We live north of San Antonio in the hill country and by no means "need" an insert, but I've become fixated on getting one as of late. There are plenty of cold days in Dec, Jan, and Feb to warrant burning a fire, but by morning of course the house is freezing when we do this. Therefore, we completely stopped using the fireplace... Our house is about 3600 sqft with 1800 sqft on each. I've honed in on the VC Merrimack and the Jotul 550 and was wondering if these would suffice for a house as large as ours considering it doesn't get terribly cold. The worst we ever see is around 20, but most cold fronts leave us in the 30s. Our house is about 20 years old and has decent insulation, and we run 3.5 and 3 ton heat pumps up/downstairs respectively. I want an insert primarily for the enjoyment and secondarily to save a little off the electric bill (though I know the payback is very long-term). I would appreciate any thoughts on the inserts mentioned above in a house our size. And of course... These are the 2 that my wife likes best based on looks. Thanks in advance for any help/knowledge.
First insert purchase in south texas
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JustinL, I'm your neighbor to the north in OKC, OK. I have similar square footage as you - 3800sf - but mine is all on one level.
Where you and I live, a wood burning appliance isn't really needed 24/7 through the winter, and as such we tend to make purchase decisions probably a bit more weighted toward aesthetics and less toward outright performance. I think this forum is mostly populated by users who live more up north and really rely on their stoves as primary heat sources.
Having said that - I can tell you that my Encore is a free standing wood stove that's rated at 65,000 BTU's per hour and is more than adequate to heat roughly the back 1/2 of my home on a very cold day. Like day time temps in the 20's and night time lows maybe in the teens. Mind you, I believe to get the stove to crank out 65000 BTU, it would be running hard and a wood stove can't keep that up for long because the fuel will burn down and in just a few hours it will be "cruising" at a lower but steady heat. Again, there are others here with vastly more experience than I who might chime in with better information.
For outright performance, in my market research I found other brands/models can significantly outperform the VC Encore (take a look at Blaze King) but they simply don't look as nice and my wife and I wanted something pretty.
Finally, from my limited perspective, the VC Encore is a somewhat complex and finicky appliance.
Best wishes...
Where you and I live, a wood burning appliance isn't really needed 24/7 through the winter, and as such we tend to make purchase decisions probably a bit more weighted toward aesthetics and less toward outright performance. I think this forum is mostly populated by users who live more up north and really rely on their stoves as primary heat sources.
Having said that - I can tell you that my Encore is a free standing wood stove that's rated at 65,000 BTU's per hour and is more than adequate to heat roughly the back 1/2 of my home on a very cold day. Like day time temps in the 20's and night time lows maybe in the teens. Mind you, I believe to get the stove to crank out 65000 BTU, it would be running hard and a wood stove can't keep that up for long because the fuel will burn down and in just a few hours it will be "cruising" at a lower but steady heat. Again, there are others here with vastly more experience than I who might chime in with better information.
For outright performance, in my market research I found other brands/models can significantly outperform the VC Encore (take a look at Blaze King) but they simply don't look as nice and my wife and I wanted something pretty.
Finally, from my limited perspective, the VC Encore is a somewhat complex and finicky appliance.
Best wishes...
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