Pacific Energy Neo 2.5 insert

Looks great! Enjoy!


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I’ve had my Neo 2.5 since October. Should have done it years ago- we love it. I burn a combo of NEILS and cordwood and haven’t had to run my furnace much at all. I didn’t have any idea how well it would heat my house compared to the open fireplace.

Things I’ve learned:
1.Top down fires help keep the glass cleaner.
2.It burns best with a fully loaded firebox
3.Start the fire (top down of course) and leave the door cracked a few minutes
4. Don’t turn down the air too soon
5.i never turn the air completely all the way down (leave it 10% open)

With 2.5 NEILS and a few splits on a cold start (this is probably 3/4 full) the thing will blow heat for 10-11 hours.

1 NEILS on hot coals for 4-5 hours of maintenance heat.

My chief complaint is the glass. The glass gets dirty on the lower right and left hand sides pretty much no matter what I do, although with a full firebox it’s been much cleaner (but a full firebox is A LOT of wood). So I clean my glass a lot. The Rutland cream cleaner has been my go to.

Enjoy!

NIELS are northern Idaho energy logs, I would think in your climate it would be considered winter now, it's been cold in the northeast.

Wondering said:

Thanks JWK. A few questions. What are NEILS? In October and November, when it's not too cold out doesn't it get too hot in the room if you fully load the firebox? My installer told me to light small hot fires in the spring and fall. Where are you located? And finally, how long does it take to heat up the place from a cold start on a cold day? Thanks again. Enjoy your fires.

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I’m in Seattle. The coldest it’s been is 40ish, so not too cold. Yes, it’ll heat us out of our upper floor if I burn too large of a fire if it’s mild outside. It has no problem getting my 1100 sq ft upstairs level to the mid 70’s during some colder weather last week. I put a fan on the floor at the end of a hallway to move heat around and that works really well.

Id say from a cold start, 5 mins w door cracked, 10-20 minutes til the fan turns on and by the hour mark my upstairs is getting warm. After a day of throwing a few splits on coals throughout the day, my house is warm, like I mean my house is actually warm, in a way my furnace could never do. We love it.

We’ve had our Neo almost a month!

I clean the glass with a damp paper towel dipped in ashes, no extra cleaner required. Usually there’s just a haze. Damp wood isn’t clean. Also got the hang of top down fires, definitely better!

Spouse is not a fan of burning overnight. Still, our downstairs is warmer in ways the furnace can’t compare with, the house is more comfy until to the next day fire. Spouse was home sick the other day and I hadn’t gotten around to starting a fire. He definitely noticed the cats were expecting real heat

Yah, sorry about the power cord and many others I've seen on here, another reason I went w/FPX. Or otherwise pull it out, put in a electrical box behind wall to code and make it all pretty.

Wondering said:

Thanks. How does FPX get away with not having an inconvenient power cord?

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I dunno, again for FPX the blower is remotely located so you don't hear the squirrel cage either. So, I'm in IT, so as I like to say "I'm a software guy, that's a hardware problem..." ha, but that's me, let's get back to you. I'm big on aesthetics and over engineering everything, my bad I know, but it's not what others see/hear/feel or otherwise, it WHAT I experience. I actually live in a 2 story house, and before I bought it I had my wife and friends go upstairs and jump on the floor and make as much noise as they could b/c I didn't want to hear it downstairs, OCD I know, but I love me . Ok, back to the topic, is it possible to pull the unit out and get it wired, again to code, so that the cord is hidden. Or, I've seen less glamorous looks that have cable covers etc., over it, or even somehow scrape out a little grout down below and hide/paint the cord somewhat, put some figurines in front of it? If not, I know it might cost a little for a redo, but if it were me, I'd consider that option?

begreen said:

This is comparing an FPX zero clearance fireplace to a masonry fireplace insert. They are two different installation types. The cord can be hidden if done safely and properly. Or it can be reversed to the other side.

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Ok, so is that a surround, does it make it easier to get to and provide for a non-visible cord solution?

My installer really put the fear of over firing my Neo 2.5 - is that a concern? I see you mentioned below it works best if you fill it? I'm afraid I'm going to warp it and wreck it. Love some advice on this front.

JWK said:

I’ve had my Neo 2.5 since October. Should have done it years ago- we love it. I burn a combo of NEILS and cordwood and haven’t had to run my furnace much at all. I didn’t have any idea how well it would heat my house compared to the open fireplace.

