I'm thinking about installing a wood burning fireplace insert to supplement the heat in the lower level of my split-level house. Since the forced-air heater is all one zone and the thermostat is on the main level, the downstairs stays considerably cooler. So, my questions....

1. Do the inserts put a good amount of heat out to make it worth the couple-three grand I'll be spending?
2. Any brands you could recommend/advise against?
3. Any pros and cons versus a wood pellet install?

Any advice is helpful and appreciated.

 

We bought an "Earth Stove" (fireplace insert) many years ago that puts out so much heat (with just a very small fire 'cooking'). . . it runs me out of the family room. No, correction. . . out of the whole living level of the house!

I don't know how my wife can stand it.

I can be on the opposite end of the house (in shorts and a T-shirt) and be sweating my (ahem) off, and she's 10 feet away from this stove, wearing sweatshirt and sweatpants, swearing that she's freezing!

 

you should check out the forums on HEATH.com.

I've been burnimg since 2006 and LOVE it.

I've got a napolean 1101 insert (its a mid level brand) It takes my heating bills in the winter from 250 a month to 80... and shortens the season that we use our furnace.

My wood is mostly free (bring home scraps from our flooring mill), I might think a little differently about it if I had to buy firewood.

Sometimes I'll mix some firewood in that I'll cut and split myself (love the excercise)

Warning, If you get an insert, you'll soon be shopping for a nice chainsaw, maybe a log splitter....

like with a pellet stove,m you need electricity for the fan, but if power was out, I guess you still burn........

the cons of pellets/corn is the cost. compared to cutting and proccessing firewood yourself.

If you're buying both, I dont think it would matter.

 

We installed a Vermont Castings Winter Warm about 3-years ago.

We paid $500 for it. It was used for about 6 seasons.

It works very well. Not sure how well it competes with other inserts or pellet stoves though.

The insert saved our pipes and kept us warm while being without electricity for nearly a week during December.

It can keep my 1500 sq ft ranch very comfortable. A good fire keeps the house 70-75 degrees.

If you can get your firewood for free or at a small cost, these are a great answer to standard fireplaces.

For Pellet stoves, the big name here back east is Harmon. They have the best all around stove. Mr. Harmon invented the hopper and auger mechanism decades ago.

If you go with a pellet stove be careful of the generic stuff sold at hardware stores. I buddy of mine bought one from Home Depot years ago. He had serious trouble with the auger mechanism. It was binding up and failing to turn.

The drawbacks to wood burning might be all the handling of the wood. The cutting, stacking, lugging and the mess it makes.

The pellet stoves are easier to operate. They can be set up to work off a thermostat to control the room temp. The bagged pellets are easier to handle and are much cleaner that wood, but you are at the mercy of how much a ton you can buy the pellets. They have to be stored in a dry area too. If they swell up from moisture they will not work well with the auger.

If you ever lose electricity during the winter months, a cost effective power inverter and a 12vdc car or deep cycle battery will keep you warm. It will run the blower and likely the auger found on pellet stoves.

I hope this gives you a little info on the pros and cons!

Dave

 

i would go with wood... it will heat you atleast twice... once while stackin and cutting and all that fun stuff and once while burning it...

in my opinion i wouldnt personally go with a insert, just because that heat gets traped behing the stove if the blower goes out... the one at my house, is frozen up... so we have to burn the fire hotter, and use a little bit more oil then i would like to use... at my moms we use porpaneinmybutt i dont know if its just our stoves or what... but they just dont heat the house like the wood stove used to... im about readdy to start cutting a few cords of wood and stacking it up for my mom, and ripping the propane out... maybe some one wants to trade full propane set up for wood stove set up? just kidding.... atleast for the time being.... to muck snow to cut 2 or 3 cords right now to finish the winter

 

I'm probably going to go with a Vermont Castings Winter Warm

WINTER WARM Cast Iron Catalytic - Small Insert Fireplace Inserts | Wood Fireplace Inserts by Vermont Castings

as it will fit in my fireplace nicely. I don't have to have the chimney lined but I will. I also have to get a code issue clarified as I don't have the required 18" hearth - I have 16.5". I need to find out if I can get away with a hearth rug or plate or if I will need to build it out more.

