Should I upgrade to catalyst insert?

[Gearhead660]

Currently have a tube insert, Century CW2900. It works good at heating the room, and can carry the whole home heat load until it gets below 40*f outside, so not looking to upgrade expecting it to do more than that. Just looking at upgrading for a longer low burn time.
I have been eyeing up the Blaze King Princess insert as it is more of a hearth heater, sticking out more. One thing I done like about the current insert is we need to have the blower on. Its loud, prefer the quiet. I have read that you can run the Princess without the blower if desired. What other inserts are there that are hearth heaters like the Princess?

 

[begreen]

Any insert that projects more out onto the hearth will work depending on whether it will fit into the fireplace. The Princess would do. The PE Super or Summit inserts and the Regency 2400i are non-cats. There is also the Country C210 which sits out on the hearth about 6". The hybrid Kuma Cascade LE's projection out onto the hearth is adjustable.

 

[Gearhead660]

The C210 looks to be a lateral move. Smaller firebox, not any longer burn times.
The Cascade LE looks like it could sit further out than my current insert.
Both the C210 and Cascade are hybrid? They have secondary air and catalyst?

 

[mellow]

Have you insulated your fireplace so you can run your blower on your existing insert at lower levels?

A blower is a blower, it will create noise at all levels of use, that is why it is good to insulate so you can run at lower levels and get the same heat output.

 

[Gearhead660]

yes, insulated. Been looking at the BK inserts as they can run low and for a long burn time. Like the princess as it sticks out around 12", so would not need to run blower, but could if we choose to.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

The C210 looks to be a lateral move. Smaller firebox, not any longer burn times.
The Cascade LE looks like it could sit further out than my current insert.
Both the C210 and Cascade are hybrid? They have secondary air and catalyst?

I have the freestanding hybrid Kuma LE. Like it a lot nice simple design super easy to get at the catalyst for a quick dusting when needed. Burn tubes seem to do most of the work on this design with the catalyst acting as a final "scrub". It will not run as low as a BK tho and they seem to be easy breathers so if you have a long flue Id plan on a damper.

 

[mellow]

I have been eyeing up the Blaze King Princess insert as it is more of a hearth heater, sticking out more.

Just wanted to throw this out there as it has been a point of contention in the past when it comes to the looks of the Princess, has "everyone" approved it?

 

[Gearhead660]

Just wanted to throw this out there as it has been a point of contention in the past when it comes to the looks of the Princess, has "everyone" approved it?

LOL. Neither of the stoves we have now are aesthetically pleasing. Just black boxes of fire. "Everyone" is just happy if it's nice and warm in the house. I personally don't mind the looks of the Princess.

 

[Gearhead660]

Anyone have any experience with the Buck 81 or 91 inserts?

 

[begreen]

The C210 looks to be a lateral move. Smaller firebox, not any longer burn times.
The Cascade LE looks like it could sit further out than my current insert.
Both the C210 and Cascade are hybrid? They have secondary air and catalyst?

The C210 is a conventional tube secondary stove. The Cascade is a hybrid. The Summit would be an increase in capacity with 8-12 hr burn times.

 

[mellow]

Anyone have any experience with the Buck 81 or 91 inserts?

The Buck 91 requires an 8" liner, don't think you want to go that route. It's a nice BIG stove otherwise but it can't run as low as a BK.

 

[EbS-P]

Anything above 40F is heatpump weather. Personally I would want to decrease time burning when is warmer out and increase output when it’s really cold.

Princess is good at low and slow. But not my vote.

I vote heatpump and a 500i of it fits

Blue Ridge 500-I | Wood Stove EPA

Blue Ridge 500-I High-Efficiency Wood Insert - EPA Certified - Heats up to 2,700 sq. ft. - 22" Logs - Up to 10 hour burn time - Proudly made in USA.

www.englander-stoves.com

(You don’t have to take my recommendation seriously. Some times I just want to offer a very different perspective).

 

[Ctwoodtick]

In my opinion, unless you have a bigger firebox for your new insert along with some protrusion out of the insert on hearth, I don’t think it would be worth changing. In general, cat stoves don’t put out more heat than non-cat (tube stoves).

 

[DuaeGuttae]

In my opinion, unless you have a bigger firebox for your new insert along with some protrusion out of the insert on hearth, I don’t think it would be worth changing. In general, cat stoves don’t put out more heat than non-cat (tube stoves).

How would the firebox size of the Princes compare to your current insert?

