Woodburning Fireplace Inserts

[decemberlov]

We are picking up a fireplace insert today that we found in CL.
We got what we think is a rather good deal, we're paying $475 cash, it's almost brand new, only been used for one season.
We've been thinking about it and think that at this point it's our best option for keeping us warm this winter.
Our house we just bought in November has oil heat and though I'm glad I didn't let it deter us from buying because I absolutely love our place, the cost to heat with oil is unbelievable!!
We have a little over 1000 sq. ft and I'm hoping it will do a good job. Say's it should comfortable war a 2,000 sq. ft home (which seems a little large to be, but who knows?).
DH will be installing it himself and said it shouldn't be too hard, he's pretty handy ;)
Does anyone use a fireplace insert to heat their home? Do you love it?

[bunnys]

Do you have a picture? Do you mind stating how much you paid for it?

I have been fantasizing about getting a wood stove for about 10 years but haven't done so. I'm deterred by the fact that I am a single woman living alone and the expense of purchasing/delivering and installation would be very high. Further, I wouldn't be able to go pick up free wood off the side of the road (no pick up truck and no beefy biceps) or split it. I would be able to stack it and bring it in and clean it out and keep the fire going but that's only part of the process.

I'd like to hear more about this discussion.

[decemberlov]

Bunny, here is the CL post, it's still up. We made a deal for $475 cash. http://delaware.craigslist.org/hsh/3297732149.html
I believe DH said it would be another almost $450 or so for the "kit" and the liner and whatever else is needed for installation.
It's a lot but cheaper than the oil. And next year we will just have to worry about purchasing the wood.

[Spoony]

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[awakenedsoul]

I rented a beautiful adobe guest house when I lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It had a wood stove, and I loved it. It was a tiny house, probably 500 square feet, and it kept it toasty warm. The adobe really retained the heat. It was very charming. I loved sitting in my rocking chair in front of the fire when it was snowing outside. Enjoy yours!

[decemberlov]

I love the cozy heat put out by the wood stove and haven't used my forced-air furnace for almost the entire time I have lived here. I do have my furnace on a programmable thermostat though, and have it set to 50-55 degrees to kick on when the fire in the wood stove dies out and I may not be home. This way, I never have to deal with frozen pipes or coming home to a freezing house.

I use a heat-powered wood stove fan (like this one: http://www.buy.com/prod/heat-powered-wood-stove-fan/223536999.html?listingId=215510036) to push the warm air around. I have the fan pointed directly at the flue pipe. push the hottest air. This set-up keeps my 1,800 sf house nice and comfortable in the winter. Winters here last six to eight months, so I consider myself a pro at wood stove heating.

We have forced air as well and heard that we can just run the "fan" setting on it to circulate the heat. I'm hoping this will work well.
I remember a friends parent's heating their home with a pot belly stove and I always loved the cozy warm heat and the lovely smell it gave off!

[Rogar]

I am starting the third season with my wood burning insert. I like it a lot. My house is about 1400 sq ft and the insert I have is medium sized, maybe a little larger than yours. I can pretty much heat my whole house, even on the coldest days, with it as long as I want to feed it wood. If you have a free wood source, it's great. I live in the city and buy about half my firewood (the rest comes from friends and neighbors who have cut down trees). I have about come to the decision to only use the insert for the colder days of the winter and will only get it going if the morning temp is less than about 30 degrees F. If it is much warmer than that it almost heats the house up too much and since I'm buying firewood, not the most efficient use. I heat with natural gas otherwise. Still it gets used a lot. I save some money and it's using a renewable resource instead of a fossil fuel for heat.

The fan that came with my insert is fairly powerful and circulates the warm air pretty well. I notice yours comes with a fan and it will be important to hook it up and use it. Unlike a free standing wood stove that can radiate heat in all directions, the fireplace will block heat on the enclosed sides of the insert. The purpose of the fan is to pick up some of the heat from these sides and distribute them into the room. I don't use the furnace fan at all, though sometimes I will close off rooms not in use.

It takes some practice getting used to the air damper and how much wood to load, but is a fun learning experience. I generally will let the fire die down in the afternoon or evening and build a fresh fire in the mornings, though some people seem to try to get an overnight burn. You can search the web for some wood burning hints and techniques.

[Tussiemussies]

As soon as we can afford it we are going to get a soapstone woodburner. From what I read the soapstone holds and radiates the heat really well. We are hoping to heat most of our house with it. I'm sure the bedrooms won't get much of the heat, but the main living areas will. Lucky you that you get to have one now. Bet it will be a very cozy winter for you!

[razz]

In our 1400 sf bungalow, we use our livingroom fireplace insert in the morning and start the airtight stove in the finished basement at 4pm to warm the house overnight. Works well for us. Have a forced air-to-air heat pump as a backup for when we are away or when the outside temp is freezing or above.

[decemberlov]

As soon as we can afford it we are going to get a soapstone woodburner. From what I read the soapstone holds and radiates the heat really well. We are hoping to heat most of our house with it. I'm sure the bedrooms won't get much of the heat, but the main living areas will. Lucky you that you get to have one now. Bet it will be a very cozy winter for you!

I was unaware that they made stoapstone woodburners but sounds like they would be pretty efficient at holding the heat.
I do feel luck in a sense that we can afford one. It's pretty much taking every last penny we have though. Financially things have been really tight lately.
It was either buy the stove for $475 or buy oil (with a minimum of $350 worth) plus possibly re-priming the tank since we pretty much ran it dry last year :(
We found that last year $350 worth of oil only lasted maybe 2 months if we were lucky.
We still have to buy the kit which will cost somewhere around $300-$400 (i think). And then wood. But next year after everything is installed we will just be paying for the wood and that's it...which should be way less than the cost of oil.
I also really like they fact that if s*** hits the fan and there's no way to get a delivery of oil I can still keep my family warm throughout the winner.

[decemberlov]

Just wanted to update everyone. We installed our stove this weekend and we love it!! :D
It does such a great job of keeping the place warm, although we didn't really need it much this weekend we couldn't resist firing it up.
I did notice that it is very dry heat though and we'll have to get a cast iron teapot or something of the sort to place on top with water in it to put some moisture back in the air. Oh, and the smell? Heavenly!!

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a91/decemberlov/2012-10-21_11-22-01_930_zpse58cdd53.jpg

[peggy]

Oh I like that. How wide is that little shelf that sits over the part of the firebox that sticks out? Is it wide enough for a pot or kettle? that's the kind of insert I want with a 'shelf' to set a kettle on.

[decemberlov]

Oh I like that. How wide is that little shelf that sits over the part of the firebox that sticks out? Is it wide enough for a pot or kettle? that's the kind of insert I want with a 'shelf' to set a kettle on.

it seems to be just wide enough for a small kettle...and I believe that's the intended purpose. The only thing that makes me a little nervous is the kids and the dog (a big clumsy 70lb pup)...scares me a little thinking that one of them could knock it over and get burned. Trying to think of ideas to make it a little safer.