upgrade questions...

I am considering adding a fireplace insert to my main floor and am trying to think though the pros and cons. I already have a 20 year old Consolidated Dutchwest Large CAT stove in the basement of my 2400 sq foot raised ranch. The floor plan consists a large basement family room on one end with two bedrooms and a bath on the other end - the family room is about the size of the two bedrooms and bath combined. There is a very open stairwell to the top and main floor which has a cathedral ceiling and an open living room/dining room, and kitchen. Like the downstairs, there are two bedrooms and bath on the other side of the house, right over the downstairs bedrooms.

I have only used the Dutchwest intermittently over the years, first to burn coal, which we find to produce too much ash in the house, and in the last two years I have I have been burning wood. I replaced all the gaskets last year, and the stove seems to function fine, but my first question is, rather than getting an insert for upstairs, should I be thinking of a replacement for the downstairs stove? Secondly, does getting an insert seem like overkill?

FWIW, we have a Pacific Energy dealer right in town.

Good questions. This winter I have been burning 24/7, more or less. We spend most of our time in the upstairs living room, where the open fireplace is and myy wife is always cold in the winter (here in CT). Do I want to tend two stoves?... of course not. But I might like the flexibility of using one or the other, or even both when it is really cold or we want to toast ourselves.

No problems with smoke and soot. Coal is efficient for transport and storage (no water in the fuel) and long burn times, but produces a lot of ash. Somehow it just gets all over the house, I guess just from reloading and carrying out the ash box, . I don't have nearly the ash dust problem with wood. Also, because there is toxic chemicals in the ash, I can't put it in the garden like I can wood ash.