Will an insert work in this fireplace, and if so, which one's are best?

[dvto2]

Install includes uninsulated SS liner, cap, and cutting the damper (if needed, I'm not sure it is).

$2100 sounds like a good price on the PE Summit. Would a Summit overpower the upper story of of my raised ranch (where it is going) which his about 1600 square feet. The room is 900 square feet of combined living, dining, and kitchen area, with cathedral (2 story) ceilings in the half that is closest to the fireplace.

 

[Hogwildz]

With the cathedral ceilings you may be fine. The nice thing about the Summit is in the dead of winter when it is single digits and teens, and you need the extra heat to keep the house warm, the Summit is there and ready to put that heat out. You can always burn smaller fires &/or keep the blower off or on low. But when you need the heat and up there in CT I think you will, the Summit will put some serious heat out. And you will get a good overnight burn. The smaller insert might do the job, but if it don't handle those cold days/nights as well as you want, your SOL, as you can only fill what space there is with wood and that is the heat you get. Where as the Summit, you can take the same size load as s a full load for the smaller insert, and get the same heat and burn times, yet have the extra capacity for a larger load, longer burn times etc.
If it is a wide open set up, and with the cathedral ceilings, unless you have a ceiling fan up in that ceiling, the heat is going to go up. Ceiling fan would help distribute the heat nicely, and in my case with a cathedral ceiling, loft and stairwell on the other end of the house, a nice loop is created.

 

[Hogwildz]

It will naturally be a little warmer upstairs, but in my case thew ceiling fan helps offset that some. I also leave the two bedroom doors with the shared bathroom doors between the two open and that helps it even out upstairs. Never is overwhelming. In my experience, I get used to the warmer temps, then to not have enough heat.
With my 2600sf, the Summit heats the entire house, but the temps range from 62- 65ish when I wake up to 68-72ish during the day. Sometimes higher depending on sun etc.
So anything smaller than the Summit for me, would not cut it.
You don't want too small a stove that you may have to run excessively hard to try and keep warm.

 

[begreen]

There's been a few price increases since then. Summit is now about $2500. When you bought your stove the dollar was a lot stronger vs the Cdn dollar. That's a decent price now, especially on the east coast. It's what Tom is selling them locally and we are less than 100 miles from the factory. Inflation, what inflation?

http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/pacsupins.htm

 

[Dix]

The Pacific was $3000 in 2008. Included insert, surround, door, flex liner, cap, & top plate. Install was $650.

The 13 ran about 1200, self install.

 

[dvto2]

Yeah, I already had the experience of buying too small and then wanting a bigger stove about 20 years ago with a Federal Airtight wood/coal stove that still sits in the lower floor of this house. I bought a medium and then traded up the next year to a large, as this room has a very open staircase to the upstairs, so it basically heats the whole house. I am in the process of repairing and regasketing this stove, and when I get this finished I am going to reevaluate what I want to do. I liked the versatility of the Federal Airtight, and the convenience of coal, but I don't like the ash that coal put out into the house. I still have always wanted in insert for the upstairs, and I think we would use the fireplace more if we had one, as well as be more comfortable for less cost in our main living area.