# I need new efficient wood burning insert ASAP



## Scottcord (Feb 14, 2019)

Hi I’m still new here and I’m looking for recommendations for a efficient long burning insert for my 1700sqft house. It is our only source of heat! I’m also wondering if there’s a big difference in having a 6” or 8” liner? Right now I have a old “Country” brand insert with no liner just shoved in the fireplace!  It’s not good and I have to get it fixed ASAP. It needs a 8” liner. 

We have been in this house for 2+ years and have been going through 4-5 cords a year of mainly hardwood (maple,oak,apple,pear,cherry) and some fir. I’m Hesitant to put an 8”liner in if I get a new stove and it would need a 6”... I am also worried that I just picked up 5 cords of maple for next year that I still need to split and am worried it won’t be dry enough by next year if I get a high efficiency insert? I feel lost


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## begreen (Feb 14, 2019)

Most modern inserts take a 6" liner, except for a few. Take a look at the Pacific Energy Summit, Osburn 2400, Regency i3100 for starters.

If you split the maple asap and get it stacked E/W in a sunny location so that the north and south winds can blow thru the stacks then it might be dry enough, but I like to give maple 2 yrs. If you got some doug fir and stacked it now it stands a good chance of being dry enough by late October.


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## weatherguy (Feb 14, 2019)

I'd pick out a stove you like and get the liner to match. Most likely will be 6 unless you go with a big Kuma. Split the wood soon and it may be dry enough for next year, stack in an exposed area.


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## illini81 (Feb 14, 2019)

It might be worth buying a few cords of "seasoned" (prob 1 yr) wood now, just to hedge your bets. If you stick with the maple and find that it just doesn't burn easily in whatever stove you buy, you could be in for a long winter, especially since wood is your only heat source.


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## jetsam (Feb 14, 2019)

The Kuma Sequoia takes an 8" liner and seems to be very well liked by its owners.  It looks like a great stove and shouldn't have any trouble being the only heater if your insulation/windows/doors are reasonable.


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## Scottcord (Feb 14, 2019)

What are your thoughts on this kit


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## HomeinPA (Feb 14, 2019)

Scottcord said:


> View attachment 240811
> 
> What are your thoughts on this kit


Never heard of the stove. Seems really cheap. Price wise...no comment on quality of the stove and/or liner. 

I can definitively tell you that I can not buy, at my cost (read-"wholesale"), a full liner with insulation and a quality Regency insert for anywhere close to that price let alone make any money on it. Like I said, never heard of the stove but I'd be really really leery of it.


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## jetsam (Feb 15, 2019)

Scottcord said:


> View attachment 240811
> 
> What are your thoughts on this kit






Not in my house!

It does have a reasonable firebox size, and a somewhat adjustable burn rate, which is good.

It also has a rotten efficiency and a tiny burn time- and those are the optimistic numbers that they are advertising.

I guess if someone was home all day I could make that work, but that's not the situation at my house.

And while that is a very cheap price, try to get an insulated liner.

Your first step should be to see how much room your chimney has for a liner.  A 6" insulated liner might require 7.5-8" to pull through, an 8" liner might need 9.5-10".


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## ColdNorCal (Feb 15, 2019)

First, get your chimney cleaned then measure your fireplace AND flu dimensions to see what will fit.

SBI is a large Canadian stove company with several brands and models. ie Century, Drolet, Osburn.  Anyone that sales stoves should at least know the Osburn brand. Keep in mind, some on this site sell stoves and the Century and Drolet brand are big box stove brands. Lowes, Home Depot, Menards, Northern Tool...  Osburn is a Stove Dealer brand.

As I mentioned, Century CW2900 or Drolet 1800i are both made by SBI, as is the more expensive Osburn brand, and the two are very close to being the same. Their is definitely some cross pollination between ALL these stoves. For instance, my Century stove uses the same stainless steel secondary tubes a more expensive Osburn stove uses.  All these stoves draft easily with only a 12' min chimney height, are reliable and not complicated to use. And SBI support is very good.

If your budget is larger, then too many choices to list.  BK, Kuma, Buck...  Personally, I would love to have any one of those stoves but could not justify a 2-4 times price increase. That being said, I get wood for free. Spending more on a stove may save you money in the long run. If the efficiency ratings are to be believed.

77% Optimum efficiency rating is good. And many more expensive stoves are about the same, some even less.

And yes, some more expensive stoves "claim" better efficiency. But is that really true in your house.

Here, read Wildhogz posts. Very good info to help differentiate reality from marketing:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...-not-really-helping-please-help.174273/page-2


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## maple1 (Feb 15, 2019)

I think the first thing I would do is get another source of heat in there.


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## begreen (Feb 15, 2019)

Scottcord said:


> View attachment 240811
> 
> What are your thoughts on this kit


I suspect that is a Drolet Escape 1800i. It's a decent heater for your sized space and climate zone. The firebox is more E/W loader but I suspect will load N/S if the wood is cut to 15"? You will be loading it more frequently than a 3 cu ft stove, but it will work. The Englander 13-NC would also work and is a little less in cost. It's sold at Lowes under the Summer's Heat brand.

Ignore the suggestions for 8" flue stoves. You don't need that for west of the Cascades.


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## begreen (Feb 15, 2019)

maple1 said:


> I think the first thing I would do is get another source of heat in there.


Yes, at least a few electric baseboard or wall heaters. This is why I suggested a 3 cu ft stove for longer burn time. A BK Princess insert would be another good fit.


