Fireplace Insert?Wood Stove?

[benosayi]

I have a wood burning fireplace on the ground floor of my raised ranch. The basement has a wood stove. Our house is about 1800 sq. We live in boston and fill our oil tank once a year. We are very, very frugal about running the heat. I would like to move the wood stove from the basement upstair and put it in the fireplace. I am not sure if this can be done. I am also thinking about getting an insert but I am not sure if I want to spend the 1,500.00 for one. The wood stove hasn't been used in about 8 years and when we did use it, it worked well. Anyone do this? Put a wood stove into their fireplace.

[cottageliving]

Last year I purchased a woodburning fireplace insert. They installed it and a chimney liner in early October. I absolutely love it! I live in WNY any have forced air gas heat in my home, but since this was a woodburning insert, I was eligible for a large tax credit. What I learned during my research was that it really would be best to have professionals do the installation. There are probably fireplace stores where you live - call them with this information: measure the opening to your fireplace height and width. Also measre front to back, and the height and width of the back wall of the inside of your fireplace. Measure how many inches there are from the top of the fireplace opening to the mantle, and how many inches the tiled or brick floor goes out from the front of the fireplace. THEN measure how tall your woodburning stove is and its height and width. measure from the ground how many inches up the tube at the back of the stove is and its circumference. The pros at a fireplace store will be able to tell you if it is a reasonable option to move the stove, and will give an estimate for them to do it. Check with several places, not just one. GOOD LUCK -- keep us posted.

[Palooka]

Yes, our good friends did this with their fireplace and it's all they use for heat and they say it saves a lot in gas. Not sure of the square feet of their house, but it's pretty big and heats the upstairs well.

[ravenmaniac]

You should be fine. To be on the safe side I would have the chimney checked first, unless you have burned wood in it the past year (for ascetic reasons), to make sure it is in good working order. Your chimney probably needs to be cleaned too.

[benosayi]

It does have to be cleaned. I would love to get an insert but I might have to work summer school to be able to get it. I am not sure with us only buying oil once a year that it is worth it. But with the tax credit??? I will not pay more than 2,000 for it. My neighbor is having a pellet stove installed this week. I am going to talk to the company he is using. I will get a professional to install either one and leave it to the professionals to measure too, we are still living with our miscalculation on a bathroom wall. I am only trying to heat the living room. we don't really use the basement much in the winter. Thanks you guys

[Darlene]

We have a fireplace insert in ours and that is our primary heat source. In our case it was a wise investment as we get our wood from our land and do all the work ourselves. A tank of oil lasts us 2 1/2 seasons, and we get it filled every other year.
Do you have a good source for cheap wood to burn? Willing to do the work it takes to split & stack? Ready for the mess that comes from those little bits of this and that that fall from the wood as you load the firebox up? Ready to enjoy a nice cozy, heart & body warming place to settle down and relax?
We love ours.

[benosayi]

Thanks, Darlene
I live in boston and there is not free wood..I am only willing to call someone and have them deliver it. I think I will having the wood stove moved to the living room fireplace. I just need to have a few logs burnt every night when we are watching television or in the living room. The location of the wood stove now is directly under the fireplace now so I think the connection for it to be placed in the fireplace is easy. I will have a profession do it.

[Darlene]

You'll really need to figure out what your wood would cost (hey, that rhymes! ) and compare it with what your heat source now costs you. Heating with wood like anything else now adays can really surprise you with it's cost. Good luck & I hope you do find it advantagous for you, something just so nice about sitting near a wood burning stove.

[joyofsix]

We would love to get an insert for our fireplace (which we don't use much because we read it actually makes your heaters work harder). We have electric heat and I am so tired of keeping it at 62 and freezing.

[Luckybustert]

Yes, we have two fireplaces and have the wood stove inserts in both of them, one upstairs and the other downstairs. They are our primary sources of heat and they are fabulous - we absolutely love them. We get the compressed logs, usually at Costco, but this next year we may try to get them in bulk from one of our local lumber stores. Even buying the logs from Costco, we didn't buy that many this past year, but it was a warmer than normal winter so I'm sure that's why. We also burn our junk mail and things like newspapers and used tissues in it.

[benosayi]

I too am tired of keeping my heat at 63. The decision has been made by our plumber. We need to repair our lateral line which is technically on city property. City will give us 3,000 but the cheapest estimate is 4,800. Oh, well it looks like we will just be opening the basement door for the wood stove and heating the living room or depending on the cost moving the woodstove upstairs. I don't think I could justify the cost of an insert anyway. Getting wood around her wasn't too difficult, we got it about6-7 years ago. We got a cord and it lasted the winter. We only used about 1/2 a tank of oil and the house was warm. The basement is finished, it is hubby man's room. We might be doing more down there next winter. Thanks for help guys

[ravenmaniac]

I love my wood stove, the heat is so warm. We live in an area where dh is able to cut split wood himself, so it is practically free.

I hope you are able to move and enjoy your insert.