Has anyone ever had a Lopi Answer insert installed so the insert door is flush with the fireplace opening? Our hearth is only 16 3/4" deep so by doing so we could avoid having to extend the hearth and still meet code. The local dealer suggested this as an option. The installers push the insert back in the fireplace opening and build a custom surround panel to make this type of installation work. They say it is quite common (at least in our area) but I can't seem to find any posts about it. I'm curious how this type of installation has worked out for others and if heat output is affected. Or if there are any concerns about this type of installation I should be aware of.
Lopi Answer Insert, flush installation
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Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
As with all inserts, you'll get more radiant heat off the part that sticks out. My insert is almost flush due to the configuration of the fireplace. I plan to do some modification to allow more to stick out, including a hearth extension. I need all the heat I can get, so I'm going to do what I can. If you don't need the heat, then flush away. A hearth extension can be a lot of work and/or money.
DBoon
Minister of Fire
I have a Lopi Answer stove, not an insert, that is installed flush with the fireplace opening. I use the blower on it 100% of the time and I get great heat output from it.
The Answer is a good stove to be turned into a flush insert since it is double-jacketed and the blower air circulates around the entire stove. Will you get less heat as a flush insert? Probably. Will a flush Answer insert be better than almost any other insert? Certainly. Will you need to get the blower option? Definitely.
The Answer is a good stove to be turned into a flush insert since it is double-jacketed and the blower air circulates around the entire stove. Will you get less heat as a flush insert? Probably. Will a flush Answer insert be better than almost any other insert? Certainly. Will you need to get the blower option? Definitely.
Thank you for the replies - great reassurance that this option isn't completely out in left field. I believe it would be a similar set-up to yours DBoon. The Answer insert we are considering can also be a wood stove if set on legs. We would get the blower.
Heat output is important to us as wood is our primary heat source. We do run our electric furnace a few hours in the morning and during extended periods of below-freezing weather. We really prefer wood heat - nothing quite like it! - but it's probably a poor choice for our house - fireplace/chimney on an outside wall at the far end of the living area, we don't have an open floor plan and we live in a valley that often has inversions during colder weather and can't burn anyways.
Our current insert is 40+ years old. It does a great job IF someone is home to feed it all day and it eats A LOT of firewood. The blowers gave out years ago and were so noisy I didn't like to run them anyways. Only being familiar with something so old, I'm finding it difficult to evaluate all the current options available and determine what might be best for our not very ideal wood heat situation. Fortunately, we found a stove dealer in another community with employees that actually heat with wood and they've been helpful. Our local stove dealer has a great reputation but their focus is really gas set-ups so not extremely helpful in our situation.
DBoon, wonderful to hear you get great heat output from yours! I'm not familiar with your climate in New York, but am curious if your Answer is your primary heat source? Also, if you don't mind sharing, what type of wood you primarily burn and approximately how much do you go through in a season?
We live in a 1300 sq ft house. The room with the fireplace is 250 sq ft but removed from the rest of house by a fairly long hallway. We burn primarily doug-fir and go through almost 6 cords/year. We're looking to cut back on our wood usage and not have to feed the fire constantly, but am hoping we can still get the nice heat we get out of our current insert.
Heat output is important to us as wood is our primary heat source. We do run our electric furnace a few hours in the morning and during extended periods of below-freezing weather. We really prefer wood heat - nothing quite like it! - but it's probably a poor choice for our house - fireplace/chimney on an outside wall at the far end of the living area, we don't have an open floor plan and we live in a valley that often has inversions during colder weather and can't burn anyways.
Our current insert is 40+ years old. It does a great job IF someone is home to feed it all day and it eats A LOT of firewood. The blowers gave out years ago and were so noisy I didn't like to run them anyways. Only being familiar with something so old, I'm finding it difficult to evaluate all the current options available and determine what might be best for our not very ideal wood heat situation. Fortunately, we found a stove dealer in another community with employees that actually heat with wood and they've been helpful. Our local stove dealer has a great reputation but their focus is really gas set-ups so not extremely helpful in our situation.
DBoon, wonderful to hear you get great heat output from yours! I'm not familiar with your climate in New York, but am curious if your Answer is your primary heat source? Also, if you don't mind sharing, what type of wood you primarily burn and approximately how much do you go through in a season?
We live in a 1300 sq ft house. The room with the fireplace is 250 sq ft but removed from the rest of house by a fairly long hallway. We burn primarily doug-fir and go through almost 6 cords/year. We're looking to cut back on our wood usage and not have to feed the fire constantly, but am hoping we can still get the nice heat we get out of our current insert.
Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
One word of warning- if your existing insert is not flush, you may be disappointed by a newer EPA insert, mounted flush. There will likely be a big difference, as you will give up a bunch of the radiant heat to the inside of the fireplace, and you will miss that giant wall of heat.
Some hate the aesthetics of the old school inserts that stick out into the room, and I get that, but the effectiveness is hard to argue.
If your existing insert is flush already, please ignore my comments.
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Thank you for these additional comments. This is a great forum!
Our current insert isn't quite flush but doesn't stick out more than about 2". We do get a great wall of heat out of it though. Of course, that's probably to be expected when you burn as much wood as we do.
My husband and I are torn between going with this relatively easy option of having the Answer insert installed flush and not having to mess with the hearth to meet code (especially now that we know we'll still get some heat out of this) or just going all in for a big project and installing a wood stove in the central part of the house. I do see the point of a wood stove possibly being a better investment of our time & money in the long run, but I find such appeal in not having another project on our list...