Things I’ve learned:
1.Top down fires help keep the glass cleaner.
2.It burns best with a fully loaded firebox
3.Start the fire (top down of course) and leave the door cracked a few minutes
4. Don’t turn down the air too soon
5.i never turn the air completely all the way down (leave it 10% open)

With 2.5 NEILS and a few splits on a cold start (this is probably 3/4 full) the thing will blow heat for 10-11 hours.

1 NEILS on hot coals for 4-5 hours of maintenance heat.

My chief complaint is the glass. The glass gets dirty on the lower right and left hand sides pretty much no matter what I do, although with a full firebox it’s been much cleaner (but a full firebox is A LOT of wood). So I clean my glass a lot. The Rutland cream cleaner has been my go to.

Enjoy!

Click to expand...

MarkM99 said:

My installer really put the fear of over firing my Neo 2.5 - is that a concern? I see you mentioned below it works best if you fill it? I'm afraid I'm going to warp it and wreck it. Love some advice on this front.

Click to expand...

Are you burning NIELs? If not just keep your eye on it and damper down and keep it at a temp your comfortable with. You'll learn the stove in time a know when to turn it down with a full load

weatherguy said:

Are you burning NIELs? If not just keep your eye on it and damper down and keep it at a temp your comfortable with. You'll learn the stove in time a know when to turn it down with a full load

Click to expand...

Sorry I didn't specify - no I would generally be burning softwood at the moment as I'm using (in theory) seasoned firewood on a homestead we just bought (it was cut windfall). I do plan to buy some seasoned Maple shortly, and have been using that to try to overnight the fire. I'm reading/researching as much as I can, I'm just worried I"m going to warp the baffle/insert.

To echo Weatherguy- watch the fire and adjust accordingly.

I’ll put 2 or 2.5 NEILS on the bottom and fill it up (cold start only), top down fire. Once it’s going well, I start closing down in increments. By the time the fire has burned down to the NEILS, they start easy and that’s where I get my duration.

On coals, if I use NEILS, I’ll add 1 or 2 and NO cordwood, otherwise I’d have an inferno and possibly get close to an overfire. But even then, I would think I could adjust the air to mitigate the possibility. Adjust before it is a problem.

With cordwood I think you’ll be just fine - just use a mix of big & small splits. All small splits coujd take off too fast?

Just swept mine for the first time today - went great. Maybe a cup of fluffy stuff came out if it. I’m glad I did it to get to know it a little more.

JWK said:

Things I’ve learned:
1.Top down fires help keep the glass cleaner.
2.It burns best with a fully loaded firebox
3.Start the fire (top down of course) and leave the door cracked a few minutes
4. Don’t turn down the air too soon
5.i never turn the air completely all the way down (leave it 10% open)

Click to expand...

HI, I was just looking at a Neo 2.5 today, but have some questions. We only have a 1200 sq ft house, and were thinking that if we got this size of insert, we could simply not load it all the way to avoid getting too hot. That may not be the best idea. What happens if you don't load it fully?

joneo said:

HI, I was just looking at a Neo 2.5 today, but have some questions. We only have a 1200 sq ft house, and were thinking that if we got this size of insert, we could simply not load it all the way to avoid getting too hot. That may not be the best idea. What happens if you don't load it fully?

Click to expand...

Actually, i rarely load it all the way due to my house getting too hot. I probably load it 1/2 to 2/3rds most of the time and still if I run the insert long enough, it gets very warm in here. I’ve burned mostly NEILS (a full pallet) and Presst logs this year and with those I only use 2 at a time once I have coals. That’s more than enough heat.

It’s in my upstairs, which is about 1200sq as well. With a fan down the hall it heats my upstairs with no problem.furnace rarely turns on. And yes, if I were to load it all the way, it would be uncomfortable.

They make a smaller version as well, but I wanted the larger size for fireshow and log size.

The only drawback to not running it full open is I feel like the sides of the glass get a little more soot than if I run it real hot. I’ve learned how to run it well though, so the soot easily wipes off with a damp cloth, so no big deal.

After running this most every day, and 24/7 during a recent cold snap, I have no regrets. We really have benefited from adding this to our home. Let me know if you have any other questions.

JWK said:

They make a smaller version as well, but I wanted the larger size for fireshow and log size.

The only drawback to not running it full open is I feel like the sides of the glass get a little more soot than if I run it real hot. I’ve learned how to run it well though, so the soot easily wipes off with a damp cloth, so no big deal.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I was thinking that a larger size would be better for fireshow and log size as well. - Drawbacks I have been told about not running a stove real hot over time could potentially include increased creosote buildup - not sure if that applies to simply loading 1/2 full or not. Hopefully in this case it's just the soot in the glass.

This will be our first stove purchase so I'm learning as much as I can before dropping the $$$.

Thank you!