Well I've narrowed my two stove choices down to the Jotul Oslo or the Hearthstone Shelburne. Right now my wife and I are trying to figure out where to place the stove based on the size, clearance issues and heating needs.
One option is to put it in the corner of my small den and then open up the den/living room wall with a pair of french doors which we will leave open to the living room and dining room. Since this is a small den it looks like we would lose quite a bit of space to the woodstove/clearance issues (and in fact would end up tiling the entire floor since the hearth sizes for these stoves would take up close to 1/3 of the room.
The second option is to build an alcove in the living room/den wall. We would lose some space to the den and the stove would jut out into the living room some as the sides and top of the alcove would not fully enclose the stove. This option looks like it would keep us from losing too much of the space in the den to the stove.
My question . . . are there any advantages/disadvantages to alcoves vs. free-standing stoves?
One option is to put it in the corner of my small den and then open up the den/living room wall with a pair of french doors which we will leave open to the living room and dining room. Since this is a small den it looks like we would lose quite a bit of space to the woodstove/clearance issues (and in fact would end up tiling the entire floor since the hearth sizes for these stoves would take up close to 1/3 of the room.
The second option is to build an alcove in the living room/den wall. We would lose some space to the den and the stove would jut out into the living room some as the sides and top of the alcove would not fully enclose the stove. This option looks like it would keep us from losing too much of the space in the den to the stove.
My question . . . are there any advantages/disadvantages to alcoves vs. free-standing stoves?