New wood insert

[Scot King]

I am about to embark on a new journey into the world of wood burning inserts. I have a fireplace that I would like to get more efficiency from so I have decided to install an insert. The problem is there are so many options out there I am having difficulty making a decision. I would like it to be as efficient but I would also like to have a large window so that we can enjoy the ambiance. We have a small fireplace 26"H x 21"D x 32"w (23" in the back) I would appreciate any insight that you could give me about a quality make, model etc.. Thanks

 

[Woody Stover]

Why not a freestanding stove? You'll get more heat off it, and it will work if the power goes out. That's my thinking but I heat totally with wood, and burn 24/7. What do you want from your heater?

 

[Oregon aloha]

My old smoke dragon insert heated our home just fine without a fan, but this site has convinced me that these more efficient wood inserts need a fan to heat a home. I had some severe settling cracks and needed to rebuild the front of my fire box. We are currently having that done. The damped has been remove so we now have room to put in a free standing wood stove.

The stove I bought is the Kuma Ashwood. This stove can be used as an insert or free standing stove. You might look at a stove with this capability so you can use it as an insert now and if that doesn't work well you can covert to a free standing stove just buy getting the legs for the stove.

How large is your home and were do you live?

 

[Grisu]

Hi, welcome to the forum Scot King!

You made a good start by giving us your fireplace dimensions. It does not seem particularly small; you could probably even fit some large inserts in there. Could you maybe give us a few more info? How cold does it get in your location? How tall is your chimney? Interior or exterior chimney? Where is the fireplace located? What kind of square footage do you want to heat? Are you thinking of an insert as supplemental heat or do you want to burn with wood (almost) exclusively? Are you sure you have a masonry fireplace or could it be a zero-clearance/prefab one? What kind of budget do you have? The more info you may be able to give us the better our recommendations will be.

As important as the insert: Do you already have several cords of dry, seasoned wood at hand? It is usually very hard to find a dealer that sells dry wood. I would take care of that while trying to figure out which insert to buy.

 

[Scot King]

I live in Central Jersey close to the coast. My goal is to heat the house with the stove with limited supplementation from oil heat. The fireplace is located in the center of the home with an interior chimney and a stairway to the upstairs approx. 8 feet from the fireplace. Since our home is a small Cape Cod a freestanding stove would take up too much space. When we were hit by hurricane Sandy I was able to maintain a comfortable temperature by burning the fireplace throughout the day. Since the home is an older home I am sure that it is a masonry fireplace. As far as budget is concerned, my goal is to get the best product for the best price. Last year I spent approx. $1300-1500 on oil. I don't want to do that again. I would like to heat the downstairs. I am not worried about he upstairs because I can just throw on an extra blanket or two. I have looked at a few models, Travis, Napoleon, Flame, but am unsure what would be the best unit. I am assuming that I need a steel stove with a blower. I have a friend that cleans chimneys and he told me that you can't go wrong by buying a stove because they all are basically the same. Since I am going to be using the stove a long time I would like to get good one.
Ps. I have about 4 cords of seasoned wood ready for this year

 

[begreen]

Well, the saying here is that the best stove is the one you own... There are differences, you just need to decide which of these are most important.

 

[Hogwildz]

I heat totally with 1 wood insert at this time, and my insert heats just as well with a power outage.

 

[weatherguy]

Your only limited to what will fit into your fireplace. You should have no problem heating both floors. I would get the biggest one that will fit into your opening. If your on a budget check the drolets or check Tractor Supply. You got s good star with your wood but if you plan on doing this every year I would start getting next years wood now.

