Lopi Answer or Evergreen Insert?

[MEdge]

I live in a off grid 750 sq ft cabin in the mountains of Tennessee. The cabin has a 500 sqft main living area where the insert will be. The other 250 sq ft is distributed between two bedrooms and a small bathroom on the furthest end from the insert. The ceilings are standard 8 ft ceilings. I have narrowed the search down to either the lopi answer or the lopi evergreen. The fireplace is large and can accept either stove. For the small price difference between the two and the larger glass, I am leaning towards the evergreen. Looking at the BTU numbers it appears that there is not much difference between the two stoves. Answer claims 12,500 - 60,000 BTU and the evergreen claims 12,772 - 70,720 BTU. I am pretty sure the answer will be enough to heat the cabin. I am wondering if the evergreen will be too much? From the specs it appears that they can be turned down to produce the same amount of heat. The fire box on the answer is 1.4 cuft and the evergreen is a little larger at 2.2 cuft.

 

[begreen]

Does the cabin have power or are power outages a concern? Will the insert be used often for primary heat or more for supplemental on nights and weekends? How well insulated is the cabin? Is it at a higher altitude and colder in the winter or in the warmer lowlands?

 

[MEdge]

Hopefully no power outage concerns, but anything could happen with the solar system. We have a hyper heat mini split and a ventless propane heater. We are looking to use the propane less maybe eventually not at all. In the dead of winter the heat pump uses too much power to run all the time. The walls are not insulated very well but the attic is. We did install new windows which helped alot. Where we are at is not extremely colder than the lowlands on average 6-10 degrees colder than the city. As far as supplemental vs primary heat, it will be supplemental at first but needs to have the ability to be our primary heat with or without a blower.

 

[EbS-P]

1.4 cu ft will mean when it’s really cold you could be reloading every 4-6 hours.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Inserts are not the best for heating without a blower. Freestanding stoves are best for this, and the less flush an insert is, the better it will heat without a blower. Flush inserts are the worst for this. You may want to remove the surround if you’re trying to heat without the blower.

 

[begreen]

Both inserts are E/W loaders with shallow fireboxes. This means they can't be filled to capacity due to worrying about wood rolling up against the glass. If the fireplace has good depth, a N/S loader eliminates this issue with full loads.

 

[MEdge]

Inserts are not the best for heating without a blower. Freestanding stoves are best for this, and the less flush an insert is, the better it will heat without a blower. Flush inserts are the worst for this. You may want to remove the surround if you’re trying to heat without the blower.

So the larger stove should be ok without the blower? If its not enough turn the blower on? Both stoves protrude some. I am just wondering how 10,000 BTU can heat 800 more sq ft. Answer says 750-1200 sq ft and evergreen says up to 2000 sq ft.

 

[MEdge]

Both inserts are E/W loaders with shallow fireboxes. This means they can't be filled to capacity due to worrying about wood rolling up against the glass. If the fireplace has good depth, a N/S loader eliminates this issue with full loads.

Fireplace is wide but only 19 in deep.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

So the larger stove should be ok without the blower? If its not enough turn the blower on? Both stoves protrude some. I am just wondering how 10,000 BTU can heat 800 more sq ft. Answer says 750-1200 sq ft and evergreen says up to 2000 sq ft.

The 2000 square foot house in the literature, is it in Florida or Wisconsin?


How much is “protruding some”?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The insert won’t be putting out max btu numbers.

You load the stove with a fixed number of btus that are in that load. If you burn it all up within 1 hour you get 1 btu/hour figure. If you split it up into an 8 hour load, you get a much smaller number.

Without a blower, you’re not going to get a lot of heat out of an insert. You’ll get some, but not the full amount possible.

 

[MEdge]

The 2000 square foot house in the literature, is it in Florida or Wisconsin?


How much is “protruding some”?The evergreen protrudes

The 2000 square foot house in the literature, is it in Florida or Wisconsin?


How much is “protruding some”?

It protrudes little over 4”

 

[begreen]

If there is 19" to the back at the lintel height then the 2 cu ft PE Super or True North TN20 would fit but not if it's at the base and the back of the fireplace slopes. Between the two Lopi choices, I'd select the the larger firebox for the previously mentioned E/W loading caveat. The Drolet Escape 1800 or Osburn 2000 insert is 17" deep and has a bit more wiggle room inside the firebox.

 

[MEdge]

If there is 19" to the back at the lintel height then the 2 cu ft PE Super or True North TN20 would fit but not if it's at the base and the back of the fireplace slopes. Between the two Lopi choices, I'd select the the larger firebox for the previously mentioned E/W loading caveat. The Drolet Escape 1800 or Osburn 2000 insert is 17" deep and has a bit more wiggle room inside the firebox.

Do the stoves you recommended qualify for the tax credit?

 

[begreen]

The Drolet/Osburn models qualify according to SBI. The PE Super LE misses by a percent.

 

[EbS-P]

I have the Drolet 1800i it’s so much larger than my 1.7 cu ft Jotul. No frills. Quiet blower. I’m happy with it.