what is the best wood insert

[allthegross]

I have done alot of research on them but was wondering some other opinions. i went with a heat n glo northstar almost got the quad fire 7100 but thought it would be over kill i think i was right northstar puts out 60000 btu and is more than enough for the first floor of my house. second plus is i also like the look of the unit. pretty much let it run 24-7

 

[Wood Scrounge]

I bought this cheap little Dutch west not expecting a lot from it. I am VERY impressed. It puts out TONS of heat only problem the fire box is small and can only get a 5 hour burn out of it.
my neighbor has a VC insert that he payed twice as much for and I feel my insert puts out 1.5 times more heat. My VC defiant will burn for 8+ hours does not put out as much heat at peek burn. More money does not mean more better.
http://www.vermontcastings.com/content/products/productdetails.cfm?id=325

 

[allthegross]

i notice im getting around a 9 or 10 hour burn time but only about 7 hours of real heat time. if i can get a log or two in in the middle of the night it makes the mornings much warmer. i dont cut the combustion air back to much and try to keep the fire good and hot. maybe i would get a longer burn if i did.

 

[allthegross]

You want a good hot fire as the combustible gasses are burnt but after an hour or two, most of these gasses are gone and it is a good practice to turn the air down a bit. This will give you a longer burn time. It sounds like you are getting good burn times already if your stove is one of the newer epa stoves.

yes it is an epa rated stove. are they supposed to have a longer or shorter burn time? im going to try and cut it back a bit tonight like you said and see how it goes

thanks

 

[ADAMH]

i love my BIS unit, we use it every day...nice big glass window, and lots of heat vent choices...plus its a catalytic reburner....large wood capacity..and good ash box...

our other unit is a massive Napolean unit..it can take 22" logs and its blower can heat our whole 3500sq ft house in the dead of winter....we dont use it often as it in the "fancy" room that no one ever goes into

 

[ADAMH]

this is the BIS unit..its the panorama..we got ours all black....with optional fans..and upper gravity vents

http://www.securitychimneys.com/pages/fireplace/high_BisPanorama.asp?country=ca

and the big boy is a napolean "highcountry"

http://www.napoleonfireplaces.com/Webshare/wood/wood fireplaces/nz6000.html

 

[allthegross]

this is the BIS unit..its the panorama..we got ours all black....with optional fans..and upper gravity vents

http://www.securitychimneys.com/pages/fireplace/high_BisPanorama.asp?country=ca

and the big boy is a napolean "highcountry"

http://www.napoleonfireplaces.com/Webshare/wood/wood fireplaces/nz6000.html

nice i really like the napolean wish i looked at that. it has a much bigger fire box than the northstar but puts out the same btu. do you have a longer burn time with that unit and do you find you burn more wood?