10 Things to Consider Before Buying a Wood Stove or Fireplace Insert

[@jrygh8380]

Perfectly stated. I’ve been burning for many years and completely agree with your analysis. Yes, I cut and split my own.

[@WildberryAB]

This is perfect. Lol the dirt, the spiders -- ALL true. I love my wood stove anyway but the considerations set out here are serious and should be known before purchase. Excellent video!

[@MrSandeeparneja]

Such a great video. Love your unbiased laying out of the facts

[@nannetteaustin2308]

Great information, thank you!

[@steveheck7754]

Can't wait for my fireplace insert to arrive. 16 weeks, so some people must like them.

[@ProductiveRecreation]

Price of heating fuel has folks looking at alternatives. Waits can be long for popular models now.

[@wml1736]

Nice job.

[@-Enrico]

Thank you for the info

[@habichuelasolutions6849]

Looking at doing an insert in my home here in Eastern PA. The cost of oil is ridiculous. And it’s not a set price or one that is guaranteed to stay down as the price of energy keeps going up. 1 cord of dry wood here 300$ Current heating oil price is 5.34 200 gallons is 1,000. Last year I used about 600 or 800 gallons. House is not efficient at all. And maybe trying know find a happy medium given my situation. Solid video.

[@danielroden9424]

i bought a hearthstone soapstone stove to offset oil (5-6 dollars a gallon!), to be able to heat if the power goes out and to be able to heat food since it has a hot plate on top. the stove will pay for itself in 3 years with heating oil at 5 dollars a gallon

[@ProductiveRecreation]

Depends on your wood costs. My Woodstock Ideal Steel will pay for itself by the end of this winter - just it’s second season. I looked at hearthstone but didn’t like the catalytic combustor configuration on their hybrids, or their door latches.

[@growler1149]

@@ProductiveRecreation Have you needed to replace you stoves slide gasket yet? I also have the ideal steel. That gasket in particular is a real pain in the butt to replace. They designed it with the threads in the brackets on the top rather then the threading the steal plate, therefore making for a very unpleasant gasket to swap out.

[@MultiBikerboy1]

Thanks 🧐👍🏻

[@miLLkY32]

Damn I can't imagine you taking a flight to another continent and considering all the risks of flying lol

[@MrSandeeparneja]

😂

[@denverbasshead]

If you compared the costs of installing a new furnace or a wood stove the stove would be comparable. It's just most people do it as a back up so the furnace is already there. I love firewood work, can't wait to cut down some trees this winter for next year

[@ProductiveRecreation]

I don’t think typical homeowners insurance will cover you if you don’t have a thermostatically controlled heat system. They worry about things freezing if someone isn’t there to maintain the fire. Thus, wood stoves are almost always secondary to another furnace.

[@denverbasshead]

@@ProductiveRecreation depends if you care about homeowners insurance

[@myindiandancer]

Is a fresh air inlet necessary wood burning insert installation in masonry fireplace ? Thanks

[@ProductiveRecreation]

@@myindiandancer I recently released a video about outside air for wood stoves: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIeonGOnfNylqMUsi=HF_K2_TFV_GK87eF I’ve never had an outdoor air connection on a stove or insert and never had need of one.

[@searose6192]

On the cost point....that really depends where you live and how much other utilites are. If you live somewhere with expensive electricity or pricey natural gas or propane heat, wood can be far far more affordable. I have lived many places, in one our propane bill was $700/ month easily. In another the electric bill for the radiators was $200/ month in a tiny apartment. Where I currently live our gas bill if we run the central heat is $360/ month if we keep it off most of the time and just use it to keep the deep chill out of the house (keeping it between 58 degrees and 65 degrees in the day and off at night), electric heat is $250 a month with tiny space heaters that again are largely cold, but less than gas. There is no scenario where the wood costs would approach the costs of propane, and it will be toasty warm in our home with wood heat at a lesser cost than electric or gas.. That's if we had to buy cords of wood from a company that supplies it as opposed to sourcing it from fallen trees in our area....which we plan to do.

[@ProductiveRecreation]

I agree, cost/savings mileage will vary, but if you aren’t sourcing your own wood from your property or another free source, the payback is substantially longer. Particularly if you consider installation, maintenance, and insurance costs. My Woodstock Ideal Steel will pay for itself after this year (year 2). The new Regency i1500 will take many many years to do that because it is intended to make a cold room warm and cozy when we want or need that on the coldest days, whereas the Ideal Steel is burning 24/7 and mostly heating the house to an acceptable temperature. In my opinion, the Ideal Steel is an awesome wood stove and has exceeded my expectations.

[@calypsonotch3953]

I have a regular fireplace and it goes though wood like crazy. It puts off heat but not enough on very cold days. it has a one setting fan on it but not sure what it does. Would a insert with glass door work better?

[@ProductiveRecreation]

Is it a manufactured fireplace or traditional masonry fireplace? Manufactured might be efficient, but an old open masonry fireplace is not because most of the heat goes up the chimney, along with warm air from the house… Fireplace inserts let you control airflow to the fire, and thus up the chimney. They usually have a convection chamber around the firebox to circulate heat into the room. Couple that with a blower and an insert puts out a lot more heat than a traditional fireplace. I’m not sure how the performance of an insert compares to a manufactured fireplace, as I don’t have experience with those.

[@calypsonotch3953]

@@ProductiveRecreation Thank you. It is a manufactured fireplace

[@Shaker_Hill_Sugarworks]

Looks like your house has radiators (which are really nice looking). Did you consider or do you have a wood fired boiler in the basement along with the fireplace inserts/stoves?

