Wood Burning Stove vs Insert

Wood Stove - The Good

• ✅ Heats even in a power outage (a wood stove insert doesn't do as well since it needs an electric blower to heat to its full capacity)
• ✅ You get more heat

Wood Stove - The Bad

• ❌ Doesn't work well in a fireplace (even if it fits)
• ❌ Takes up more space

Wood Stove Insert - The Good

• ✅ Perfect size for a fireplace
• ✅ Doesn't let heat escape from the top like a wood stove

Wood Stove Insert - The Bad

• ❌ Needs electricity to operate at its best (inserts use a blower to circulate air from its insulating envelope)
• ❌ Uses more wood to heat the same space.

Our Favorite Wood Stove: Drolet HT-3000 (DB07300)

Price: $

First things first: getting a ten-hour burn time is going to take managing your stove perfectly. The good news is, it is possible. The Drolet HT-3000 was manufacturer tested and can burn that long.

In order to get that long of a burn time you'll need to pack your firebox as efficiently as possible with well seasoned wood (15-20% moisture content), and keep the damper closer to closed to limit airflow (more air = faster burning).

• Where is it Made? Quebec, Canada 🇨🇦
• Where does it ship from? Straight from Drolet. That means it'll either come from their warehouse in South Bend, IN or Madison Heights, VA.
• EPA Certified: you know it!
• Tax Credit Eligible: ✅ (get 30% of the appliance and installation cost off on your taxes, up to $2,000)
• Total heat output? The nominal (i.e. theoretical) heat output is 110,000 BTU. The realistic max heat output is 51,616 BTU/h

Buy for $  on Renovation Reserve

Our Favorite Fireplace Insert: Drolet Escape 1800-I Wood Insert Trio (DB03128K)

Price: $

Ahhh, the Heat Commander. This is the most popular wood furnace we sell. That said, it's not perfect. Here's a quick rundown of the main specs and then I'll tell you what I like and don't like about this unit. 

• Where is it Made? Quebec, Canada 🇨🇦
• Where does it ship from? It generally ships direct from the manufacturer. That means it'll either come from their warehouse in South Bend, IN or Madison Heights, VA.
• EPA Certified: you know it!
• Tax Credit Eligible: ✅ (get 30% of the appliance and installation cost off on your taxes, up to $2,000)
• How much area can it heat?  Anywhere between 1,700 sq ft (if you get temps below 0℉) to 2,900 sq ft if you live in a climate that's a bit more mild
• Total heat output? The nominal (i.e. theoretical) heat output is 75,000 BTU. The realistic max heat output is 44,500 BTU/h

Buy for $  on Renovation Reserve

Can You Put a Wood Stove Inside or in Front of a Chimney?

The short answer is... yes, you can. The longer answer is putting a wood stove inside a chimney is a bad idea. You lose a lot of the heat up your chimney.

See, a fireplace insert is basically a wood stove inside a steel shell with an air pocket that goes around the whole stove.

The air does two things:

1. It insulates your insert so the heat doesn't escape up your chimney
2. It heats up the insulation air and then uses a blower to blow it into the room you want to heat

A wood stove on the other hand, doesn't have any insulation. That's because it's made to be put in a room where there is no fireplace.

See, a wood stove uses radiant heat as the primary heating method. A fireplace insert uses convection as its main way to heat. Convection is just a fancy way to say moving air.

The problem is, if you put a wood stove in your chimney, now all the radiant heat from the top, back and sides are doing nothing but going out your chimney. Not good my friend. Not good.

Wood stoves often have an optional blower so you can heat with convection too, but it still doesn't make it a good candidate for going in a chimney or in front of one.

How Did I Pick These?

Since we sell quite a few different inserts and wood stoves, I just picked a couple of my favorites. You can take a look at our wood stoves collection or our fireplace insert collections if you'd like to see more options!

Why Should You Trust My Opinion on Wood Stoves?

Great question! Since starting work at Renovation Reserve, I've had to learn more about wood burning products than I ever thought I would. I've been lucky enough to talk directly to manufacturers and have them answer tons of random questions about wood burning products. While I don't know everything, I am studying for my NFI certification and have loved every moment of this wood burning journey.

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We decided to tackle another topic that is very popular: what the best non-catalytic wood stove is! We dive into the debate here.