 

[Grisu]

I live in Central Jersey close to the coast. My goal is to heat the house with the stove with limited supplementation from oil heat. The fireplace is located in the center of the home with an interior chimney and a stairway to the upstairs approx. 8 feet from the fireplace. Since our home is a small Cape Cod a freestanding stove would take up too much space. When we were hit by hurricane Sandy I was able to maintain a comfortable temperature by burning the fireplace throughout the day. Since the home is an older home I am sure that it is a masonry fireplace. As far as budget is concerned, my goal is to get the best product for the best price. Last year I spent approx. $1300-1500 on oil. I don't want to do that again. I would like to heat the downstairs. I am not worried about he upstairs because I can just throw on an extra blanket or two. I have looked at a few models, Travis, Napoleon, Flame, but am unsure what would be the best unit. I am assuming that I need a steel stove with a blower. I have a friend that cleans chimneys and he told me that you can't go wrong by buying a stove because they all are basically the same. Since I am going to be using the stove a long time I would like to get good one.
Ps. I have about 4 cords of seasoned wood ready for this year

I tend to agree with your friend. Pretty much all inserts on the market will be able to heat your house for many years. Most people are really happy with the unit they have. One big difference will be whether you want a catalytic or a non-catalytic insert. Catalytic stoves have the advantage of a more even heat and longer burn times than non-cats. If you are concerned about heating yourself out of the house in the shoulder season (late fall, early spring) or you need to leave the stove unattended for more than 10 hours but still want to keep the house warm, a catalytic stove is certainly something to consider. The drawback: They are usually more expensive than non-cats, the catalyst needs replacing maybe every 5 to 8 years, and you have to be really careful not to burn any treated wood or colored paper.

You also need to decide how much of the stove you want to have sit on the hearth. The more an insert sticks out the easier it usually will be to heat without the blower on. Plus, you can also warm up some soup etc. on the exposed top if the power is out. A flushmount insert may look more appealing but relies more heavily on the blower to get the heat out. The rest is in the details like whether you want a North-South loading stove versus an east-west one. (North-South means you look at the ends when putting the wood in, E-W you put them in sideways.) N-S is usually easier to load as you don't need to reach back in the firebox but some people here think E-W may get better burn times when loaded properly.

You did not say how large your house is but it sounds like it is not that big. Assuming you have about 1200-1300 sqft a medium size insert with a firebox size of 2 to 2.5 cu ft should suffice. I would not go smaller as you will have problems getting a good overnight burn. For a recommendation: I have the Pacific Energy Super insert with a 2 cu ft firebox. It is non-catalytic but gets some of the best burn times for such a medium-size insert (~ 9 hours in my hands, which means the stove is still warm in the morning and has plenty of coals left for an easy reload). The baffle system is one of the sturdiest in the industry. The blowers sit on the sides which still allows a good convective air loop around the insert when the blowers are turned off. The blowers are noticeable but not annoyingly loud and I often switch them off after about the first two hours of burning. Many happy owners here. Other inserts to consider (non-exclusive list):

Enviro 1700 series: 2.5 cu ft firebox if you have a larger house than I guessed or you want to have some extra capacity for the middle of the winter.
Regency I2400
Lopi Republic 1750 or Lopi Cape Cod insert if you like the flush look
Osburn 2000: 2.4 cu ft firebox giving you some extra room in the midst of winter; Osburn Matrix if you like a contemporary look
Jotul Kennebec 450
Napoleon 1402
Hearthstone Clydesdale for a different look

If you want to go catalytic:
Either the Buck 20ZC with 1.9 cu ft firebox or the 80ZC with 2.6 cu ft firebox size would be a possibility depending on the size of your house.
BlazeKing Briarwood II

I would suggest to shop around, see which look you like best, and to get a feeling which dealer may offer good service even after the install. When you have nailed it down to 2 or 3 different ones you can come back here and ask for some specific opinions about each model.

 

[Michael F]

Also keep in mind your hearth size, distance to a wood mantle and adjacent sheetrock. I live in NJ too, and usually they insist on those clearances to get a permit. You can get the install manuals online. The hearth distance may dictate the size of stove you can get, unless you are willing to do some brickwork.

 

[Sons924]

What do you want to spend?