Fronty Owner
ArboristSite Operative
I thought an insert was basically the same thing.
Who uses fireplace inserts?
- Thread starter bmarleyzq8
- Start date
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loganj01
ArboristSite Operative
I have an old Craft Stove insert...70's era. It was originally "installed" (using the term loosely) by just shoving it in the hole. I put in a stainless block plate with two 6" vents coming out of a home made adapter that I made in the shop at work. It works a lot better but it's still venting through the tile chimney. It puts out a decent amount of heat but it has a voracious appetite for wood. I'm sure it needs new door gaskets. It'll heat this drafty old house but sometimes we have to run an electric space heater in the kids rooms on a really cold night.
I grew up with a free-staning insert for heat in Illinois. After 20 years my dad bought a new one and the old one wound up in a workshop at the back of the barn.
I moved to Santa Cruz, CA and bought a house there in 2001. IT had a fireplace with an insert. I bought the fan kit for it and used it as my primary heat source eber since. My power bill goes up $10/month in the winter because we use the lights more. I burn a lot less wood in Santa Cruz than we did in Illinois.
I moved to Santa Cruz, CA and bought a house there in 2001. IT had a fireplace with an insert. I bought the fan kit for it and used it as my primary heat source eber since. My power bill goes up $10/month in the winter because we use the lights more. I burn a lot less wood in Santa Cruz than we did in Illinois.
I am going to throw in my thumbs up. I have a house with a big central fireplace that was very inefficient and sucked all the heat out of the house. I installed a "Country Stoves" Canyon 310, an EPA insert. It was one of the best decisions I made as far as heating my home. I run it everyday in the winter and the wife runs it while I am gone. I look forward to coming home everyday just to feel its warmth.
05mxdiesel
ArboristSite Lurker
Here is my blaze king stove/insert. I think it is from the 80's but unsure since the mfg plate is on the rear of the stove which is covered in insulation and hard to get to. The older guy that I bought my house from, also had two blowers on the sides of the hearth which blows air through the top of the hearth where heat is retained. I assume this is a stove that was made to work as an insert.
bmarley
your best option would be to install a woodstove in the basement underneath the beadrooms, you cannot install an insert in your present fireplace (search nomak threads for his experiance) and an insert in the other end of the house will not heat the bedrooms
your best option would be to install a woodstove in the basement underneath the beadrooms, you cannot install an insert in your present fireplace (search nomak threads for his experiance) and an insert in the other end of the house will not heat the bedrooms
Haha - nothing like taking a warm poop.
Erik B
ArboristSite Guru
over 25 years
We have been using an Earth Stove insert for over 25 years. It fits into a zero clearance pre-fab fireplace. On average, use of it has reduced our heating bill by 75% and we live in western Wisconsin.
We have been using an Earth Stove insert for over 25 years. It fits into a zero clearance pre-fab fireplace. On average, use of it has reduced our heating bill by 75% and we live in western Wisconsin.
bmarleyzq8
ArboristSite Lurker
You dont have pictures or this set up by any chance do you? Thanks
Erik B
ArboristSite Guru
I will try to get a picture taken this weekend.
bmarleyzq8
ArboristSite Lurker
Thanks! I sure would appritiate it.
Erik B
ArboristSite Guru
bmarleyzq8
ArboristSite Lurker
Cool, thanks. That give me some hope.
2coldHere
ArboristSite Lurker
My Insert's Pro's & (mostly) Cons
I started a thread here weeks or a month or so ago about burning coal in my fireplace insert. The folks here gave some GREAT insight & advice; I'd point you to it but I can't find it here anymore.
I've tried using a fireplace insert for the last 2 years. Sort of a similar situation as you: 1966 split-ranch house, not well insulated and pretty drafty, natural gas heat (boiler, baseboard heaters), "mood fireplace" already installed downstairs on the Southwest end of the house in the family room.
I've had some good, but mostly bad experiences as I've experimented with it for heat.
Good: really warms up the family room and adjacent kitchen. "Warm" is an understatement... HOT is more like it. And since the gas furnace's thermostat is in the hall near the family room, the furnace kicks on less, lowering my monthly gas bill by $50 a month.
