I have a fireplace in my living room that I've been wanting to put a natural gas insert into for a few years now but am now having second thoughts about this with our world situation going crazy.

Right now I have a pretty good deal with my natural gas price I'm paying but it's only good for another year and I don't know if it's going to go sky-high on me like I'm hearing from all over.

Now I'm considering making that insert a wood burning one or even pellet. This would be used more for secondary heating and keeping the LR toasty in the middle of our brutal cold winters we can get there, not for heating the house overall.

Can the members here give me some insight on the pros and cons of these three types? I know wood is a lot more work but it's always going to be available, my Dad has a pellet stove he likes but says the pellets can get really expensive too.

Not sure what direction to go here!

If you have wood available that's what I'd suggest. I have it available here and use a wood stove for heat when it gets down to the mid 30's and below. It's so nice to be toasty warm especially w/o paying for gas or electricity.
My second choice would be a gas insert but like you said gas will be going up, a lot according to what I'm hearing. My sister has one and the way she uses it, it hasn't raised her gas bill. With the insert she keeps the house colder now (62 instead of 67) but the living room which has the insert is warm, at least 70 when I've been there.

I had a gas fireplace, it was more for decor than heating. I have a pellet stove to supplement a gas furnace. It runs from 4 to 10 pm and uses a bag in about 3 days. Current price is 5 bucks a bag, if you have storage, they are cheaper by the ton. There is some maintenance, but it is minor.

Keystoker is right in Pennsylvania. They sell Obadiah built coal inserts. Pea, nut and stove coals. Last I knew coal is 1/3rd the price of oil. That coal insert is self feeding and runs 48 hours per fill. Great heat.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
Keystoker is right in Pennsylvania. They sell Obadiah built coal inserts. Pea, nut and stove coals. Last I knew coal is 1/3rd the price of oil. That coal insert is self feeding and runs 48 hours per fill. Great heat.

Good point! I hadn't even thought about coal

I've posted a number of times about my brothers install of the Keystoker rice coal furnace. He tied right into existing ducts for his oil furnace. His furnace hopper holds 200 pounds if rice coal. That sucker makes such a constant heat. Its wonderful. His first Winter heat cost went from over $2,600.00 down to just $800.00. That is a serious savings.

Wood is a lot of mess and work and good hardwood firewood here has also gotten quite expensive unless you have access and cut it yourself. We heated exclusively with wood for years but I don't miss the work or mess now that I'm older. In a much nicer home now and not fond of the smoking it up with the inevitable smoke either.

Gas is going up. What isn't? I think if I already had the gas in place I would hold out until you actually can determine the future price.

No experience with pellets other than a smoker

Get a high efficiency fireplace insert. You’ll realize the highest output of heat of any of the options you’re considering and newer stoves are not only efficient at squeezing every usable btu out of the wood, but they are excellent for completely burning fuel as well. This adds up to more heat and reduced emissions which equates to reduced creosote buildup. Make sure to have it installed with the correct liner rather than bare-hearth and chimney.

We have a Regency I1200 medium sized insert. When run hot, it produces almost no creosote. I brush it out every fall and the liner is always silvery and clean with one pass.

Eastern PA here....burning pellets 26 years now...put in a HarmanInsert 2 yrs ago to replace the 1st Glo-King. I burn ~ 4ton pellets a season for a 1500SF bi-level. Pre-season pellet cost for next season is near $275/ton - going up like all other fuels.

Other thoughts:
Coal...cheaper but dusty/dirty. Ash disposal may be a concern.
Wood....may be less if you have a source...but more labor intensive.

I had a wood fireplace and used it a few times a year.

I put in a gas insert with a remote and use it a few times a week.


No wood to haul, no ash to clean up, no smoke in the house.

I am very happy with the gas insert choice.

Pellets, been using for close to thirty years. You need a place to store. And moving a bag or two every day is a bit of a commitment. But been worth it in our situation.

We have a Lopi Freedom Bay insert. I burn only very hard wood (Oak, etc) It heats the almost 2000 sq foot main floor very well on cold days. It burns very clean, no creosote and well under 4.5 grams/hour of particulates. I agree with gearhounds.

I'd go with a wood stove myself. Anything else and you are dependent on someone else to supply you the fuel at their price.

I have been heating my total electric home with a Lopi Wood Stove since 1991. My house is always warm and cozy in the winters, I do have a lot of trees on my place, my favorite for firewood is BeauDarc or Osage Orange . It burns really well and keeps the house warm all night, it does make a mess of things but it is what it is.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
I'd go with a wood stove myself. Anything else and you are dependent on someone else to supply you the fuel at their price.

I agree.

I'm fortunate to have plenty of hardwood on my property to feed the Buck 74 we just ordered.

I'd leave the idea of coal alone... the availability of good coal is probably more limited than even pellets....

which is your real concern with the thought of a gas insert.... what the future holds for natural gas cost and such.... coal, pellets, gas are all dependent on some supplier. wood not so much.

Hard call... but I will say that I've installed a number of 'VENTED' gas inserts, mostly direct vent and not one person has regretted it. Just too damn easy ... even though they are over engineered now.... and direct vent is the way to go...

As for a wood insert... this is probably just because of my history.... 39+ years as a chimney sweep.... It must be installed correctly with a new full liner from the top of the stove to the termination of the chimney.... I spent too many hours trying to sweep all the improperly installed ones from the late 70's and 80's.

In our vacation home we had a Lopi stove in the fireplace, and it was great--for a vacation home.
In our (now former) residence, we had installed a Jotul Firelight free-standing gas stove, and it was used frequently and with delight. The radiant heat given off by either a wood OR gas stove feels wonderful.
Our current gas logs in the fireplace don't give the same feeling, so at some point we will replace that setup with gas fireplace inserts.

Over the years I put two wood burning inserts with fireplaces, different houses. They put out a good amount of heat.

We have a cast iron woodstove here, since we built in the mid 90’s. I can easily maintain 75-77 inside the house.

The biggie is wood then the work making it into firewood. Though we have minimal on our property, I’m overflowing with firewood, free besides work.

I have friends then keep my eyes on the lookout. Since many don’t cut now, early Spring is a great time.

Besides access to wood, one has to be so inclined. You may call it a defect, but I like the process of making firewood. A nice stack of quality wood is like having $$ in the bank.

If one wasn’t versed, or hated the task, yes, gas or pellet options would be more viable.

We have a gas line running right through a crawl space where we’re putting a new fireplace on an outside wall. Due to window placement and other factors (including not wanting to build a chimney), zero-clearance direct vent gas is really our only practical option.

If I had a choice, I’d go wood/pellet without hesitation.

-Rob

You can also vent a pellet stove thru the wall with the proper vent pipe arrangement