first year stove owners- how happy are you?

[fitter9]

First winter with my lopi freedom insert and I couldn't be happier. My gas and electric bill is a quarter of what it use to be and I used to keep my thermostat at around 62. I have kept the 2 story house at around 67to77 burning wood almost 24/7 since October. The 3 cu ft firebox ate quite a bit of mostly well seasoned red oak. I went threw between 5 and 6 cords.
Well worth the 5 grand.

 

[Charles1981]

I will be happier if next year isn't record breaking cold. Stove is great above zero degrees. House starts to lose to much heat at -10 degrees and windchill...

But still my electric bill went from 400 a month to 100 so... stove and chimney install will pay for itself in about 2.5 years.

 

[hamsey]

Our insert has only been in for 1 1/2 months but I am extremely happy with it. Just learning how to burn properly. When we first got it installed we constantly fed it wood. Now we go by temperature instead of watching the wood burn and am getting longer burn times and it is heating the house better. Wish we knew that in the beginning as we went through a lot of wood. Been scrounging for dry wood and we will just make it. No clue how much we went through seeing I only had a pile for the fireplace but have been stacking whatever I can find for 2014/2015 winter. Not looking forward to it but knowing we have the stove certainly helps. We do not heat 24/7 but we will be burning more next winter. Figured we used 200-300 gallons less oil since it been installed and enjoying warmer temperatures in the house. Probably around 4 years for it pay for itself but did I mention the warmer house temperatures

 

[toddnic]

I'm not sure that "happy" would describe my wife's exuberance over the woodstove. Her asking me to open a window or door in the middle of winter to let some "cold air in" absolutely made my day . Such a contrast from the years prior when we were heating with propane. We definitely will never go back to heating with propane or electricity. Plus I saved around $2,000 in propane.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

Thrilled. Heating about 1000 as feet running 24/7, propane heat stays shut off unless I'm out of town. Ran 2.5 cord through her so far, maybe .5 to go for the year, been burning since October.

Used less wood than I thought I would, used 1/6 the propane of last year, I'll be under a grand in fuel costs for the year, given the cold snowy winter we've had, not only am I warmer than ever, I'm actually saving money too.

If I broke even on fuel costs I would've been happy.with my $3000 initial cost, I think an honest roi is about 3-5 years.

 

[nhorzepa]

Yesterday made us seriously question our choice of stove.
Came home to a house FULL of smoke
Apparently the cat clogged or something and the smoke did not go out the chimney!

Before this we had been slightly annoyed about the need to clean our Woodstock Progress' screen and cat every 3/4 weeks...because we are burning 24/7 and it was really cold whenever we needed shut the stove down.
And the screen developed holes in it last week!
But the awesomeness of having our house warm kept us happy with the stove.
Maybe it's just the fact we all smell like smoke and we don't have a fix that we're having second thoughts on our choice of stove....

 

[Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar]

I am happy with the choice of switching from a pellet stove to a wood stove in the house but not happy with the brand of stove. I was planning on putting in a second stove this year but most likely I'll be spending my money replacing the stove I bought just last year.

 

[fire_man]

Yesterday made us seriously question our choice of stove.
Came home to a house FULL of smoke
Apparently the cat clogged or something and the smoke did not go out the chimney!

Before this we had been slightly annoyed about the need to clean our Woodstock Progress' screen and cat every 3/4 weeks...because we are burning 24/7 and it was really cold whenever we needed shut the stove down.
And the screen developed holes in it last week!
But the awesomeness of having our house warm kept us happy with the stove.
Maybe it's just the fact we all smell like smoke and we don't have a fix that we're having second thoughts on our choice of stove....

nhorzepa: What happened to the hearthstone mansfield you bought a couple years ago? Did that not work out ?

My cat on the Progress clogged completely one time. I am pretty sure it's because I engaged the cat much to quickly after loading, and the cat was already overdue for a cleaning/vinegar bath.

 

[nhorzepa]

nhorzepa: What happened to the hearthstone mansfield you bought a couple years ago? Did that not work out ?

Resold it on craigslist, without ever installing/using it.
The top vent caused issues as no one wanted to install it through our existing chimney.

 

[NRGarrott]

I bought a 10 year old Quadrafire 3100 insert off craigslist for $200 this winter. I installed it with a stainless liner and new hearth pad for $850 total. I figure I saved at least $700 this winter, so I am almost at the break even point. A couple things I wasn't expecting though. It takes forever to warmup my 900 sq ft house from 55 degrees to 65, and even though the insert is rated for twice the sq ft, since my house is not insulated, or tight, it barely keeps up. Another thing I learned was carrying firewood in is a real pain in the ass. It is not uncommon for me to work 36 straight hours, and my wife to be gone until 9 pm, so when we both get home 2 hours after dark, and have to carry firewood in, it really sucks.

 

[brakatak]

pumped... couldnt be happier. solid purchase all around.

 

[woodboss]

I had a PE Summit insert installed at my girlfriends house around Oct. she could not be happy with it she put 800.00 worth of oil in Aug. and just had to have more put in.

 

[Rickb]

Best purchase I have ever made. I do not think I would have survived this winter with out it.

