable while doing so. Is this stove a decent one? is was on the lower end of the price scale. (whole house needs work so money tends to be tight)

Thanks

Here is a thread with a few owners of the stove talking about their experiences with it. It seemed like an okay stove.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/47171/

 

[Stump_Branch]

Thanks, lots of information to suck up.

 

[sbowers22]

I bought this stove to supplement my two heaters to lower our electric bills. To my surprise the heaters don't run at all when I have the insert fired up. This will be my second season using it and it is doing better this year. Last year I spent a lot of time trying different things and I think I had some wood that wasn't ready to be burned. This stove puts out more heat if you keep it burning with a good fire which means you don't want to cut the air supply all the way down. I only do that on the last fueling before I go to bed. If you keep the air turned down not only does it not get as hot but you tend to build up a lot of coals quickly in an already small firebox. This year instead of filling it full of wood everytime I refuel it, I start by getting a good flame going and I just add a log or two every so often to keep it flaming real good and it is keeping the house above 70 degrees whereas last year I was struggling to even reach 70 degrees on most nights and this helps keep the coals from building up as fast. This is my first experience with a wood stove and I am very satisfied with this stove. I only wish that it had a bigger fire box(but that is my fault due to my inexperience with wood stoves.) and that it had a thermal switch on the fan to turn it on and off when it reaches certain temperatures( I finally found a thermal switch online so this issue will be taken care of shortly).

 

[Stump_Branch]

Hey thanks, I have been buring basically ever since I put the thing in, am learning quite a bit. So far i agree about the firebox size. Due to my first year with it and not having ample wood supply, I have been using a bunch of noddled end pieces (Oak) and did the whole north south deal I have read about. Works just awesome in that little box. I find that I have to gently decrease my air not just slam shut. do you find you have to clean ash out the under the air intake lip? stove seems to burn better if I keep it clear.

 

[sbowers22]

Yeah, I empty the ash at least once a day and sometimes twice and always make sure to keep that area in the front of the stove clear too much ash build up.