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## Dabster13 (Feb 15, 2019)

begreen said:


> Most modern inserts take a 6" liner, except for a few. Take a look at the Pacific Energy Summit, Osburn 2400, Regency i3100 for starters.
> 
> If you split the maple asap and get it stacked E/W in a sunny location so that the north and south winds can blow thru the stacks then it might be dry enough, but I like to give maple 2 yrs. If you got some doug fir and stacked it now it stands a good chance of being dry enough by late October.




The Summit is probably too large for his house. I'm heating 2100 sq ft with a Super.


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## begreen (Feb 15, 2019)

Dabster13 said:


> The Summit is probably too large for his house. I'm heating 2100 sq ft with a Super.


A Super would probably work, but so would the Summit. It depends on the house layout and construction. I have a friend in Concrete, WA that is heating their 1600 sq ft exclusively with the Summit and quite happy with the stove. You don't need to run full loads in milder weather and a lot of our wood is lower btu than the nice hardwoods back east. Even our hardwoods like soft maple and alder are on the lower end of the scale. Now I only burn doug fir. This is in a 2000 sq ft house with the T6 which has the same firebox as the Summit. Next door neighbor has the Spectrum, but they don't heat 24/7 with the stove.


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## blacktail (Feb 15, 2019)

If budget is a driving factor, I'd jump on the Costco deal based on Drolet's reputation here. 2.4cf ain't bad at all for your house size in the NW. Get your wood split and stacked in single rows soon and you'll be fine.


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## Highbeam (Feb 16, 2019)

With those fruitwoods, just where in Washington? How old (insulated) is your home? Electricity is very cheap in eastern Washington so I would start with wall cadet style wall heaters first. Then beef up your wood system. 

Country is s decent brand. They were bought out by Lennox several years back but a lot of western Washington homes still run country products. Similar to a lopi. But if it’s dead, it’s dead. 

Drolet is a fine/acceptable brand. Much better than some others.


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 16, 2019)

Scottcord said:


> View attachment 240811
> 
> What are your thoughts on this kit


It's a Drolet.  I bought the same kit.  Terrific bargain, and works great. I only needed to buy the insulation for the liner ($250), and would have been better off having a 15° offset appliance connector ($50).

Really nice little budget stove.  Definitely needs dry wood.

I cut my wood to 16" for first three years, goes in n-s just fine, but now I cut to 15.5" to have a little margin for error in the event that the cut is at an angle or a nub is left on.

Also, good customer support.


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## Scottcord (Feb 17, 2019)

Scottcord said:


> Hi I’m still new here and I’m looking for recommendations for a efficient long burning insert for my 1700sqft house. It is our only source of heat! I’m also wondering if there’s a big difference in having a 6” or 8” liner? Right now I have a old “Country” brand insert with no liner just shoved in the fireplace!  It’s not good and I have to get it fixed ASAP. It needs a 8” liner.
> 
> We have been in this house for 2+ years and have been going through 4-5 cords a year of mainly hardwood (maple,oak,apple,pear,cherry) and some fir. I’m Hesitant to put an 8”liner in if I get a new stove and it would need a 6”... I am also worried that I just picked up 5 cords of maple for next year that I still need to split and am worried it won’t be dry enough by next year if I get a high efficiency insert? I feel lost



Well I bit the bullet today and bought a 316ti stainless flex liner from Rockford chimney supply I also bought the insulation kit and hinged chimney cap. Thank you all for your knowledgeable input helping me decide. As for now I’m sticking with the old stove mainly because of the thickness of metal used to build it and the condition of it. No rust, simple design, good glass, adjustable fan, and I like the size.


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## maple1 (Feb 17, 2019)

I would still not want to live in a place that had wood as the only heat source. But good luck with the project.


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## begreen (Feb 17, 2019)

Country made some good stoves. Actually they still do, but they're now sold under the Ironstrike brand. Scottcord which model Country insert is this? Does it have a baffle, firebrick lining and secondary tubes?


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## Scottcord (Feb 17, 2019)

begreen said:


> Country made some good stoves. Actually they still do, but they're now sold under the Ironstrike brand. Scottcord which model Country insert is this? Does it have a baffle, firebrick lining and secondary tubes?


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## Scottcord (Feb 17, 2019)

I just got done removing the cast iron damper and some of the bricks to get the 8” liner through


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## Scottcord (Feb 17, 2019)




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## begreen (Feb 17, 2019)

That's an old dogger. Looks like just a simple baffle in it. Not too efficient. Moving this thread to the pre-EPA stove forum.


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 17, 2019)

begreen said:


> That's an old dogger. Looks like just a simple baffle in it. Not too efficient. Moving this thread to the pre-EPA stove forum.


I don't see a baffle in the pictures.  

Scott- is there a baffle in the stove that you removed for the pictures?  I see the firebricks right through the socket.


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## begreen (Feb 17, 2019)

Might be my old eyes but this looked like a stub of a baffle.


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 17, 2019)

begreen said:


> Might be my old eyes but this looked like a stub of a baffle.
> 
> View attachment 241024






I see OJ.  I mean firebricks.


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## begreen (Feb 17, 2019)

Not sure. It looks like there is a row of very short firebrick sitting on top of the baffle at the back of the stove. Note the firebricks right below the alleged baffle are horizontal. If so, that's an odd setup.


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## Scottcord (Feb 17, 2019)

ED 3000 said:


> I don't see a baffle in the pictures.
> 
> Scott- is there a baffle in the stove that you removed for the pictures?  I see the firebricks right through the socket.



There’s a metal shelf in it I just fit some of the broken fire bricks on top of it too when I put some new ones in a year ago


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 17, 2019)

Scottcord said:


> There’s a metal shelf in it I just fit some of the broken fire bricks on top of it too when I put some new ones in a year ago


So those broken bricks on top of the baffle are a bit of a homebrew thing?  

I've been thinking about doing something like that, but with ceramic wool blanket.


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