Well we ordered it today. Took some of the money we got from logging our place and bought a Quadrafire Classic Bay pellet fireplace insert to replace the propane insert we have now. We never use the propane insert, it's inefficient and propane is expensive. Right now we're heating the house with a propane furnace and paying an average of $1500-1800 a year for propane. Hoping to bring our heating costs down with this:



They'll deliver it sometime after Thanksgiving. Now all we have to do is figure out how to install the thing!!

 

Interesting. We have a wood burning fireplace here. I'm old school. We actually used it last winter.

 

My sister had a pellet insert in their old house. Probably close to the same square footage as ours and it heated the entire house very nicely. Something about wood/pellet heat just seems warmer than propane or electric. It's actually been explained to me before why that is but I can't remember the conversation. I'm anxious to get it and see how well it works!

 

That's exactly what we are looking for. I can't wait to hear about the install. A couple weeks ago we had the chimney cleaned but they said some masonry work needs to be done first. But with the pipe going out I don't see why? Hope all goes well. They said the masonry work would have to be done if we burned wood, I don't know if that applies to a pellet stove. Looks great Rose. Keep us updated, Thanks

 

I don't have any sort of fireplace in my home. Always wished I did. Maybe my next one. Looks awesome Rose. Enjoy it!

 

Masonry work...in your chimney or fireplace? We're going to have to run a 3" flexible pipe up the existing 6" pipe in the chimney for the pellet stove. Once we take the gas insert out we will see what has to be done to put the pellet one in. I hope it goes right in but nothing ever works that easy!!

Thanks LT, I hope we do!!

 

That's nice WMR. We had to install a 6" flex liner up our chimney. The install came with the purchase so we didn't have to mess with it.
We installed a Pacific Energy woodstove insert in our fireplace earlier this year. It's in a 13x30 family room and even on low it gets so hot we have to open the outside door once in awhile. I went so far as putting a suction fan in one corner near the ceiling to blow hot air into my return furnace duct so it comes out upstairs when the furnace is off and goes through the furnace when it's on. Still roasts you out.
Then a couple weeks ago I cut 9 holes in my wall to let the heat out. Just cut between the studs (load bearing wall and all) then framed it inside and trimmed them outside. That helps a lot but not enough. Oh, we have a ceiling fan too trying to circulate the heat out.
I love it because it works way better than expected, I just can't get enough of the heat to go outside the room. It's not like I'm trying or wanting to heat my entire house with it, it would just be nice if it helped a bit upstairs.
here's a picture of the wall when I got done. The other side is painted drywall but the holes look the same. http://www.members.shaw.ca/dam.it/wall.jpg

 

That looks pretty cool Larry!

This is the only picture I have in my gallery that sort of shows what we're heating. You are looking from our loft out over the living room/dinning room open area. The living room/dinning room combined are about 18 x 30'. The kitchen is under the loft where the picture is taken and there is a bedroom to the right of the kitchen. Our bedroom is beside the loft to the right. The big knotty pine wall in front is actually the chimney (the snowshoes are sitting on the mantle which is above my head when I stand beside the fireplace!!) and the ceiling tops out at about 26' with the walls on each side about 16'. Lots of space, I don't think we'll have a problem with too much heat!

 

Very nice. A guy at work has a pellet stove and he loves it. He said he would never go back to just wood.

 

After they cleaned the chimney and firebox they said I would need some masonry work done on the firebox if i was going to burn wood again. Wood is a PITA in my opinion, to messy. Once I has a heard of large black ants that decided to emerge from a log once warmed up and had ants all over the place. Anyhow I have an insert that needs to come out first, but I don't see the need to do any masonry work if there is going to be a pipe going up the chimney?

 

Well, I am by no means an expert on the subject but I believe the issue would be that wood generates a lot more heat around the insert itself so the clearance tolerances and heat protection have to be greater than with the pellet insert. I agree that wood is a PITA, that's why we decided to go with pellets!

 

Thanks WMR, you got me fired up now, going shopping for a pellet stove.

 

A friend of mine has a wood burning stove and that thing puts out some serious heat.. I wish I had one..


James

 

That's a beautiful house, Rose. They don't make them like that down here.

 

I have a wood burning stove in my current house, and am planning on one for my new house.

This one exactly.
http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/wood_stoves/mansfield/