Insert or wood stove

[Waiting Falcon]

If you had a fireplace that did not provide sufficient heat, would you rather
add an insert and if so what kind,
or
would you rather go with a wood stove?

[chickenista]

I would go woodstove.
More exposed surface area to give heat and more exposed stove pipe for the same thing.
The type of woodstove..?
You are going to get a million different answers, but it is a matter of taste as well..oh and money.
You could get one with the glass front so you could see the fire, you could get one with an couple of eyes on it so you could cook easily during a power outage etc..
But you want one that is seamless and can hold your coals overnight. Nothing is more horrible than waking up to a freezing cold house.
We like our Fisher.

[7thswan]

Woodstove.

[Ramblin Wreck]

I've had both and like an insert with a small, protruding cooking surface better. It takes up less space in the room. It provides a little heat even when the power is out. When the fans are blowing, it can run you out of the house on a small amount of wood. Listening to the fan "racket" can get annoying though.

My current home does not have a masonry chimney, so I use a wood stove with double/triple wall pipe. It works great too, and since much of the piping is exposed within the house, I lose very little heat in the chimney. Also, there seems to be very little creosote build up if I use good, dry wood.

[PD-Riverman]

If I was going to be on-grid and in a area that rarely looses power----I would put in a GOOD Insert with blowers. I put in one 30 years ago in my 2200sqft home and thats what we used to heat the home every year once winter set in. It is a insert where 1/2 of its depth sticks out beyond the surrounding that blocks off the rest of the fire place hole. You can set a big water kettle on the part that sticks out. I would build a fire in it the beginning of winter and it rarely had to be re-started through the winter. My renters in the house now uses it. I think it was built by Vogelzang, but I am sure they do not build them any more. It is built out of 1/4" steel every where, has a secondary burning chamber, weighs 800 lb. If I was to clean the glass in the doors it would look New, even the top still looks new. The best built I ever seen. 30 years ago I bought it at the end of winter---on sale-- for $1200. So having said all this I would get a good one if I was going to use it year after year.

Now if you loose power often I would get a free standing heater so you can get some heat off it even when the power is out.

[Cabin Fever]

If I already had a fireplace, I'd add an airtight, plate steel insert. The reasons being that an insert will heat almost as well as a woodstove and would take up much less space - actually no space - in your livingroom because it sits on the hearth.

Something like this one

[TheMartianChick]

Our house had a masonry fireplace when we first bought it. When we decided to invest in something to provide backup heat, we thought about a woodstove but quickly discarded the idea because we had no place to put it that would look good in our 2100 sq. ft victorian home.

So, we've had an insert with a blower for about 13 years or so. While we love it, we do know that when we buy our homestead, we will be investing in a wood stove. They are just more efficient at heating a large home. We'd still want to have a blower to help to circulate the heat a bit.

[eurycea12]

We have an insert in our downstairs family room. When we bought our place we were told the previous owners used it to heat the house. Well, they ran it so hot it was ruined and we had to replace it. It does a good job of heating the downstairs of our split-level. Some heat does make it to the upstairs with the help of a reversed cieling fan, but not enough to make it comfortable for company.
We plan on moving it tp our upstairs living room fireplace and getting a freestanding woodstove for the downstairs.

[halfpint]

We have both. On our main level, we have an Ashley insert that we put in soon after we built the house 23 years ago. In the basement, we have a wood stove, which we added later but had the house built for it.

The wood stove takes up a lot of space, but will pretty much heat the entire house once it gets going good. We do not have a fan on it, however will run ceiling fans in the basement to circulate air. I cannot cook on my wood stove.

My insert upstairs sticks out of the fireplace about 1', and I always keep a pot of water on it - for humidity and tea. We often cook soups and stews on it, and during winter storm 93 when we were without power for a week, it kept us plenty warm and well fed (we had not purchased the wood stove yet). We also kept large pots of water on it to use for bathing/washing during that time, although the bathroom was a little cold. Although I have a fairly large living room, a wood stove would take up too much space to make it comfortable.

For a wood stove you need to check the floor load, as well as what materials would need to be put underneath it.
Dawn

[barnyardgal]

I would go with a fireplace insert & thats what i have as like Cabin Fever said,they don't take up no space & just sit them inside the fireplace with minor adjustments or course..

What kind?? Go with an air tight with blowers and a glass front would be nice to..mine does not have a glass front & i sure wish it did but it works great anyways..Mine almost looks like the one that Cabin fever has a picture of..

Good luck!!

[Waiting Falcon]

Not knowing anything about inserts , how do I tell a good one from a poor quality one?
I like country flame best, have had fischer and ashley wood stoves

[TnAndy]

Originally Posted by halfpint

We have both. On our main level, we have an Ashley insert that we put in soon after we built the house 23 years ago. In the basement, we have a wood stove, which we added later but had the house built for it.

Exact same here.......freestanding in basement with it's own flue, and insert in the fireplace opening upstairs on the main floor.

We put in a Regency "Hearth Heater" which IS an insert, but sticks out quite a bit like a wood stove. (In fact, make SURE your heath is deep enough before you buy one of these type ) Plenty of room for keeping a pot of water on or cooking surface, and has a two speed fan....on low, you can't even hear it run.

The Regency is VASTLY superior to the old Fisher stove in the basement in terms of more heat for less wood.

[ai731]

Our place had a masonry fireplace with a propane-burning insert in it when we bought the place. First year I had the propane burner taken out and replaced with an airtight wood burning insert. Really, really happy with it, and it cut our oil bill in half. The masonry fireplace was down in the basement, so not a good place for a stove, unfortunately. As soon as we have some money, I'm going to put a wood cookstove in as well, up in the kitchen / dining area.

So I would have preferred a wood stove, but circumstances meant an insert was more practical, and I'm happy with it.

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by Waiting Falcon

Not knowing anything about inserts , how do I tell a good one from a poor quality one?
I like country flame best, have had fischer and ashley wood stoves

I'd recommend a model meeting the following criteria:

• 1/4" to 5/16" plate steel
• firebox is lined with refractory bricks
• air-tight construction
• secondary combustion tubes to meet EPA regs (ie, not a catalyst)
• UL listed