What would you do???

Free standing=more heat, less need to plug in a blower, better heat when the power goes out, better ability to do things like humidify on top.

Insert= less room taken up, nice fireplace feel about it, less intrusive and less issue with kids touching a hot surface (can still put up a fireplace screen as a gate- of course watch them anyway), less issues with clearance worries. They just feel safer to me, but that's opinion.

A hearth stove sort of gives the best of both worlds.

If you can sort of customize, and it was me- I'd go with the free standing in your living space. Do a nice natural stone hearth and wall, or real brick- as dictated by the house style.

That said- I have a Regency insert and I love it (had a great existing big stone fireplace).

I like the looks and radiant heat of stoves over fireplaces so I vote a freestander with a nice stone or brick hearth. But if I had the money I would consider a large soapstone masonry heater smack dab in the middle of the house, with the oven and bench options.

I would suggest that you put in a masonry fireplace, then you can put an insert in there, or some people put in a free-standing stove in the opening. Either way, it will give you the flexibility to choose later, and to change your mind if you want to. You're not locked into one or the other.

Additionally, be sure that you put your chimney inside the enclosure of the house. This is important because it will keep the chimney from ever becoming colder than the interior of the house, where the house becomes a better "chimney" than the chimney itself, leading to backdrafting. The back-drafting can make it very difficult to light a fire in the winter, and also in the summer it will stink up your house. I know this because this is what I live with having a chimney on the north side of my house, and being out in the cold on the outside of the enclosure. I have smoked up my house many times, using newspaper and watching the cold air coming down from the chimney spew smoke out into the room. It will even put out a newspaper fire.

Dan

Option #3 - If I were doing it, I would opt for a masonry heater - partly because I want the oven too. I am ont sure how large a house you can heat with one though.

BTW: I have an insert in a masonry opening.

I like having the insert, because I have a greater amount of control relative to the heat extracted from the fire. If I need a lot of heat, I run the fans fast. If I don't want to heat the house up too much, I run the fans slow. With a free standing stove, you have little control over how much heat you pull out of the firebox.

We rarely lose power, so I don't have much need for a fully passive system. If we did lose power for an extended period, I could always rig up some sort of battery-driven fans for an emergency. Not pretty, but it gets you through a crisis.

I have the Isle Royale and am quite satisfied with it. Fireplaces and inserts generally
rely on fans. I like the quiet of the freestanding stove. We may be building in a few
years, if the housing market bounces back. I'll either be taking the Isle Royale with
me or putting a new one in the new house.

it really depends on the look you are going for all are good units and all should heat well if it was my choice iwould go with the fireplace look 7100fp big old heater and has a nice look will bring some value to the house you cloud always put in a fireplace as well and put in an additional wod free standing unit

In the harsh climate I live in I want an efficient free standing stove that does not require electricity. I have had two Jotul woodstoves, and now have a Hitzer 30-95 coal stove. We have had power outages lasting from a few hours to 18 days over the past 30 years I have been using solid fuel heat. There are a lot of good looking stoves with large glass areas so you can see the fire. I do think that if appearance is important that you need to spend the money and/or work to put in an attractive hearth. I built a shallow non functioning brick fireplace and full wood mantle behind my stove.

Enjoy your new house and whatever heater you choose. :coolsmile:

With the money you save on omitting a fireplace you can build a double flue chimney right up the the middle of your new house and buy a top of the line new EPA freestanding wood stove. People use inserts because they already have an inefficient fireplace...they almost never put in a new fireplace so they can buy an insert.

yep, I like savageactor7's idea, I'd go with a freestanding stove, chimney right up through the house, and place it that it's easily accesible for sweeping each season, if possible.

I like my Jotul, no electric fans or motors was important to me, I want heat whether the power is on or off!

One thing you can be sure of is that energy costs are going to rise, and rise a lot, over the time that you live in your new home. If wood availability is good at reasonable prices, go with what will provide you the most heat, and if possible, be the sole source of heat. You won't regret that move, and any other move you will regret. Also would encourage you to be more than reasonable in sizing your house, the smaller the better.

Wife and I have heated solely with wood (electric backup when we take off for a few days) for 18 years - free standing wood stove. 1525 sq ft, single level, significant passive solar through windows. Winters are very cold and long.

Keep in mind, I believe you can run duct work off the 7100 to better distribute the heat around the house.