This summer, I added 3 inches of ceramic fiber insulation to the top and 2 sides of my PE Vista insert. I left the back uninsulated since that is where the outside air intake is located. Last winter, I seemed to lose a lot of heat to the masonry of the fireplace and the chimney. This warmed the second floor of the house pretty well, but it is unused and also, being a Cape Cod style house, resulted in some nasty ice dams on the roof. Well, we have been doing mostly evening burns with temps in the 20s and 30s and I have noticed two things: 1. the heat output from the stove is much hotter and 2. the masonry is nowhere near as warm as it was last year. I have to say that , so far, I'm happy with the results.
We replaced the asphalt shingle roof with a new metal shingle roof so that the heavy snows we get here will slide off and not melt to form the ice dams. Although the metal shingle roof was pretty expensive, it looks fantastic and has a 50 year warranty. The old roof was in pretty poor shape anyway, but if I had done the kaowool insulation last year, I might have avoided doing the roof for another year or two.
With a small stove (1.3 cu. ft. firebox), it seems to be important to get the heat where you need it, and this seems to do the trick. I suspect I will use a little less wood this coming winter and be able to heat the house a little easier.
We replaced the asphalt shingle roof with a new metal shingle roof so that the heavy snows we get here will slide off and not melt to form the ice dams. Although the metal shingle roof was pretty expensive, it looks fantastic and has a 50 year warranty. The old roof was in pretty poor shape anyway, but if I had done the kaowool insulation last year, I might have avoided doing the roof for another year or two.
With a small stove (1.3 cu. ft. firebox), it seems to be important to get the heat where you need it, and this seems to do the trick. I suspect I will use a little less wood this coming winter and be able to heat the house a little easier.
