Which stove?

So I've spent several hours browsing through this forum and other sites on the web. At my local store, they're currently offering a good deal on three stoves. One being the Hearthstone Heritage, the other being the two flagship Vermont Castings stoves, Defiant and Encore Flexburn.

I'm looking for a wood stove that will be able to efficiently heat my two story home. (if possible) The stove would be installed in my living room which is roughly 430 square feet. My house has standard non-vaulted 8 foot ceilings throughout.The living room has two openings both of which are roughly 5-6 feet wide. The floor plan is somewhat open on the first floor. The house in total is 4 bed, 2.5 bath, 2200 square feet... with all the bedrooms and 2 baths on the second floor. My stair case is enclosed and is about 40-50 feet from where the stove will have to be installed. The wall where the stove will be installed is an external wall.. the insulation throughout the house is pretty good as the house was built in 2002. Also... I live in North-central Ohio... so it does get quite cold here.

I understand the second floor might not get the heat as well as I'd like... and I want a stove that can be comfortably used in the living room without making the room too hot.

My question is this...

What kind of stove would work best for a house like mine? Are any of the three stoves that I mentioned above be any good for my situation?

This is all very overwhelming... any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

Thanks for the comments! That helps me understand a little more. I have an electric furnace, with a heat pump and floor registers... In my home there's about 1200-1300 square feet on the main floor and about 900-1000 square feet on the second. Some of the rooms are on the second floor are only used when family is staying with us... or will be used if / when my wife and I have children.

What you said about the second floor makes sense. I guess I really don't have any expectations of the heat making it up there. What I really don't want to happen is be cooked out of the 430 square foot living room by putting too large of a stove in there... or by not having enough heat and being cold. It's a tricky balance I guess.

Andrew

There are other dealers in my area, I'm just not aware of any other deals going on. The VC stoves are on sale for $800-$1000 off... making them comparable in price to similarly sized Jotul stoves. However, according to the spec sheets the VC is considerably more efficient than an equally sized Jotul. I know you really can't rely on these things, but it does make it tempting. I know VC had its issues but the new Flexburn stoves appear to be better than the previous generation stoves.

I guess if I was looking for a good stove, what brands are doing well these days? What's lower maintenance and efficient for a home like mine? I know the Hearthstones are rated well.. but I really dont want to mess with cracked tiles. I'm aware catalytic converters go bad after two years... but if you don't get one... can a stove still be efficient?

Ok thanks! That helps a lot. So is it safe to say the CAT VC stoves are probably not a good contender?

Edit: And yes, I'm leaning slightly toward the classic style. Cast iron seems to be a proven material.

I see... that's unfortunate, because they are beautiful stoves. I guess i"m not really worried about looks as much as I am about its functionality.

rwhite thanks for the heads up. So it sounds like I need to get a slightly larger stove.

For my house (which is 2200 square feet between two floors) it sounds like I should be looking for a stove that is a bit larger... like the VC Defiant or the Jotul F500 Oslo. I like the VC 2N1 idea as it can run efficiently with or without the catalyst... Would a stove rated for 2,400 square feet be too much for a home like mine? Like I said, the room where the stove would be is 430 square feet but it's fairly open...

thanks for all the advise!

Andrew