Insert - Thoughts, questions, and dealer/installer recommendations?

I've been reading here a lot for the past couple of weeks and after originally thinking I wanted a pellet stove of some sort, I'm now sold on a wood insert. Last fall I had to have my antique wood/oil furnace replaced and went with a regular oil furnace. I've acclimated my house to a brisk 64 degrees after being used to the heat from my wood furnace, but now that oil is getting way out of hand, I can't stomach the idea of freezing AND paying 2-3k a season on oil. But now I'm a bit overwhelmed too. :/ I miss the days a few years ago when it cost me $400 a year to heat my house between wood and oil.

I have an existing masonry fireplace that has only been used a couple of times in the past 5 years, picture attached. It has it's own separate chimney/flue (not sure of the right terms here) than my oil furnace. I have a two story cape cod with a basement. The living space is about 1800 square feet and I'd guess the (concrete walls and floor) basement is another 800-900 feet. I don't know if my floorplan is considered "open" as far as fireplace heating goes. I attached a picture of it too. I know some heat will rise to the upstairs, but I'll be happy if I can just get most of the downstairs around 70 during the day.

I'd like to heat primarily with wood during the day and let it start to die down at night and let the furnace take over when needed. For the next few years I'm working from home for the most part, so it definitely won't be just a nights/weekend thing.

I don't have the exact measurements of my fireplace right now, but when I was looking online the other day, a larger insert like the PE Summit would fit based on my quick measurements then. Would something like that be overkill for my house?

I want to do this as cheaply as possible, so my primary concerns are getting a big enough insert without going overboard. I'm a single mother on a tight budget but I can pull together $3k or so in the next couple of months and I'm hoping that can cover an insert, liner and installation. I'm hoping to get it done before spring (which here is a long ways off) so that at least I'm set for next year.

If anyone has any thoughts that might be helpful, I'd love to hear them. And I've noticed some posters from my general areas and if anyone knows of a good installer/dealer, I'd appreciate that too. I'm just trying to learn as much as I can right now and get my ducks in a row before taking the next step.

Thanks guys! :D

And damn, I think I've put this in the wrong forum. Whoops. Is there a way I can move it to the Hearth Room?

BeGreen said:

Well, the good news is that it was easy to move . We'll need some measurements on the fireplace to see what fits. Please provide front H & W back H & W and the depth at top and bottom .

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Thanks for moving it. That's what happens when you have 10 different tabs open.

First, I lied. The inside is lined with steel and but sounds like there is masonry behind it and it doesn't look like anything prefab. My house was built in 1947 and the original owner built himself and went wild with some things. I have a bomb shelter in my basement, for instance. ;D

I measured and here is what I got:
Front Height: 28 1/2"
Front Width: 37"
Back Height: It kind of curves down like my dormer walls upstairs--straight from the floor and about halfway up like a 20 degree angle to the top. 16" height on the straight part before it starts the angle.
Back Width: 28"
Top Depth: 17"
Bottom Depth 24"

Thanks, Karl. That's good to know. Your house looks pretty spread out, so knowing that the heat is flowing around is good. I think it was somewhere here I saw these little fans you can put in the corner of doorways. I thought that would be a good way to blow some of the heat from the living room with the fireplace into the my small hall so it can go upstairs.

TMonter said:

Nicole, are you looking for a stove with a cast look or a plate look? Is there any specific requirements you want in your insert?

If you looking at plate inserts people have had excellent luck with PE and Quadrafire. I can personally speak to the latter as I've been heating with a Quad 3100i going on 4 years now.

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I prefer the plate look, but price and performance is my main consideration. My only "must" would be an automatic blower.