pellet/wood stove fireplace insert?

Sigarms · Dec 2, 2005

Can anyone reccomend a fireplace insert stove that burns either pellets or wood?

Looking at a fireplace on the first floor. About 1300 sq feet, living room with numerous windows, kitchen, bathroom and office all on the same floor (cathredral sp? ceilings as well).

Currently have a 60k btu /90% furnace and 10 seer a/c system for that floor, and now going into winter thinking about it, might make sense to add alternate heat for that floor.

Know nothing about this type of heat.

Any reccomendations would be welcomed.

Thks

arthr31 · Dec 2, 2005

I use a Jotul Tamarack Fire-place-wood insert. I highly recommend this unit, although it is a bit pricey, but expected to last 20 years or so. It easily is heating about 1200 sq feet of living space for 6-7 months a year on under 5 cords of wood. It has a glass front, so it provides some of the ambiance of a real fire. I personally went with an insert 'cause i have 4 yr old and a toddler walking (trying to) around... Nevertheless, i'm pretty happy with the jotul insert. -Art
p.s. I hear good things about pellet stoves, but i don't have the $ to invest in either the unit or the fuel...

Highbeam · Dec 2, 2005

I think you will not be able to find a pellet/cord wood combination stove. The pellet stoves use forced intake and exhaust to burn a dainty pile, like a 1/4 cup, of pellets. The firebox is super small. The remainder of the pellet stove is filled with augers, fuel storage, blowers, and heat exchangers. You can find combo pellet/corn stoves though. Not much efficiency at all is lot from inserting the pellet stove since it is a hot air pump and not a radiant heat source.

Inserting a cordwood stove takes away a lot of radiant surface so the efficiency hit is larger.

5030 · Dec 2, 2005

I have had an Englander pellet stove for over 12 years and no trouble whatsoever. It will also burn a corn/pellet mix.

To the best of my knowledge because of the configuration of the combustion chamber and other factors, no manufacturer makes an appliance that will burn wood (tree parts) and pellets. You can get a multifuel stove that will burn pellets, corn and biomass but not whole wood pieces.

Highbeam · Dec 2, 2005

Yikes ARTHR31, that glass gets awful hot. I would worry more about the glass, one of those deals where if you fell against it with your hands or face that you would stick like a tongue to frozen metal. I have one of those gas fireplaces with the glass and built a wrought iron cage to keep out my now 3 year old and 3 month old girls. I build it in a no-climb manner with vertical bars a few inches apart since if they fall in the cage then they are stuck against the stove.

Ended up building another cage like this for a friend when they saw the benefit.

Sigarms · Dec 3, 2005

I didn't think that a "duel" stove would be available, just wondering which would be more "efficient" using as supplemental heat.

Was looking for fireplace assessories (sp?) for the first time (new house to me at least) and was surprised how expensive some of the items were (seems you do get what you pay for to an extent).

Problem for me is that I have two fireplaces, so I was "doubling" (sp?) up on the cost for the assessories (sp?).

Turns out most of the assessories (sp?) that my wife likes were also some of the most expensive.

My wife and I agreed that we'd use the fireplace for an actual fire /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif down in the basement.

While looking in a "stove store", saw the insert stoves available (they had wood insert stoves). Since this was the Firday after Thanksgiving, was very crowded and the guy didn't have much time for questions.

Know nothing about the wood stoves. Thought that a pellet stove would be easier to "keep going" over wood, easier to clean as well. I could be wrong.

Fireplace in the living room "sits up" about 18" and have a brick base that comes out about 18" as well.

With the price of LP, thinking that it might be cost effective to spend money for a wood or pellet stove for heating because we spend most of our time on the first floor and that is the system that is always in use, except for late at night when we're sleeping (we have three seperate HVAC systems, one for each floor). Each system is a LP furnace with A/C. Already in the process of changing the upstairs (bedrooms and bathrooms) to a heat pump system.

First floor living room has cathredral (s?) ceiling with a ceiling fan, so a lot of the heat in the living room area is "drawn" to the upstairs/hallway.

My thought is that if I can get a supplemental (sp?) heat source on the first floor, I can zone the first floor HVAC system to make "better use" of the LP furnace on that level.

EddieWalker · Dec 3, 2005

When I lived in CA I bought a used wood burning fireplace insert for my 1,000 sq ft house. It didn't cost much, but is sure was heavy. I loaded it with a floor jack and two other guys, then unloaeded it the same way, but it took four of us to get it into the house. And that was a struggle!!! It was easily 400 pounds.

I burned just about anythig in it, from scrap lumber, plywood to pine and oak. It all worked amazingly well. The reall problem I had was to not build the fire too hot and overheat the house. Sometimes I'd over do it and have to open up the windows to cool things down.

For cheap heat, it's the best methong I've come across, just wish I had a fireplace for one now.

Eddie

Highbeam · Dec 3, 2005

So long as you cut your own wood, the cordwood stove will be cheaper to heat with. It is less efficient than a pellet stove due to the controlled combustion of a well prepared pellet.

If you purchase the cordwood then the pellet stove will be cheaper to run. Also consider that the pellet stove needs only be fed once per day, starts itself, and most are now equipped with thermostats to heat as needed.

I personally enjoy the smell, sight, and feel of the radiant heat made by a woodburning stove. The stove needs lots of glass so I can watch that brilliant EPA fire. The woodstove makes no sound, stays on in a power outage, and offers a cooktop in an emergency. I like sitting at campfires too, sorta the same thing.

This is a tough call, from a cost perspective the most important question is your firewood supply.

heehaw · Dec 4, 2005

cost of the stove comes in there somewhere? in this area, you can buy a good used warm morning stove for about $150, maybe $200: it will last 10-20 years, compare that to the cost of a pellet stove and it would take a while to recoup the difference in the price of the stoves.
heehaw