Replace old wood insert with a stove or new insert?

[zanp]

Newbie here. Just bought a 1600 sq foot log cabin in the NC mtns. There is a stone fireplace/chimney with an old (approx 20 years) wood burning insert equipped with a loud fan that must be manually turned on and off. It does a decent job heating the house but we would like to replace it with a new, more efficient set up. The stone chimney is on an outer wall of the house and is in the main living area with vaulted ceiling. Open floor plan to downstairs kitchen and upstairs bedrooms.

The stone hearth depth is only 12". The front opening width is 37.5", the lintel height is 28", the fireplace depth is 24".

My question is whether I should purchase another insert or go with a free standing stove. For both options, I plan to install a 6" flex SS liner up the chimney.

I am leaning towards the free standing stove as I don't want to rely on a blower as much and I feel I would get more heat from a free standing stove.

Based on my hearth depth, the stove would likely sit half in and half out of the chimney.

So far, I have looked at the following stoves.....Jotul F500 Oslo, and Regency wood stoves and classic hearth heater
and the following inserts...Jotul Kennebec, Avalon, Regency, and 33Elite.

Any thoughts, suggestions, or experiences would be much appreciated. My local dealer has Jotuls at 10% off for the next two weeks.

 

[begreen]

I like the idea of a good insert. A Kennebec would look great in there, but the Regency insert is good too. If the cabin is not going to occupied all the time, a blower will be very handy for quick warmups. And as much as I like the Oslo, it looks like the side door will put the stove too far out unless there is no intention to use the side door, (which is one of the nicer features of the stove).

Regardless of stove, you will be building out the hearth right?

 

[zanp]

This cabin will be our permanent residence.

As for the hearth, I was not planning on building it out more unless absolutely necessary. I was going to build a tile mat in front of the stove to protect the wood floor. Do I need to build out the hearth, and if so, how much?

Thanks.

 

[begreen]

It depends on the stove and installation. Some just require a sealed, non-combustible surface. Other stoves require greater hearth heat shielding of a specified R value. If I remember right, the Kennebec is one of that requires better shielding, so that may be out.

Download the manuals for the prospective stoves and look at their hearth requirements. It sounds like you are looking for one that only requires a non-combustible surface for the hearth.

PS: Love that area, I almost moved to Boone, NC.

 

[Rhone]

A stove is designed to be in the open, they don't fair well when enclosed in a fireplace. It was the problems of putting stoves in fireplaces, and fixing and modifying them that they eventually mutated and evolved into what are todays inserts. If you DO want to put a stove half in the fireplace you need to choose one that has side & rear heat shields and a blower which, isn't that far away from being an insert.

I think you're going to be better modifying the hearth and getting a freestanding stove in this application. Log cabins aren't generally well insulated, all I've seen (and I just stayed in one built 2 years ago) are leaky, and cathedral ceilings... all those issues are particularly suited for a freestanding stove. But, think about getting it out of the fireplace as you want to focus on getting as much radiant energy from the stove so you feel comfortable even in a place with lots of air leaks. The problem is trying to get the heat to other parts of ones house... generally inserts are better at that so if your current insert is only okay at heating the extremeties moving to a stove may hurt that aspect but increase the comfort around the stove. Is your issue you want to be more comfortable in the room with the stove, or you want more heat to the extremeties?

 

[zanp]

My goal is to heat the room with the stove and the upstairs bedrooms, which is what my current insert does, but it does it with fast burn times and a loud blower. I would like a more efficient newer model with a fan (stove or insert).

How difficult would it be to extend my hearth out and how far should I extend it. The depth of a jotul Oslo is 16.5".

 

[Rhone]

Well, the insert you have now is a beast. I'm not sure the Jotul Oslo is going to cut it, one should judge by their firebox size and the Jotul Oslo doesn't have it listed. That being the case, I can't tell if it's small or large. The problem with the Jotul Oslo right off the bat is no blower and no side heat shields so it's gotta be installed being in the open. I'm also surprised the picture they show of it encased in a fireplace like that is EXACTLY what you're NOT supposed to do. You need side & back heat shields and blowers to pull that off.

I think you need something with a 2.8 cu ft firebox at a minimum, probably 3.0+ even be better. You can go a little smaller if you burn only hardwood. But, if you're loading that beast of an insert now and it's just heating the place you need big. If you're going to half recess it in the fireplace you want side and rear heat shields + blower. The Englander 30 NC is one, some Vermont Castings Dutchwest models also offer those features, or maybe you do want to look at a large insert like the Pacific Energy Summit which is big, and sticks out a little like the insert you have now. Pacific Energy are known to be very high quality and a good brand, but doesn't have a big window and takes rather small splits. I have a Hearthstone Clydesdale insert and, don't think it would be big enough.

Most units with blowers come with a temperature controlled snap switch, they flick on when the unit reaches a particular temp, and shuts off likewise automatically. Blowers often come with a rheostat that lets you control their speed, and the slower the speed the less noise.