With my last heating bill ($270) I am looking to get an insert for my fireplace for next year. I thought a dealer might give a discount for an off-season install. Also I would like to get the most benefit out of this unti, so I would like to get it hooked up to a blower or something to circulate the heat throughout the house. The house is a 2000 sf ranch, built in 1968. The ranch is L-shaped, and the fireplace is currently at the crook of the L. Any guidance is welcome! BTW, I already have a saw and truck to cut and haul wood.
fireplace insert install
- Thread starter rb_in_va
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Do woodburning stoves add reale value to the home in your area Dan? Not here, but it would add value to me and my family then I could take it with me and throw the existing fireplace on when I leave!
Jackman
ArboristSite Lurker
I'm looking for one as well so I'll be watching this thread. Any ideas how hard they are to SELF install? My dad has been into HVAC for 40yrs and knows quite a bit. I've also read up on this but I'm no pro. Just wanted to try to save some money by self installing it....without burning the house down of course. I've heard good things about many of the inserts talked about on this forum...so I'm shopping around for the ones the forum members mention. I think if you get a decent insert they come with the fan. How would you get the heat out into the room otherwise?
Listen to these guys, though...they know their saws, inserts, splitters, giganto monster splitters and everything else.
Listen to these guys, though...they know their saws, inserts, splitters, giganto monster splitters and everything else.
I've thought about the DIY thing myself, but this is something I won't take a chance screwing up. About the blower, I have heard of folks tying it into the central heat system, not just blowing the air into the room with the stove.
Jackman
ArboristSite Lurker
Wouldn't the heat coming from the insert be too high in temp to circulate through central air?
I had a Appalachian insert installed by a certified chimney sweep and he put a stainless steel liner that he slid up through my fireplace. He felt the fireplace didnt need a full liner from top to bottom.
I dont feel the insert I have puts out the heat I thought it would. I bought mine off ebay and it was new, but discontinued. I found the blower was missing the squirrel cage and the off and on switch.
I had a chance to buy a Lopi insert and did save about $750 over the Lopi. But the heat I am getting is not what I thought I would get. I do have a log home with an open floor plan and vaulted ceilings with fans going all the time.
I would buy a stove and put it on a hearth. I had one in my old houses basement and it heated the house very well.
Shipper
I dont feel the insert I have puts out the heat I thought it would. I bought mine off ebay and it was new, but discontinued. I found the blower was missing the squirrel cage and the off and on switch.
I had a chance to buy a Lopi insert and did save about $750 over the Lopi. But the heat I am getting is not what I thought I would get. I do have a log home with an open floor plan and vaulted ceilings with fans going all the time.
I would buy a stove and put it on a hearth. I had one in my old houses basement and it heated the house very well.
Shipper
curdy
ArboristSite Operative
Call local stove shops and ask them who may have just changed over from wood to gas. Some shops will sell them on consignment or just offer a referral to help the owner sell their old stove to someone looking. I did just that and picked up a nice Regency insert for $150. Was already removed, refinished, and waiting for me in the guys garage. I bought a liner and self installed with a puller (very easy). Liner and all the parts to go with it were picked up for maybe $250.
Its burning now and we love it! My heating bills last year were around $500/month for about 3000 sq ft of an older and drafty house...this year, with the stove, under $250. 1/2 through the season and its almost paid for itself.
Bottom line IMO, get the word out and you'd be amazed at what becomes available.
Its burning now and we love it! My heating bills last year were around $500/month for about 3000 sq ft of an older and drafty house...this year, with the stove, under $250. 1/2 through the season and its almost paid for itself.
Bottom line IMO, get the word out and you'd be amazed at what becomes available.
GLM
ArboristSite Member
I love my Regency I2400 insert, but there a a few good ones out there. Which ever brand you go with do the full length stainless 6" liner right up the chimney, your draft will be better and the stove will work to its full potential, a little money spent up front will give you a big smile 
in the long run. What ever you do get a insert that comes with a blower as an option, the inserts sit so far in the fire place they really need the blower to force the heat around the insert and back out in the room, you won't need that blower all the time but when the temp drops its a must have. They dont use much power at all, I run mine 24/7 mostly on high(when its really cold) and it only draws about 75W, I hardly notice it on the electric bill. I put my insert in three years ago to try to help with heating costs and I ended up heating the whole house with it ending my oil heat use, I heat about 1300sq ft and DO NOT ever need to turn my thermostsat on, it was 13F last week, I have leaky old windows and the insert kept the house 68 no problem, next spring I get new windows and can't wiat to see the differance. When the temps come up to 25F and above the house will actually get to hot and I will have to turn the fan down or off. You'll love an insert and the money it will save.
1. get the blower if its an option (its better to have and not need than need and not have)
2. full 6"stainless liner
I would recomend these two things to anyone looking to put an insrt in their house. Money well spent. Good luck Jon
in the long run. What ever you do get a insert that comes with a blower as an option, the inserts sit so far in the fire place they really need the blower to force the heat around the insert and back out in the room, you won't need that blower all the time but when the temp drops its a must have. They dont use much power at all, I run mine 24/7 mostly on high(when its really cold) and it only draws about 75W, I hardly notice it on the electric bill. I put my insert in three years ago to try to help with heating costs and I ended up heating the whole house with it ending my oil heat use, I heat about 1300sq ft and DO NOT ever need to turn my thermostsat on, it was 13F last week, I have leaky old windows and the insert kept the house 68 no problem, next spring I get new windows and can't wiat to see the differance. When the temps come up to 25F and above the house will actually get to hot and I will have to turn the fan down or off. You'll love an insert and the money it will save. 1. get the blower if its an option (its better to have and not need than need and not have)
2. full 6"stainless liner
I would recomend these two things to anyone looking to put an insrt in their house. Money well spent. Good luck Jon
sedanman
Just cut the piano!!
