Looking a new stove

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blowinsmoke9907

New Member
Dec 7, 2013
21
eastern NC
I will be in the market next year for a new epa more efficient wood insert for my house. It is not quite 1800 Sq. Would love to stay under 1500 if possible. There are so many out there to look at I don't know which ones to look at first. Someone help me out please. I've got a Fisher insert that I bought from my old farm boss that was just sitting in the barn a few years back and just want something more efficient.
 
Inserts are usually more expensive than stoves due to add-ons like blower, faceplate, convection shell etc. There are not a lot of units available under $1500. I would take a look at the Century cw2900 and the Heatilator Eco-choice WINS18: http://www.survivalproducts.com/heatilator-eco-choice-wins18-wood-insert/ The latter is not that well known but got some good reviews here. The Englander 13NCI and the Timberwolf EPI22 would be other options but they are smaller than the other two. Don't forget that you will need a full 6" liner, preferably insulated.
 
Thanks. It ain't got to heat the whole house just keep it so the heat pump don't come on. It sits in a back room that about the size of a 2 car garage. The house is an L shape and it sits in the small side of the L. Any options to just help the one I have now work a little better?
 
Those are the options to make an insert to heat better:

- Dry wood!! (Split and stacked at least 2 years before burning.)
- Full, insulated liner going to the top of the chimney.
- Block-off plate: https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/make-a-damper-sealing-block-off-plate/
- Insulation around the insert when the fireplace is at an exterior wall: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/finally-got-around-to-insulating-my-fireplace.75755/

The heat can be distributed with a small desk fan placed on the floor blowing cold air towards the room with the stove. Warm air will come out from the stove room along the ceiling to make up for the cold air. The rationale is that cold air is more dense than warm air and therefore easier to move.

How tall is the fireplace? Maybe it is big enough that a stove could be installed inside which is potentially cheaper than an insert.
 
As long as your Fisher is working safely I'd ride it out till you can get the insert that would serve your purposes
 
Grisu, my fireplace is tall enough at the front but the way it's designed it has the sloping backdrop about half way across the top and slopes downward at about a 25 to 30° angle. The only way to put a free standing one would be to get one with a rear outlet and have it sit mostly on the hearth which is about 20" wide. Hmm..... Could be a possibility... The only way to put pipe all the way up is to get someone to make me an adapter that will fit over the damper since mine has the chain pull type with the rod going across it. I'll check the block off and insulation thing out cuz it is on an outside wall.
 
Rear-vented stoves are usually cast-iron and will also exceed your budget. To stay under $1500 you would need to see if a top-vented stove can be pushed far enough inside that you can connect the liner to it, maybe with an additional elbow. What are the dimensions of the fireplace? Do you have a picture?

You would cut out the damper to fit the liner through. Since you don't have a liner right now, do you have at least some stovepipe connected to the insert that goes above the damper? If not, you have a slammer install which is an unsafe installation and no longer allowed in the US. It also contributes to the insert not working well.
 
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