Need help choosing a hearth mount stove with low clearance

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HalleysComet

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Oct 22, 2014
8
nj
Hello all. Newbie here looking to purchase our first stove to avoid using the furnace on our newly bought well insulated 648 sq ft house. (We eventually want to expand to 1100sq ft.) Our fireplace opening is curved and will be around 24.75-25.75 inch high on the sides and 27-28 inch in the middle after we rebuild our hearth depending on materials used and requirements. The opening is 34.5 in wide. We were set on a Homestead with hearth mount legs because the store near our house says its the best fit and mentioned nothing of the hearth requirements. We realized there's almost no way to meet that R6.6 on the hearth in our space. Other stoves we looked at were the Hampton H300 and the Dutchwest Medium. We are also not totally opposed to inserts as it would be in a small room but have yet to find one to fit. Can anyone recommend one of these stoves or anything else that would fit and give us good heat overnight?

Thanks!
 
I have a Homestead with a Hearthstone factory metal plate under the stove that reduces the requirements. You might look at that option...??
 
HalleysComet said:
Hello all. Newbie here looking to purchase our first stove to avoid using the furnace on our newly bought well insulated 648 sq ft house. (We eventually want to expand to 1100sq ft.) Our fireplace opening is curved and will be around 24.75-25.75 inch high on the sides and 27-28 inch in the middle after we rebuild our hearth depending on materials used and requirements. The opening is 34.5 in wide. We were set on a Homestead with hearth mount legs because the store near our house says its the best fit and mentioned nothing of the hearth requirements. We realized there's almost no way to meet that R6.6 on the hearth in our space. Other stoves we looked at were the Hampton H300 and the Dutchwest Medium. We are also not totally opposed to inserts as it would be in a small room but have yet to find one to fit. Can anyone recommend one of these stoves or anything else that would fit and give us good heat overnight?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 

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That's a small space to heat and especially tough with a woodstove when the house is well insulated. I would recommend a catalytic Woodstock Keystone. This one you can burn on low with a steady heat output and still get 8 to 10 hours of usable heat. A small secondary burn stove will probably heat you out of the house early during the burn and then be pretty much out after 5 hours. The Keystone needs a lintel height from the hearth of 26" so you should be ok there.
 
There should be several options, particularly in inserts. What is the depth of the fireplace and what is the distance to the nearest combustibles on the sides and mantel? Can you post a picture of the current setup showing the nearby combustibles?
 
Grisu said:
That's a small space to heat and especially tough with a woodstove when the house is well insulated. I would recommend a catalytic Woodstock Keystone. This one you can burn on low with a steady heat output and still get 8 to 10 hours of usable heat. A small secondary burn stove will probably heat you out of the house early during the burn and then be pretty much out after 5 hours. The Keystone needs a lintel height from the hearth of 26" so you should be ok there.
Click to expand...
begreen said:
There should be several options, particularly in inserts. What is the depth of the fireplace and what is the distance to the nearest combustibles on the sides and mantel? Can you post a picture of the current setup showing the nearby combustibles?
Click to expand...
I left my measurements at the house but I think the depth is 8 inches and mantel is at least 40 inches(We're not moved in yet doing repairs and no heat.) Will be up there later today hopefully. No current setup but here is a pic. I don't know why it keeps uploading sideways.
fireplace.jpg
 
I rotated the image for you. The forum software doesn't deal well with horiz. cellphone images. Hopefully we'll get an update soon to fix that.

The fireplace is a lot deeper than 8". It looks to be 5 bricks deep or 20+" An insert will heat this small space fine. Depending on how you intend to burn a 1.5 to 2 cu ft insert will suffice and will help simplify the installation. Post the full fireplace dimensions for H+W at the front and back of the fireplace and the top and bottom center depths and then we can suggest some options. Right now I'm thinking an Enviro Boston 1200 insert or a Hampton HI200, but that may change.
 
Finally made it back up today. Fireplace is 20.5 inches deep at top and 25 deep on bottom. Back is 23 wide. 50.5 inches to mantel. Plenty of feet on sides to combustibles. That Keystone looks nice.
 
Its a good stove for your sized space. Go for it.
 
The Keystones on backorder till at least end of Dec early Jan. Boo!! How is the Regency I2400 for my space? My chimney guy recommended the Regency over the Hampton for some reason but I can't remember why.
 
