Small insert question

[gfol70]

Hi - am new to this site / forum. Not sure if doing this right...

Anyway, On the verge of getting an insert and wondering if I could get some advise.

My house is 1000sqft. The room where the insert is is 275sq ft.

I like the Regency Alterra CI1250 insert - simple design and flush. A Will it be enough as a secondary heat source to a furnace. Just want to know if the 1.4 cu ft firebox is going to be ok or will it be difficult to fit wood in / will I keep having to load it to put out heat. I'm burning wood to keep the room toasty in the winter (we go down to -35 degree Celsius at times here) but not depending on it as primary heat source. A bonus will be to use the house furnace fan to circulate the heat throughout the house.

So - big enough for my purposes? Any suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks

Guy

 

[begreen]

Welcome. I moved this to it's own thread for more targeted responses.

If the intent is to burn occasionally, nights and weekends, then it should work ok. If the intent is to burn 24/7 you may want an insert with a larger firebox for overnight burns.

 

[RSNovi]

I have a Jotul 350 in my house. Around 1.2 cu ft stove. I have an open floorpan and the bottom floor is about 1200 sq ft. The living room with the stove and kitchen are all open probably equaling about 800 sq ft. With this stove if I run it hard I get about a 5 degree F increase. Typically our living room is 67 F and it will raise it to 72 F.

You can't fit a lot of wood in the stove, but it isn't difficult to load. I prefer smaller splits for this stove so I can pack it tighter, but standard splits can be used.

I think given the space you are trying to heat for supplemental heat it should work well.

 

[DBoon]

I have a Lopi Answer (1.6 cubic foot firebox) in a 1250 square foot house in Central New York - it gets cold here (8000 degree days some years) and below -10 F often in January and February. Not as cold as Quebec, but still plenty cold.

My stove will hold coals for a morning relight. I split my own wood to get square splits I can stack in and really fill the firebox when it is below 20 degrees outside. My house is pretty well insulated with good storm windows. Below 20 degrees, I need supplemental heat, but that is fine - it's good to run the boiler sometimes.

I have a pretty open floorplan with a good circulating loop. The stove room is nicely warmer than the rest of the house, and the rest of the house does just fine.

So, you will not get 24/7 out of this stove, or 100% of your heating needs, but if that is not what you want, I think you will find this size stove just fine.

 

[gfol70]

Thank you for the feedback.

Question now is - my installer here in Chelsea also said a Napoleon EPi3 insert would fit. It's a 1.8 chamber and the contemporary model looks about the same as the Alterra 1250 by Regency. About the same price.

Does anyone have any insight into how these two compare in terms of quality? The Napoleon is a bit bigger and the viewing size almost double - I've heard good things about Regency, sadly, not so much about Napoleon - not sure why.

Thanks

Guy

 

[mellow]

Is this going into a ZC (Zero Clearance) or a Masonry fireplace? Seems like that would be a small masonry fireplace.

 

[gfol70]

Is this going into a ZC (Zero Clearance) or a Masonry fireplace? Seems like that would be a small masonry fireplace.

Both fit - more of a question of which is better quality, performance etc.

 

[mellow]

Is this what you have?

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/upgrading-a-pre-fab-or-zero-clearance-metal-fireplace.147797/