Who has switched from an insert to a freestanding stove?

[Ctwoodtick]

What is your ultimate goal? This is the fundamental question you must address. I understand you said "in the same room" in the original post.

If you have never demolished an entire fireplace, it is more work than you were thinking of.

I personally have a woodie against inserts. If your goal is BTUs in the house, lower heating bills; I see inserts as a poor compromise. Inserts are cheaper than a full on fireplace demolition, but you simply will not be getting BTUs into your house efficiently from an insert the way you can from a free standing wood stove. You will be buying more cordwood, hauling more cordwood, burning more cordwood, hauling out more ash, BTU per BTU than you will be if you bite the bullet and put in a freestanding stove.

But you don't "have to" demolish the fireplace to put in the freestanding stove. You can. I did. I have no regrets. I have enough land to have an outdoor burn pit in the months my wood stove isn't running. In the winter months if I wife wants to see "the fire" I just twist a knob on the freestander.

Look very very carefully at your floor plan, with respect to your needs; and see if having an ambience burner, a fireplace, to help your resale value - and a freestanding wood stove to lower your utility bills - is a possibility.

How are you going to move heat around your house from where your existing fireplace is? How much harder would it be if you leave the fireplace alone and put in a freestanding wood stove over there? I cannot answer these questions for you.

If I owned, which I do not, a relatively small house in the northeastern USA, putting a modern efficient insert into an existing massive stone fireplace might make sense- if I was going to sell the house in a few years.

In the north half of Alaska, with an imperative goal of efficient BTUs into the envelope, ripping out my stone veneered sheet metal fireplace to put in a free standing wood stove gave me a payback/ break even $ point on the order of 5-7 years. I have saved enough on my oil bill to pay for the stove and the pro chimney install, and all the wood I have burnt, to break even in the 5-7 year window, but my wood stove(s) have been burning for nine years come May 2023. I did most of the demo and construction myself.

I am now 'in tall cotton' - the kind of cotton you don't have to bend over to pick, so less back pain- and the money I am saving this winter is real money. I have the service life expectancy of my stove pegged at around 20 years. In 2022 US$ I am saving about $2k annually, and expect to spend about $2k on stove maintenance in the next 11 years. With the demolition of the fireplace covered, new pro-installed chimney covered, all the cordwood paid for and the current wood stove also paid for, I am already $ ahead and am looking to become another $18k ahead in the next 11 years.

Having put in the infrastructure, in 2022 $, my next stove will be about $4k, will pay for itself in 2 years, and then $2k/ annually x 18 years, I will be $36k ahead on the heating bill with the next stove- if I can still handle 8 cords of wood annually (about 16+ cubic meters annually ) in my mid 80s. I might put in a pellet burner in 2033.

In general I see fireplace inserts as having a relatively low install cost, but relatively high ongoing fuel usage for BTUs into the house.

Agreed that you get much better bang for your buck with a free standing stove than insert. That said, I have an insert with no block off plate that heats the 1400 sq ft in CT well. It would be more more efficient with freestanding, but the insert does it’s job of heating.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Hi all,

I'm hoping to hear from people who have switched from an insert to a freestanding stove and put in the same room.

What was your reason for changing? What was your experience? Would you recommend it or do it again yourself?

Thanks for any answers in advance.

Tom.

I used a freestanding stove most of my life, and an insert for the last 6 years. I'd take the freestanding over the insert , 10 out of 10 times, but I just didn't have the space for it in the current house. Once I got the fireplace insulated, a block off plate, and the bad air leaks up into the uninsulated attic fixed, the insert does a nice job keeping the whole house warm, very efficiently.

I'd take the freestanding if I could.

 

[TomMcDonald]

Thanks for the input all.
Insert is sold and freestander arrives this week.
Tom.

 

[trailrated]

Is your ir gun accurate?

Who knows. It appears so when used on things as a good baseline. Figured it would be more trustworthy than a magnetic.

 

[cmorningstar01]

