First let me say wow, what an amazing resource for info here
I’ll try to keep this not too lengthy
After much long debate of what back up heat source(I’m going with a cold climate ductless heat pump to take over an aging baseboard boiler system) the boiler will still be in place as back up as well till she dies
I’ve decided for a wood insert
I went back and for a hundred times on maybe a pellet insert or a gas fireplace
I live in a cold but In general not extremely cold climate(except right now we hit close to -30 Celsius for a night) interior of British Columbia( dry snowy desert like weather)
But as a whole the weather in January our traditionally coldest month has an average low of -8C
There is an old massive masonry chimney in middle of my kitchen and living room(600 square feet of space) a couple small bedrooms and a big bath for about another 400 square feet. This whole area is on top of the same sq footage of unfinished quite underground basement. Heated by radiant floor and will receive two 5k handlers as back up
I plan to insulate it in the spring if I can get proper instruction for how to do it as I worry about potential moisture issues from melt(again as a whole we get very little precipitation)
But as a whole I need very little heat. It’s fine to stay at 50 Fahrenheit which it normally stays like this as is
There is an additional front entrance room which is like 450sq feet. I keep my dogs in there(it’s essentially useless but still needs some conditioning( it has old radiant heat, and will receive a 12k Btu air handler) it’s basically right on concrete slab
So after all that nonsense. I need a just incase back up heat
I am a bit paranoid about radon. My house right now in what I believe is the worst part of the house for radon shows and Average of 55bqm, not terrible right now in what’s generally known as the worst time of year for it
I may look at seeing if I can do some improvements in the future
I was paranoid of sealing my house too much incase of trapping in more
This area has some problems with it my place seems not bad
So my concern was this and pulling air from the basement somehow and bringing more radon potentially into the mix
I’ve decided to take the plunge anyway as ya I may fall in love with the stove and deal with it regularly it’s really only to help out when it hits -10 and lower sort of time
So maybe it will work a month or the season let’s say
So I looked at some higher end inserts like pacific energy and I found an installer who has been pushing me on regency as he sells them ( also a nice product) but I was like for what i need what’s wrong with the drolet? He says crap and lucky to get 10 years. I’m actually ok with that number for what they cost. There is way more positive reviews on them then many brands
If it were my primary heat source I may drop more but even with install the drolet comes in probably 55-60 percent of the cost of the higher ends
So now I need to decide do I go with the 1500 or 1800 insert ?
The length of the chimney exhaust will be like 15 or so feet and for what it’s worth we get a fair amount of regular wind( I do often hear wind coming down the chimney ratting the old door to the log set now) I don’t know how this plays
At most I’ll need to heat is 1600 or so square feet but if my power goes out(a very very rare occurrence here ) I could need to heat 1600 up and some of the down to help stave off freezing( I have two vents next to the fireplace I could maybe open up and hopefully some how someway some heat could get down there(again just to stave off freezing pipes)
Do I go with bigger stove and try to work with smaller fire or work a smaller stove harder? The immediate area I imagine will be hot anyway as it’s right where we spend most of our time
So this is ridiculously way too long and I hope it doesn’t read like the rantings of a late night ADHD special but I think it may
Hopefully a couple people may hang to the end and maybe decipher and can help to decide
Much much appreciated! Peace to all wood burners out there!
I’ll try to keep this not too lengthy
After much long debate of what back up heat source(I’m going with a cold climate ductless heat pump to take over an aging baseboard boiler system) the boiler will still be in place as back up as well till she dies
I’ve decided for a wood insert
I went back and for a hundred times on maybe a pellet insert or a gas fireplace
I live in a cold but In general not extremely cold climate(except right now we hit close to -30 Celsius for a night) interior of British Columbia( dry snowy desert like weather)
But as a whole the weather in January our traditionally coldest month has an average low of -8C
There is an old massive masonry chimney in middle of my kitchen and living room(600 square feet of space) a couple small bedrooms and a big bath for about another 400 square feet. This whole area is on top of the same sq footage of unfinished quite underground basement. Heated by radiant floor and will receive two 5k handlers as back up
I plan to insulate it in the spring if I can get proper instruction for how to do it as I worry about potential moisture issues from melt(again as a whole we get very little precipitation)
But as a whole I need very little heat. It’s fine to stay at 50 Fahrenheit which it normally stays like this as is
There is an additional front entrance room which is like 450sq feet. I keep my dogs in there(it’s essentially useless but still needs some conditioning( it has old radiant heat, and will receive a 12k Btu air handler) it’s basically right on concrete slab
So after all that nonsense. I need a just incase back up heat
I am a bit paranoid about radon. My house right now in what I believe is the worst part of the house for radon shows and Average of 55bqm, not terrible right now in what’s generally known as the worst time of year for it
I may look at seeing if I can do some improvements in the future
I was paranoid of sealing my house too much incase of trapping in more
This area has some problems with it my place seems not bad
So my concern was this and pulling air from the basement somehow and bringing more radon potentially into the mix
I’ve decided to take the plunge anyway as ya I may fall in love with the stove and deal with it regularly it’s really only to help out when it hits -10 and lower sort of time
So maybe it will work a month or the season let’s say
So I looked at some higher end inserts like pacific energy and I found an installer who has been pushing me on regency as he sells them ( also a nice product) but I was like for what i need what’s wrong with the drolet? He says crap and lucky to get 10 years. I’m actually ok with that number for what they cost. There is way more positive reviews on them then many brands
If it were my primary heat source I may drop more but even with install the drolet comes in probably 55-60 percent of the cost of the higher ends
So now I need to decide do I go with the 1500 or 1800 insert ?
The length of the chimney exhaust will be like 15 or so feet and for what it’s worth we get a fair amount of regular wind( I do often hear wind coming down the chimney ratting the old door to the log set now) I don’t know how this plays
At most I’ll need to heat is 1600 or so square feet but if my power goes out(a very very rare occurrence here ) I could need to heat 1600 up and some of the down to help stave off freezing( I have two vents next to the fireplace I could maybe open up and hopefully some how someway some heat could get down there(again just to stave off freezing pipes)
Do I go with bigger stove and try to work with smaller fire or work a smaller stove harder? The immediate area I imagine will be hot anyway as it’s right where we spend most of our time
So this is ridiculously way too long and I hope it doesn’t read like the rantings of a late night ADHD special but I think it may
Hopefully a couple people may hang to the end and maybe decipher and can help to decide
Much much appreciated! Peace to all wood burners out there!
