Insert recommendations

[KYrob]

My house is a ranch on a full finished basement with a total of 2800 sq.ft. Fireplace is upstairs on end of house in den. House layout is den,kitchen family room,dining room beside family room and then down the hall to the bedrooms. From den to hall is very open with basement door off the kitchen. My central unit has a variable speed fan that I plan to keep running as to distribute the heat. Return air vent is about 25 feet from hearth. Just wondering which insert would work. I am currently looking at a buck model 74 for $1600.00. It has a 2.6 cu ft firebox and is supposed to heat 2600 ft but not sure if it would. What other brands do you guys think would work for this house? I would kinda like to stay around that price as I will be putting in a chimney liner as well. My electric bills aren't bad but I have a farm and figure I might as well utilize the resources from it and save some money in the long run, plus wood heat is warmer than other types or so it seems. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

Rob

 

[Jotul_Rockland]

I have very positive experience with the Jotul Rockland insert. I would highly recommend it.

 

[tickbitty]

I don't know if anyone here does a "newer" buck insert but the old ones sure were (and are) workhorses. If the quality is good that is a nice big stove for the price. Seems like there are not that many inserts with large fireboxes so you probably want to go for the biggest firebox you can get and factor in your budget. I'm very pleased with my Lopi but it won't heat as much square footage as that Buck claims to.

 

[Dix]

Just a thought. If you have a ranch, can you put a free standing stove in it?

You'll probably get better results heat wise. I've got a 2000 SF ranch, and the Pacific (in a central chimney), with it's 2 CF box is working like a dog (and so am I) with - 10 °F with the wind chill.

If I had it to do over again, I'd do a stove.

 

[KYrob]

Thanks for the replies guys. A stove wouldn't work the way things are laid out and my wife doesn't want one sitting out in the floor. I have always heard Buck stoves were good but posted on here several days ago about them and never got a single response. Made me wonder if something was wrong with them and everyone knows it but me. It really surprises me that more people don't have them but I guess it's a regional thing as people around these parts speak highly of them, at least the older ones anyway. Thanks again for the replies and I will decide soon what I am going to get.

Rob

 

[tickbitty]

If you do a search on here you will get a few hits on Buck 74 or other newer Buck inserts. I think they still have a good rep. The big insert on here that people are really in love with right now is the Blaze King one. Don't know what they cost though.

 

[Retreadsme]

I don't know of many folks that have an EPA rated insert that don't think theirs is the best, so keep that in mind as I say my Regency I3100L insert with a 2.9 cuft firebox puts out more heat than I can use at times. It is a non-cat insert which pleases me. The price may be a bit higher than the Buck 74, but then again I'm sure someone would be happy to raise the price of the Buck to make it comparable to any other!