Wood Stoves vs. Fireplace Inserts

Wood Stoves

• Wood stoves are traditional hearth stoves that use a basic metal firebox in which logs are placed and burned. Sometimes these boxes have grates, which make it easier to take care of ash and embers as they build up. A wood stove is connected in the back to a chimney flue, which channels out smoke. This chimney can be closed to cut off air flow when necessary.

Fireplace Inserts

• Fireplace inserts are essentially installations designed to perform the same tasks that wood stoves do naturally. They fit partially in and partially out of fireplaces and hold wood materials inside a thick metal shell. The back of the insert is connected to a chimney or vent.

Efficiency

• Fireplace inserts are designed primarily to conserve heat. Most inserts leave space around the outside of the metal shell so that air can pass back and forth, heating the room more easily. Otherwise, heat escapes through the stones of the fireplace, or the fireplace cannot be used for wood burning in the first place. In masonry fireplaces that are made of stone or brick, fires can be dangerous, and heat can escape easily through the masonry. With a fireplace insert, these fireplaces are more efficient, since the heat is held in by the metal sheath.

Appearance

• Inserts can be installed in a variety of fireplaces and are often used to give an existing hearth the ability to burn wood. This allows inserts to be placed in many different decorative fronts, giving them a wider range of design structures. Wood stoves typically have much fewer options available.

Clean Air Regulations

• Some wood stove inserts are not as effective at burning wood and removing smoke as real wood stoves. In the United States, the inserts are required to produce fewer than 7.5 grams of particle emissions per hour. Some states have even stricter guidelines that must be followed. Inserts must also be connected properly to the chimney.