New Insert

[pike_mazter]

Picked up a used Napoleon 1101 for $250 that hasn't been used much.

Just have to either buy or make some flashing that covers the opening above, extend our hearth a few inches, order the liner and make the plate to seal off the smoke shelf.

Called the insurance company and they don't require a permit but will send my agent out to take measurements then we can burn. Love getting a head start before this fall, now to split some wood.

 

[Grisu]

Congrats to your new heating source. Looks like quite a find. You seem to be pretty familiar with the proper install for an insert. Did you already check the gaskets whether they need to be replaced?

If your insurance does not require a permanent hearth extension you can maybe get away with one of those: http://www.imperialgroup.ca/stove_stoveboardsheatshields.cfm?c=345 Available in your big box store and not that expensive. And when you are starting to split your wood now it is unlikely to be dry until fall/winter. Try to get some compressed wood logs (Ecobricks, Biobricks etc) to supplement your wood and make sure to clean your chimney often.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Split wood now? What .."

 

[pike_mazter]

Gaskets are mint, original owner had it rigged without a liner so he says he only burned during family gatherings. The only thing I can find that is wrong so far is that its missing one of the fiber baffles and one the standard bricks was broken when he removed it.

I split and stacked over 5 face cord of oak about 10 years ago at my parents farm just before they had a geo thermal system installed. I didn't care for the work then but I'm sure happy about it now.

I can't do another winter of $3500 in fuel oil again this winter..... this thing will pay for itself in the first month.

 

[dafattkidd]

Nice score! Make sure your baffles are in good shape. They can take a beating on that unit. It's a nice insert. I had the 1101 for a year, and loved it. In fact there were certain things I like about the 1101 better than my current unit. The secondaries I used to get in that unit were consistently awesome and the fan is ultra quiet. The fan is located behind the firebox so you may want to vac it out and clean it up before installing it. It looks like you're missing the upper portion of the surround. You can probably purchase just a new surround to cover that opening. I've had success calling Sean 1-888-418-0005 http://woodstovepro.com/ formally http://www.dynamitebuys.com/ I have used him for a few different stove projects and have found him to be very helpful.

Also I started a thread my second season burning with the 1101 that was really helpful https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/tips-for-small-fire-boxes.57987/

Get some dry wood asap. Good luck!

 

[pike_mazter]

Baffles are cheap, the one I have looks perfect but I'm gonna go ahead and order 2.


Thanks for the link dafattkidd!!

 

[Grisu]

Gaskets are mint, original owner had it rigged without a liner so he says he only burned during family gatherings. The only thing I can find that is wrong so far is that its missing one of the fiber baffles and one the standard bricks was broken when he removed it.

I split and stacked over 5 face cord of oak about 10 years ago at my parents farm just before they had a geo thermal system installed. I didn't care for the work then but I'm sure happy about it now.

I can't do another winter of $3500 in fuel oil again this winter..... this thing will pay for itself in the first month.

The insert will certainly cut into your oil bill but I doubt you will be able to get off it completely. If you paid $3.50 per gallon that's 1000 gallons last winter. That equals 140 mBTU. Assuming your oil furnace is about 80% efficient you needed 112 mBTU to heat your home. Dry oak will give you about 20 mBTU per full cord. Thus, you would need about 6 cords to eliminate your oil bill. In addition, the Napoleon is a smallish insert (1.7 cu ft firebox). That's just too small to burn 6 cords over one winter in there without overfiring it. Realistically, you can reduce your oil bill to maybe 40 % to 50 % of last year's one especially when it won't get as cold. In the long run, make sure to get a lot more dry wood and think about upgrading to a large stove/insert.

 

[dafattkidd]

Pike, how many square feet are you heating? I did really well with the 1101, but couldn't fully heat my very drafty 1,700 sf house (that's why I bought a larger insert). I had the most success by running my heat for a twenty minutes or so in the morning and allowing the insert to carry the bulk of the day. On the coldest days I would run the heat for twenty minutes or so when needed just to bring house temps up and even out the feel of the house. I reduced my oil consumption significantly. If it was above freezing the 1101 could heat the whole house. Either way it kept the house WAY warmer than the open fireplace. I'm sure I'd do a lot better now that I have significantly improved the insulation of my house, but that was my experience at the time. I could go 8-9 hours between burns to have coals for reload, but no significant heat after 5 hours or so. I hope that's helpful.

 

[pike_mazter]

1100 sq feet ranch

Garage is insulated and heated as well. My wife and I both smoked in the garage during the winter (we have since quit on Jan 1st) so we ran it pretty high and opened the vent for the garage. Oil furnace is actually in the garage too.

 

[kennyp2339]

Looks good, you may want to consider adding some roxel insulation above your block off plate, it will give you a little heat out of that nice stove of yours. Good luck with it, and don't forget to take pics of the first light off, you guys get colder before I do.