[@ProductiveRecreation]

The house had steam heat, but all the iron piping and radiators were from the original modernization to central heating and had significant internal corrosion constricting steam flow. That system was on its last legs and was replaced with forced air to accommodate heat, air filtration, whole house humidifier, and central AC. The HVAC fan actually distributes heat from the stove very effectively. I wouldn't want to bring wood into the basement regularly. The bulkhead steps are steep, very uneven, the the doorway doesn't clear my head.

[@tacitus7]

Could you tell me how much of a difference it makes in efficiency for a woodstove insert, having the blower on low medium and high? I'm thinking of balancing the noise factor with the efficiency of the stove. Perhaps a lower speed would work as well in that the air coming out would be hotter, thus offsetting the loss of not using the higher speed?

[@ProductiveRecreation]

Some blowers have low/med/high settings, and some are a rheostat control for variable speed. The i2400 we had in our prior house was just low/high. I think it moved around 125cfm on low, which circulates all the air in a 15’x15’ room with 8’ ceilings in about 15 minutes. We always ran it on low unless the stove itself was starting to get too hot and we wanted to cool it down a little. The Regency i1500 we have now has a variable speed blower, and we still run it on the lowest setting. That little insert has the ability to make the 15’x15’ room it’s in too hot with the blower on low depending on outside temperatures. Air doesn’t circulate so well from that room to the rest of the house though. Check the blower cfm ratings for a unit you are considering if they are published, and consider the volume of air you are heating (or hope to heat) in the room or house. They will blow hotter air on low, and the stove stays hotter too (a hotter stove generally burns cleaner). For heating with an insert, I’ve always found a blower on low is enough. So have my parents. In fact, there is enough air movement from my parents insert blower (Regency i2400) on low to sometimes spin the ceiling fan in the room slowly from the rising and falling of warm/cool air. Consider backup power for an insert blower if the electricity goes out! The difference blowers make for heating is night and day. You can always set up a small fan to help get air circulating around the house away from the stove room too. I currently have our HVAC fan run for 5 minutes every half hour to move air around the house and filter it. Works great. We used maybe 30gal of propane this past winter for heat, and between 5-6 cord of wood between our two stoves.

[@tacitus7]

Much appreciated. @@ProductiveRecreation

[@priceandpride]

extremely comprehensive and helpful, even in 2024 when the prices have all gone up. i think i'll help the earth and not install one of these

[@safffff1000]

No mention of the heating abilities for the same amount of wood between an insert and a free standing unit. the rest was good.

[@ProductiveRecreation]

I was focusing on factors that apply to someone considering a wood heater (stove or insert). Many times the choice between an insert and freestanding stove is governed by the house (existing fireplace or no, and whether that fireplace can accommodate a stove or only an insert). The differences between an insert and freestanding stove is a whole other nuanced topic. I favor freestanding stoves, however, an insert with a good blower does almost just as well.

[@safffff1000]

@@ProductiveRecreation Hate the blower noise, I just ripped out my corner fire place in my mobile home that had an insert. I have to fix the drywall and extend the deck back into the corner. Waiting on my Blaze King Princess 32 stove. I haven't seen one youtube video dedicated to that nuance you mentioned

[@ProductiveRecreation]

@@safffff1000 A lot comes down to how much surface area of the unit is in the room for convection and radiation. In my experience, an insert without a blower isn’t very effective because the heat is in the fireplace. When we had the Regency i2400 in a prior house, the difference with/without the blower on was HUGE. And that unit came 6 inches into the room, which is a lot for an insert… We left the blower on low and it was pretty quiet- some background white noise in the living room. Very tolerable for us, but not for everyone.

[@tacitus7]

@@ProductiveRecreation That's is what I was looking for. I'm considering a wood insert because of the house I'm in. I imagined the blower would be key. My parents have a free standing woodstove and it is amazing. If an insert comes close to my parents, then I will be very happy.

[@m.weston7114]

Wood stove or fire place far exceeds a utility company through electric or gas. Radiant heat has no replacement. I cancelled my gas service for my furnace and burn wood in a wood stove. It may not be as convenient as hitting a thermostat button for heat, but the cool air that came first through the furnace duct was not so great, neither was the $140 a month gas and electric bill. I now heat for free, using branches, limbs and cuttings on my property, as well as pallet wood and also free wood from neighbor on craigslist. I would rather spend my labor gathering free wood, than paying the bought and paid for utility companies for their extortion rate fee's. Most Americans are spoiled and need everything at the touch of a button on their smart phones. But if ans when the power goes out, I will be heating for free, whether I burn grass, newspaper, junk wood, scraps or pallets, I will be warm while others are cold. Convenience comes at cost and so does being spoiled or pampered. The more independent you are, the more you will be one step ahead of everyone else relying on the system of the corrupt corporate world that pays off the government to do their bidding. The old ways are the best.

[@AWJ-zf8cf]

Thank you! I've been wavering. Now I realize it may not be a good option for me.

[@dabears9647]

The climate bill they passed does say there are subsidies for "biomass stoves". Can I get a subsidy for a wood stove insert with that?

[@ProductiveRecreation]

What I know about is a federal tax credit if the stove or insert has a higher heating value efficiency greater than 75% (this eliminates many, if not most units). It is/was a 26% credit in 2021 and 2022 on purchase and installation cost, decreasing in percentage in 2023. It is a nonrefundable credit, so you have to owe federal tax in order to benefit from it. I'm not sure what's in the latest legislation.

[@mikejenkins1270]

i have electric forced heat costing me an arm and a leg, i've got a masonry fireplace, and i have acres of skinny oak trees, i feel like this is a no brainer.