Replacing a large insert, looking for advice

[mrroboto]

Hello everyone,

I've been reading a lot on these forums and am getting overwhelmed so I'm going to lay out my situation and ask that you help me narrow down my choices.

Situation -

We just purchased a home, a main floor and a walk out basement in Nova Scotia, Canada. Gardening zone 6a if that helps anyone. It was built in 1993 and has 2x6 walls and R40ish in the attic decently sealed. Main floor and basement are ~2000sqft each. The basement is one large room half the exterior walls are insulated, other half bare concrete (plans to insulate). There is a 7' wide garage type door access the basement.

Here our temp data -



The heating situation is a 25 year old no longer serviceable wood burner (corrosion though the back of the firebox, nut sure if due to leak in chimney, age or misuse but chimney will be inspected and fixed as necessary with new install). It's a Napoleon NM2020 large airtight fireplace with outside air kit and is located upstairs in the main living area with a big brick surround. Sorry about picture quality, phone lens is cracked.




We're looking to replace this with something that will provide primary heat when it's below freezing outside, Nov to March or so. The current unit is large - 36" wide, 22" deep, 51" tall. This is what's behind the bricks.



The support for the chimney is also behind the brick. I won't know how much space is available for a possible alcove install until I start ripping out brick to get the old unit out.

The chimney is directly above the current unit and is a straight shot up and almost 30' tall. We also live on an exposed hill side and frequently experience high winds, from what I've read I may have issues with too much draft?

There is also an old freestanding wood stove in the basement. The stoves are one on top of each other, on a two flue brick chimney with round clay (8") liners. The clay liner can be knocked out and replaced with insulated steel. Electric baseboards are in every room, and the previous owner retrofitted a minisplit heatpump into the main living room area as well that does a great job from until slightly below freezing temps.

The main living area is about 60% of the 2000sqft upstairs and is pretty open. It has 12 foot cathedral ceilings with a large ceiling fan to circulate air. There is also an intake near the top of the ceiling that hooked to a fan that can suck hot air into the basement.

A Venmar is installed with ducting to every room and the basement.

I do not have much experience with wood burning. I am comfortable with a learning curve on running the stove. I am comfortable stocking wood 2-3 years ahead to assure proper moisture levels and the labor required.

Hardwood is generally burnt in my area, primarily oak, birch and maple. Softwood and poplar can also be had for less.

What I think I want -

- A single woodburning unit to primarily heat the upstairs and secondary to add some heat to the basement. Basement does not need to be 72, just enough to keep the humidity down, it's used as a gym and workshop and storage. I've gotten quotes for ducted air, radiant heat and more mini splits and it looks like for 1/3 to 1/5 of the cost of those I can put in a modern wood burner and probably be happy.

- An efficient burner - I don't want to move more wood than I have to. I'm open to cat, secondary and hybrid units.

- We both work and enjoy sleeping through the night. I want a large firebox unit that I can tend 30 minutes max twice a day (morning and evening) then be able to leave the stove alone and get an efficient 12ish hour burn.

- We would like to create circulation somehow to the master bedroom, it shares a wall with the upstairs woodburner ( the wall to the left the brickwork in my picture above is the wall to the master bedroom) so I assume it would be easy to setup.

Questions -

- I think I would prefer a frestanding stove but I may be limited to an insert if there's not much room behind that brick. What do I lose efficiency wise going from a freestanding stove to an insert. In other words, how much effort is it worth avoiding an insert?

- I see the Blazekings coming up over and over for set and forget. They are pricey and the cat replacement seems like it would add up over it's life but I am willing to pay for convienience if it's really that much better. Can I get the hands off burning I describe above from a unit with secondary burn only? Do the hybrids have longer lasting cats? I don't think I need the super low burn the Blazeking advertises as we could use the heatpump.

- What would you do in my situation?

Thanks!

 

[jalmondale]

If you only need 12 hour burns, you have a lot more options than a Blaze King - offhand I believe both Woodstock and Hearthstone have stoves that could comfortably do that, and I would guess the majority of EPA cat or hybrid stoves could as well.

I can't speak to other brands, but my estimate for my cat stove is $25/year for the cat replacements, which I'm OK with.

I think the issue with inserts is similar to a freestanding stove in an alcove - you need a way to get the heat out and into the room, which usually means blowers or fans. The more the stove sticks out into the room, and the more space around it for air circulation, the easier that is.

 

[ManitobaSky]

If you only need 12 hour burns, you have a lot more options than a Blaze King - offhand I believe both Woodstock and Hearthstone have stoves that could comfortably do that, and I would guess the majority of EPA cat or hybrid stoves could as well.

I can't speak to other brands, but my estimate for my cat stove is $25/year for the cat replacements, which I'm OK with.

I think the issue with inserts is similar to a freestanding stove in an alcove - you need a way to get the heat out and into the room, which usually means blowers or fans. The more the stove sticks out into the room, and the more space around it for air circulation, the easier that is.

Unfortunately Woodstock stoves are not an option for us in Canada, no CSA listing. One of the Regency Pro stoves would also be an option as would any larger reburn stoves such as the PE Summit or T6 and a number of the Osborn and Drolet stoves that they offer.

 

[weatherguy]

With that size fireplace you can consider a free stander instead of an insert. I had Blaze King Princess insert and swapped it out for a Woodstock Progress Hybrid and it's been a big difference. There are some large inserts too just wanted to throw that idea out to you for consideration.

 

[begreen]

First, to avoid confusion, this is a Zero Clearance fireplace or ZC. An insert is a stove that inserts into an existing fireplace.

There are many very good modern EPA ZC fireplaces that could replace this unit. There are some ZCs that have essentially the same fireboxes as their freestanding models. An 8-12 hr burn is not out of the question in a 3 cu ft unit.

If you want a catalytic ZC, consider the Astria Montecito Estate or some by RSF.

If you want to turn that area into an alcove for a freestanding stove, clearances must be honored. That is often the final determinant.