Here's mine. It's minus 5 right now and the house is 73 degrees! I have a 1,600 ft ranch built in 1952. Insert is a Hampton H1300 with a blower.
P.S. The soot stains on the mantle are leftover from befroe the insert, when it was a regular fireplace. And the broom is no longer hanging there either, this pic was "first fire"
P.S. The soot stains on the mantle are leftover from befroe the insert, when it was a regular fireplace. And the broom is no longer hanging there either, this pic was "first fire"
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Husky137
Addicted to ArboristSite
My insert has a similar installation with the stainless liner going part way up the flue, about 6 feet. After the insert is pushed back into the firebox of the fireplace an insulated face plate is attached and seals the fireplace from leaking inside air up the flue. Has worked like a charm for 6 years.
A. Stanton
Addicted to ArboristSite
I had a Pacific Energy fireplace insert installed. The medium-size model heats up to 2,000 sq ft. The units come with their own built-in blowers. The only special the dealer seems to run around here is free installation. You have to figure that a good insert will run about $2,500 and you will pay close to $1,000 for the liner.
You will save on oil. But the more important thing is security and peace of mind. If you get an ice storm or your primary furnace dies in the middle of the night or weekend, you got a good back up. Unlike the pellet stoves, you can run the wood-inserts with no power. The fan just won't run without a generator. You can ran the Pacific Energy without a fan--it doesn't melt like other cheaper models.
Good Luck
You will save on oil. But the more important thing is security and peace of mind. If you get an ice storm or your primary furnace dies in the middle of the night or weekend, you got a good back up. Unlike the pellet stoves, you can run the wood-inserts with no power. The fan just won't run without a generator. You can ran the Pacific Energy without a fan--it doesn't melt like other cheaper models.
Good Luck
My insert was installed like Husky137's but I couldn't't think what the firebox was when I wrote this last night. My chimney sweep took a liner and cut off part of it and lowered a rope and pulled and held the liner up inside the firebox after going up on a ladder. He said with my existing chimney being so tall I should get plenty of draft. I don't have the insulated face plate and mine seems to draw and there is no cold air around my insert. I do have a cosmetic face plate to cover the gap between the insert and the old fireplace.
I just don't get the heat I thought I would get with this Appalachian insert. I do have tall ceilings, but thought it would give me more.
Shipper
Husky137
Addicted to ArboristSite
Had mine installed by a pro per manufacturers instuctions. Just because you don't think it works doesn't mean it that it's not so. Never had any sort of draft problem. Sprinkle some pixie dust on that.
After my neighbor put one in his house I am looking at getting one in mine during the off season. I know he had to put a s.s. liner all the way to the chimney cap, but our houses where built with gas fireplaces, so they only had the cheap galv. piping going up the inside. I think if I add this to the little woodburner I put in my basement, I shouldn't need the natural gas at all!! Just need to spend more time cutting/splitting...which I am all for:hmm3grin2orange:
Why would you think if we both had pros do our install that its unsafe? I cant speak for anyone else, but the guy I had was a certified chimney sweep and I watched every move. He said the schooling he has and has over 1000 clients he has swept for.
Just trying to figure out what might be wrong in your opinion.:help:
Shipper
TreeCo...I just read that link and it mentions brick fireplaces, not framed ones. Mine is brick faced, but the rest is just a framed in chimney liner. I think mine is a straight shot up, but I could be wrong. The damper is nothing more than a butterfly valve, it's either open or closed. Do you think I'd have a problem with an insert?
This my first winter burning the insert as my sweep installed it around oct. of last year. He told me that he would come back this spring of 07 and sweep the chimney and could tell me how the insert and wood burned. I will show him this if its still on the board and see what he has to say.
He did tell me not to move the insert as it was where he wanted it. I would recommend this sweep to anyone in southern Indiana as being very professional and someone I feel knows his stuff.
Shipper
WoodTick007
Addicted to ArboristSite
I have an Appalachian insert that was made in 1991 and it puts off soo much heat we often have to open a window or two if the outside temp are 30+ degrees. I have a 1250sqft cape cod built in 1930 and there is ZERO insulation in the walls......my insert with two small fans will keep the house at 80 + degrees. If I load it up with Oak it has no problem pushing the thermostat to 90.
Perhap you should look at your install and chimney liner. How does your stove/insert draft/draw? With a full liner mine is like a Blowtorch when I add wood...there is no smoldering.....add wood and instant ignition.
Moral of the story.....Don't sell your Appalachian short.
Perhaps you can call them and speak with Janet or Rick about your situation.
Good Luck!!!
My insert draws ok, I put a lit rolled up newspaper up the chimney and it only takes a few seconds and its drawing. I wouldn't say mine is a blowtorch by any means. My house would be cold without my heat pump running. I have used my insert now about 3 months and with the blower on low I get the temp in my house with the heat pump set around 66 to keep it at that temp.
You have to remember, my house is a log home with an open floor plan. The living room is open all the way to the vaulted ceiling and that goes to a loft up stairs.
Who might Rick or Janet be?
Thanks
Shipper
