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Kwschumm....About the firplace insert in basement. I have 2900 sf all brick ranch with full walkout basement tall ceilings 15'4'' and rest are 10' with lots of windows,and is 94 ft long.I tried the insert in the basement trick but could not get it to really do anything like heat the 1st floor at all. It would heat the open basement, but the only one down there was me loading the thing and my furnace was still running like normal. I moved the insert up to the main floor and would heat the open areas just great but the outside rooms on both sides of the house and basement were cold and the wife couldn't take it anymore. Our average gas bill is $400-$500 month in winter but i am heating the basement so really heating 5800 sq ft or so.
I sold the LOPI insert good for 2400 sq ft and installed an Energy King wood furnace on the backside of the basement fireplace (fireplace is in center of basement)and closed off the damper and ran stainless tube all the way up the chimney. This thing heats the entire house,everysingle room through your duckwork, and you could buy a water jacket to heat water. I bought the 160,000 btu model. With gas, we set the heat at 67 and with wood it averages 70-75. Wife is happy and that is all that counts isn't it. Good luck with your choice ,winter is almost here.
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I've decided to install the woodburner insert on the main floor. With the hvac fan recirculating air it should help a bunch. I've been wanting to also install radiant floor heat on the main floor from the unfinished basement. Didn't make it this year but maybe next. Between the two of those I'm hoping it will be fairly comfortable even during power outages.
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The literature for our existing manufactured fireplaces says they're rated at 60,000 BTUs. It seems a 25% increase in heat from inserts wouldn't be worth the $4-5k cost so I'm still looking for a workable and cost effective solution.
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The ratings for wood burners are confusing. Although the Heat & Glo EM-48 fireplace we have is rated at 60k BTUs it never seemed to put out much heat. The seemingly knowledgeable guy at the fireplace store said that the 60k BTU rating was the rating of the firebox and *not* how much heat it would deliver. That would explain why it didn't seem to heat as much as a woodstove we had in a previous house. So it looks like we'll be having a Quadra-Fire 5100i woodstove insert installed which supposedly can deliver up to 75000 BTUs of heat and is rated as the primary heat source for a house of up to 3500 sf. Any experience with Quadra-Fire stoves here? They seem to be very well built.
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Ken, the one thing (which I'm sure you already know) is that the 'rated' output of any wood burner is a relative thing.
In my case for instance, I can put huge quantities of coniferous wood in my insert all day long and not really do more than take the chill off, on the other hand, an armful of hard maple or some beech will burn all day long and nearly drive me out of the house from the heat if I don't have the damper fully closed.
It's really quite amazing the difference some good dry hardwood will make in the output of the stove.
Best of luck.
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Murf, you're right but in our fireplace we've burned maple, cherry and oak and never gotten much heat out of it (although the hardwoods are definitely better than fir).
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Ken, if you've burned good hardwood and still not gotten much heat out of the insert then I'd say the insert is the culprit.
My unit, as well others in my family, are about the same size as yours, 60k'ish BTU output, and if you have anything more than a single log smoldering you're sitting around in your skivies!!
In my case a SMALL fire will easily keep the furnace from cycling indefinitely and 70° in the house when it's 0° outside.
If I don't keep the ceiling fan going above the insert, it is the 90's upstairs.
Best of luck.
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Murf, we don't have an insert yet, it's just a manufactured fireplace where 90% of the heat goes up the chimney. That's what we're trying to fix. I'm sure the hardwood will make a much bigger difference in the insert.
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09-12-2007, 22:12 
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