Wood burning fireplace inserts..

targa911S · 10-16-2009, 10:36 AM

Who's got em, do you like them, did you install them, what brand did you get, what did it cost you? Think that covers my questions.

Tim Walsh · Tim Walsh's Garage

I've got one that came with the house. Works well for warming up the finished basement. No idea on the brand, cost, installation.

TimT · 10-16-2009, 11:22 AM

I put a Vermont Casting insert in my house in.....Vermont..

I think it was around $3000 when I bought it 15 years or so ago..

Also have Vermont Casting wood stove in that house also, and one in my house in NY

The Gaijin · 10-16-2009, 11:25 AM

Whats up with those pellets? Real men burn logs.

teenerted1 · 10-16-2009, 11:49 AM

had one in a house i rented for a year....we heated the whole place with one sitting in the corner of the living room. split level so the beedrooms got to almost 85degrees before going to bed. just get the logs going on a slow burn and we would use maybe 2 logs quartered from 5pm till bed time with the last few burning well after we went to bed.

no idea what brand...wish my small house had one now.

LakeCleElum · 10-16-2009, 12:29 PM

Built a new house a a couple of years ago. Got the biggest Lopi they make (Liberty)....Was about $1,500 on sale. House is 2,500 SF on one level.....Heats it just fine, even when it's down around zero.

Dealer wanted too much for the sale pad, over $500 with tax. I made my own for $50. A piece of one inch plywood a friend gave me. Slate tiles from Home Depot, grout and wood trim, same as the baseboard......

Been using wood heat since 1977........Pellets aren't the same, stove gets warm, but not hot.........

targa911S · 10-16-2009, 12:51 PM

I will be using real wood (logs). I want to heat about half of a 2110 sq ft home.

TimT · 01:16 PM

Who said anything about pellet stoves?

This is the insert I have Don't use the room with insert much anymore since I remodeled the house.

I have this stove in both my houses The way my Vermont place is laid out I can heat the whole place just using the stove. The house is 2500 sf

I like these units because they're made in the states (Vermont), though I heard they moved some of the production to Canada

targa911S · 10-16-2009, 01:41 PM

This is the room I need to heat...

This side of the kitchen/family room is why it's so damn cold in the winter. With all the glass you may as well have a door open.

And Jack..

TimT · 10-16-2009, 01:49 PM

Looks like a pretty open floor plan...

Do you have ceiling fans?

With an insert you could get that room as hot as a sweatlodge....

Last year on a -15 day I had some windows opened a crack because the sotve got the house so warm..

Also when I remodeled my place I did the walls with R19 and ceiling and roof with R38... that makes a huge difference.

targa911S · 10-16-2009, 01:56 PM

Yes very open plan. Yes I have 1 fan in that room. The ceiling is vaulted at about 12 feet. That room is about 1/4 of the whole house. The living room has it's own wood burner but I will not insert that room. The wood burner does fine in there. The 3 bedrooms can just stay on the furnace system and I will shut down the vents in the rest of the house. I'm trying to cut my costs as it costs me around $500 a month in gas mid winter. I have plenty of wood as you can see out the kitchen windows.

TimT · 02:10 PM

I can heat this place with the wood stove going.. the layout of the house has a central stair, so the heat easily makes it to the upper rooms.. If you pack the stove full of wood before you go to bed, and close the damper, the wood will burn all night. Wake up open the damper, and toss a few logs on and it will refire.

TimT · 10-16-2009, 02:11 PM

Not as much glass as you have but quite a bit

targa911S · 10-16-2009, 02:20 PM

GREAT house buddy! You have a lot of glass there yourself. Roughly half of this house is glass. The guys that designed 50's modern homes must have never lived in one, but natural gas was cheap then. What you're doing, is just my plan.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

pellets work incredibly well - I didn't believe it until I spent some time at a friend's house with one.

I personally burn logs since they are "free" (as long as Ikeep trimming my backyard trees and hauling the logs up the hill), but there is just no comparison at all in heat output.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

PS - those tubes that run vertically from top to bottom and have small fans in them will work a LOT better than any ceiling fan

targa911S · 10-16-2009, 02:29 PM

Can a log system burn logs, pellets and say corn cob?

TimT · 10-16-2009, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Can a log system burn logs, pellets and say corn cob?

Probably...most definitely yes...You can burn coal in most stoves...

You can't burn logs in pellet stoves... also pellet stoves need a power source...

At my casa in Vermont, its not uncommon to lose power after a blizzard for hours, a few years ago it was days till power was restored...I was able to keep the house warm with the stove, and prudent use of the generator kept the well pump and some lights going

TimT · 10-16-2009, 03:40 PM

Quote:

those tubes that run vertically from top to bottom and have small fans in them will work a LOT better than any ceiling fan

Where can you get them now? haven't seen a source for awhile

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

We had a fireplace insert/wood burning stove back in '88-'91 in Fallbrook, CA when I was in the Navy and it worked well and heated the entire 2000sq ft house. I don't remember the brand, but it worked well and I installed it myself. Just be sure it's airtight and that the chimney is in good serviceable condition. We never went to bed while the fire was burning...