# Anyone heard of this fancy "Stuv" company



## stacks (Oct 30, 2012)

Hi All,
My family and I have re-located and are without our beloved Jotul Castine.  Our new home has a fireplace located in the center of the home which approx 1500 sq'.  The we are trying to decide which ave to pursue....    Woodstove or Insert?  To make a wood stove work we would have to do quite a bit of modifying of the hearth/masonry.  
My wife found an insrt made by the Belgian Company called "Stuv"  They have a rep in Chicago who says they are supeior to all manufacturer's.  I am skeptical.  They certainly are more exspensive.

I am not very adept at the concept of an insert.  Do they require a blower to heat a home?   Anyone have one of these Stuv insert's?

Sure do mis my Jotul....


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## mellow (Oct 30, 2012)

Have fun installing an expensive 7" flue for any of those expensive stoves.   80% efficient is pretty good,  but not better than stoves made here in the US.  Good looking stoves but don't believe the hype.

Post some info and or pictures of your fireplace and we can see what will fit.


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## BrowningBAR (Oct 30, 2012)

mellow said:


> Have fun installing an expensive 7" flue for any of those expensive stoves. 80% efficient is pretty good, but not better than stoves made here in the US. Good looking stoves but don't believe the hype.
> 
> Post some info and or pictures of your fireplace and we can see what will fit.


I'd just run it with a 6" liner.



> They have a rep in Chicago who says they are supeior to all manufacturer's.


They have a sh*tty rep in Chicago is what I got out of that.

They do have some neat designs. I wonder about the efficiency of some of their stove models, though. Specifically the Stuv 21 Single and Double face.


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## begreen (Oct 30, 2012)

This is the first time I've heard of them. We would need to know more about your fireplace to help more. But for contemporary inserts with a bit more of a track record and I suspect at a better price I would take a look at the following inserts : Regency Alterra line, Morso 5660, Osburn Matrix.

What is the goal here? Heat or just a nice occasional fire? If heat, how large an area will be heated? Open or closed floorplan? What are the fireplace dimensions?


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## stacks (Oct 30, 2012)

Thanks guys.
This is the old fireplacewe have tried to use it as a heat source but as we all know, the heat exits out the chiminey....  I could see a STUV fitting in this opening but I am not comfortable spending $ on a unit that I am not familiar with.  This Fireplace is 3'w x 25"h  the Flue is huge.  maybe 10"?


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## stacks (Oct 30, 2012)

Yes, a track record.  Thanks begreen.
Open floor plan. 
1500 Sq' with open stairway and openings in the floor to the bedroom above the living room where the heat soucre would be.

The curent fireplace is 3'w x 25"h x 31.5"deep


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## BrowningBAR (Oct 30, 2012)

Cool looking fireplace.


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## stacks (Oct 30, 2012)

It is cool looking.  Too bad it doesn't heat efficiently.


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## Swedishchef (Oct 30, 2012)

I think ideally a stove would be great however would require some modifications to your hearth. Very nice looking btw.

If you're not up to t he modifications, I would go with an insert. Begreen gave a good list of affordable, efficient, nice examples.

Andrew


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## stacks (Oct 30, 2012)

Thanks Swedishchef.  Do Inserts always work best when used in combination with a blower?  I notice some inserts have blowers as an option.


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## BrowningBAR (Oct 30, 2012)

stacks said:


> Thanks Swedishchef. Do Inserts always work best when used in combination with a blower? I notice some inserts have blowers as an option.


It is rare to find an insert that works well without a blower. Some radiate heat better than others depending on how much of the unit sticks out.


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## stacks (Oct 30, 2012)

I just discovered a fan blower system located under the hearth??!  I can't find the power source to turn it on though??  Interesting...


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## begreen (Oct 30, 2012)

Shame that with all that block that they didn't put in a full masonry heater. Wonder if a Tempcast could be built into there?


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## Todd 2 (Oct 30, 2012)

Stacks, You have the makings there of what would be a super nice looking stove setup with a little extra hearth work. Inserts are fine also, but with the look you have going there now a stove would sure look and preform sweet.
Just my thoughts from your pic...


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## Swedishchef (Oct 30, 2012)

I would love to have a hearth like that with a wood stove setup. As inserts are exactly what they are called, you need a fan to push help circulate the heat from the combustion box. Some inserts stick out more than others and some are flush. A stove would allow some nice radiant heat and the heat would stay nice and long imbedded in that stone...

It's only my 2 cents worth and there are a TON of more knowledgeable people on this forum than I...

Andrew


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## rwhite (Oct 30, 2012)

That is the 1st fireplace I have seen that begs to be taken out and a freestander put in. I don't like the looks of a freestander in a fireplace but I would see if that brick cout be supported enough to rip the existing unit out and put a freestander in there. That's a massive amount of interior brick that would hold heat awesome.


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## stacks (Oct 30, 2012)

Thanks guys.  Pretty sure that there is an opportunity for a stove to sit and look nice here.  The chimney block rest inside the brick about 69" above the fireplace.  With additional brick and Iron it could be modified.   I'll keep you posted.


