Wood Stove insert questions

[boognish]

I have some questions about inserts. I'm looking at purchasing a Jotul C350 Winterport for my old fireplace. It comes with twin blower fans, but I assume that the fan is powered by electricity and I'm wondering how well the insert heats the house if the power goes out. Once the fire is up and running, can I open the front door without the room filling with smoke? That would certainly help to heat the room if the blower was out of commission, I assume.

Also, I apparently need some sort of "stainless surround" to go around the insert because the fireplace opening is higher than the standard surround. They want to charge me $140 more for that, so I'm wondering if I could go with a bigger insert like the C 450 Kennebec. Does anyone have a rough estimate how much more the Kennebec costs than the Winterport? And the relative benefits of each model?

Thanks for your help. This is a big purchase, and I want to make sure I get it right.

 

[begreen]

In general you"ll get better blower off performance with an insert that is not flush.

 

[boognish]

In general you"ll get better blower off performance with an insert that is not flush.

Good point. Jotuls are flush, aren't they? Our problem is that we have a oddly shaped fireplace, apparently. One guy came and said that he didn't have any inserts that would fit, and the 2nd person said that he had one insert that would fit, the Napoleon 1101 Insert, which is also flush and not nearly as attractive as the Jotuls.

 

[weatherguy]

You'll get some heat in the room with the insert without power but its not going to circulate, and no done open the door to get heat, the stove is designed to burn air tight.
Is it possible to maybe lay down one row of bricks for the insert to sit on to raise it a bit, I had that problem with my pellet stove and I had a scrap piece of granite that I slid into the fireplace and had the stove sit on the granite to raise it about an inch, just enough to have the surround cover the opening.
Also, to keep more heat in the house insulation with roxul in the flue with a block off plate helps keep most of the heat in the house instead of up the flue.

 

[RSNovi]

I am also considering the Jotul 350. The extended surround that comes from Jotul is also a tad bit too narrow for my opening so the dealer is looking to have a custom extended surround fabricated.

Is your fireplace a masonry or a prefab?

 

[Heatsource]

Good point. Jotuls are flush, aren't they? Our problem is that we have a oddly shaped fireplace, apparently. One guy came and said that he didn't have any inserts that would fit, and the 2nd person said that he had one insert that would fit, the Napoleon 1101 Insert, which is also flush and not nearly as attractive as the Jotuls.

the 1100 insert is an adjustable depth unit, the surround is on a sliding plate...

 

[Robere210]

I installed a new Vermont Castings insert for a friend 3 years ago. It had twin blowers and stuck out slightly--maybe 4-5 inches into the room. When going really good it would heat two rooms, but it never really performs like a wood stove--it won't heat the full house. And this was in So. Cal where winter temps seldom get below 38 degrees.

 

[boognish]

I am also considering the Jotul 350. The extended surround that comes from Jotul is also a tad bit too narrow for my opening so the dealer is looking to have a custom extended surround fabricated.

Is your fireplace a masonry or a prefab?

It's a masonry fireplace. I just spoke with the dealer and he assured me that this Jotul will still kick out quite a bit of heat, even if the power goes out and kills the blowers. We really are just looking for supplemental heat in our living room, for evenings and weekends. Our upper story is about 1,700 sq. feet, and I know that this little stove won't even get close to heating that space, but if I can heat the living room, which is only a couple hundred square feet and have some of that warmth find its way into the dining room/kitchen/hallway, etc... I'll be happy.

Another question I have is how much energy does the blower consume? I'd hate to see my energy bills go way up because I'm running an electric blower all the time.

Oh, I'm in Moscow, Idaho, which is a fairly temperate area, with pretty mild winters overall, at least when compared to my years living in northern MN.