What Stove Seems Fitting?

[fayman]

Alright, I had just put in a Lopi Answer insert in to my main fireplace this year, and have been burning for a few months. Already I'm noticing that it takes a LOT from this little stove to heat our house when the temp drops below 30F (which has been rarely, so far).

We're in a 1939 Cape Cod, with a 320 SF addition off of the back of the house. The stove is in the front living room, with a full cutout heading up the stairs into our bedroom, which spans the entire length of the house. The kids' rooms are off of the kitchen/dinette area, which is just behind the stove room.

Total square footage is 1465...which I noticed is the max for the Answer.

Should I be looking for a larger insert after this season?

Mr. JMF, a member here on these forums, is my bro, and scored his Avalon insert for $200 this past summer. I really like the Lopi quality...what does everyone think??

 

[Robbie]

Do you have a blower on this stove ?





Robbie

 

[wg_bent]

Your answer should be capable of heating that space, but just barely as you have noticed. If you have the room to fit a larger you should. If your Answer isn't cutting it though, don't go to a Revere, go as big as you can. Also, as suggested, be sure it has a blower. For that stove the difference is amazing. My sister has an Answer and ran it for years with no blower, but bought one last year, now the stove heats her 1200 sqft house pretty easily. She is near Seattle, so climate is mild. YOu may find that the if it gets around 10 or lower your answer will really have trouble keeping up no matter how hard you run it.

 

[Mike Wilson]

The Answer is a small stove... and you're trying to heat a pretty large area with it (and probably not too well insulated, based upon the age of the house). Rather than just replacing it, if you don't already have a blower, as mentioned above, go get one. The $250 cost is cheaper than a new insert, is a cheap experiment, and it will help. On my insert there is a significant difference in heating with and without the blower. If you already have a blower, try moving the air in your house a little, use a fan or two, experiment and see what happens. Also, if you have the Answer pushed all the way into your fireplace, try pulling it out a little to expose more surface area. If that fails, a larger insert is in your future... maybe a Freedom or Revere if you're happy with the Lopi brand, Jotul, Hearthstone & Pacific Energy is you want to shop around, depending on what your local dealer sells (don't ever buy anything not sold by a local dealer!)

Good luck...

-- Mike

 

[wg_bent]

The Answer is a small stove... and you're trying to heat a pretty large area with it (and probably not too well insulated, based upon the age of the house). Rather than just replacing it, if you don't already have a blower, as mentioned above, go get one. The $250 cost is cheaper than a new insert, is a cheap experiment, and it will help. On my insert there is a significant difference in heating with and without the blower. If you already have a blower, try moving the air in your house a little, use a fan or two, experiment and see what happens. Also, if you have the Answer pushed all the way into your fireplace, try pulling it out a little to expose more surface area. If that fails, a larger insert is in your future... maybe a Freedom or Revere if you're happy with the Lopi brand, Jotul, Hearthstone & Pacific Energy is you want to shop around, depending on what your local dealer sells (don't ever buy anything not sold by a local dealer!)

Good luck...

-- Mike

Mike...just looking at your sig line...why not Jotul sweet Jotul?

 

[JMF1]

Don't worry Bro...............we'll find you a bigger one this year!

I used that same Lopi Answer last year and saved a ton of $$. So, I too will vouch for the Travis Ind. products. The Avalon I picked up this summer is the 1196 model, just an older version of the Olympic. I called Travis before buying it, asked alot of questions and found them to be extremely helpful. I told my bro to run the Answer this year, see how it works and maybe a bigger insert is in order, time will tell. I went with the biggest one I could fit in the fireplace figuring I could burn smaller fires if I didn't need alot of heat........through the fall this theory has worked well. If the demand for more heat is there, I load her up and go! I guess what I'm saying is that I'm going to recomend the biggest one he can fit in there and run it as I have as it seems to work well. Any thoughts guys?