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## rideau (Oct 30, 2012)

Have you tried a fire in the fireplace since locating the blower?  Maybe the fireplace is designed to blow air from below through the fire and out the design areas above the fireplace?  I'd figure out what it was designed to do.  That is a large masonry area, and perhaps it does heat well mif you know how it was designed.  Can you talk with the previous owner if you can't figure it out?  May be designed to get the heat to the masonry and radiate heat.....I'd want to know before changing things...


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## stacks (Oct 31, 2012)

Good idea rideau.....  I powered up the fans under the fireplace.  Now I wonder about enclosing the fireplace.?  
We have reached out many times to get info on the house from the previous owners.  They have not responded at all.  
Disappointing.  We have had to figure out a lot of stuff since we moved in.  I have come to accept that we are on our own for the most part.

I weill stop by the local hearth stores this afternoon to see if I can get an idea about an enclosure.

Again Thanks all.  I am grateful for this HEARTH NET!


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## S.Whiplash (Oct 31, 2012)

With all of that masonry mass you might want to take a look at this product.
http://ecofirebox.org/

Basically a masonry heater kit that is adaptable to existing fireplace situations.


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## Sprinter (Oct 31, 2012)

Since the entire fireplace is in the central area of the house, would it matter much if it's an insert or a stove as far as heat transfer? Seems like all that masonry (thermal mass) will re-radiate into the house anyway regardless. It would take a lot longer for the heat to be felt initially if the stove is inside the opening, but then you would get re-radiation from all around the fireplace which may be desirable. If more immediate heating is desired, you would need a blower to heat the air.

In any case, even with a tube heating system to capture some of the heat, that fireplace is going to suck so much air out of the house and through the chimney, I'd opt for an airtight unit of some kind rather than keep it open-air, unless you just want an occasional fire for ambiance.

Beautiful fireplace.


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## Grisu (Oct 31, 2012)

Sprinter said:


> Since the entire fireplace is in the central area of the house, would it matter much if it's an insert or a stove as far as heat transfer? Seems like all that masonry (thermal mass) will re-radiate into the house anyway regardless. It would take a lot longer for the heat to be felt initially if the stove is inside the opening, but then you would get re-radiation from all around the fireplace which may be desirable. If more immediate heating is desired, you would need a blower to heat the air.


 
I thought the same. The heat has to go somewhere and if it is not going up the chimney it has to go into the house with an interior fireplace. You will only need to be careful to not overfire the insert during the early stages. I am currently turning the blower on only for the first ~2 hours and then let the stove and my fireplace slowly radiate the heat into the room. I am waiting for the really cold days to see if I will notice a difference. So far, I haven't.


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## stacks (Oct 31, 2012)

All good things to consider Grisu and Sprinter.  I am glad to have this masonry to utilize for heat radiation.  We may live with the fireplace for this winter but am axious to modify it to get back to using wood for a primary heat source.  Most of the heat it creates leaves via the flue I am almost sure.


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## precaud (Nov 4, 2012)

Someone just posted a video burning the Stuv30 on Youtube:


He doesn't close the glass door until about 11:00 in. At around 13:45, the wood settles and banks into the glass. One wonders how many of those the glass will take.

The large curved frontal glass is lovely, but I don't see anything interesting going on combustion-wise. There is still appreciable flames going well up into the chimney... not a recipe for high efficiency.


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## BrowningBAR (Nov 5, 2012)

I enjoyed the cat attack at 13:30.

Also, I never would have figured that would be the method for closing the glass on that thing.


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## Sprinter (Nov 5, 2012)

I kept waiting for that top piece to slip out on the floor before the door was rotated..  It wasn't even wedged in.  Yikes.


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## precaud (Nov 5, 2012)

Yeah the cat was fun.

Replacing the glass on that thing will cost a pretty penny. Any guesses on how much? My guess: $500 or more.


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## raybonz (Nov 5, 2012)

While interesting I would not like that smoke going into my home plus a log could fall out on fire! This is more a decorative fire than a serious heater in my opinion. I'll stick with wood stoves thank you very much! I also agree the glass and bricks would be quite expensive to replace.

Ray


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## Ashful (Nov 5, 2012)

I've seen more than one Buck stove slammed into one of those corner fireplaces, and always thought they looked ideal for that, as their insert is really a free stander with a surround kit, so they're still dressed pretty on the exposed side.


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## stacks (Nov 5, 2012)

Neat.  Wish they would have zoomed out.


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## Sprinter (Nov 6, 2012)

stacks said:


> Neat. Wish they would have zoomed out.


There are other youtubes on these things. Looks cool in a very ultra modern way and probably ultra expensive, but doesn't seem ultra practical. I can't even find if it's EPA or not.


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## blades (Nov 6, 2012)

I think what you should do is get a hold of various local fireplace masonary contractors. One of them must have built that. Next question  is the firebox area a prefab? That is a very expensive assembly and I do mean expensive. With a heatalator system it might have been something through Lenox or Heatalator themselves. Heatalator was bought by Lenox and now Lenox is or has gotten out of the business as well. So Research is the goal at this point. With the mass that is available in that system and it looks like the fire area can be completely closed from the interior I will bet there is a combustion air feed from an external source. Do not be to quick to discount that assembly. Dig around on it find names report back. A masonary system like that likely was designed to heat the entire home not just for looks.


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## rideau (Nov 6, 2012)

That's an awful lot of smoke coming into the room on start up. Would not enjoy loading that stove, and would worry about it...not for me, that's for sure.


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