 

[bens_igloo]

I am VERY happy with my insert which I had installed in September last year. Of course it took some time to truly appreciate how dry wood has to be to burn well in an EPA certified stove, but that's all under control now. We have a natural gas furnace so do not need the insert as a primary heat source. That being said, it has allowed us to keep the house very warm and not worry one bit about our heating costs!

 

[NBABUCKS1]

So stoked.

Went from 63 degree thermostat (oil heat, average $200 months) to 75+ degrees. Got a 3 cords of whole logs for $350 to my door. Filled my 250 gallon fuel tank in October and I'm still at 60% or so.

 

[jrems]

I love it so far. It's my first year, found a nice hearthstone shelburne for $500 and $300 for the liner and parts. Burned about 2.5 cords that cost $400.
Cut the oil bill in half. Saved almost $1000 in oil. It's amost paid for itself in one year. I had to buy wood this year but I'm already working on splitting some Norway maple and spruce for next year since it seasons fast( it was also free, the neigbors had the trees cut down) next year I'll be ahead.

 

[thedriver]

we are very happy with our new Drolet Blackcomb 1.9 stove. solid well built very functional .good stuff !! we are going to get the Legend 3.1 stove for next year we need longer burn times and a little more fire power heating from the basement. my neighbor is going to buy the Blackcomb for $100 less than we paid and, all will be warm next winter. once we figured out what the stove wanted it was easy and warmed nicely. I love all to do with burning .Cutting, splitting, stacking, hauling, burning, cleaning. and staying warm.

 

[Cynnergy]

I still feel like I'm a beginner (weekend only burner), but at least the cabin was comfy (if not too hot) after getting warmed up. Looking forward to next year with drier wood and hopefully some more insulation.

 

[dafattkidd]

Our insert has only been in for 1 1/2 months but I am extremely happy with it. Just learning how to burn properly. When we first got it installed we constantly fed it wood. Now we go by temperature instead of watching the wood burn and am getting longer burn times and it is heating the house better. Wish we knew that in the beginning as we went through a lot of wood. Been scrounging for dry wood and we will just make it. No clue how much we went through seeing I only had a pile for the fireplace but have been stacking whatever I can find for 2014/2015 winter. Not looking forward to it but knowing we have the stove certainly helps. We do not heat 24/7 but we will be burning more next winter. Figured we used 200-300 gallons less oil since it been installed and enjoying warmer temperatures in the house. Probably around 4 years for it pay for itself but did I mention the warmer house temperatures

Sounds like you did catch it "in the beginning." You've only been burning a month and a half and already you're on your way to more efficient burns.

Congratulations to all of you on your first year with your new stoves/inserts. You are wise to be on hearth.com learning to hone in the art of heating your homes with wood. Get a head on your wood supplies and check your chimneys regularly the first couple of years. Good luck and God bless you in your new endeavors in wood burning. It's super fun and pretty addictive!

 

[jimdrea]

Have had my 1402 napoleon since march 5. It's been fun figuring out how to run it. My biggest problem has been burning my hands on the hot cast iron. One little nick and I have a nice burn. Wish I had more wood , will be running out sometime this week and the weather in Boston is staying cold. Overall great investment.

 

[bryankloos]

Very Happy. Installed a PE Summit in November and have been running 24/7 since. I supplement with oil when the temps get below 10F. Heating a 3200 sqft house I've burned about 4+ cords and burned 400 gal oil. Without the stove I would have burned closer to 1500 gal oil, so I figure I'm just about whole on the 4.5K into the stove/liner/install. The best part is a 75F house in the rooms that count versus 64F and complaints from the wife. One of the best decisions I've ever made....

 

[izzyq]

We are thrilled! Purchased and installed a Hearthstone Manchester in early November, haven't turned the oil heat on since, even with how cold this winter got. SO far we are very happy with our choice of stove and how well it works for us. Hope that continues for years to come. With the stove we could afford to keep our house was much warmer than before (74 compared to 65-68) and we LOVE not seeing the oil delivery man coming to our house because we aren't using much at all!

 

[Paul L]

We stayed just as warm this year with the new insert as last year with the 30 year old insert. It was much much colder this year and we burned only 4 cords compared to the 6 we burned last year. Like my stove a lot.

That said, Quadra-fire turned out to be a stupid, stupid company ... spewing misinformation and absolutely no interest in correcting it.

 

[hamsey]

Sounds like you did catch it "in the beginning." You've only been burning a month and a half and already you're on your way to more efficient burns.

Congratulations to all of you on your first year with your new stoves/inserts. You are wise to be on heart.com learning to hone in the art of heating your homes with wood. Get a head on your wood supplies and check your chimneys regularly the first couple of years. Good luck and God bless you in your new endeavors in wood burning. It's super fun and pretty addictive!

Could not have done it without hearth.com. Learned soo much. Trying to get ahead on wood. Got it for next winter but nothing for the following winter. Not getting any returned phone calls or emails about wood at the moment. Guessing with this winter there is not much left. Still looking.

 

[Dave K]

I'm satisfied but not thrilled. I used 1/3 of the oil that was used last year but I had to buy all 5 cords of wood this year so my total savings was only about $650 for the winter. Giving all the time and effort I spent loading the stove and hauling wood from the pile I can't say that I'm elated with the savings.

I'm getting a jump on next year's wood by scrounging and splitting my own wood now so I don't have to buy it. I know I'll be be a lot happier after next winter savings