Fireplace insert efficiency

[NoTrespassing]

Hey all,

I'm looking for some anecdotal evidence to support putting in a fireplace insert. A friend of mine bought a house with a fireplace recently. It has a metal firebox and double wall stove pipe in it now but the front is wide open.

I've told him that I think a good fireplace insert with doors on it would be much more efficient but I don't have any evidence to back up my claim.

Besides putting in a fireplace insert (wood stove basically) is there any other way for him to make his fireplace more efficient? All he has is a damper right now and no way to adjust airflow. Is there any type of tubing that can be put in easily with a fan or something? I think he's going through a lot of wood for not a lot of benefit.

Thanks for any help,
Kevin

 

[Jaeger]

I used to supplement my old house heat with a Lopi insert.

It was the freedom bay model and fit right into my firebox opening. I would say I had a huge increase in efficency over the fireplace.

I could load it up with good oak and it would burn for over 9 hours. The nice thing with the insert is you control the amount of air intake, and can set the blower speed which comes on by thermostat.

I'd buy another in a minute. My chimney sweep recommended the Lopi said it was the cleanest burning one on the market. He was right very good unit!!

The insert is nice because you have the glass door for fireplace looks and real heat for woodstove performance. ...J

 

[billbill1]

Kevin, I've been around several fireplace inserts, they are efficient and a good heat source. Not quite as good as a stove in that there is only one side exposed for radiation of heat. The drawbacks are a smaller firebox (in most cases) and they tend to dirty the chimney quicker.

 

[JimR]

A standard fireplace is like having an open pit that you throw wood into. All the heat goes up the chimney as the fire burns down. Tell him to put in an insert and he will see the difference immediately. You can also get an insert that sticks out quite a bit that will throw off alot of heat. Or you can do like I just did. I blocked off the chimney opening just under the damper with a sheet of steel. I sealed all the way around the sheet with sealer. I put a 6 inch hole thru it and put a woodstove in front of the fireplace. The stovepipe has a damper on it and is airtight. This way you get the most out of your wood.

 

[Egon]

Kevin:

The only way to increase the efficiency of an open fireplace is to not use it and close off the opening. An airtight insert or freestanding stove in the front will definetly be a heating asset. Combine this with having the furnace running constantly [ assuming hot air furnace here ] and there will be a substantial gain in usable heat produced.

We replaced a propane insert with a woodburning insert this fall and am very happy with it.

Egon

 

[GregMVT]

This is the third winter in this house, about 1,400 sf. The first winter we used the fireplace and I know we lost a lot of heat once the fire started burning down. In Oct of '03 we put in a Regency insert and also had the chimney relined with 6" round stainless flexpipe, kind of pricey, but now the chimney is sized correctly for what we have. I believe most chimneys are oversized for what they need to do so a fireplace throws a lot of heat up even when there is a good fire. I think the insert has cut our propane costs in half, the bad part is we don't seem to qualify for the quanitity discounts anymore on propane. There are probably as many companies making inserts as there are making tractors. A lot of them are good and will do the job. We had looked at Lopi but the dealer was 75 miles north of us and we wanted someone a little closer. A couple of things for your friend to think about is to get the largest unit that will fit in the fireplace, he'll have to measure the fireplace (the websites for insert manufacturers will have the dimensions and where to measure on them) and get one with a GOOD fan!!! I have never been able to get a 9 hour burn out of ours, usually 2-4 hours between loading. Hope this helps. Greg

 

[Egon]

Greg:

Our insert is also a Regency, small insert, with the flex pipe. It does make a difference.

Egon

 

[NoTrespassing]

Thanks for the replies all.

I'm wondering if there is a way to come up with a theoretical number for the increase in efficiency. Remember the fireplace already has a steel insert with 6" chimney pipe and open front. I don't have the dimensions of the fireplace itself but I could get them. He's buying wood to burn at the present time and says he has it burning anytime he's home.

I figured between $1500 and $2000 for a good insert. The point would be, how long before it paid for itself in wood savings. That's a tough one to figure I realize.

Besides wood burning he uses a brand new fan forced propane furnace.

Maybe a good website with comparisons, I haven't really found one.

Kevin

 

[MarkV]

Kevin,
I don’t have any hard numbers just my experience to go by. There was a Buck Stove insert in the house we bought last year that runs most all the time. Our thermostat is set on 55 with the furnace blower running all the time to move heat around the house. With the outside temps in the high 20’s the insert can raise the house temps into the 70’s. This house is about 1900 sq. ft. and insulated as much as they did in the early 70’s down south. There is no question that our heating bill is reduced by more than half. I would think your friend could do some rough figuring by cutting his propane bill in half.

One thing I would look for if shopping for an insert is the noise level of the blower. Ours is just loud enough to be irritating.

MarkV

 

[milkman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Besides putting in a fireplace insert (wood stove basically) is there any other way for him to make his fireplace more efficient? )</font>

The only way I could think to make the one I had more effecient was to put it in a ditch on the back of the place to help stop erosion, not very effecient at that either.
They do make the heatilator tubes that might help.