WOOD FIREPLACE INSERT COMPARISON PAGE

To get a maximum output rating, test labs cram the firebox chock-full and crank the draft control wide open. This raging, short-duration fire is just the opposite of how people burn their inserts, and can be misleading: if all you look at is the maximum output rating, a little bitty model with a really big air intake can seem just as powerful as a big area heater. For a real world picture, see the 8 hour burn column.

Note: Wood fireplace insert maximum output ratings don't tell the whole story.

In fact, maximum output ratings can be very confusing. For example, the manufacturer's brochure for one nationally marketed wood insert with a little 1.3 cubic foot firebox boasts a maximum output rating of 64,200 BTU/hr, which is enough output to heat a 2000 sq. ft. home, yet in the same brochure they rate the same stove to heat just 1200 sq. ft. The reason for this apparent discrepancy is twofold: first, that insert's 1.3 cubic foot firebox will only hold enough fuel to burn for about 2 hours at maximum output level, and nobody wants to refuel that often; second, sustained operation with the draft control wide open like that would soon burn the firebox to a crisp.