Wood stove

[Mr Evilwrench]

Only problem I had this year was the filter on the furnace needed to be replaced, so we had a little excursion under 60, but next year I want a wood stove in place, to keep at least the middle part of the house comfortable. I'd like a cast iron stove with a bit of cooking surface. Where is your favorite place in the 317ish area to find such things? I'll want installation as well. We have O'Malia's up here, and I plan to have a look, but I expect they're pretty yuppy oriented.

 

[4sarge]

Bought ours at a Yuppie store in B-Town actually Paid less than the Blue Collar place in Cloverdale. Compare models, buy quality would be my recommendation. Probably cheaper to Buy in June than January

 

[rw02kr43]

there is a place right at 38th and 465 on the west side off of high school road. They sell Jotul and a bunch of others. We have a Jotul in our house and like it real well. I'm not sure of the name of the store. Sorry. Fireplace and patio or something like that. They also sell Big Green Egg so that might help you find them.

Jason

 

[eldirector]

We just bought our wood stove insert from Godby on US 36 east of Avon. We shopped for about a year before buying.

There are two fireplace/stove shops in the Bloomington area that are pretty nice. We didn't want our installer to be that far away (in case of issues). I can't remember their names.

Duncan's on the west side is another. They carry several nice models. Seemed to be a little pricier, and did NOT seem interested in selling us a wood burner. My in-laws bought their gas fireplace from them, and are very happy with it.

Lelands in Castleton was a bit pricey for us, and only had a couple of wood stoves. What they DID carry was very nice, though (Vermont Casting).

From my limited experience, it seems that the better places are farther from Indy. Most shops around here specialize in gas logs, and have very little in the way of wood stoves. If you get out of town a bit, they appear to switch - more wood and less gas.

I can't WAIT to get my wood burner running!

 

[4sarge]

there is a place right at 38th and 465 on the west side off of high school road. They sell Jotul and a bunch of others. We have a Jotul in our house and like it real well. I'm not sure of the name of the store. Sorry. Fireplace and patio or something like that. They also sell Big Green Egg so that might help you find them.

Jason

We just bought our wood stove insert from Godby on US 36 east of Avon. We shopped for about a year before buying.

There are two fireplace/stove shops in the Bloomington area that are pretty nice. We didn't want our installer to be that far away (in case of issues). I can't remember their names.

Duncan's on the west side is another. They carry several nice models. Seemed to be a little pricier, and did NOT seem interested in selling us a wood burner. My in-laws bought their gas fireplace from them, and are very happy with it.

Lelands in Castleton was a bit pricey for us, and only had a couple of wood stoves. What they DID carry was very nice, though (Vermont Casting).

From my limited experience, it seems that the better places are farther from Indy. Most shops around here specialize in gas logs, and have very little in the way of wood stoves. If you get out of town a bit, they appear to switch - more wood and less gas.

I can't WAIT to get my wood burner running!

Duncan's, W 38th & High School Road, Sold us a 5K Bio stove and went it kaput under warranty wasn't very interested in repairing. Bloomington Store on 2nd or 3rd, East of 37, top of hill, sold & installed (Blaze King-wood burner) and when we had a problem, fixed at their cost without any grief. You may be too far from their service area. Compare models, service and check references. Insurance company insisted upon a factory authorized install.

 

[Stschil]

I installed a Vozlegang 'Performer' series woodstove that I bought from Menards three years ago. Put it in our finished basement. We neve went below 60 in the house last week. It was advertised to heat up to 2200 sq ft, our house a 1 1/2 story with full walk out basement and right at 2100. Though we do use a small elec fireplace upstairs to warm things up in the mornings, the stove does a pretty good job and is our primary heat source.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Yeah, I'm not in such a hurry I can't wait for a deal. Has to be wood, though, optionally pellet; there's no gas here despite what IUPPS thinks, and I'm not getting into a propane pig. Also need the installation; I'm still too weak to do it right myself and my 18 y/o doesn't have the skill set. Now, I may do some funky things with heat exchangers on the chimney and such, but that's all afterward. The house is a trilevel with much openness. I'm looking to put the stove on the middle level and set up to close bits of the house off. Should be able to keep all the two and four legged critters comfy.

