Pacific Insert versus Jotul 450 versus Hearthstone Clydesdale

[tkuhe]

So I am looking into getting my first insert/wood stove and would love to hear some advice from anyone willing.
Some quick facts. House is a two story colonial roughly 1400 sq ft. Looking for a stove that will help keep my pregnant wife cozy warm as well as help offset our heating bill.
Fireplace is a little tight in that it is 36" wide and 25 1/4" tall at the opening. 21 1/2" deep and tapered to 19" wide in the back. Front of the hearth extends 15 1/2" out so either way I will have to extend the front somehow.
Also, I plan on installing everything myself in an effort to save a few bucks.

Anyways, I am a newbie to wood stoves. I have two friends with Woodstocks, a Fireview and a Classic that are beautiful, I love the gentle heat but as you can see above I just don't have the room for one now.

So I have decided on an insert and prefer that it doesn't break the bank. I guess I am curious to find out some of the big differences between the Pacific , 450, and the Clydesdale that aren't obvious from the specs.

I like the soapstone and the soft heat but I think I am leaning toward the Pacific for the simplicity and the price.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Regards,
-Tucker

 

[jadm]

Welcome-

Don't know anything about the Pacific or the Clydesdale so no help there.

I do know a bit about Jotul as I did a lot of looking last winter. My only suggestion to you is that you get the 550 instead of the 450. With my first insert I didn't know about this site and was 'sold' one that was too small. Before purchasing a second insert I somehow found this site and found that conventional wisdom here is - buy the biggest that will fit in your space as you can always build a smaller fire in a large fire box but you can't build a large fire in a small fire box.

Good Luck

 

[tkuhe]

My only suggestion to you is that you get the 550 instead of the 450

Yeah, unfortunately the 550 will not fit but thanks for the note.

 

[bbeals]

Although I know nothing about the Pacific or the Clydesdale, they are probably fine pieces of equipment and will do the job on 1400 square feet. We initially looked at the 450 (mainly due to the looks), however; decided on the 550, as we had the room in the firebox for it. This is our first season with the Jotul and thus far it is exceeding expectations. We have been able to heat our 3000 sq/ft colonial well into the 70's when we get into the 20's at night. Cold weather is yet to come though and I am hopeful that it will help keep the oil truck away. Funny thing with that oil truck, I used to only dislike the plow guy in the winter.

Good luck with your decision. Do your homework and buy something that the wife likes. ;-)

 

[tkuhe]

Yeah, getting the wife to sign off is critical but right now she is more excited about having a warm cozy house as opposed to me telling her to put on a sweater
I think no matter what I go with I will be in pretty good shape. Just trying to understand the extra cost of the Jotul or the Hearthstone.

 

[bbeals]

Today's stoves are all up to EPA specs and will certainly provide you with that cozy warm feeling. It is really going to come down to aesthetics and budget. We went for the looks, as we were trying to keep the fireplace as the focal point of the room and just like the looks of the Jotul. Be cautious of manufacturer rated burn times. Jotul claims 10 hours on the 550, however; we have yet to get over 7. Still have coals in the morning, so resurrecting the fire is easy, but no burn is left after 7 hours.

 

[tkuhe]

Today's stoves are all up to EPA specs and will certainly provide you with that cozy warm feeling. It is really going to come down to aesthetics and budget. We went for the looks, as we were trying to keep the fireplace as the focal point of the room and just like the looks of the Jotul. Be cautious of manufacturer rated burn times. Jotul claims 10 hours on the 550, however; we have yet to get over 7. Still have coals in the morning, so resurrecting the fire is easy, but no burn is left after 7 hours.

I like the look of the 350 and 550 single door better than the older two design of the 450. I would guess that they will change the 450 to a single door at some point.

Tough to get burn times from a spec sheet as there are so many different factors to be considered.

 

[boostnut]

This is my 4th season with the Jotul C450. It heats my 1400 sq. foot ranch with relative ease. We decided on it because its VERY simple to operate and also pleasing to the eyes (its the focal point of our living room). 8 hour burn times are no problem with seasoned hardwood. If I ever have another home with a fireplace I will buy another C450 or (maybe) a Lopi Declaration. Good luck!

 

[My_3_Girls]

I've got a similar situation, and bought the Jotul. 1536 sq ft, 2 story colonial, heats the entire house. One of the reasons I bought the 450 was due to the double front doors. If I only want to put a couple of small splits in it, I only have to open one of the doors. Flush front was the other big issue for us, so ditto on this or the Declaration, but the 450 has a longer track record.

 

[jqgs214]

Love my Pacific, great heater at the right price, not to shabbly looking with thte sunburst door. Mine is all black.