I used to own two non-flush inserts in different houses, a Lopi Revere that stuck out about ten inches, and an Enviro Kodiak that stuck out about five. Both of them benefitted from using the blower even if they didn't require it. In our experience, we could run the inserts without the blowers and heat the room they were in quite adequately, but the running the blower helped us move heat farther into the house. We definitely appreciated the heat that came off the inserts in power outages, though. I wouldn't expect to be able to avoid the blower entirely if you switch to the Princess.

With that being said, years ago we had actually planned to switch to a Princess to replace our Lopi Revere. We had found a new one on clearance, and it was a great price. For us it would have been a larger firebox, and we thought we'd benefit from the thermostat. We never got a chance to test that theory, however, as we found ourselves having to move and sold the insert without ever installing it.

 

[Gearhead660]

Anything above 40F is heatpump weather. Personally I would want to decrease time burning when is warmer out and increase output when it’s really cold.

Princess is good at low and slow. But not my vote.

I vote heatpump and a 500i of it fits

Blue Ridge 500-I | Wood Stove EPA

Blue Ridge 500-I High-Efficiency Wood Insert - EPA Certified - Heats up to 2,700 sq. ft. - 22" Logs - Up to 10 hour burn time - Proudly made in USA.

www.englander-stoves.com

(You don’t have to take my recommendation seriously. Some times I just want to offer a very different perspective).

I have a mini split that I use on cool fall and spring mornings.
If I dont have a fire going in the insert, that room gets quite cold, even with the stove only 1 room away. I was thinking about the Princess because it would fill my fireplace nicely, and I could run it low, keeping the chill out of that room.
The 500i looks like a beast of an insert!

 

[Gearhead660]

How would the firebox size of the Princes compare to your current insert?

I used to own two non-flush inserts in different houses, a Lopi Revere that stuck out about ten inches, and an Enviro Kodiak that stuck out about five. Both of them benefitted from using the blower even if they didn't require it. In our experience, we could run the inserts without the blowers and heat the room they were in quite adequately, but the running the blower helped us move heat farther into the house. We definitely appreciated the heat that came off the inserts in power outages, though. I wouldn't expect to be able to avoid the blower entirely if you switch to the Princess.

With that being said, years ago we had actually planned to switch to a Princess to replace our Lopi Revere. We had found a new one on clearance, and it was a great price. For us it would have been a larger firebox, and we thought we'd benefit from the thermostat. We never got a chance to test that theory, however, as we found ourselves having to move and sold the insert without ever installing it.

I think the Princess has about the same sized firebox, just liking the ability to run lower if we wanted. Looking at the measurements, it would fill out my fireplace quite nicely. I have about 16" in front that it could sit on. This past fall I pulled the Century out as far as I could. Which was about 5". Helped a little bit.

 

[EbS-P]

The 500i looks like a beast of an insert!

If it was available for that price when it would have been hard not to choose it over my 2.4 cu ft 1800i

 

[Gearhead660]

Been doing some research. Starting to like the Buck 91. It is a catalyst only stove, correct? Like the BK, only the temp/air control is manual?

 

[stoveliker]

I think the Buck 91 is more like the BK King in size, at 4.4 cubic foot ! 21" splits is nice!
I don't know how deep of a belly it has (the King has a 4 or 6" deep belly, so taking out ashes can be infrequent - unless you really need those 4 cu ft of the King...)
Seems to go very low (even a bit lower than BKs) in output too.

And the aesthetics are, ahem, different from a Princess or a King...

 

[Gearhead660]

I don't mind the looks. I would need to verify that i can fit an 8" liner. Whatever insert I pick, a new liner is getting installed also. No issues with current one, its just 9 years old and not insulated.

 

[stoveliker]

BK only King for 8".
Princess likes 6"

 

[begreen]

Yes, its' catalytic. The Buck 91 requires an 8" insulated flue liner. Make sure that will fit.

 

[BKVP]

I think the Buck 91 is more like the BK King in size, at 4.4 cubic foot ! 21" splits is nice!
I don't know how deep of a belly it has (the King has a 4 or 6" deep belly, so taking out ashes can be infrequent - unless you really need those 4 cu ft of the King...)
Seems to go very low (even a bit lower than BKs) in output too.

And the aesthetics are, ahem, different from a Princess or a King...

8" deep.

BKVP

 

[stoveliker]

Aye sir.
Size matters.

 

[begreen]

The OP is seeking info on inserts, not a freestanding stove.