freestanding stove vs insert

[shredit]

Im in the process of building a new home. I previously had a blaze king princess and it was an amazing stove as you all probably know, but i sold it when i moved into a rental with no hookup or room to store it. Im contemplating putting a beautiful stone fireplace with an wood stove insert OR going back to a blaze king (im doing one or the other). Im wondering how the heat output would be compared to a free standing stove. I believe the inserts do have fans to disperse the heat out of the front. The house is going to be ~ 2400 ft downstairs with a small bonus room upstairs. I do not want to sacrifice heat for the aesthetics of an insert into a stone fireplace if the heat difference is going to be significant. Also maybe some recommendations for an insert. This is going to be my forever home so i want to do it right and make the end product exactly what i want.

Thanks

 

[jetsam]

Freestander, no question.

I heat my house with the Princess Insert. It does fine, but it's obviously handicapped by being stuffed into a box on an exterior wall. This occurred because somebody in 1970 still hadn't got the message from the 1700s that open fireplaces were a bad idea.

On new construction, there is no reason to pay money for an awkward work-around to a problem that you don't have. Just put in a stove!

(It may be a good time for you to read up on the BK King, too!)

 

[kborndale]

When the power goes out and you really need the heat a stove is going to heat the same as always while that insert sits there overheating without it's blower to circulate the heat.

 

[yonny33]

Freestander, no question.

I heat my house with the Princess Insert. It does fine, but it's obviously handicapped by being stuffed into a box on an exterior wall. This occurred because somebody in 1970 still hadn't got the message from the 1700s that open fireplaces were a bad idea.

On new construction, there is no reason to pay money for an awkward work-around to a problem that you don't have. Just put in a stove!

(It may be a good time for you to read up on the BK King, too!)

Oh boy choosing an open stove here was such a pain here in Uruguay.
Sales staff would immediately want to sell me an insert as apparently, you cannot put an open stove into an existing fireplace!!

About the 4th time, I walked into a showroom and heard that again, I literally wanted to throw the stove at the sales pitch guy. Inserts cost 2-4 times more here $$$

I explained it was nonsense, I'm from the UK and tens of millions have stoves in old fireplaces work extremely well and inserts are very uncommon, showing him photos of my dad's and uncles in Wales.

Looking at me bewildered or in disbelief and still insisting I'd get much more heat out of an insert all closed into the brickwork!!

Eventually bought my stove from an importer without all the sales junk.


Exactly!!:
"but it's obviously handicapped by being stuffed into a box on an exterior wall "

 

[jetsam]

When the power goes out and you really need the heat a stove is going to heat the same as always while that insert sits there overheating without it's blower to circulate the heat.

I do have to say that BK's Princess insert is pretty good without a blower. (But nowhere near as good as a freestanding Princess- it just doesn't have the same amount of surface area in the room.)

 

[bholler]

When the power goes out and you really need the heat a stove is going to heat the same as always while that insert sits there overheating without it's blower to circulate the heat.

An insert should not overheat just because the blower is off. If it does your setup needs fixed

 

[bholler]

Im in the process of building a new home. I previously had a blaze king princess and it was an amazing stove as you all probably know, but i sold it when i moved into a rental with no hookup or room to store it. Im contemplating putting a beautiful stone fireplace with an wood stove insert OR going back to a blaze king (im doing one or the other). Im wondering how the heat output would be compared to a free standing stove. I believe the inserts do have fans to disperse the heat out of the front. The house is going to be ~ 2400 ft downstairs with a small bonus room upstairs. I do not want to sacrifice heat for the aesthetics of an insert into a stone fireplace if the heat difference is going to be significant. Also maybe some recommendations for an insert. This is going to be my forever home so i want to do it right and make the end product exactly what i want.

Thanks

Building a full code compliant stone fireplace just to put an insert in it makes no sense at all. You would be wasting tens of thousands of dollars. Go with a high efficiency fireplace or a freestander

 

[stoveliker]

Even though it has been mentioned already, it appears you are not familiar with the fact that Blaze King sells inserts too. So while I personally would suggest buying a freestanding stove, you CAN get your BK and an insert in one...

 

[begreen]

An insert should not overheat just because the blower is off. If it does your setup needs fixed

Yes, some inserts even advertise that they convect well during a power outage. In general the inserts that project out onto the hearth are going to do a much better job at convecting naturally with the blower off.

 

[Caw]

My insert protrudes about 8" and does OK during outages if the temps aren't crazy cold. It'll keep the stove room warm and upstairs sleepable. The rest of the house will be very cold though without the blower. In fact in prolonged outages we run the generator to plug in the blower along with the well and fridges.

