Stûv 6-in - 66x50

Quick Facts

• Heating Capacity: 1,000 sq ft
• Efficiency: 67% (EPA)
• Viewing Area: 20⁹⁄₁₆" wide glass
• Maximum Log Size: Up to 16"
• Fuel: Wood.
• Controls: Self-setting air intake; nothing to adjust.
• Fan: None

Who It's For

The fireplace in the old house is small, and every insert you have measured against it is too deep or too tall. You still want a wood fire in it that heats. You need an insert built for the smaller hearths of older homes. If that is your fireplace, the Stûv 6-in 66x50 is the one; leave it open and the room gets the look of a fire and little of its heat.

What Makes It Special

The combustion chamber is cast iron, and it widens toward the door, so the glass is as wide as the hearth allows while the body behind it stays small enough for an old fireplace. The result is an insert that fits where others cannot and still gives a wide view of the fire.

Two metal plates in the floor of the firebox expand at different rates as it warms, and that movement sets the combustion air on its own. There is no damper to work. You start the fire and the insert handles the rest, including the extra air a cold start needs.

Room air enters at the front, warms along the chamber, and leaves through the top frame by itself. No fan, no noise, and the air sweeping the glass keeps the view clear.

Possible Downsides

• Built as supplemental heat for an insulated home with central heating. Stûv says so plainly; it is not a whole-house heater.
• Black is the only finish for the insert and its frames.
• No fan, so it warms the room it is in.

If you want a wood fire that heats from a hearth every other insert is too big for, the Stûv 6-in 66x50 is the right decision. The little fireplace becomes the room's gentle, steady source of warmth.

Finish the opening with a thin-edge frame, a 2-inch, 4-inch, or 6-inch picture-type frame, or a made-to-measure three- or four-sided frame, all in black, and add a mobile log rack or a Mobilobox.