Stove Builder International CW2900 Century high Efficiency Wood Insert

I was looking for a good value in a stove insert with a fresh air intake. This is it, and was really the only option. I found a good deal on it elsewhere with a liner included, and also ordered a bunch of accessories. The only real complaint I have with the unit itself is that there's no high temperature wiring kit to run the plug for the fan under or close to the stove. Every single picture of every stove insert I've ever seen removes or hides the wiring for the fan. There's only one company that sells stoves that actually allows you to conceal the wires and have it look like the pictures(Lopi, I think); every other insert with a fan that I found needs you to run a black 3 prong plug and cord across your hearth to an outlet if you wan to use the fan. If you don't want to use the fan, there's nowhere to store the cord so you'd better remove and store the fan away. That every picture of stove inserts hides this fact suggests to me that consumers do not like these options and insert sellers are aware of that. So, SBI, how about at least offering an accessory that would allow you to wire up the stove so nobody sees the wires? I found the choice ridiculous: pay way more for a Lopi (which, if I recall, didn't have the dimensions I wanted) or live with a cord. Instead, I rewired the fan to use +1000F rated electrical wire inside armored BX cable--and probably broke a bunch of codes and voided my warranty in the process. I wouldn't describe the fan itself as quiet, but runs smoothly (no rattling). The fan is not particularly important to me, as my hearth is centrally located begins to radiate heat in all directions after it gets warmed up.My only other complaints are related to shipping, which may not apply to those ordered through Amazon. Mine was shipped assembled, which meant the fire bricks were relatively unsecured inside and one arrived chipped. I also strongly feel the leveling bolts should have been pre-installed. They are included in a bag and, as the manual didn't show how or where or when to install them, mine was centered in the hearth and hooked up before the manual indicated that I should level the insert by turning the leveling bolts. I was quite irritated and I did not disconnect, remove, and somehow prop up the 250+lbs stove to install the bolts. It's nearly level anyway, and it works wonderfully. I have a bit of trouble getting fires started as it's a rather large firebox, and my wood is often not well seasoned. Leaving the door open for up to 45 minutes usually helps.I was uncertain how the insert works before I bought it, and I'd never owned an insert. Basically, the firebox is surrounded by a steel (convection) shell that circulates air around the firebox. The fan blows air through a rectangular tube under the stove, up behind the back of the firebox, over the top, and and out the top front of the stove. Air still circulates around the shell without the fan running, though at a much slower rate. Intake (combustion) air also goes under the stove, but is kept mostly separated from the convection air. Combustion air seems to enter the firebox through a hole in the front right corner of the stove. The damper lever on the front controls how big this hole is.One thing I find odd is that the handle on the door seems to be made out of wood. Maybe it's some sort of composite product that closely matches the look and feel of wood. If you buy a fancier stove, you're mostly paying for upgrades to minor components like this. I expected something simple, but it's rather perplexing to have a manual full of warnings about adequate clearances to combustibles if the handle, which is ~2 inches from the stove, is itself a combustible. I must be missing something. It works fine, though it gets too hot to touch without gloves.

I bought this for a few reasons after reading many reviews. The biz gets extremely hot and when I fill it at night it burns all night which I love. The problem that I think everyone has with this is the fan. It moves almost no air, it needs to because if it cools down too much you lose efficiency. But the other side of that is when I don’t care because it’s 40 degrees in my house I should be able to blast the air out and heat everything quickly. It really sucks having to wait hours for it to do what I want.

This insert exceeded our expectations. Heats our home very well. When we thought we had a problem with the freight forwarder, the seller was immediately ready to make things right, no questions asked. It all turned out fine, but the fact that they were responsive and ready to help was awesome. Highly recommend the insert and the company.

Difficult to adjust in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, its worth the money you pay for it. The blower is a bit loud at high speed but no need to crank it up. If you keep the fan at the lowest setting it is reasonably quiet.

While it is nearly identical to it cousin the Drolet 1800i which we also own this one comes with a weak blower that does not have come on and turn off automatically based on the temp in the firebox. This is pretty inconvenient when you are letting it run til it goes out and leave or go to bed. You end up with the blower needlessly running until you go shut it off. Also the window seal was unstuck from the window when we got it. Pushed it back in place but it keeps coming off. Doesn't seem to effect anything but doesn't look good on a new stove.It does come with the surround which was nice (the drolet was an extra $150 additional purchase).The blower turned me off the first day we had it. Given the Drolet IS 99% identical this unit can obviously perform with the better blower. We find the stove getting too hot and staying too hot even with the vent closed. The blower just isn't moving the air from around the firebox. Not happy. But since it weights a ton making it a PITA to install there was no way we were returning it. Go with it's cousin the Drolet 1800i. Same Stove, Same company (SBI), better blower, auto on/off. Cost a little more and the surround is not included but it's worth it.

This is beyond efficient a log will burn for hours the glass doors stay extremely clean.

Great stove!

We got this in and it was all busted up. The door was hanging off because one of the pins was missing, there were broken bricks inside of it. I have no idea what in the world happened. It’s only getting colder here in New England and we are scheduled to have this installed tomorrow. I’m not even sure it’s functional right now and it’s absolutely not pleasing to the eye, but I’m praying that it can still be installed since we have no other heating source for the house and we have 5 young children. Highly, highly, highly disappointed and I absolutely do NOT recommend!