So, I'm looking at $2000 for the unit, $600 for the install, $600 to line the chimney and another $100 or so for the permit and inspection. They say about two weeks until they could get to me for installation.

Does this sound like an unreasonable price?

All I'll have left to do is find some trees to cut down....

 

Ray...a good friend has a Harmon Pellet insert...he swears by it. Bags of pellets are easier to handle than wood...all be it...more expensive.

 

That price sounds about right for a new installed unit. Call around for prices anyway!

Just for the heck of it, what would a quality pellet stove cost, installed?

Wood is everywhere! If you go with wood burning, do you have a decent place to store it? Also, it takes time for green wood to season for burning.

Ray, cut me a PM if you have any Winter Warm specific questions. Don't only listen to the sales people.

 

Go to the hearth forums and read up on Cat stoves. There was one model last year that caused a bunch of probs. I dont think it was a VC though

 

The place I am talking to is a VC dealer and it appears that they all have about the same prices. I went to another place that sells Jodul (Norweigan) and Regency (Maine). Both units were several hundred bucks more for a similar size unit.

The wood pellet stoves ran about a grand more. The pellet stoves require electricity to run so they are useless in a blackout until I could get the gen up and running.

I have a large back yard and a couple good spots to stack wood. I also have a couple nephews who are always looking for cash....

Check PM when you get a chance Dave. Thanks

 

VC isn't the same company it once was.

Hearth.com Wood Stove and Pellet Stove Forums....and much more! | Bad News... Owner of Vermont Castings files for bankruptcy

 

That's good information Jake.

Vermont Castings has since been bought so that is good. Monessen Hearth Systems Company Acquires Vermont Castings, Majestic Fireplaces and Other Key Assets of CFM Corporation | Reuters

I will be doing more research and asking the salesman a few more questions.

Thanks

 

I agree with those that say "burn wood". You'll be surprised how much you can get cheap. I watch craigslist and have gotten cords of high quality wood free or very cheap.
Once people know you burn wood, you be getting asked to drop trees for them in exchange for the wood. or they'll have someone else take down the trees and still give you the wood. I'm goin to be cutting down about 2 cord of apple and pear next month for a friend of mine. Fruit woods are among the best to burn.
We've been heating with a Waterford wood stove since about 1992 or so. We do have oil forced hot air central heat, but only use that on the very coldest of days. Now, I am in southeat pa so we don't have particularly bad winters, but it can stay in the 20's around here for days on end. Rarely into single digits for any length of time.
We have a 250 gal tank that has about 20 gal left in it. I can't remember the year we last bought oil, but I remember it was about $0.69 per gallon. So it was quite a while ago.
It does take a fair amount of labor to supply your own wood. I just spent the better part of about 2 full 8 hour days dropping a big walnut tree, cutting it up, splitting it, stacking it, and cleaning up the yard of all the brush, etc. Got just over 2-1/2 cords from it.
I recently bought some good wood from Craigslist at $100 per cord. Depending on what you earn, you may find it very reasonable to buy your wood. If a fellow takes home $150 per day, he makes about 19 bucks an hour (take-home). So, it took me 16 hours to make about $250 worth of wood. That's about 16 bucks an hour. See where I am going with this? If you have overtime options and can work a saturday or two at work, you could buy some wood with the money you earn and still be ahead of the game.
Anyway-I like doing the work. It saves me $ because I can't earn at my job by working on Saturdays. It is good exercise. But it is nice to know that if I am pinched for time, I can justify buying it anyway.
Man-I just always go on and on, but...........
MOST IMPORTANT!!! Get the cold air kit. Fire needs oxygen and it pulls it from air in the house unless you let it get the air from outside. If it pulls from the house, it creates a vacuum in the house and pulls cold air in through your doors and windows and any other leaky areas.
Cold air kits let you plumb a 3" vent straight through the wall and pull the combustion air directly form the outside. This will make a difference in the net heat gain you get from the stove.
Congrats! No matter your beliefs about global warming, burning wood is actually a "green" action. It is demed "carbon neutral" as the carbon stored in that tree is being released and can be taken up by a tree you plant somewhere else.