One benefit of the Answer is we can have it as insert now and later as a wood stove if we ever get to that point. I realize that doesn't really justify paying to have our chimney lined if we plan to move it soon however.
Thanks again, very much appreciated as we figure out what we may want to do...
Continued comments & insights very much welcome!
Our current insert isn't quite flush but doesn't stick out more than about 2". We do get a great wall of heat out of it though. Of course, that's probably to be expected when you burn as much wood as we do.
My husband and I are torn between going with this relatively easy option of having the Answer insert installed flush and not having to mess with the hearth to meet code (especially now that we know we'll still get some heat out of this) or just going all in for a big project and installing a wood stove in the central part of the house. I do see the point of a wood stove possibly being a better investment of our time & money in the long run, but I find such appeal in not having another project on our list...
One benefit of the Answer is we can have it as insert now and later as a wood stove if we ever get to that point. I realize that doesn't really justify paying to have our chimney lined if we plan to move it soon however.
Thanks again, very much appreciated as we figure out what we may want to do...
Continued comments & insights very much welcome!
I wondered the same thing. It seems the flush inserts (like the Small Flush Wood Hybrid-Fyre from Travis Industries) that would be sized appropriately for our situation don't have the same heat output, have a smaller firebox, and are not as effective with the convective heat as the Answer. But if someone has had a different experience or recommends another brand of flush inserts, let me know.
On the plus side, the flush units do have a much better Oregon tax credit due to lower emissions, but we're hesitant to switch to an insert with the catalytic component. I haven't heard such great things about catalytic stoves from people who use their units as their primary heat source around here. It was primarily the higher expected BTU's, larger firebox & convective heat that pushed us towards the Answer though.
DuaeGuttae
Minister of Fire
I don't have a lot of insight for you, but I remember when we were shopping for our stove we looked at an Answer and thought it was too small for a good overnight burn. I would suggest that with a 1.6 cubic foot firebox, there would be an awful lot of reloading during cold weather. I realize a small fireplace makes for a small insert (ours in 2.2 cubic feet and we did have to build a hearth extension for the front), but you mentioned earlier not wanting to have to reload frequently, so I thought I'd raise the question.
I do understand the appeal of not having another project on the list, but if you really have the possibility of putting a freestanding stove in the center of your house, I'd jump at that. Maybe take a little more time to read on here and think about it (or start another thread asking for people's opinions).
DBoon
Minister of Fire
Our climate here is very cold - 7000-8000 degree days on average. Tonight, it is 13 degrees at 9:30pm with a 30 mph wind. The stove can keep up with this temperature for the first four hours of the burn, but then it will need help with backup heat.
I burn a lot of hickory, maple, ash and black cherry. Black cherry is pretty comparable to Douglas Fir (I burned some fir a long time ago). I use Black cherry when it is warmer. Tonight I've got a full load of hickory and the stove is cruising along at 580 degrees F - it will do this for about two hours (I pack it pretty full), then give decent heat for two more hours before dropping down to <350 F or so. I can reload on good coals no problem at 10 hours (even with Cherry).
I burn part-time during the week and full-time on weekends. Below 20 degrees F, I need backup heat. Usually, we'll turn the oil boiler on in the mornings when its cold and leave it on for about 45 minutes to an hour (0.5 gal/hour burner). We have our oil boiler system zoned so it heats the rooms in the back of the house far from the stove, and that is where the bedrooms are. We like it cooler there, so the stove location works ok. The house is a well-insulated 1922 bungalow of 1250 square feet. Walls are filled with insulation, floor is R-19, attic is R-50. Windows are original single-pane with wood/glass storm windows (R-2 total). We have a good number of windows for the size house we have. My routine is three loads a day on weekends - one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one about 9pm. We'll use maybe 1-1/2 to 2 full cords a year.
If I only had black cherry to burn, I would guess that my stove would be limited to when the overnights are not worse than 25 to 30 degrees.
I do get a lot out of such a small stove by splitting my own wood to optimal sizes. I split squared off pieces so that I can really pack the wood in when it is cold. I cut my wood 16" long, and I'd say that I can probably fill the firebox 75% full with squared off splits, so I can get a lot of BTUs out of this size. If you don't do this, expect less.
I won't kid you that the Answer is a great full-time stove - a bigger stove or a catalytic would be nice. A small firebox needs more tending than a bigger one. But for the setup I have, I can't think of anything better. It fits right into the fireplace, works with my 16" hearth, and has the outer jacket to minimize losses to the sides, back and top when the blower is running. I've looked at the new Lopi blowers and they are pretty nice. We'll likely go with another Lopi in a new house we are renovating given that they are a great solution to a tight room (i.e., they go in an alcove well) given the blower and jacket construction. I have my eye on a new Rockport for the next house. I am guessing that in a year Lopi will have an Answer sized stove with the HybridFire technology. That would be a nice stove to get.
Attached is a picture of the hickory burn tonight 1-1/2 hours in. The hickory has a nice afterburn that just kicked in. Also attached is a picture of the stove in the fireplace.
If it were me, I'd invest the money to extend the hearth, and have the insert as far out as possible, the payoff will be in wood saved. 6 cords of wood to heat 1300 square feet is a lot. Like others have said and from my own personal experience, an insert installed flush relies almost 100% on the blower to get the heat to the living area. It doesn't really cost that much to extend a hearth. Putting the stove in the main part of the house is a great idea, but what do you do with the fireplace left behind. We heated a 2800 square ft two story with a Quadrafire 5100 insert, and it worked very well. That was a bay insert that projected out into the room about 12". Still relied on the fan however.
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