Bad: The nice heat from the insert doesn't go anywhere except the family room and some adjacent areas. It does nothing at all for most of the rest of the house, unless I set up a series of fans to move the air around the house; even then it doesn't get to the upstairs bedrooms on the other end of the house. As soon as turn on all the fans, they kick up all the cat & dog hairs & dust and such that's been hiding underneath the furniture and in nooks & crannies, and my kid with allergies & asthma has had a horrible time with all the dust constantly flying around the house while we have it all sealed up for winter; plus there's the constant noise of three or four or more fans always running to move the air, plus their electric cords dangling and being in the way. And my electric bill will probably go up because of having several fans going 24/7.
More bad: I bought cheap wood; some was punky, some not seasoned, much of it had dirt or bug larvae or whatever all over it and under the bark. Had to bring it inside to dry out and warm up. And when I did, the air circulating fans took all the plant spores from the molds & mildews and funguses that had been growing on and in the wood (and in the dirt on the wood) and blew THAT in with the already dusty mix blowing all over the house. My allergic kid had an asthma attack and was in constant respiratory inflammation.
My bottom line has been to just use up the wood I've already purchased, and pretty much forget about using the insert from now on. If I can get my hands on good quality wood and then leat it properly season, and keep it covered and dry so I won't have to bring it inside to pre-dry it... well that's be a different story and I could at least use the insert to add some extra heat to the family room/downstairs area.
Just thought I'd add another perspective. Good luck.
I started a thread here weeks or a month or so ago about burning coal in my fireplace insert. The folks here gave some GREAT insight & advice; I'd point you to it but I can't find it here anymore.
I've tried using a fireplace insert for the last 2 years. Sort of a similar situation as you: 1966 split-ranch house, not well insulated and pretty drafty, natural gas heat (boiler, baseboard heaters), "mood fireplace" already installed downstairs on the Southwest end of the house in the family room.
I've had some good, but mostly bad experiences as I've experimented with it for heat.
Good: really warms up the family room and adjacent kitchen. "Warm" is an understatement... HOT is more like it. And since the gas furnace's thermostat is in the hall near the family room, the furnace kicks on less, lowering my monthly gas bill by $50 a month.
Bad: The nice heat from the insert doesn't go anywhere except the family room and some adjacent areas. It does nothing at all for most of the rest of the house, unless I set up a series of fans to move the air around the house; even then it doesn't get to the upstairs bedrooms on the other end of the house. As soon as turn on all the fans, they kick up all the cat & dog hairs & dust and such that's been hiding underneath the furniture and in nooks & crannies, and my kid with allergies & asthma has had a horrible time with all the dust constantly flying around the house while we have it all sealed up for winter; plus there's the constant noise of three or four or more fans always running to move the air, plus their electric cords dangling and being in the way. And my electric bill will probably go up because of having several fans going 24/7.
More bad: I bought cheap wood; some was punky, some not seasoned, much of it had dirt or bug larvae or whatever all over it and under the bark. Had to bring it inside to dry out and warm up. And when I did, the air circulating fans took all the plant spores from the molds & mildews and funguses that had been growing on and in the wood (and in the dirt on the wood) and blew THAT in with the already dusty mix blowing all over the house. My allergic kid had an asthma attack and was in constant respiratory inflammation.
My bottom line has been to just use up the wood I've already purchased, and pretty much forget about using the insert from now on. If I can get my hands on good quality wood and then leat it properly season, and keep it covered and dry so I won't have to bring it inside to pre-dry it... well that's be a different story and I could at least use the insert to add some extra heat to the family room/downstairs area.
Just thought I'd add another perspective. Good luck.
HeRoze
Addicted to ArboristSite
as fun as it is to burn wood (i have a high-efficiency insert) getting your house sealed up and well insulated can be done for a few hundred bucks, and the payback is forever. This really should be at least considered as your first step. Not as sexy as the fireplace insert, but much better break-even time on the investment.
Sealing up your fireplace usually helps lower the bills, too. most fireplaces are -5% to 5% efficient. which basically means that as much heat gets sucked out the chimney as you are creating.
high-efficiency inserts would normally be the last step.
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