The 2400 is too big. Look at the Blaze King Sirocco 20
 
The 2400 will either heat you out of that small house or you need to burn small loads and reload it frequently. For your particular situation, the Keystone would be the only convenient rear-vented stove I can think off. Maybe you can just use the furnace until the Keystone arrives? Cannot be too expensive to heat that small space. Or you go for a pellet insert with thermostat control.
 
The keystone would be a perfect fit for your situation if you have enough height to rear mount. The BK Princess inseret might be ok too since its the only Blaze King you could put there.
 
weatherguy said:
The keystone would be a perfect fit for your situation if you have enough height to rear mount. The BK Princess inseret might be ok too since its the only Blaze King you could put there.
Click to expand...

Those BKs look crazy! 30 hr burn time? I think I will be putting a deposit on the Keystone tmw and wait it out I guess. Thanks for all the suggestions. Love how yours looks Weatherguy. Is that the brown? Now I have to decide on a color ;)
 
HalleysComet said:
Those BKs look crazy! 30 hr burn time? I think I will be putting a deposit on the Keystone tmw and wait it out I guess. Thanks for all the suggestions. Love how yours looks Weatherguy. Is that the brown? Now I have to decide on a color ;)
Click to expand...
Yes that's the metallic brown, I didn't pick it out it was the only color they had left when I bought. Seems like they ramped up production of the Ideal Steel and sold out of most of the other models.
 
HalleysComet said:
Those BKs look crazy! 30 hr burn time? I think I will be putting a deposit on the Keystone tmw and wait it out I guess. Thanks for all the suggestions. Love how yours looks Weatherguy. Is that the brown? Now I have to decide on a color ;)
Click to expand...

Maybe an option would be to get a budget insert like a Century or an Englander 13NCI for this winter and wait for a sale from Woodstock in the spring. Or you can see if you can get on their waitlist for a refurbished Keystone. The insert will tide you over this winter and then you can sell it for a small loss which you will make up by waiting for a sale-price for the Keystone.
 
If a Keystone is what ya want, wait and get the Keystone.
 
The ever wise BB. Always wait until you get what you want, you'll be happier in the end. Months of waiting doesnt compare to years of enjoyment
 
I have the Homestead, with what I assume has the longer legs. The legs are 6-3/4". I also have the steel heat shield on the bottom. When the stove is running hot, the brick hearth under the heat shield is actually cool to the touch. So cool, I would assume you could park the stove on a wood floor and not have any issues. Mind you I am not suggesting that, just trying to illustrate how much the shield blocks the heat.

I have a similar setup to what you show in the picture. For reference, with the legs I have on the stove, the top of the horizontal stovepipe running into the fireplace opening is 25" high from the hearth to the top of the pipe. Hopefully that gives you some reference.

The Homestead is considered a small stove in comparison to the other models in the Hearthstone family. But I agree the stove may be too much heat for that size house. But you could always build smaller fires. Especially considering the soapstone puts off moderate heat for a very long time.

If you do plan to expand the house in the near future, then by all means this would be a great stove. But if the buildout is a long way off, you might consider buying a cheaper stove in the beginning like someone else suggested. And replace it with a Homestead once you have your addition.
 
HalleysComet said:
Hello all. Newbie here looking to purchase our first stove to avoid using the furnace on our newly bought well insulated 648 sq ft house. (We eventually want to expand to 1100sq ft.) Our fireplace opening is curved and will be around 24.75-25.75 inch high on the sides and 27-28 inch in the middle after we rebuild our hearth depending on materials used and requirements. The opening is 34.5 in wide. We were set on a Homestead with hearth mount legs because the store near our house says its the best fit and mentioned nothing of the hearth requirements. We realized there's almost no way to meet that R6.6 on the hearth in our space. Other stoves we looked at were the Hampton H300 and the Dutchwest Medium. We are also not totally opposed to inserts as it would be in a small room but have yet to find one to fit. Can anyone recommend one of these stoves or anything else that would fit and give us good heat overnight?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If you decide on getting the Hampton H300 let me know. I am selling mine. It works great but is just too small for my 2200sqft house. I am up in CT, so not terribly far from NJ and i can cut you a heck of a deal. If you want any details just shoot me a PM. Its 3 years old.
 
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