All I have is a fireplace but it is not as bad as I thought it would be.
The initial heat is generates is immense. Way more than then old wood stove I had. It does heat the whole house, at least when the temperature floats above freezing, in the 30's to low 40's. No idea yet how it performs in cold weather.
The fireplace has a dampener and I think it helps.
One problem with the fireplace is that the living room becomes unbearably hot, with candles melting 6'-8' away. Couch to hot to seat on.
The real problem is that everything burns out in the middle of the night and the fire is completely out in the early morning. The bricks stay warm but I think below freezing, I will have issues past 3-4AM, assuming I get it full at 10PM. The old wood stove I had at another house stayed warm the entire night instead of going from Africa to Antarctica temperatures.
Therefore I am looking at an insert.
The initial heat is generates is immense. Way more than then old wood stove I had. It does heat the whole house, at least when the temperature floats above freezing, in the 30's to low 40's. No idea yet how it performs in cold weather.
The fireplace has a dampener and I think it helps.
One problem with the fireplace is that the living room becomes unbearably hot, with candles melting 6'-8' away. Couch to hot to seat on.
The real problem is that everything burns out in the middle of the night and the fire is completely out in the early morning. The bricks stay warm but I think below freezing, I will have issues past 3-4AM, assuming I get it full at 10PM. The old wood stove I had at another house stayed warm the entire night instead of going from Africa to Antarctica temperatures.
Therefore I am looking at an insert.