So while it's certainly better than a flush mount insert, it's no freestander. I only went this route because I had to. My house isn't very big and we have a perfectly good masonry chimney so we didn't want to sacrifice more space. If I were building a new home I would 100% go freestanding tube stove and make it the centerpiece of a room.

As @bholler said before...definitely dont make a beautiful hearth only to jam an insert in it. Inserts are solutions for people like me not something to design for in new construction.

Also it will not overheat without the blower. It will run a little bit hotter (maybe 50-100 STT) but nothing alarming. I want to run it harder in an outage anyways!

 

[NickW]

When you say "insert", do you mean a zc fireplace? My wife and I are planning a zc in a new construction cabin. As stated previously, an insert goes in a masonry opening and has certain (expensive) construction requirements. A zc fireplace requires virtually no masonry...

 

[Alpine1]

As @bholler said before...definitely dont make a beautiful hearth only to jam an insert in it. Inserts are solutions for people like me not something to design for in new construction
View attachment 276217

I couldn’t agree more!

 

[begreen]

When you say "insert", do you mean a zc fireplace? My wife and I are planning a zc in a new construction cabin. As stated previously, an insert goes in a masonry opening and has certain (expensive) construction requirements. A zc fireplace requires virtually no masonry...

In that context "insert" is a marketing misnomer.

 

[EbS-P]

If you like the stone work you can still have that. I’ve seen some great looking freestanding installs on here that incorporated stone work. With the new 2020 rules and even more the new tax credit have limited the number insert choices.

 

[gthomas785]

In a new construction I'd go with a freestanding stove, no question. You can still build a beautiful stone hearth for it to sit on and make it the focal point of the space. Even with an expensive hearth, the cost would not compare to building a fireplace with an insert. And you'd get all the performance benefits of freestanding stoves that others have listed.

 

[clancey]

If it were my taste I would go with a free standing one because it gives you more choices about what and where and when...and if you have a fireplace make it beautiful and close it (unless your going to use it) so that you won't lose your heat going out the fireplace and no animal will get caught in it put a screen on the top of it . Then at Christmas time put stockings up for the family and heat by your lovely new free stander--that's what I would do ..Mrs clancey..

 

[jetsam]

If you want a big pile of stone to look pretty and warm up the house, new construction is a rare opportunity to have a real, centrally located masonry heater.

They're not common or cheap but they can be excellent heaters. A new install is best done by building the heater and then building the house around it.

There are quite a few good threads on here. (Try doing a Google image search for "Tulikivi" too!)

 

[clancey]

How beautiful they are--wow...

 

[jetsam]

How beautiful they are--wow...

They have some real lookers.




You can build a functional masonry heater for much less than a Tulikivi, but they sure make pretty stuff.

 

[xman23]

As said if you want stove heating performance, get a stove. And stoves for many years have a great fire view. Actually better fire views than fireplaces. You can do a nice wall of stone with a stove.

Inserts were a wood stove solution for homes with a existing fireplace. I don't think they have the heat output of a free standing stove.

 

[Prof]

I'm obviously biased, but I'd suggest a masonry heater. Couldn't be happier with mine. Heats the house well, looks great, and cooks some great food. Mine probably didn't cost more than a well-built masonry fireplace.

 

[begreen]

I'm obviously biased, but I'd suggest a masonry heater. Couldn't be happier with mine. Heats the house well, looks great, and cooks some great food. Mine probably didn't cost more than a well-built masonry fireplace.

The problem with that is that like a giant flywheel, once you get it up and heating, it's going to heat for the next 12-24 hrs. A masonry heater is nice in winter, but it would have been a hassle for us today. 35 in the morning but pushing 55 in the afternoon with strong sun warming the house. I am doing smaller fires and letting them go out in this weather.
I agree with bholler, a freestander or a good quality, high-efficiency ZC fireplace would be my preference.

 

[Prof]

The problem with that is that like a giant flywheel, once you get it up and heating, it's going to heat for the next 12-24 hrs. A masonry heater is nice in winter, but it would have been a hassle for us today. 35 in the morning but pushing 55 in the afternoon with strong sun warming the house. I am doing smaller fires and letting them go out in this weather.
I agree with bholler, a freestander or a good quality, high-efficiency ZC fireplace would be my preference.

I see where you are coming from, but it doesn't match my experience. A masonry heater is like any other wood burning apparatus, the heat output can be controlled by how much wood is burned and how often you have fires. There is a learning curve for sure, but in weather like today and throughout the shoulder season I burn 1/2 to 3/4 loads and vary the frequency of firings. I tend to light a fire every day or two, but I certainly will not fire it twice a day as I do in the dark days of winter. Also, to some extent, the heater gives off more heat into the room when the room is cold. When the room is warm, this seems to slow.