Wanting a High Efficiency wood burning fireplace

[Naptown]

I have a 20 year old fireplace that I want to tear out and replace with a high efficiency wood burner. I like the Fireplace Xtrordinair. Another local place offers Pioneer series by quadra-fire, heat & glow, and Heatilator brands. I'm hoping to find something that qualifies for the 2023 Biomass 30% tax credit. My wife wanted to redo the flooring in this room and it seems this would be a good time to do the fireplace rebuild at the same time. What do you guys have and recommend?

 

[thssks]

I have a 20 year old fireplace that I want to tear out and replace with a high efficiency wood burner. I like the Fireplace Xtrordinair. Another local place offers Pioneer series by quadra-fire, heat & glow, and Heatilator brands. I'm hoping to find something that qualifies for the 2023 Biomass 30% tax credit. My wife wanted to redo the flooring in this room and it seems this would be a good time to do the fireplace rebuild at the same time. What do you guys have and recommend?

Installed a BlazeKing Princess insert in November and it’s been great so far. I wasn’t sure about the extra “attention” the catalyst would need but it’s not bad at all. If the stove is cold it can take up to 40 minutes to heat up enough to engage the cat. If I’m in a hurry I will use smaller splits on top of larger logs and use the top down method of starting the fire and I can get it up to temp in a little over 20 minutes. My only concern at this point is how long the cat will last, off the top of my head I think the cat has a six year warranty. But so far the boss is happy and so am I.

 

[ericm979]

The catalysts don't cost all that much and are easy to replace.

We installed a "Flame Monaco" zero clearance EPA fireplace a few years ago. It's no longer made but the parent company SBI makes basically the same stove in other brands. It replaced a 25 year old prefab fireplace.

The biggest cost was replacing the flue pipe with the correct modern stuff. It's not cheap and we needed 35' of it. The cost was worth it though. The wife and cats (and I) greatly appreciate it.

If I was to do it again I would probably get a catalyst stove. They can be turned down lower and burn longer than the non catalyst reburn types like mine. That would extend the heating season.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Installed a BlazeKing Princess insert in November and it’s been great so far. I wasn’t sure about the extra “attention” the catalyst would need but it’s not bad at all. If the stove is cold it can take up to 40 minutes to heat up enough to engage the cat. If I’m in a hurry I will use smaller splits on top of larger logs and use the top down method of starting the fire and I can get it up to temp in a little over 20 minutes. My only concern at this point is how long the cat will last, off the top of my head I think the cat has a six year warranty. But so far the boss is happy and so am I.

I also have a BlazeKing Princess and absolutely love it. They are a slightly different animal with their thermostatic temperature control, so be aware of that.

They have a huge firebox, which is what gives them the ability to run a very long time on very dry wood. Dry wood is critical for catalyst stoves.

 

[FrugalFirewoodDad]

I just had an installer come by and measure to prepare an estimate. Leaning tot the Lopi Evergreen right now due to size constraints of our existing fireplace.

Going non-cat because I have seen how supply issues and cost of materials can interfere with "savings". The less i have to rely on in the future the better. YMMV, everyone is different, etc.

Oh, my point. I beleive the Evergreen ranks highly for efficiency for a non cata lytic stove. Something to consider.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Lopi makes a great product.

 

[Kernal1984]

Really happy with my pacific energy Alderlea, got it used off marketplace. Pacific energy stoves don’t qualify for the tax credit but it also doesn’t have a catalyst to worry about, but if you’re burning good dry wood you won’t have any problems with a catalyst stove.

 

[stihlaficionado]

I have a 20 year old fireplace that I want to tear out and replace with a high efficiency wood burner. I like the Fireplace Xtrordinair. Another local place offers Pioneer series by quadra-fire, heat & glow, and Heatilator brands. I'm hoping to find something that qualifies for the 2023 Biomass 30% tax credit. My wife wanted to redo the flooring in this room and it seems this would be a good time to do the fireplace rebuild at the same time. What do you guys have and recommend?

Looking for an insert, stand alone stove or a high efficiency zero clearance fireplace?

All the ZCs I've seen have knock-outs if you want to distribute the heat to other rooms via ducting and inline fans.

Empire, Valcourt, RSF, Heartstone, Osburn, Pacific Energy are some brands

Stove Builders International's, SBI makes many of these

I chose an Empire because the RSF product would be at least a year out to even order.

 

[Marine5068]

The catalysts don't cost all that much and are easy to replace.

We installed a "Flame Monaco" zero clearance EPA fireplace a few years ago. It's no longer made but the parent company SBI makes basically the same stove in other brands. It replaced a 25 year old prefab fireplace.

The biggest cost was replacing the flue pipe with the correct modern stuff. It's not cheap and we needed 35' of it. The cost was worth it though. The wife and cats (and I) greatly appreciate it.

If I was to do it again I would probably get a catalyst stove. They can be turned down lower and burn longer than the non catalyst reburn types like mine. That would extend the heating season.

I hear ya on the prices of stainless chimneys. The are very expensive.
When I bought my house 18 years ago, it had a great 12"(od)/8"(id) Selkirk super chimney up from lowest floor straight through the center of the home and it's about 30' of it. It had an old crappy woodstove though so I upgraded it to an EPA type. New stove is a Drolet HT2000 and as a non-cat style, it's a fantastic stove that can heat the whole 2500 sq ft home.
The main heat is by wood pellet stove on the upper/main floor. Pellet stove is an Enviro Evolution and easy heats the whole house. wood stove is mainly secondary heat in basement and used during shoulder seasons and during cold snaps.
SBI make some great products. I like their pellet systems.

 

[Marine5068]

I just had an installer come by and measure to prepare an estimate. Leaning tot the Lopi Evergreen right now due to size constraints of our existing fireplace.

Going non-cat because I have seen how supply issues and cost of materials can interfere with "savings". The less i have to rely on in the future the better. YMMV, everyone is different, etc.

Oh, my point. I beleive the Evergreen ranks highly for efficiency for a non cata lytic stove. Something to consider.

Lopi are good.
Lots of others equally good so lots to choose from.