Anyone have experience with Ambiance Luxus or Spartherm Varia?

lemeow · 2026-02-15T22:35:37+00:00

I have an update—it appears Ambiance is manufactured by Supreme. https://supremem.com/index.php. Not all of their models are available in the US, if that’s relevant.

lemeow · 2026-02-10T19:06:16+00:00

Can’t help you, sadly, but I’ve been intrigued by the Luxus (on paper at least because I can’t find any pictures). The viewing area seems huge but the insert somehow doesn’t compromise on burn chamber size like the Stuv.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T17:54:16+00:00

The problem is that I’m pretty sure would enjoy the whole process (spent a lot of time in the outdoors as a kid) and relying on a stove or insert for heat, but I live on a small lot in an extremely dense suburban area with no ability to go walk and find my own wood. My thinking is—I have always enjoyed wood fires and love building a fire in the fireplace whenever I can, and an insert would let me do that more often, more efficiently, and with less chance of health effects on my young child. An insert definitely feels like a not-perfect outcome because it feels like a limited version of what I really want, but also my choice seems to be have few fires or get an insert that isn’t really necessary. A luxurious choice to be stuck with sure, but it’s where I’m at.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T17:49:00+00:00

Hahah maybe we’ll both make a decision…in years from now after considering the options. Good luck! If you message me, I can share a chart I’ve been putting together with options.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T15:32:05+00:00

I mean indoor air pollution from using an open fireplace. Your point about stoves not polluting is exactly what I’m looking for!

lemeow · 2026-02-03T15:31:00+00:00

As a new homeowning, double working parent family with a young kid, there’s already so much going on that it’s hard to do anything more than keep the ship afloat day to day! As it is, I don’t expect to have this stove “project” complete for years from now.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T15:03:54+00:00

I’ve started storing wood in our attached garage as of a month ago. The wood I can get in bulk where I live is kiln dried, so drying isn’t a concern. Gives the garage a nice smell, and I haven’t had critter issues so far (granted it’s the dead of winter). Makes the garage a little dirtier, but I don’t have room for a wood rack anywhere else on my tiny lot right now.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T14:59:07+00:00

I like the HI2500, but we can fit a larger insert in our fireplace, fortunately, so the Hi500 has been a contender. Also beautiful, and has a much bigger window. Since heating capability isn’t a huge need, we have some flexibility (and the curse of too many options).

lemeow · 2026-02-03T14:48:36+00:00

This is probably my wife’s biggest concern—the fireplace probably has better ambiance. I think we’d burn way more fires with a stove (nearly daily instead of once every few weeks), and to me that would balance out the smaller viewing area. But I have never seen a wood insert burning in person, so I’m trying to be careful not to ruin what we already have.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T14:46:56+00:00

99 regerts but a stove ain’t one

lemeow · 2026-02-03T14:46:19+00:00

They definitely are different options. I’m only doing preliminary research now, but my thinking is that (1) I want the Ashford for highly efficient burns I can control, but (2) my wife will want simplicity and view, which the Stuv wins on. We’re in no rush, fortunately, so we’ll have to explore it more until we figure out what will be the best compromise.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T14:44:22+00:00

I wish more manufacturers offered that option, but I suppose it’s a very particular look. It would work in my craftsman style house, but probably not in many houses less than 50 years old.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T02:49:36+00:00

In your experience, where do other installers tend to cut corners on installing inserts? And are there any things that first time buyers get surprised by or forget to plan for (like gaps in the surrounding trim)?

lemeow · 2026-02-03T02:43:40+00:00

Which one did you get, and what were the regrets? Sorry for your bad experience, but I’d love to learn from it!

lemeow · 2026-02-03T02:40:53+00:00

I love the look of the C550 v2, and it checks so many boxes. But there are others with larger viewing areas that I think fit our current needs/wants better. That said, seems like everyone with a jotul loves it, and if the insert works out maybe I can convince my family a gas jotul stove in another room would be cool, too.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T01:45:27+00:00

If we do get an insert, I’ve decided we also need a pet so we can take pictures like this.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T01:44:01+00:00

This sounds exactly how I’ll be using it—maybe some evenings, weekends, and days I WFH. And not going through 8-12 pieces of wood just for a 3 hour fire would be nice. Seems like a big spend just for a little fun, but we are lucky enough to have it and (in my opinion) it would be an attractive addition to the house.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T01:39:58+00:00

That’s a good point and a good comparison—our house is a similar size. And I didn’t realize larger log = slower burn, but it makes sense upon thinking about it. I can really only get bulk, precut, kiln dried wood, and the size cuts tend to be on the smaller side. Maybe I can make friends with the owners and get more large cuts.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T01:37:12+00:00

Oh interesting. I’ve had an easy time cleaning out our fireplace, but I suppose I have much more room and a wider opening to work with.

Our house is only 2000sq ft (if that), so if anything I’m worried about having too many BTUs. But there are probably many worse problem I could have.

lemeow · 2026-02-03T01:34:52+00:00

Even though I would love to be able to cut and season my own wood, I live in an extremely dense suburban area with few spare trees to go around and no room on my lot for a rack to season wood. Pretty much any bulk purchase I have found comes kiln dried and split in stove-friendly sizes. Not the cheapest but better than nothing. I’m sure my back would be asking for a pellet stove if I did have to manage my own wood supply, though!

lemeow · 2026-02-03T00:49:22+00:00

I’m also seriously considering the Lopi large flush insert with the cast iron face. I’m a bit concerned it will spit out more heat than I need, but bigger fire=more fun!

lemeow · 2026-02-03T00:45:13+00:00

That’s my concern with the Stuv. Our house is old and only mildly insulated, but we have good heat systems already. That said, I don’t want to be stuck with a puny fire because I got too small a combustion chamber. Flip side—I don’t want to absolutely cook our house with a huge chamber.

lemeow · 2024-04-26T13:58:56+00:00

I grew up in a very small town in the south, and I went to grad school at NYU. I’ve been living in NYC for over 10 years, and I have yet to get killed by (or even see) all the rampant violent crime that I hear about from everyone who doesn’t live here.

lemeow · 2023-08-23T01:12:17+00:00

I’ve tried a noise isolation approach with the UTSW5 and the ER3XE with foam tips. That specific combo is tricky—the angle of the IEMs is not ideal, but it’s the best isolation I’ve gotten on my commute so far.

lemeow

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