Wood stove insert a good choice?

[skbohler]

Hello,

We've got a great fireplace, but with the price of oil, we feel the need to get a wood stove insert.

Here's my fear. The room that the fireplace is directly in has our couch about 10 feet away.

Will it get too hot to sit in there as the insert heats the whole house?

The room is open on one side to a big kitchen, and has a doorway leading to a stairway going up as well.

My fear is we're going to purchase this, but not be able to comfortably sit in our favorite place.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Girl]

The first thing I thought of is rearrange your furniture further away from the stove if you think or it proves to be to close to said insert.
But what do I know...

 

[stejus]

Hello,

We've got a great fireplace, but with the price of oil, we feel the need to get a wood stove insert.

Here's my fear. The room that the fireplace is directly in has our couch about 10 feet away.

Will it get too hot to sit in there as the insert heats the whole house?

The room is open on one side to a big kitchen, and has a doorway leading to a stairway going up as well.

My fear is we're going to purchase this, but not be able to comfortably sit in our favorite place.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Steve

I am in the same situation as you and made a decision to buy a fireplace insert over a pellet insert. I enjoy buring wood but am tired of letting my oil heat up the chimney even with the glass doors closed. My floor plan sounds a little like yours. I am going with either a Hampton HI300 or Jotul C550. Don't be afraid of too much heat if you have an open area. You can always find ways to move that heat around or burn at a lower setting (less wood in the stove).

The reason I am going with a bigger insert stove is for overnight burns.

 

[High_Iron]

My situation is very similar. I went with the Hampton and the downfall is that when It is below freezing outside i have to wear shorts inside. Life sucks!

 

[begreen]

Welcome Steve. No worry. The couch at 10 to 12' away should be ok. You can always set the blower to low or burn a smaller fire, but the couch and it's occupants will be fine. Stejus has it correct. With an open floorplan, the heat will migrate and convect upstairs. The stove blower and sometimes a little help from a ceiling fan may be all that's needed to circulate the heat evenly.

The bigger mistake many folks make is not getting a big enough stove to heat the house well, especially overnight. What is the size of the fireplace (L,W,D) and how many square feet is the house per floor?

 

[oconnor]

Steve, I wouldn't think that 10 feet was too close. My insert (Jotul 450) is 8-10 from our couch and we are very comfortable and not too hot.

As for moving the heat around, I prefer to think of moving the cold air into the room, vice hot air out (Subtle I know, but important in practice). We have a 1930's American Foursquare, and we have a small fan in the coldest room on the main floor, and direct the cold air out to the hall. Then the hot air from the LR where the stove is fills in behind, and it is comfortable all around. I don't even need the blower on the stove yet.

 

[skbohler]

Thanks for all the advice.

We're looking at a Jotul 550 with a couple of door/corner fans to pull the heat around. Everything I've heard makes it sound like we should make the (big) investment.

Thanks again!

Steve

 

[SteveT]

Good choice. But I wouldn't rush to buy the door/corner fans. I don't have any but the few folks I've known that had them weren't pleased.

 

[stejus]

Stevewood

If your floor plan looks like mine (above), you should have a natural cold return flowing down the stairs from the 2nd floor.

I don't have my stove installed yet, but i do know from past winters when we have the baseboard heat on downstairs and off upstairs, there's cold air pouring down the stairs into the hallway.

Other post from this forum suggest to put a small fan on the floor in the hall area near the door that leads into the Family Room. The air flow (cold) will be directed to the fireplace insert as my cold air return. The theory is the cold air below heading towards the stove will move the warm air above into this hall and up the stairs creating a nice flow. As far as the Kitchen, there's enough of an opening where the air should just move in that direction.

I guess I'll have to wait and see what works best.