questions on wood burning insert

[fisherpilot]

All

Forgive my ignorance... I've always been a southern boy and have just moved to NJ. We are buying a house with a wood burning fireplace. I am wanting to put an insert in it as I can get all the free firewood I can get. I'm scared of heating oil bills and thought this would be s good way to supplement my heating.

My questions are this... BTW, I'm pretty handy so I have no doubt that I can install this correctly

1. Can I legally install the insert?
2. Do I need a pipe in the chimney if it is a brick fireplace inside and out?
3. I'm wondering if I need to go as big as I can for the space in the fireplace. It is a large home but the fireplace is on one side of the house and isn't really that open of a floor plan. Would hate to have 1 room burning up and the others cold.

Again, forgive my ignorance in this matter.... Grew up I'm South Texas and we didn't need heat!

Thanks in advance!

Tyson

 

[prezes13]

#1 yes you can if...
Your chimney is in a good condition and you install a full liner. Of course you would have to confirm all the clearances from the manufacturer of a chosen insert.
#2 yes you do. It's a good idea to insulate the liner and install a block off plate.
#3 no you don't but if you have a big house and you want to heat most of it with the insert you will want to put an insert with a big fire box. You can try to move air around the house. A lot of members have good results by placing small fans in the far places away from the stove and blowing cold air towards. It's helping the natural convection effect. But the rule is the farther away from stove the colder it is.

 

[Grisu]

Welcome to the forum!

#1 Yes, legally you can unless your local code would say different. You need to obey all installation requirements as stated by the manufacturer and your local code authority. However, make sure your home insurance does not require a professional installer.
#2 A (preferably insulated) liner will make the insert draft better, will be safer and be a lot easier to clean. I would not want to burn in an insert without one.
#3 What's the size of the home? You can post a floorplan/some pictures and we could give you some hints on how to get the heat distributed and what size insert would be appropriate.

I can get all the free firewood I can get

Where do you get all that free firewood from? Please be aware that a modern, EPA-approved stove/insert absolutely requires dry wood with an internal moisture content of less than 20%. To achieve that, the split firewood needs to be stacked in a sunny and windy spot for 1 to 3 years depending on the wood species. Ash and softwoods like pine dry quickly within a year, dense hardwoods like oak need up to 3 years to get down to 20% moisture content. Burning wet wood will not give you much heat and create lots of creosote in your chimney which may result in a chimney fire.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Get the biggest unit you can find that you like if it's going to be a house heater.....
So yes,yes and yes....

 

[begreen]

Welcome. Can you post a picture of the fireplace and some dimensions for the top and bottom depths and the H+ W of the front and the back of the firebox?

1- maybe
2 - yes, you'll need a liner
3 - shoot us some room dimensions and post a sketch of the floor plan. How large is the stove room?

 

[fisherpilot]

 

[fisherpilot]

Fireplace opening dimensions are 34" wide at front, 24" wide at back, 25 1/2" tall, and 24 1/4" deep. Main level is probably 1800 sq ft. Upstairs is probably 1400 sq ft

 

[Spletz]

I'm a newbie myself, but all that I've read tells me that for that much house you want the biggest insert you can get or don't bother! Good luck!

 

[Dix]

Trust me. In this climate, you want the biggest insert you can get . Especially with winters the way they have been the past few years.

Get cranking on that wood supply !

Welcome to the forums !!

 

[Grisu]

That looks like you have an exterior chimney. You definitively should install an insulated liner or you may become problems with bad draft and creosote accumulation. What are the dimensions of the flue? How wide is the damper opening? You may need to cut that housing a bit. Make sure to install a block-off plate: https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/make-a-damper-sealing-block-off-plate/
And if there will be room in the back think about insulating: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/finally-got-around-to-insulating-my-fireplace.75755/

Did you take off the glass doors for the measurements? They will need to come off anyway when you install the insert. Check also the depth of the hearth as you need 16" in front of the insert or you may need to extend it.

For that amount of living space a large insert with a firebox size of 3 cu ft is recommended: Some possibilities: Pacific Energy Summit, Osburn 2400, Lopi Freedom, Lopi Large Flush insert, Quadrafire 5100i, Regency i3100, Enviro 1700 series, Blazeking Princess (catalytic). Kuma Sequoia or Buck 91 if you want to go really big and an 8" liner will fit down the flue. I think all those inserts should fit but check their dimensions.

 

[fisherpilot]

Thx for the recs guys. I will get some more measurements next week. I'll do some research on the diff models

 

[begreen]

Fireplace opening dimensions are 34" wide at front, 24" wide at back, 25 1/2" tall, and 24 1/4" deep. Main level is probably 1800 sq ft. Upstairs is probably 1400 sq ft

Just checking. Are the fireplace opening dimensions with the glass doors and trim removed?

 

[fisherpilot]

They are as if it weren't there. I didn't remove it but measured around it

 

[begreen]

I'm tempted to say go large, but we need to figure how well the heat is going to convect and if not, could convection be assisted. Can you post a sketch of the floorplans and indicated the fireplace location?

 

[fisherpilot]

We have an inspection this Thurs. I'll take some measurements and put it into sketchup and post it here. Thx again