I live in rural coastal northern California.
Home is 18 years old with an LP fireplace(Heat N Glo). Costs a lot of $$ to operate. Vents out the back. Blower is loud and electronic start has been replaced.
Also have an 18 yo LP furnace.
LP is metered from community tank and more expensive than owning your own tank which we are not able to do.
Our house is long and fireplace in one end, would desire to heat about 1000 sf, not the hall and bedrooms. Not cold here but damp, heat about 5 months of the year, low is 30' but ave low 40. Coastal climate with rust. Lots of windows (dual pane-1/2 are new) and peaked ceilings.
We love having a fireplace and the warmth of wood. We have used a wood insert and a pellet stove in other homes and liked both. Had 2 stove dealers come out. All discouraged replacing old LP fireplace as costly remodel. However, I would rather remodel that space. I have thought of finishing out the alcove so a free standing unit of any type could be put there, rather than remodeling just the "fireplace". To replace fireplace we still have to gut existing framing and redo. So I would rather remodel the alcove (exterior 4 feet by 2 feet, up to roof). Yes this will initially be expensive.
Wood is wonderful heat: expensive to buy, lots of work, storage. We do not have a truck. There is a forest of softwood in our area. Fir and pine. Does not require electricity to run. Ours rarely goes out though.
Gas: LP is expensive here. Would a free standing low clearance stove be more efficient than an insert?
Pellet: nice warmth like wood.. Costs around $250/ton maybe a little more for better. Free standing more efficient than insert?
I have pondered this for 2 years and can't come up with the best solution. Would appreciate your advice and direction on figuring this out. Inserts don't seem to heat as well as free standings, is this still true? Wood is nice but maybe too much work at this point, and too messy. LP or Pellets?
Pic attached.
Thanks!
Dang the pic was upright until I loaded it!![Newbie:LP, wood or pellets? Newbie:LP, wood or pellets?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/128/128750-e44acdad8d4fb780f2ff1f1afd52d369.jpg)
Home is 18 years old with an LP fireplace(Heat N Glo). Costs a lot of $$ to operate. Vents out the back. Blower is loud and electronic start has been replaced.
Also have an 18 yo LP furnace.
LP is metered from community tank and more expensive than owning your own tank which we are not able to do.
Our house is long and fireplace in one end, would desire to heat about 1000 sf, not the hall and bedrooms. Not cold here but damp, heat about 5 months of the year, low is 30' but ave low 40. Coastal climate with rust. Lots of windows (dual pane-1/2 are new) and peaked ceilings.
We love having a fireplace and the warmth of wood. We have used a wood insert and a pellet stove in other homes and liked both. Had 2 stove dealers come out. All discouraged replacing old LP fireplace as costly remodel. However, I would rather remodel that space. I have thought of finishing out the alcove so a free standing unit of any type could be put there, rather than remodeling just the "fireplace". To replace fireplace we still have to gut existing framing and redo. So I would rather remodel the alcove (exterior 4 feet by 2 feet, up to roof). Yes this will initially be expensive.
Wood is wonderful heat: expensive to buy, lots of work, storage. We do not have a truck. There is a forest of softwood in our area. Fir and pine. Does not require electricity to run. Ours rarely goes out though.
Gas: LP is expensive here. Would a free standing low clearance stove be more efficient than an insert?
Pellet: nice warmth like wood.. Costs around $250/ton maybe a little more for better. Free standing more efficient than insert?
I have pondered this for 2 years and can't come up with the best solution. Would appreciate your advice and direction on figuring this out. Inserts don't seem to heat as well as free standings, is this still true? Wood is nice but maybe too much work at this point, and too messy. LP or Pellets?
Pic attached.
Thanks!
Dang the pic was upright until I loaded it!
![Newbie:LP, wood or pellets? Newbie:LP, wood or pellets?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/128/128750-e44acdad8d4fb780f2ff1f1afd52d369.jpg)