Hello Everybody! New guy with some questions

[MarshallDodge]

Hello!

I have been hanging around since last fall and have learned a lot from you guys. Thanks to you and the people that make this forum possible.

We moved into a small house temporarily last August and it has a wood burning stove. I have no idea who made it but it's in good shape and we have kept it running all winter without any issues. It helped keep our gas bill under $50 a month with some coal and a lot of brush and dead trees that were on the property.

We are getting ready to move into our permanent home in a couple weeks. The home was built in 1980 and has a fireplace that has never been used and a Earth Stove that has been used but probably minimally in the last 10 years. I had the home inspected and the fireplace and stove were found to be in very good condition. It is kind of strange where the stove and fireplace are situated...one in the living room and one in the den about 20 feet from each other. I probably won't be using the fireplace anyway or I may put a pellet insert in it.

A couple questions:
How efficient is the Earth Stove? Fair? Poor?
There is no damper installed. Should I install one?
It does not have a grate. Did it come with one?

I noticed on other posts that Lennox bought them out. Can one of you tell me the model by looking at the pictures?

 

[Shane]

I can't tell you the model off the top of my head but that's one of the pre EPA models and isn't very efficient though they do throw alot of heat. I don't believe they came with a grate. Lennox did buy them out and now the brand doesn't exist at all anymore. I would determine the need for a damper by how much control you have over the fire. If the chimney has really strong or excessive draft then a stove pipe damper might be in order otherwise it's just a creosote trap. That fireplace is begging for an insert. I've been very pleased with my pellet stoves performance, though having to stakeout the the hardware store parking lot for the the pellet truck has gotten old this year, but hopefully that's alleviated this year with ramped up production and a levaling off of demand. I am going to buy 4 ton this summer (after I build the storage shed for them) and shouldn't have to worry about it anyway. The new Enviro Empress pellet insert is going to be awesome they don't have it on their website yet but I have brochures and it is a good looking unit. Also check out the Avalon and Lopi products they're good. I have a Lopi.

 

[MarshallDodge]

That fireplace is begging for an insert. I've been very pleased with my pellet stoves performance, though having to stakeout the the hardware store parking lot for the the pellet truck has gotten old this year, but hopefully that's alleviated this year with ramped up production and a levaling off of demand. I am going to buy 4 ton this summer (after I build the storage shed for them) and shouldn't have to worry about it anyway. The new Enviro Empress pellet insert is going to be awesome they don't have it on their website yet but I have brochures and it is a good looking unit. Also check out the Avalon and Lopi products they're good. I have a Lopi.

Thanks for the info. Out here in Utah the local Wal Mart had pallet loads of pellets at least until Christmas.
What should I expect to pay on an insert and all the stuff to go with it? Ballpark?

 

[Shane]

If you were at my shop you'd be looking at 2500-3200 for the insert. 225-325 for the liner and around 400 for the install. Your prices will vary some depending on your exact location.

 

[michael]

If you were at my shop you'd be looking at 2500-3200 for the insert. 225-325 for the liner and around 400 for the install. Your prices will vary some depending on your exact location.

That's a fair install price!

When I bought my stove in 2004, most of the sweeps and stove shops wanted $1000-1200 for the labor. I saved them the trouble and did it myself.

It's good to see some honest people are still in business.

 

[Shane]

Kind of depends on where you are as to what a fair install price is. When I recently really examined my cost of doing business I realized that 400 is too low I need to charge 500-550 to be where I need to be. We are bringing our labor cost up incrementally to get to this goal. Didn't want to do it all at once figured it would be easier for people to stomach the smaller 50 dollar increases over the course of a year than all at once. In larger metropolitan areas I could see an increased cost because they'll probably have higher insurance rent and labor costs than I do here. I have my fair share of people laugh at me and tell me my 400 dollar labor charge is ridiculous. Personally though if one is capable of installing a stove and has the time and tools any labor charge is a waste of money for that particular person.

 

[Sundeep Arole]

If you were at my shop you'd be looking at 2500-3200 for the insert. 225-325 for the liner and around 400 for the install. Your prices will vary some depending on your exact location.

That's a fair install price!

When I bought my stove in 2004, most of the sweeps and stove shops wanted $1000-1200 for the labor. I saved them the trouble and did it myself.

It's good to see some honest people are still in business.

I thought the same thing. That price is really good.

Funny thing, the stove dealer I went to wouldn't do a full liner install at all. They had one sweep who did only direct connects. If you wanted a full liner, you had to hire your own sweep to do the liner first, then they would install the stove. Or you could get your own sweep to do both.

Price for a full liner + stove install would easily run $800 plus the liner plus the delivery charge ($200) for the stove if I hired my own sweep. Prices like that, and the relative ease of climbing my roof, tempted me to try and do it myself.

Out here, $400 is the standard labor for the install, but that is just delivery + direct connect install. No full liner at that price.