OK, I'll give you that, but he also said he lives in Canada in a bungalow which probably means itÂs older and not too well insulated. He also said that the main floor is 1500 sq. ft. Does that mean the entire house is 3K. I think it's all academic anyway because he wants a fireplace insert instead of a stove unless he changed his mind. My stove is 20 yrs. old and has the catalytic combustor technology. The sales lady that sold it to me said this stove would fit my house. It did in the beginning, but as I added on, it's getting too small. It works great for temps above 25 degrees or so but when the temps drop below 20, the furnace turns on periodically. My house is fairly tight. It has 2x6 studs in the exterior walls with R19 insulation, R38 in the attic. It's a 2 story and is about 2600 sq. ft. It has many good quality windows. We live in southern Wisconsin. All these factors makes me wish I had a bigger stove! ******************* "This is a complete fallacy. Do NOT get too large a stove!!! If you do, you will have your windows open all the time" ******************* Don't forget, he lives in Canada! As far as building smaller fires in a bigger stove goes, sometimes it gets into the 30s & 40s around here in the middle of January which means that even the stove I have gets to be too much so all I do is just keep the fire alive and make sure the combustor temperature is at least 500 degrees or better to keep the creosote buildup to a minimum. It's 38 degrees here as I'm typing this and I just checked the stove and it's getting a little low right now and it's very comfortable in here so I just didn't feed it, but if I hear the furnace kick on, then I sure will!! An old fire has gotten rid of most of it's creosote building gasses so even if the combustor temperature does go below 500 degrees I don't worry about it. Any embers at all will restart the fire immediately with good draft. I always clean the chimney every fall and itÂs never that bad. IÂm actually considering doing it once every 2 years. Theories are okay but they only provide the ground work! Only practical application will provide the best end result! Jim

I'm a long time follower of the site, and just realized I am not a member, although I thought I was. My wood insert is falling apart and I need to install a gas insert. Wood is 350$ a cord here and I loved my insert but it's not efficient anymore. I went to one store south shore of boston and was told a G4 installed would be 5 to 6k. That's double what I'm looking to spend and that's not even the high end brand. Should I find a new store? Am I being unrealistic? That price didn't include plumber or electrician. I'm normally a good shopper but feel out of my league on this purchase. Thanks for any help!

What you're considering are heaters. These are airtight woodstoves engineered to heat certain size areas, so in this case bigger is not better. I heat my 1250 sf home here in Vermont with this: It's the smallest woodstove Regency makes. If you put a big honkin' insert in your cabin you'll have every door and window open when it's going just to get the heat out. You'll also need to run a chimney liner to the top because these units have a 6 inch opening and your chimney is much larger. Without the liner the unit will not operate properly and smoke will fill the room. Is it worth $3000 to $4000?

”Ductless” is a misnomer. Recirculating is the correct term. That means you have to provide a route in and out both for the air to be able to come out somewhere. You need a custom stainless insert for the bottom, to cover any of the exposed wood, or you’re creating a fire hazard. Plus you need a big ugly opening grate for the air to recirculate. Or to duct it into an adjacent room, etc etc. Lots go into this, to make it safe and effective. Otherwise it’s a grease catcher that has a high risk of catching on fire.