A huge thanks to all who have put up with my relentless questions since about last August. If you don't want to read through my big wall-o-text of tribulations, skip to the TL;DR at the bottom 
.
I went round and round and my biggest dilemma was this - I don't need to heat 24/7 with wood (cheap natural gas here). I narrowed it down to two very different choices, the Montpelier (looks, big glass, better flame show, small enough so I can insulate our external chimney) or the BK Ashford 25 (only drawback was lesser flame show and that I'd have to knock out flue tiles to install, and also run with a heat shield). Two very different units and I wasn't comfortable spending $3500 for either when I didn't know how I'd actually want to use the unit in the end (lots of guys start out casual burners then go more full time). Do I optimize for ambiance and flame show? For best control of heat? That was a major concern too because 10,000 BTU is enough to heat our living space in say, 25-30F weather. Combine that with the fireplace at the far end of a long ranch in a room that seemed like it might trap heat and I was worried.
So recently I've been running experiments with space heaters, simulating 10k btu an hour, 15k, 20k and more. Figured out how to best get the heat out of the room and into the rest of the living space and realized the room won't become unbearable with a powerful (200+cfm fan) circulating air out. So this made the decision harder again - one of the big perks of the Ashford wasn't absolutely needed, and the drawback of the lesser flame show was still weighing on my mind, especially as 24/7 heating with wood seems impractical due to lack of free wood and layout of the house. Why suffer from temp swings all over the house if I can use the cheap gas to keep it comfy, and instead run the insert to bring temps in the main living spaces up to a comfy 75+?
So I decided that I couldn't commit to either unit just yet, and have been scouring craigslist and facebook marketplace for cheap inserts that I could run as a trial. Why not spend $300 vs $3000, try a tube stove and see how I like it and how I end up really wanting to burn, then next year (well, the 2019 heating season) I could upgrade and would know which is the best choice.
Found an Osburn 2200, decent looking unit and checked a lot of boxes that I wanted for this "trial insert" - had it all lined up. The guy told me he couldn't meet on Thurs so we scheduled for Friday, then on Thursday night he texts me that he sold it. Great.
While arranging that deal two other units that made sense and were cheap (but which I liked less than the Osburn) disappeared off the market.
A week later someone is selling a Menards special, Century Heating insert for $75. Try to arrange that deal and the guy just stops responding. Had my g/f message him to see if it was still available and he says yes, but
then stops responding to her too. Strange.
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TL;DR
So the hunt had been on for months and to no avail. Since last August, really. Was discouraged and just about to give up on thinking about it all for awhile when my g/f messaged me today with an insert she saw on FB Marketplace. OMG, it's a Montpelier! It's less than 2 hours away. And it's only $200!
Post had been up like 5 hours by the time I saw it and I figured it would surely be snapped up by then, but no! So, now I am the owner of a Montpelier! It's in pretty good shape from what i can tell. Door needs a minor adjustment but the baffle is intact, tubes look good, refractory had no visible cracks and the unit has only minor surface rust - just needs a quick cleaning and new coat of paint. The only thing I saw truly "wrong" with the unit is that it is missing the andirons. Checked online and $27 for a new set, much cheaper than I was thinking it would be!
I still need to figure out my liner situation (rigid oval or take out flue tiles and then round) and I doubt I will get the unit going in time to have any fires before next fall, but I am so psyched right now. It may not end up being the perfect unit and maybe I will find that I want an Ashford (I do love its looks and am even *more* impressed with BKVP and their service - if I ever move and need to use wood as primary heat no doubt it will be a BK), but until that time I at least get to test drive the other unit I was most interested in.
.I went round and round and my biggest dilemma was this - I don't need to heat 24/7 with wood (cheap natural gas here). I narrowed it down to two very different choices, the Montpelier (looks, big glass, better flame show, small enough so I can insulate our external chimney) or the BK Ashford 25 (only drawback was lesser flame show and that I'd have to knock out flue tiles to install, and also run with a heat shield). Two very different units and I wasn't comfortable spending $3500 for either when I didn't know how I'd actually want to use the unit in the end (lots of guys start out casual burners then go more full time). Do I optimize for ambiance and flame show? For best control of heat? That was a major concern too because 10,000 BTU is enough to heat our living space in say, 25-30F weather. Combine that with the fireplace at the far end of a long ranch in a room that seemed like it might trap heat and I was worried.
So recently I've been running experiments with space heaters, simulating 10k btu an hour, 15k, 20k and more. Figured out how to best get the heat out of the room and into the rest of the living space and realized the room won't become unbearable with a powerful (200+cfm fan) circulating air out. So this made the decision harder again - one of the big perks of the Ashford wasn't absolutely needed, and the drawback of the lesser flame show was still weighing on my mind, especially as 24/7 heating with wood seems impractical due to lack of free wood and layout of the house. Why suffer from temp swings all over the house if I can use the cheap gas to keep it comfy, and instead run the insert to bring temps in the main living spaces up to a comfy 75+?
So I decided that I couldn't commit to either unit just yet, and have been scouring craigslist and facebook marketplace for cheap inserts that I could run as a trial. Why not spend $300 vs $3000, try a tube stove and see how I like it and how I end up really wanting to burn, then next year (well, the 2019 heating season) I could upgrade and would know which is the best choice.
Found an Osburn 2200, decent looking unit and checked a lot of boxes that I wanted for this "trial insert" - had it all lined up. The guy told me he couldn't meet on Thurs so we scheduled for Friday, then on Thursday night he texts me that he sold it. Great.
While arranging that deal two other units that made sense and were cheap (but which I liked less than the Osburn) disappeared off the market.
A week later someone is selling a Menards special, Century Heating insert for $75. Try to arrange that deal and the guy just stops responding. Had my g/f message him to see if it was still available and he says yes, but
then stops responding to her too. Strange.
----
TL;DR
So the hunt had been on for months and to no avail. Since last August, really. Was discouraged and just about to give up on thinking about it all for awhile when my g/f messaged me today with an insert she saw on FB Marketplace. OMG, it's a Montpelier! It's less than 2 hours away. And it's only $200!
Post had been up like 5 hours by the time I saw it and I figured it would surely be snapped up by then, but no! So, now I am the owner of a Montpelier! It's in pretty good shape from what i can tell. Door needs a minor adjustment but the baffle is intact, tubes look good, refractory had no visible cracks and the unit has only minor surface rust - just needs a quick cleaning and new coat of paint. The only thing I saw truly "wrong" with the unit is that it is missing the andirons. Checked online and $27 for a new set, much cheaper than I was thinking it would be!
I still need to figure out my liner situation (rigid oval or take out flue tiles and then round) and I doubt I will get the unit going in time to have any fires before next fall, but I am so psyched right now. It may not end up being the perfect unit and maybe I will find that I want an Ashford (I do love its looks and am even *more* impressed with BKVP and their service - if I ever move and need to use wood as primary heat no doubt it will be a BK), but until that time I at least get to test drive the other unit I was most interested in.
