Removing Stove/Replacing Stove - Help?

Hi All,

*rant on*

I am sick to death of my stove. So much so that I am just about to say I'm done burning for this year until I get a new one either for the remainder of this winter or until next winter. I have burned through 4 cords this year, which is annoying in and of itself, but beyond that the door is now having problems warping. It keeps getting hard to close, then I will adjust the latch, and it lasts for awhile and gets hard to close again. Today was the last straw, a piece of wood fell down near the door and from where I was sitting I could see light shining through the bottom left of the door about 5 inches up and 5 inches across. This is after a new gasket was installed this year!

Anyways, the stove is about 30 years old as best I can guess, its served its purpose, but now its home should be a landfill. I have about 5 cords of wood still, but I really don't want to keep watching it go up in literal smoke, and I am really tired of getting up 2-3 times a night to load wood.

*rant over*

So I need some assistance understanding where to go from here. I tried removing the surround to see what kind of space I am working with behind it, but I believe the insert itself has to come out from inside the wall because the screws I believe are put in behind the stove. But how do I slide it out with the liner attached? It looks the stove itself is sitting on a layer of bricks that stick out on either side of the fireplace floor, which elevates it off the floor about 3 inches.

I attached a couple pictures to give you a general sense of what it looks like. Excuse the mess it is right now.

I'm sure I haven't provided enough information, but I don't know what to tell you. So can anyone help steer me in the right direction? I will probably be asking for help deciding on a stove too, but first I need to see what dimensions I have I assume?

Thanks webby, I was wondering if I could tug it and do that, but was afraid to try. Once it cools down I'll give that a shot later today and report back the dimensions hopefully!

Danno, I'm not sure of the exact firebox size, as I have never found a manual for it. I can fit a 17 inch log in it. It does give enough heat generally, but I have been having to burn without the catalyst because the housing is totally warped (from before me), and I haven't wanted to invest money into this piece of crap!

Ideally I would like to get a free standing, but it would have to be about 75% inside the fireplace, and I'm not sure if thats possible/acceptable? I would like a free standing with a fan on it also if I can fit one. But I am OK with putting another insert in if thats my only option.

My only requirement is that it is a non-catalyst, I absolutely do not want a catalyst in whatever new one I get!

Thanks Danno thats encouraging! I have the fan on high, damper open and air wide open just letting the few last coals cool down and the stove to cool off. I'll let that sit for a few hours then give it shot pulling it out.

Also as info, this house was built in 1929 so I am assuming that its a legitimate fireplace/chimney with full brick. I understand newer houses sometimes are not built like they used to? Hopefully that will help when it comes time to picking a new one and what the surround requirements are.

So the "give it a tug" method worked, and I was able to see the bolts behind the surround and take it off. Now that I see the interior, I would say that an insert would be best sadly. Its not very pretty inside, haha, and it looks like they built an additional brick surround outside the original fireplace interior, so I think an insert would be best to "cover it all up".

That being said, here are the dimensions of the existing stove: 20" Depth x 22" Height x 25 1/2" Wide

I would say that max dimensions of the interior are: 23-24" Depth x 29"-ish Height removing bottom bricks x 25 1/2" Wide

It has a six inch flue.

The existing insert is sitting on bricks that jut out at the bottom, so it keeps it up off the floor by about 3 inches. I can say with certainty its a full masonry chimney and fireplace now as well.

So with all that being said, if I wanted an insert that could work in this space and was under $1000, what do you think my options are? I don't have an extremely large house, I'm eating probably about 1,000 sq ft., but is is non-insulated and the insert I had now would barely keep up once it gets to the twenties and below, though it could manage keeping it at 70 if I constantly worked at it.

Also, like I said, I would want a non-cat. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help!

I posted some pictures in case any are relevant.

Webby, I don't know anything at all about wood stove installs or fireplaces in general, but it certainly did look like crap to me in there. What is a lintel that you mentioned they cut out?

What would a more realistic price range be? I am going to be paying it off through this year, so if its more I'll just pay more off through the year, I just picked $1000 off the top of my head.

Boy it looks like my width is really going to be the limiting factor here, begreen all of those are over 25 1/2" and that is the max opening I have. My stove looks to be jammed in there pretty tight with almost no clearance on either side at 25 1/2" wide!

Maybe I am going to have to go with a free standing after all?