 

[4sarge]

Pellet stoves, similar to my Bio stove use sophisticated electronics and blowers that require electricity. I had mine repaired and re-certified then stored it and replaced with a wood stove, no electricity and no moving parts
The Bio good, I could heat the whole house toasty warm for 20-30 dollars a month with little effort. The bad, repairs, maintenance and ethanol subsidies.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Ahh, so pellets sound like a no go. Good to know.

 

[mom45]

We have two Vermont Castings stoves. They are great and last forever. The one has the catalytic combuster in it and that needs to be replaced every couple of years (we burn it 24/7 from November thru March/April. The smaller stove doesn't have anything that needs changing...just have to clean the chimney at least every spring. We heat our whole house with the two of them. A friend picked up a Vermont Castings stove (Resolute) on Craigslist for $100 last year. It is the porcelain coated one and is very nice. If you want someone to install, that may not be a good option but some good deals are there at times.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Duncan's, W 38th & High School Road, Sold us a 5K Bio stove and went it kaput under warranty wasn't very interested in repairing. Bloomington Store on 2nd or 3rd, East of 37, top of hill, sold & installed (Blaze King-wood burner) and when we had a problem, fixed at their cost without any grief. You may be too far from their service area. Compare models, service and check references. Insurance company insisted upon a factory authorized install.

"The Fireplace Center"... it's where I got mine. I only found one place cheaper to buy it from and it was a whopping $50 cheaper from an Amish source that was almost 3 hours away...

2nd street, head east, ~1.5 miles it will be on the left (north side), brown building. You can't miss it, it has 500 chimneys sticking out the roof because most of their show-room models are functioning models...

They are SUPER friendly, and definitely top-notch service. For example, after I ordered and paid I started 2nd guessing myself if the chimney pipe I ordered was long enough so I upgraded one section to 6" longer piece. They said not to worry about the price difference. I go out back to load it all up and they didn't have that size so they stepped me up another 6". I made it clear that I had only paid for a piece that was a full foot shorter and I wanted to make it right since they had to go up a whole foot. They wouldn't let me pay. Now for the uneducated that may not mean much, but anybody that has bought Class A chimney pipe knows that it runs ~$100/foot.

I did the install myself so I can't say how well they do but I have a friend that had them install an insert and he was very impressed with their professionalism and service. When you walk in the door nobody is going to try to up-sell you to a certain model or anything like that, it's all about what you want or think you want and they are very accomodating.

The only other place I know of in "Bloomington" is actually Elletsville (just west of Bloomington). I can't recall the name and but it's on the north side of 46 as you're going through the newer, 4-lane part of Elletsville. I wasn't impressed with their selection or prices and IIRC they don't have any functional wood-burners on the show-room floor.


As far as recommendations on a stove. If this will be something in a great-room etc I highly recommend a soap-stone stove. Soap-stone has twice the heat-storing capacity of cast-iron (so the stove will stay hot long after the fire has gone out) and it is very gorgeous.

This is the Woodstock Progress Hybrid. One of the cleanest burning, most efficient stoves on the market...

 

[pearlman1966]

I bought my insert from TJ'S Chimney Service
866 S State St. Greenfield 317-462-4759
Carries woodstoves too.

 

[4sarge]

"The Fireplace Center"... it's where I got mine. I only found one place cheaper to buy it from and it was a whopping $50 cheaper from an Amish source that was almost 3 hours away...

2nd street, head east, ~1.5 miles it will be on the left (north side), brown building. You can't miss it, it has 500 chimneys sticking out the roof because most of their show-room models are functioning models...

