Stûv 16-In Wood Insert — Made for the Masonry You Already Have
There's a generation of Vancouver homes built around a beautiful masonry fireplace that, by today's standards, can no longer be lit. Metro Vancouver's emission rules have effectively retired the open hearth. The Stûv 16-In is the wood-burning insert that brings them back — because it's EPA-certified to the standard those regulations actually allow.
Stûv is a Belgian company that has spent more than forty years engineering wood stoves with the quiet discipline you find in good European architecture — no decorative flourishes, no fussy details, no shortcuts. The 16-In takes that engineering and adapts it to fit inside an existing masonry firebox. Your stone surround stays. Your mantel stays. Your room keeps its character. What changes is what's burning inside.
The 16-In is one of the few high-end wood-burners that clears Metro Vancouver's bar. EPA-certified to the emissions standard the local regulations require — meaning you can register it, install it, and burn in it legally. And it's manufactured in Canada — short lead times, parts on this continent, the kind of post-installation service Stûv is known for. You're not waiting six months for a stove from Belgium.
Three sizes match the range of existing masonry openings, and Stûv names them by width in centimetres. The Stûv 16-58 takes a 17-inch log and suits a tight reading-room hearth, warming up to roughly 1,400 square feet. The 16-68 takes a 21-inch log and about 1,650 square feet. The 16-78, certified here in Canada, takes a 25-inch log and about 2,100 square feet: the generous great-room firebox. All three carry the largest viewing window in their class, so the flame is what you see and almost everything else is mechanical anonymity behind the glass.
And if there is no masonry fireplace to bring back, the same fire comes in a second form. The Stûv 16-Z is the zero-clearance version, built into a new wall rather than an old hearth, in the same three widths. Same door, same glass, same quiet discipline. It simply starts from framing instead of stone.
Despite the restraint, the 16-In is a serious heater. Efficient combustion, slow even burn, real BTU output that actually warms a room. Stûv's engineering has always been about doing more with less; the 16-In does it without raising its voice.
At Maxwell Fireplace we treat retrofitting a masonry fireplace with a Stûv 16-In as one of the more rewarding projects we take on — an old hearth, a regulated city, and a way to bring them back into use. From measuring the firebox through permitting (Metro Vancouver's paperwork is real) through lining, installation, and finishing, every step is handled in-house. One conversation, one team, one Creative FireSpace™ that's both new and old at the same time.
Smooth and ModernA clean new face for the fire.
Mid Century ModernA new look.
Up close and personalEngineering, designed to disappear.
The masonry stays. The fire returns.
Questions people tend to ask
Can I still burn wood in Metro Vancouver at all?
Yes — but only in an appliance that meets the standard. Metro Vancouver’s Residential Indoor Wood Burning Emission Regulation Bylaw 1303 requires certification to CSA B415.1 or the EPA’s 2015 standard, and the open masonry hearth most of these homes were built around does not meet it. The Stûv 16-In does: it is EPA-certified to the standard the regulations require, which is what makes it registerable, installable and legal to burn in.
My masonry fireplace can’t be lit any more. Can it be brought back?
That is exactly what this is for. There is a generation of homes here built around a beautiful masonry fireplace that today’s rules have effectively retired. An insert brings the opening back into use rather than replacing it — your stone surround stays, your mantel stays, the room keeps its character, and what changes is what is burning inside.
Do I have to register it, and who holds the registration?
Inside the Urban Containment Boundary, yes, and it matters: since 15 September 2025 an unregistered eligible appliance may not be operated at all. The registration is the homeowner’s to hold, along with a best-burning-practices declaration renewed every three years. Metro Vancouver’s paperwork is real, and we prepare it alongside the permit rather than handing you a form at the end. Individual municipalities can add requirements of their own.
Will it actually heat the room, or is it mainly a view?
It heats. Despite the restraint, the 16-In is a serious heater — efficient combustion, a slow even burn, and real output that warms a room rather than merely decorating it. Stûv’s engineering has always been about doing more with less, and the 16-In does it without raising its voice.
How long will I be waiting for one?
Not the six months people expect from a European stove. Stûv manufactures the 16-In in Canada, so lead times are short and parts stay on this continent — which also means the kind of post-installation service Stûv is known for is actually available to you.
Which size fits the opening I already have: the 16-58, 16-68 or 16-78?
It follows the width of your firebox. Stûv asks for an opening of about 23⅜ inches high and 17¾ inches deep for all three, and a width of just over 23 inches for the 16-58, 27⅛ inches for the 16-68 and just over 31 inches for the 16-78. A finishing frame then covers the gap between the insert and the masonry, and larger picture frames cover wider openings. Old fireboxes are rarely square, so this is a measuring question rather than a catalogue one, and we measure the firebox on site before anything is ordered.
What does installing a Stûv 16-In involve?
Five steps, in order. We measure the existing firebox and inspect the chimney. We prepare the permit and the Metro Vancouver registration. We line the chimney with a new stainless liner sized to the insert, because a flue built for an open fire is rarely the right size for a sealed, efficient one. We set the insert and connect it. Then we fit the finishing frame so the new face sits properly against the old masonry. Every step is handled in-house by our own team: one conversation, one crew, and a hearth that is both new and old at the same time.
How much does a Stûv 16-In cost?
Less of the answer lives in the insert than people expect. The size you choose matters, and so does the frame, but the larger share is the hearth itself: the length and condition of the chimney that needs lining, what the original builder left behind, the permit, and how the new face is finished against the old one. Two homes with the same 16-68 can arrive at quite different figures. The honest way to a number is a conversation and a look at the fireplace. Call us, send a photograph of the opening, or visit the showroom, and we will tell you plainly what yours involves.
I don’t have a masonry fireplace. Is there a version for a new wall?
Yes: the Stûv 16-Z. It is the zero-clearance version of the same fire, framed into a new wall rather than set into an old hearth, and it comes in the same three widths. Certification is checked width by width, as with every wood-burning appliance here, and we confirm the exact model against Bylaw 1303 before anything is ordered. If you are building or renovating, it is the more natural starting point.
More from Stûv
This is one of the Stûv stoves, inserts and fireplaces we carry and install at Maxwell Fireplace in North Vancouver. See the whole Stûv range, or read on.
- Stûv 6-H — the small, essential wood stove
- Stûv 16 — the stove that hides its mechanism, in Cube, H and V forms
- Stûv 30 Compact — the stove that turns to face the room
- Stûv 6-in — the small wood insert for a small masonry hearth
- Stûv 21 — the guillotine-glass wood fireplace, built in or Clad
Planning for a Whistler home? Fireplaces for Whistler homes.
A fireplace is only half of it. The other half is who places it.
Maxwell Fireplace is North Vancouver’s Creative FireSpaces™ — and we stay involved in every part of the job. The fireplace itself is ours from the first conversation to the final flame: design and placement, permitting, delivery, installation, and the care that comes after. When the work runs to a surround, a mantel, tile or millwork, we plan it with the trades doing it — yours, or ones we bring in — so the fire and the wall are drawn as one thing rather than two. One point of contact, and nothing lost in the gap between trades.
It’s exactly why a Stûv 16-In belongs with us. Bringing an existing masonry opening back to life means working with whatever the original builder left behind — measuring it honestly, lining the chimney properly, and finishing the reveal so the new fire looks like it was always the point of the old hearth — and that is the difference between an appliance and a centrepiece. We serve homeowners and contractors across Greater Vancouver, the North Shore, and the Sea to Sky Corridor — Squamish to Whistler and Pemberton, with Whistler a regular destination for us — and we’d love to show you what’s possible for your room.