Looking for a fireplace insert for the 2016/17 burning season. ..my question is what is the best bang for my buck. ..straight wood or wood/coal any info would be greatly appreciated thanks
Fireplace dimensions, type (steel prefab or masonry), chimney height and I.D., and maybe a pic would be helpful. Evening/weekend kind of thing? 24/7? How much space? How tight/well insulated?
There's plenty of choices available. I'll be getting an efficient insert this year. I've got to start doing more homework because fall is around the corner. These are all necessary things to determine what will or won't work. Also, budget is a big one. These inserts can go from 800-3500, before install. You'll need a SS chimney liner and a cap too to make it work properly and safely.
There are plenty of us here that will be glad to help you but as Jeff states we need more info to make some suggestions
I was drooling over Napoleons, rebuilding hearth not in the budget. I caught a good sale on a small insert...........its too SMALL! Don't make my mistake
One suggestion, don't go wood/coal. Multi-fuel stoves usually don't burn either very well. When we see what you are working with I'll gladly pipe in... KaptJaq
Have you burned coal before? I have and at the time it worked great for us. But, its very dirty, it smells bad when burning, and some places its hard to find any for sale. Food for thought....
Or just coal. Or do what I do, I burn wood in the upstairs insert and coal in the family room stove. The coal stove CAN also burn wood but it does not do it well. Most of the time I just burn wood. When we get the bitter cold spells the wood stove is not big enough so we light the coal stove also. Advantages of coal are extended burn times, continous burns (no shutdows to clean out the ash), easy to add fuel. A disadvantage is that coal does leave a black dust around if you are not neat and careful. Low sulfur decent quality anthracite coal burns clean and ordor free. One reason we keep the coal stove is that we can get weekend long burns out of it. If I light it Friday and top it off Friday night it will still be burning when we get home Sunday night. I've found that coal is easy, wood is cheap. KaptJaq
Since you're fairly local to where they're made in York County, might I suggest Baker Wood Stoves. We bought a used one 7-8 years ago and it has served us very well.
Never burnt coal before. ..that being said I just recently bought a house with a brand new oil forced air furnace and an old Armstrong coal furnace. ...the neighborhood handyman told me that the Armstrong hasn't worked for the last couple years hence the installation of the new furnace. ..the coal bin is completely full of coal though which is a plus. ...house was a pain to clean with all the black soot everywhere. ..hopefully a coal/wood insert won't be as messy as the coal furnace was
I looked at the Baker Fireside insert...the only price I could find was $3250...am I wrong in thinking this is salty in price or is this around the going rate for inserts?
I wish I could share more about a coal furnace, ours was a DIY wood stove that we used coal in during bad winters, we did mostly wood, but coal overnight and during frigid wind-tunnel days. I would absolutely get it inspected to find out if it needs repairs or replacing, and the pipe and or chimney looked at. The chimney and or pipes can be a considerable cost.... That might help you narrow some ideas down. The first insert I really liked was $4K, plus we would have had to demo and build a new chimney.......($$$$$$). The insert I ended up buying was $1K, plus ~~$2K in cleaning and relining the old chimney.
The earliest I could schedule for a chimney inspection and cleaning is October 18th. ...not prepared to spend a lot but don't wanna buy junk either so it's a catch 22 i guess
