Hello, I’m new to your site and wanted to obtain several opinions. I am replacing a 42 inch Heatilator fireplace with an insert that hopefully will significantly contribute to heating my home, 1800 sq ft. I enjoy seeing the fire, so that’s kind of important. I am woefully ignorant about catalytic and non cat stoves. I am so far considering Blaze king or jotul. Any thoughts?
Fireplace insert recommendation
- Thread starter Lodgepole1805
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You cannot replace a fireplace with an insert. An insert needs to go inside a fireplace
Thank you for your knowledge on this. Once I remove the Heatilator, there is nothing left but a hole for an insert to go into. Thanks
My chimney is on the outside of the wall going straight up. Just a framed wood structure approximately 4 ft by 18 inches. Could this area be bricked around the insert safely and made to work? I suppose I could go with a wood stove, but similar issues come into play.
If you build a full wood burning masonry fireplace in that space sure it could work. But thats going to cost allot. If replacing a fireplace your options are to make an alcove that meets the chosen stoves requirements or replace with a high efficiency fireplace
Inserts must have a chimney lined for the flue collar size. It is not a place in and forget it if your house is insured.
I am very pleased with my Kuma stove and woodstock soapstone (if you want long slow heat) stoves.
Jotul is very nice and priced accordingly.
I am very pleased with my Kuma stove and woodstock soapstone (if you want long slow heat) stoves.
Jotul is very nice and priced accordingly.
The term insert is often misused by marketing. By "insert" do you mean a replacement, zero clearance fireplace? That is a possibility. In some cases, the chase cavity can be repurposed to make a conforming alcove that houses a freestanding stove, but one must pay close attention to that stove's alcove requirements.
I have just gone down the road of having a 1991 vintage Marco wood burning FIREPLACE (important distinction versus a wood burning INSERT) replaced with a Heatilator/Heat N Glo Pioneer II wood burning FIREPLACE. I have owned five wood burning INSERTS over the years and there is a big difference. An INSERT goes into a brick, block, stone, masonry, etc. fireplace but not into a a wooden chase. A wood burning FIREPLACE goes into a wooden chase.
I recently bought a vacation home and I wish that the home had been built with a proper fireplace and a block chimney but it wasn't, The price that I got for erecting a block "sort of" unfinished fireplace and a block chimney to allow installation of a wood burning INSERT was well north of $30,000 and that was before covering the block chimney with fake stone.
If you have a wood chase you always have the alternative of a free standing stove and an insulated flue over to and up the inside of the wood chase. This is not my area of expertise and there are plenty of others on this website who can help. But, if you took out a wood burning FIREPLACE and want another wood burning FIREPLACE you are going to have to replace in kind. The difference is easy to see if you go to the websites of the major makers (try Heatilator and Fireplace Xtrodinaire for starters).
A wood burning FIREPLACE is a massive thing with the firebox surrounded with several inches of insulation. It can sit on a wood subfloor and have the chase framed around it. The Pioneer II that I bought weighed in at 662 lbs.
A wood burning insert is a steel box with firebrick inside, a glass door and a hole in the top for the flue. My Lopi Cape Cod by Travis Industries weighed in at around 350 to 400 lbs. Since I installed it in a stone chimney no insulation is necessary, although the installer ran an uninsulated steel flue up the 1796 vintage chimney.
I recently bought a vacation home and I wish that the home had been built with a proper fireplace and a block chimney but it wasn't, The price that I got for erecting a block "sort of" unfinished fireplace and a block chimney to allow installation of a wood burning INSERT was well north of $30,000 and that was before covering the block chimney with fake stone.
If you have a wood chase you always have the alternative of a free standing stove and an insulated flue over to and up the inside of the wood chase. This is not my area of expertise and there are plenty of others on this website who can help. But, if you took out a wood burning FIREPLACE and want another wood burning FIREPLACE you are going to have to replace in kind. The difference is easy to see if you go to the websites of the major makers (try Heatilator and Fireplace Xtrodinaire for starters).
A wood burning FIREPLACE is a massive thing with the firebox surrounded with several inches of insulation. It can sit on a wood subfloor and have the chase framed around it. The Pioneer II that I bought weighed in at 662 lbs.
A wood burning insert is a steel box with firebrick inside, a glass door and a hole in the top for the flue. My Lopi Cape Cod by Travis Industries weighed in at around 350 to 400 lbs. Since I installed it in a stone chimney no insulation is necessary, although the installer ran an uninsulated steel flue up the 1796 vintage chimney.
Are there any zero clearance fireplace units that are high efficiency and qualify for the tax rebate?
Yes. Absolutely. There are basically three manufacturers. Heatilator which also sells under the names Heat N Glo and Hearth N Home, Travis Industries selling as Fireplaces Xtrodinaire, and a Canadian manufacturer which sells under a bunch of names including Ventis.
The first two for sure have fireplaces that qualify. I’m about 90% sure that the Canadian fireplaces qualify too. The kicker for me is that you are supposed to certify that the new fireplace is going into a primary residence, not a vacation ski place in the mountains as I have done.
I don’t know why the manufacturers sell under multiple names. I’d guess it is because they acquired smaller manufacturers that had existing dealers. The tech guy at Travis told me that it’s a $750,000 project now to design a wood burning fireplace and run it through EPA approvals and tool up to produce it.
I prefer Travis. I went with Heatilator because their fireplace is an almost exact fit where they pulled the old Marco unit out.
The first two for sure have fireplaces that qualify. I’m about 90% sure that the Canadian fireplaces qualify too. The kicker for me is that you are supposed to certify that the new fireplace is going into a primary residence, not a vacation ski place in the mountains as I have done.
I don’t know why the manufacturers sell under multiple names. I’d guess it is because they acquired smaller manufacturers that had existing dealers. The tech guy at Travis told me that it’s a $750,000 project now to design a wood burning fireplace and run it through EPA approvals and tool up to produce it.
I prefer Travis. I went with Heatilator because their fireplace is an almost exact fit where they pulled the old Marco unit out.
Thanks for that information. I currently have a heatilator, but it’s a late 80’s model and doesn’t produce much heat. Great to watch the fire, but doesn’t push much heated air out.
The tax rebate is disappearing at the end of the year. It's going to be difficult to have an installation finished by then so I wouldn't worry too much about the tax break. I would assume most installers are quite backed up right now with people trying to get an installation before the end of the year.
There are several, high efficiency ZC fireplaces but I think there is only one that qualifies for the tax credit and it is expensive, the IHP Montecito Estate CAT also sold as the Superior WCT6940WS
I’m looking into it, but seems to be hard info to come by. I found a Heatilator Constitution that fits pretty good in my space. I’m just trying to see if it can qualify for the biomass tax credit. The Pioneer II also works in my space, but doesn’t seem to qualify for the credit.
That is the same as the Quadrafire 7100 and I think is also sold under the Majestic name. It does not qualify for the tax rebate.
I suggest that you give a call to Travis Industries (Fireplace Xtrodinaire). They don’t advertise their number but it’s 425 609 2500. According to their website, their fireplaces qualify. I like their products. I have three of their stoves between my home and workshop, two wood burning and one propane.
Thanks for the tip. Yes, it looks like their updated models now test as qualifying. I need to update my spreadsheet for the 2025 changes.
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