seeking advice on wood-burning insert: Morso 5660 vs Jotul Rockland or Wintersport

[lizziechase]

Hi,

I'm new to hearth.com and also to wood-burning inserts, but have been researching diligently, and have been to a number of dealers and need some advice from you guys! We have an old, poorly insulated, oil-heated house in New York, 2000 sq feet. The downstairs is about 1250 sq feet, very open, and the fireplace is about ten feet from the staircase leading upstairs--so open air flow. We are also gradually insulating, changing the windows, etc. so that in three or four years time, I think we'll be fully updated in that respect. We are looking for a better heating system than switching to natural gas (our only choice currently) so we are very interested in supplementing our heat with the insert. My husband cares about looks and likes contemporary design--hence the Morso. But i'm hearing mixed things about the Morso (mostly from dealers who don't sell it!) and the discussion board here seems to pretty universally like the Jotuls. Does anyone have an opinion? thanks

 

[flamewatcher]

I just installed the morso 5660 into our existing masonry fireplace myself and i'm very happy with it so far. (I'm a newbie to woodstoves so take my comments with a grain of salt.) I can't talk definitively on its heating capability as it hasn't gotten below 40 yet and i haven't ramped it full blast yet (still breaking it in and waiting for mantel shield) but it certainly feels like it can do a great job - plus this is my first wood stove so i'm not an expert on the heating capability. However, i can say that i picked it because of the stated heating capability of 2k sq ft (we have 1700) and the large un-segmented viewing window (seperated it from the Jotul.) The fire looks fantastic, much better than even an open fire because of the secondary burn where the gases ignite above the flames from the wood - at the risk of sounding like an idiot, these burning gases remind me of the Aurora Borealis they look so good. While the window is listed at 12"X20", there is a strip of metal going across the top of the glass on the inside that reduces the viewing area to about 20X11. that's really the only complaint i have. Our goal was to supplement the oil heat and be able to use our fireplace again since open fires smoked enuf to be a hassle - and both of these seem to be met with great satisfaction. Other points are:

- unit needs a big fireplace - i cut out a cardboard template of the profile to see if i would make it
- firebox is smaller than others at 1.5cu ft, but still cranks for 4hrs on full load with primary air at 50%
- as a newbie, the amount of smoke that exits the chimney is surprisingly small (almost unnoticeable) vs open fireplace - a sign of its efficiency
- blower turned on low is faint - have to turn the TV up only one notch - i would definately recommend blower
- in your case, all the heat is going to go upstairs first (unless there's a door at the top of the stairs), but that may be desired

good luck! post any questions and i'll get back...

 

[oconnor]

| just installed a Jotul Kennebec C450. We chose it because it allowed for more exposure into the room, in an effort to maximise the radiant component of wood heat (vice convection). The fan is quiet on both speeds, and we love the look of the surround and stove. I am still getting used to the stove so far as it's burn characteristics go. The only complaint re the look is that the way the stove sticks out isn't done as artfully as could be, and looks a little boxy, but we are happy to have the stove further in the room vice fully recessed as per most inserts.

If you have the room to allow the insert you select to protude into the room, I recommend you look at a stove with a variable depth set up, like the C450. In the end, the more of the heater you see, the more heat you can get out of it, IMHO.

I have posted some pics of it lately on a couple of threads, if you search you should find them (rather than reposting them) I hope to get a full "story" of the process up on the forum soon.

Brent

 

[lizziechase]

thanks to you both for replying! I'm going to go look at some Jotuls this weekend. and we got the quote on the Morso installation--$4900 in total. Not cheap! but given the price of oil, probably worth the cost.

 

[oconnor]

My Jotul Kennebec worked out similarly in price (Canadian Dollars)

Jotul Kennebec 2850
30 feet liner kit 529
Misc Brick etc 91
modify firebox to
fit stove 350
Install liner/stove 400
total 4220 + 13% tax

My install did NOT include insulating my liner, and I should have had it done (I need to for code, in fact), so now I am going to have to redo the install.

Recommend you STRONGLY consider insulating your liner. Safer, and better draft overall, based on all the posts I have read on the forums and elsewhere (OL, so I know a lot of those are my posts too)