All, I haven't posted in years since I had gotten rid of my Hearthstone wood stove in 2016, but I just bought a house in October that has 2 fireplaces that I've been fixing up. Today, I bought a 3 cubic foot Lopi catalytic wood insert with a cast iron front panel to put in the main floor hearth. I have about 1.5 cords of seasoned wood to get through from mid Feb (install date) to the end of March, and will be helping a good friend in his tree business over the summer in exchange for logs. He takes down many trees each summer, so I will help him on the jobs where he is taking down white oak, red oak, or cherry. He told me the ash we used to cut 10+ years ago is mostly gone in this part of the country. I'm not new to wood burning and understand that wood (especially oak) takes over 2 years to season. New fireplace insert should work nice, but I'm new to catalytic stoves. This one qualifies for the tax credit, so that will take some of the sting out. Was about $8k with the install...normally I buy used, but I didn't feel like waiting around and the tax credit makes it a little better. I still have my Stihl 441, MS 192, and a DR Rapid Fire log splitter amongst various tools, but I have taken some time away from wood heat. I will take before and after pics of the install if anyone out there is interested. I'm happy to be back on the forum. I miss reading this site, but I had nothing to add since I wasn't burning the past 8 years. As an aside, I have a Woodstock Cottage Franklin gas stove that I moved from my last residence that I'll be putting in the basement bedroom over the summer. I didn't have the time or the resources to get that in as the home I bought needed alot of money and time to get it fixed up (was a short sale).
Both of the fireplaces have a gas starter with a key. Oddly enough, neither fireplace was ever used since home was built late 1990s. Man who bought and lost home didn't apparently ever want to have a fire. The downstairs fireplace will have gas capped by stove shop, but the upstairs gas will come in handy if i can find a used gas insert someday. I don't feel like hauling firewood up to the 2nd floor and like the idea of pushing a button and having a fire for chilly nights. Home has natural gas. service. Basement hot water heater and first and second floor fireplaces share this chimney.
The stove shop came out and took measurements. Thought insert might not fit, but it sounds like fireplace is just big enough. This one is 3.0 cubic foot...I didn't want anything smaller, so I got lucky. Install on Feb 13th, so I gotta be patient. Reminds me of waiting for xmas as a kid
That looks great! Welcome back. Fellow Rush fan here. After Primus and Tool, they're my 3rd favorite band.
One of the issues I'm having is cleaning the glass. I ordered Perkins glass cream and conditioner. I am not scraping or doing anything aggressive to damage stove glass. Came with a push button catalytic thermometer. Crusing in the mid 700s at the cat on average. Seems like a great option for those looking for an insert. No better or worse than my Hearthstone Heritage was. Bigger firebox...different animal but equally appealing
I'd just use water dipped paper towel in some ash. My parents have the off brand lopi version of this but medium sized. Works really well and they think I've done a magic trick when I'm done. No magic just a super simple practice when the stove is cooled.
For cleaning the glass, I use a razor blade. If you have to, use a paper towel and water or glass cleaner after razor blading. The"glass" will need to cool off a long time as the ceramic really retains heat. The drier your wood is the less cleaning you'll need to do. Once you get ahead to 2 years or more, it will be much easier. At this point I only get ashes on my glass. Those come right off.