 

[tkuhe]

Thanks for the feedback so far. Sounds like there is a lot of love for the Jotul. I am going to try and call around for some price info today but I am pretty sure the 450 is more than the Pacific. Any thoughts apart from appearance as to why there is a price difference? Is it just a brand thing?

 

[tkuhe]

One of the reasons I bought the 450 was due to the double front doors. If I only want to put a couple of small splits in it, I only have to open one of the doors.

Interesting that you list this as a positive as it seems like they are going away from that design? Can anyone else comment on the +/- of having double door vs single?

 

[My_3_Girls]

also, the doors only swing out into the room half as far as one big door.

 

[nwctjeff]

This is my first year heating with wood. We have a PE Pacific insert and have been extremely pleased so far. Our house is a 2400+/- sq ft colonial. It has 3 heating zones. I bought this insert with hopes of being able not to use 2 of those zones. So far the results are all 3 heating zones are not calling for heat, but the real cold weather is not here yet. One of those zones is for an in-law apt. My mother is more than happy to keep the insert going during the day and have been able to work this stove. "very easy" is the words I heard her use when talking with a friend. Burn times with well seasoned oak have been anywhere from 4-7 hours depending on load of wood and ash bed in stove. I am always able to restart in the morning(8 hours after filling and closing damper down) using regular sized splits and the hot embers. I would highly recommend this insert so far. Good luck with your decision.

 

[tkuhe]

Thanks nwctjeff. Do you mind if I ask where you bought your stove and if you were happy with the price? Feel free to PM me if you don't want everyone to know.

 

[Cearbhaill]

I'm heating 1925 sq ft with a PE Pacific insert. The basement family room it resides in is 755 and the main floor is 1170.
I am lucky in that the air flow in my home allows the heat to get to the upstairs area- my furnace ran very little last year and never until it got down to 20ºF or so.

 

[nwctjeff]

The insert was bought at Superior Hearth and Spa in Southington (I believe) CT. We bought and had this installed at the end of last season and feel we got a very good price from the dealer ($1750 for the stove and roughly $3400 dollars when the stove was installed with a full liner kit and the govt. took there cut). I saw the same insert this year at a dealer in Torrington, CT for roughly $2700 before anything else is added. Very glad we made the decision last spring.

 

[tkuhe]

Thanks. Just called one dealer and he said $2500 for the basic black Pacific. Next dealer I called quoted $1900 but said they will not have one in stock for about a month. A little surprised by the $600 swing on just two calls.

 

[nwctjeff]

Yes, the price difference is surprising. From what I am hearing here and elsewhere, I would not be surprised if the dealer that is offering the stove at $1900 will not get one in a month as promised. Be sure he can actually deliver the stove @ that price in a resonable amount of time. Lots of talk about "supply problems" have been heard this year.

 

[tkuhe]

Well I just called that place back because I couldn't believe the $2500 quote and spoke to another guy who quoted me $2000, he said he thinks the other guy quoted the Summit by accident.
Anyways he broke it down as stove $1572, door $397, and surround $117, rounded down to $2k. He has it in stock too which is nice.
Sounds reasonable.

 

[oconnor]

I bought the Jotul C450 Kennebec because it could be installed in an exposed manner - i.e. it sticks out of the firebox. The more of the steel that is exposed, the more radiant heat you can get without the blower. I also really liked the look of the Jotul. We had a very narrow firebox, and had to have the back widened to fit it in. You can check out the whole story of the install thru the link in my signature. It took a lot of work with remodeling the firebox, but we are very pleased. I don't find the firebox small, but I am heating a 1200 sqft 2 story (600 up and 600 down) so it is way easier to distribute the heat (gravity/bouyancy does it for me) and I was not looking for overnight burns, as our electric boiler takes care of that instead of me waking up at night wondering about the stove. So far, it has heated our house entirely with 1-2 fires a day, and the boiler has only run about 4 hours since Oct 1st.

All of the stoves you mention seem to be quality units.

 

[tkuhe]

Thanks Brent. I read about your install while doing my research which reminded me of a question I had. How hard is it to push and pull the stove in and out of the fireplace? Not that I would do it often but maybe push it in during the summer and pull it out during the colder months?

 

[oconnor]

Its a bit of a job - you have to pull it out, the readjust the shroud depth setting, then push it in - that means disconect and reconect the flue adapter. Download the manual off the Jotul site. My installer uses a sheet metal plate as a slider to avoid floor damage - but it is still a good sized job. The unit doesn't stick out to much, so I plan on leaving it alone. Here is a thread with the pics of mine fully exposed - https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/23258/#253628 .