Flush or protruding Insert

[faultymechanics]

This spring my wife and I will be replacing the VC Winterwarm with a new wood stove insert. The plan is to mainly use it for power outages and the occasional cool night or, of course, general ambience. We've switched the house to a Pellet Boiler so we aren't quite as concerned about offsetting the cost of running our central heat.

Is there a significant benefit have a protruding insert vs. a flush insert? I do like being able to put a kettle on top of the winterwarm and also I've seen people put humidifiers on that "shelf" as well.

Anything I'm not thinking of? It seems most inserts have heat powered fans that push the heat out into the room.

 

[snaple4]

I think all inserts utilize a fan, not sure if all require its use.

I really enjoyed mine that stuck out. Would warm up food and make quesadillas on it. It will also put out more heat into the room as radiant heat.

 

[davo1028]

Most of the fans are actually electrically powered, so you would want to consider that in your planning for use during power outages. Without the blower, you'll definitely get the most heat from an insert that protrudes from the fireplace.

Do you have a blockoff plate and insulation installed with your current setup? That will really help you get the most out of your insert.

 

[Amin1992]

I wanted a wood stove because I like the simplicity of one (works during power outages, no electricity or wires or fans running) but we could only make an insert work in our house. I didn't even install the blower fan and we don't use a blower at all, but ours protrudes about 5" out and the radiant heat is enough to get the 500 sq ft lower level up to 80F!

I would 100% go with a non-flush insert. I love being able to cook on top of it (though small) and constantly use a humidifier kettle. Plus I like that it still looks like a wood stove, not just a fireplace like flush units look more like.

If you especially want this for power outages, you need one that sticks out some. The more surface area exposed the more heat you'll get without a blower. For example, my unit is about 33 x 21". If it were flush, that would be 693 square inches of surface area. But, because it protrudes out 5", I actually have a total of about 1068 square inches of surface area to warm my house, which is a 54% more surface area than flush. It does add up!

So at flush, 693 square inches.
With 5" sticking out, 1068 square inches.
If it were a true wood stove, I'd be getting at least 2772 square inches of surface area, plus the liner giving off heat! So an insert is still a lot less, but every inch counts for radiating

In a perfect world (ie, if my wife liked it and I needed another unit) I would put in a smaller wood stove that sits in the masonry, with no trim at all!