I am new to the forum but I also have a wood stove in a fireplace opening, Our stove is a Vermont Castings Encore 1450 NC model and it has been heating our home for almost 20 years, We started with a fireplace then went to glass doors on the fireplace then went to a stove in the fireplace opening which is what we have now, yes I know the VC Encore 1450 NC is not exactly highly thought of but it has served us well for almost 20 years, I did have to change the refractory and fountain in less than 1 year and VC warrantied the repair, since then it has been a very dependable heater, Our home is 2600+ sq ft, 50'x 30', 2 stories with an open loft area that looks down on the living room where the stove is located, The stove does have a squirrel cage blower but we don't use that very often as we have 2 heat powered fans on top of the stove with the back of the fans facing the stove pipe , We heat our home primarily with wood and use less than 100 gallons of fuel oil each year, mostly when the stove is burning down so I can clean the ash pan out or if we have been away for a period of time and want to bring the temp up in the house, the heat from the stove reached down the hallway and to the 2 bedrooms on the 1st floor that are on the opposite end of the house, we do have a oil filled for when the outside temps drop into the teens, otherwise the stove produces enough heat to warm them to a comfortable 68-70 degrees., The loft which is above and to the rear of the stove always stays nice and cozy and the master bedroom which is on the opposite end of the house from the stove and on the second floor is also mostly warm but we do have a small gas fireplace in the far corner at the foot of the bed..
I have read a lot about the VC Encore 1450 NC mostly not good but we are happy with our stove, It will need a rebuild/new gaskets/fountain/refractory which I will be doing this spring/summer after the heating season, Yes that is a large coal bucket full of pine cones I am in the process of opening

 

[Caw]

Flush inserts, like the Quad that PB had, need to run the blower. Inserts that stick out a bit from the hearth generally do a better job at area heating even when the blower is off. If the fireplace has a 3 cu ft insert that projected out onto the hearth, the results may have ended up similar to the Lopi. That said, the change is a nice improvement both visually and functionally. The Liberty is a heating beast.

I think my setup illustrates Begreen's point well:

My Osburn 1600 protrudes a good 8" when the surround is up. We took it off because we prefer the look, I like seeing more of the fireplace, and I feel it functions a little better. I run the blower on low 24/7 and it's hooked up to a large UPS. I can run the blower fan for 1.5 hours on battery backup which buys me time to decide whether I need to set up the big generator. I don't mind the sound I honestly don't even hear it anymore it's fairly quiet. With the blower and one small wall mounted fan I'm able to fully heat my 1600 sq ft cape through New England winters on 3.5 +/- 0.5 cords annually. We like to keep the house around 70-72. I can easily roast us out of here if it's above 20 degrees. My backup electric heat only kicks on for a couple hours if it gets below 0 overnight.

I'm sure a freestanding stove could do it a little better with longer burn times but with a smaller house I like the space savings and the look of the insert. Given how much my insert protrudes and having no surround I think it acts kind of like a hybrid insert/freestander 3-4 cords a year is a reasonable amount of wood for a year of heat here. This year has been so mild we've barely burned 2 cords so far.

 

[Caw]

I am new to the forum but I also have a wood stove in a fireplace opening, Our stove is a Vermont Castings Encore 1450 NC model and it has been heating our home for almost 20 years, We started with a fireplace then went to glass doors on the fireplace then went to a stove in the fireplace opening which is what we have now, yes I know the VC Encore 1450 NC is not exactly highly thought of but it has served us well for almost 20 years, I did have to change the refractory and fountain in less than 1 year and VC warrantied the repair, since then it has been a very dependable heater, Our home is 2600+ sq ft, 50'x 30', 2 stories with an open loft area that looks down on the living room where the stove is located, The stove does have a squirrel cage blower but we don't use that very often as we have 2 heat powered fans on top of the stove with the back of the fans facing the stove pipe , We heat our home primarily with wood and use less than 100 gallons of fuel oil each year, mostly when the stove is burning down so I can clean the ash pan out or if we have been away for a period of time and want to bring the temp up in the house, the heat from the stove reached down the hallway and to the 2 bedrooms on the 1st floor that are on the opposite end of the house, we do have a oil filled for when the outside temps drop into the teens, otherwise the stove produces enough heat to warm them to a comfortable 68-70 degrees., The loft which is above and to the rear of the stove always stays nice and cozy and the master bedroom which is on the opposite end of the house from the stove and on the second floor is also mostly warm but we do have a small gas fireplace in the far corner at the foot of the bed..
I have read a lot about the VC Encore 1450 NC mostly not good but we are happy with our stove, It will need a rebuild/new gaskets/fountain/refractory which I will be doing this spring/summer after the heating season, Yes that is a large coal bucket full of pine cones I am in the process of opening
View attachment 309975

Nice log bag! I have the same one we love it. The thing is ultra durable.

 

[cmorningstar01]

Nice log bag! I have the same one we love it. The thing is ultra durable.

Condar...I have this one which is about 10 years old and I have my original heavy brown with green handles which is about 20 years old

 

[VCnewbe]

I went from a open fireplace to a wood stove inside that fireplace, I have family members who have inserts I believe a stove in a fireplace puts out more heat without the need for a blower. My stove is a Jotul 602 with the legs cut down.

How much did you cut off your legs? Do you know if that would affect house insurance?