Will the Osburn 2400 not be good choice for my needs?

[EmmyQT]

I am seriously considering a wood stove insert and plan on having one for next heating season. I currently have a simple grate heater, and it definitely is not doing the trick and using a LOT of wood AND at times seeping small amounts of smoke into the house through the non-airtight doors. I can only get it to maintain the heat my boiler puts out right now, and of course I can't keep it going through night. I've done quite a bit of research and know the Osburn 2400 would fit in my fireplace and am thinking I want to go as big as I can go. I want it hot in here ... seventies or even eighties would not be negative and in fact would be a very welcome atmosphere. I have a raised ranch with the fireplace on second floor. Lower floor is 1/3 finished, but I'm not concerned with heating that ... not much time spent down there in winter. The area I want to heat is upstairs, 1,100 square feet with about 600 of that open living area with cathedral ceilings in living room/dining/kitchen area (where fireplace is on center of outside wall directly across from hall to bedrooms/bathrooms). The chimney is about 20 foot. I think the house is fairly good insulated. I know the attic has about 8 - 10 inches I'd say and assume walls are properly insulated and no drafts from windows. I've been reading a lot of posts in other forums here which have been incredibly helpful and want to make sure I will be able to run a stove as efficiently as possible but also would rather slightly overkill than not be able to get at least 70 on entire main floor 24/7 in worst of winter with no help from boiler. Is that possible?

One more question I had is regarding the 6" liner required. I looked up my chimney and noticed I have a rectangular shaped liner right now that's definitely bigger than 6" on the largest sides but not positive if it's 6" on the smaller sides. It's pretty high up and with the grate heater in the firebox right now it's not very easy to get up to there to measure. Does anyone know if it's possible that it would be less than 6"? My house was built in 1992 if that helps.

And one last question that I have which I'm not sure if anybody else deals with but fairly important on this end. The open fireplace is an issue with allergies, but there's no airtight seal which I think is a huge factor. Does anybody have an insert or wood stove that they notice worse allergies in heating season? And in that vein, does the Osburn 2400 have a bypass damper that lessons smoke when opening door? Is there another comparable model that does have that bypass damper? Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[HybridFyre]

I can't comment on any of your install questions. However I can say that both my wife and I have awful allergies of differing varieties and neither of us have had any adverse reactions to the insert install. The only issue we have is some sinus issues resulting in much drier air but we'll put in a whole house humidifier soon that will help with that.

 

[begreen]

The 2400 is a big stove to heat 1100 sq ft, even with some oversizing. An Osburn 1600 or 2000 would be more appropriately sized. You might also want to look at the Lopi Endeavor, Pacific Energy Super, Enviro Kodiak 1700.

The chimney will need a thorough cleaning before installation. Have the sweep give you an actual inside measurement of the tile liner.

 

[EmmyQT]

I can't comment on any of your install questions. However I can say that both my wife and I have awful allergies of differing varieties and neither of us have had any adverse reactions to the insert install. The only issue we have is some sinus issues resulting in much drier air but we'll put in a whole house humidifier soon that will help with that.[

Thanks HybridFyre for your reply, very helpful and glad to hear no allergy reactions to insert!

 

[EmmyQT]

The 2400 is a big stove to heat 1100 sq ft, even with some oversizing. An Osburn 1600 or 2000 would be more appropriately sized. You might also want to look at the Lopi Endeavor, Pacific Energy Super, Enviro Kodiak 1700.

The chimney will need a thorough cleaning before installation. Have the sweep give you an actual inside measurement of the tile liner.

Thanks BeGreen, I will check out these recommendations. I was thinking because of the cathedral ceilings that it's probably more like 1,400 or 1,500? But do you think that these smaller ones would keep be able to keep it 70 or better without the use of having to use any other heat sources?

 

[Bagelboy]

If you want to be in the upper 70's and 80's, like you stated, get the 2400. It's an animal, and pumps out some serious heat. If you find it's too much, than just reload less often. With cathedral ceilings, you're going to need some extra heat.

 

[EmmyQT]

If you want to be in the upper 70's and 80's, like you stated, get the 2400. It's an animal, and pumps out some serious heat. If you find it's too much, than just reload less often. With cathedral ceilings, you're going to need some extra heat.

Thanks Bagelboy for your reply ... yeah, that's sort of my way of thinking at the moment also. I guess I'm not grasping the negatives (other than higher purchase cost) of going with a bigger insert. Would it be possible on warmer days to load it three quarters each reload, or are there problems/negatives associated with doing that?

 

[USMC80]

you can burn smaller loads no problem

 

[begreen]

You will need to move the heat that will pocket at the peak of the cathedral ceiling. Otherwise it will be 100℉ up there while it's 70 down below.

 

[EmmyQT]

This forum is so incredibly helpful, thank you everybody for all this awesome information! ... I'm learning a lot. I think I'm going to get the Osburn 2400 ... now I want to do it sooner than next season though. j My oil bill is crazy through the roof. I bought this house in June so didn't know what to expect. Boiler is very beat up and has to be inefficient even though oil company says efficient. I'm definitely skeptical. But anyway I was trying to decide whether to go with new boiler or fireplace insert. I think I've 99% decided insert definitely better idea and am actually psyched about getting one. I'll definitely call chimney sweeper to clean ... would they install too? I need to find someone professional who will do it right and not cut corners ... definitely don't want to battle draft problems. Any recommendations would be great. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[Bagelboy]

I love the 2400 insert! Also look at it this way, if it's too big, you can always open a window! But I bet you won't! If you install it or get it installed, make sure they insulate around it with Roxul. It made a big difference in keeping temps up on mine. I will also look at putting in a blockoff plate in the near future.