They are SUPER friendly, and definitely top-notch service. For example, after I ordered and paid I started 2nd guessing myself if the chimney pipe I ordered was long enough so I upgraded one section to 6" longer piece. They said not to worry about the price difference. I go out back to load it all up and they didn't have that size so they stepped me up another 6". I made it clear that I had only paid for a piece that was a full foot shorter and I wanted to make it right since they had to go up a whole foot. They wouldn't let me pay. Now for the uneducated that may not mean much, but anybody that has bought Class A chimney pipe knows that it runs ~$100/foot.

That's it I was never impressed with the shop in Ellettsville.

The Fireplace Center,

• 1210 W 2nd
• Bloomington, Indiana 47403

Good selection, and Guarantee their work.

Phone	(812) 336-2053
Email	thefireplacecenter@sbcglobal.net
Website

 

[Indy317]

I bought my insert from TJ'S Chimney Service
866 S State St. Greenfield 317-462-4759
Carries woodstoves too.

TJ's is a good company. I purchased my Regency wood burner insert from them. The model I have is an insert or freestanding, just depends on if you want legs/pedestal on it or if it is going into a fireplace. My Regency has been good. It is their smallest model and does well keeping half my 1,300 sq. ft. home warm. The back bedroom area of the home will have the thermostat at 70-74 depending on various factors, but it feels cold. I think the reason is because the front dining room, living room, and kitchen area are closer to 80 degrees. Having a good way to circulate the air would likely help. I strongly recommend a freestanding stove, as I lose a lot of radiant heat as it gets sucked up by my fireplace stone, the back half of which is shared by a cold garage. Regency was using cast steel, not sure if that is still the case.

 

[edporch]

Whatever you do, buy a wood stove that allows easy full precise adjustment of the air going into it.

 

[ultra...good]

Whatever you do, buy a wood stove that allows easy full precise adjustment of the air going into it.

I will second that and add that i have bought two recently that do not have adjustable dampers and are rated as high efficiency. Best investment ever. Flu pipe is never really too hot to touch, do not have to mess with damper. Just adjust air input and add wood to control heat output. Rarely have to clean the glass either and it is never difficult to clean.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Whatever you do, buy a wood stove that allows easy full precise adjustment of the air going into it.

Technically not possible. The new EPA rated high-efficiency stove do not burn the same way the old "smoke dragons" did. They allow unlimited air to the secondary burners (which is a good thing) and give you control over primary air.

IMHO, giving people "full precise adjustment of the air going into it" is exactly the reason you see smoke spewing from a lot of chimneys. People choke their stove down to a smolder to make the wood last longer. All that does is fill your chimney with creosote, make your neighbors choke in the smoke you're spewing out, and send valuable flammable gasses out the flue (wasting heat). If you see smoke coming out your chimney you're wasting energy, nearly every single particle of that smoke is a burnable gas that could be turned into heat if you were burning properly with a clean-burning stove.

 

[shawnba67]

I have 2 Jotuls a 118 and a number 4 and love them both.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Well, I have no fireplace, so it's going to be freestanding. Does anyone do something like draw the air from outside rather than inside? It occurred to me that might be a good idea. This will be right next to an outside wall.

 

[Cozy439]

We have two Vermont Castings stoves. They are great and last forever. The one has the catalytic combuster in it and that needs to be replaced every couple of years (we burn it 24/7 from November thru March/April. The smaller stove doesn't have anything that needs changing...just have to clean the chimney at least every spring. We heat our whole house with the two of them. A friend picked up a Vermont Castings stove (Resolute) on Craigslist for $100 last year. It is the porcelain coated one and is very nice. If you want someone to install, that may not be a good option but some good deals are there at times.

For 14 yrs now we have used a Vermont Castings Dutchwest Extra Large. Rated at 2200 Sq Ft. Our house is that size + a full basement. We have heated the house with it since we moved in. Good test for us was the POLAR VORTEX. Furnace on the fritz during the 2 worst days the storm. Woodstove is in basement and kept that area above 70 and the 1st floor was never under 66. Under normal times furnace only kicks in a couple times a year and is a supplement, not required. Highly Satisfied with this model. We bought ours north of Ft Wayne at Old Smokeys. If you don't mind cutting/splitting/stacking your own wood you will even save $ over gas/propane.