Will an insert heat my house or am I wishful thinking?

[Rob711]

Can’t really comment on stove selection, but can on getting wood. I don’t believe anyone on the island sells really truly seasoned wood. Learned that my first year.
I’ve since been splitting and stacking my own since. Maybe get 2 cords of wood now, for next season. Good luck! There seems to be more people from Long Island on here than you’d expect.
Rob

 

[BAR7MAN]

In my opinion, get the biggest stove that you can fit in your opening. You can use fans to disperse the heat to other rooms. But you can't create more heat than what a small stove can do when it's maxed out. Better to have the capacity and not need it on warm days. I got the biggest unit I could fit, even had to make a little extra room and I'm so glad we did! We have an Osburn 2400 insert. It sticks out a bit from the fireplace which gives off a big amount of radiant heat. And the 130cfm blower pumps out a ton of heat when it's on high with a big load of wood. Also a larger firebox will give you more coals to start over with after you wake up in the morning. Our stove hasn't gone out since early November. On warm days (50-60*F) during the day we just toss in a single log every few hours and have the blower on low. That maintains a good bed of coals, and puts out enough heat to keep things warm. In the dead of winter we burn it hard, with the blower on high most of the time, and have to scoop out some coals at the bottom so we can keep multiple large logs in there to keep the temp up on it. But even down below zero, it still mostly heats our whole house.

Get the big stove, run it hard when it's cold. You'll be glad you did. Fans are cheap, and put one blowing out of the living room towards the kitchen and hallway with the bathrooms and bedrooms, and a fan blowing into the living room from the dining room. That will create a nice circular airflow which will spread the heat pretty well. And if you have ceiling fans, run them to help push the heat down to the floor. You'll be surprised just how much area you can heat with a couple medium sized fans and a couple ceiling fans to disperse the heat! Yes your living room will be a lot warmer than the rest of the house, but thats life with a wood stove. Should be able to keep all the rooms just off the living room very comfortable. That circular layout from living room to kitchen, to dining room, and back to the living room is going to be a big help.

This is what I like to hear! Thanks for the insight and recommendations!

 

[BAR7MAN]

I recently purchased the 2020 Large Flush Insert (Lopi version, but same thing as the FPX), and I really like it. I have a 3,500 sf house, but not an open floor plan. So I was doing the same analysis as you are. I ultimately went with the large flush rather than the medium. I had 2 reasons: 1) I wanted the ability to do overnight burns, so the bigger firebox was preferred, and 2) I thought the large insert would look best in my large fireplace. I have no regrets, really glad I got the big one.

I am using two small fans, one to move cold air into the fireplace room, and one door mounted fan to move warm air out. It heats more of the house than I was expecting. I am eventually going to run a dedicated cold air return under the house with an in-line duct fan, to pull cold air from the kitchen and dining room into the FP room.

Awesome to hear you are liking it! I haven't seen too many people with the new one yet.

Can’t really comment on stove selection, but can on getting wood. I don’t believe anyone on the island sells really truly seasoned wood. Learned that my first year.
I’ve since been splitting and stacking my own since. Maybe get 2 cords of wood now, for next season. Good luck! There seems to be more people from Long Island on here than you’d expect.
Rob

Yep, can't trust any of them saying that it's seasoned. I am going to get wood within the next month or so for next year. I plan on getting the insert in spring/summer so I want to be fully prepared to burn come next fall/winter. Very cool to see people from LI here though!

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Awesome to hear you are liking it! I haven't seen too many people with the new one yet.


Yep, can't trust any of them saying that it's seasoned. I am going to get wood within the next month or so for next year. I plan on getting the insert in spring/summer so I want to be fully prepared to burn come next fall/winter. Very cool to see people from LI here though!

I guess I didn't know that this stove is the same as a Lopi. We have some friends with a Lopi that looks just like it, and when we've been over at their house in the winter, it's the best looking, warmest stove insert I've ever been around. I asked them about it, and looked it up, and it was way out of my range for cost, but it's a really great experience. Looks better than an open fireplace, and so toasty!

I'm sure they were burning dry wood, as they had big stacks and the fire was burning clean. Just saying.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Did you use insulated duct work?

flex duct.. I occasionally run it an hour here and there.. mostly when its colder.. like in the 20s and below.. last year I didn't run it much..

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Does this go in existing AC ducting or is it new ducting specifically for that?

yes.. the booster fan is on a wall switch. I turn it on and off when needed.. I did a 14in fan.. doesn't draw alot of power.. takes the warmest air from the stove room.. The air trapped in the ceiling sometimes is 105 degrees... You get way better heating with this instead of using the whole house system..

 

[BAR7MAN]

I guess I didn't know that this stove is the same as a Lopi. We have some friends with a Lopi that looks just like it, and when we've been over at their house in the winter, it's the best looking, warmest stove insert I've ever been around. I asked them about it, and looked it up, and it was way out of my range for cost, but it's a really great experience. Looks better than an open fireplace, and so toasty!

I'm sure they were burning dry wood, as they had big stacks and the fire was burning clean. Just saying.

Sweet! That’s exactly what I am looking for.

yes.. the booster fan is on a wall switch. I turn it on and off when needed.. I did a 14in fan.. doesn't draw alot of power.. takes the warmest air from the stove room.. The air trapped in the ceiling sometimes is 105 degrees... You get way better heating with this instead of using the whole house system..

Cool, thanks! I will certainly look into this as an option for moving the heat around.

 

[BrianVA]

I guess I didn't know that this stove is the same as a Lopi. We have some friends with a Lopi that looks just like it, and when we've been over at their house in the winter, it's the best looking, warmest stove insert I've ever been around. I asked them about it, and looked it up, and it was way out of my range for cost, but it's a really great experience. Looks better than an open fireplace, and so toasty!

I'm sure they were burning dry wood, as they had big stacks and the fire was burning clean. Just saying.

Yes, FPX and Lopi are both manufactured by Travis Industries. They just utilize different faceplates. We ended up with a Lopi because we wanted the "Wilmington" faceplate with arched door. Its a well designed and well-built insert. It radiates heat way better than I was expecting (since it's flush), and I don't really need to use the blower. And in fact, I generally don't use the blower when we are in the room. I do use it overnight to really squeeze out all of the BTU's I possibly can and get them in the house.

I agree, it looks better than our open fireplace looked, which was a big concern for my wife, and one of the reasons we chose this unit.

Regarding price - I was in sticker shock for over a month when I started getting similar price quotes from the stores in my area. I had to really think twice as to whether I wanted to do an insert at all. I'm really disgusted that inserts and stoves cost so much these days, even though I love the one we got. I estimate it will take 10-15 years of consistent wood burning to pay for itself through utility bill savings (if that sort of thing is important to you). I have a 5 year spread because it depends on how cold or mild the winters are.