i know the 'best small stove' question has been asked a million times, but the recommendations are mostly nice stoves well over $1k. while i wish i could spring for a Jotul or Hearthstone, i will probably hold off until i buy a house (and save up more $$$!). in the meantime, for my DIY project, can i get some small stove recs thrown my way so i know where to start in my search? here's my specs...
1st floor of 2-family cinderblocker in Central CT. 856 sq ft living space, according to my measurements, w/ 7.5-8ft ceilings throughout. temps will get down to the teens regularly in the winter and dip close to 0º F every once in a while. baseboard oil heat is the main heat source supplemented with oil-filled space heaters in the bedrooms. not too well insulated but not terrible either. the stove would go in the existing masonry fireplace (which passed inspection recently) that is kinda towards the front of the house, but still in the general middle open living area of the house.
my goal is to have the furnace stay off unless it needs to fill the water tank. i'd also like to be able to keep our room door open and not have to use our space heater at night as well as the heater in my kid's room. i thiiiiiiiink i can do it if i plan it out well. my budget (please, don't be too harsh if i'm being unrealistic) is $1500. from what i have gathered so far, a liner will cost me around $500 and i'm hoping the stove will be $500-800 which will give me some padding just in case (this is why i don't want to cross the $1000 mark on a stove).
the good thing is the size of our house is smaller than i originally thought after measuring. the bad thing is, i think the shape and size of the fireplace might limit what i can do. i'd like to stick to a standalone stove partially into the fireplace if possible. it's an arch shape with the tallest point of the opening being 30.5" and the base being 36" across. i picked a stove at random (Englander 12-FP 25 1/4" W x 26" H x 14" D) just to 'fit' it and that would be about 1.5" too wide at it's height.
anyone with experience or ideas that can point me in a direction, it'd be much appreciated. thanks!
1st floor of 2-family cinderblocker in Central CT. 856 sq ft living space, according to my measurements, w/ 7.5-8ft ceilings throughout. temps will get down to the teens regularly in the winter and dip close to 0º F every once in a while. baseboard oil heat is the main heat source supplemented with oil-filled space heaters in the bedrooms. not too well insulated but not terrible either. the stove would go in the existing masonry fireplace (which passed inspection recently) that is kinda towards the front of the house, but still in the general middle open living area of the house.
my goal is to have the furnace stay off unless it needs to fill the water tank. i'd also like to be able to keep our room door open and not have to use our space heater at night as well as the heater in my kid's room. i thiiiiiiiink i can do it if i plan it out well. my budget (please, don't be too harsh if i'm being unrealistic) is $1500. from what i have gathered so far, a liner will cost me around $500 and i'm hoping the stove will be $500-800 which will give me some padding just in case (this is why i don't want to cross the $1000 mark on a stove).
the good thing is the size of our house is smaller than i originally thought after measuring. the bad thing is, i think the shape and size of the fireplace might limit what i can do. i'd like to stick to a standalone stove partially into the fireplace if possible. it's an arch shape with the tallest point of the opening being 30.5" and the base being 36" across. i picked a stove at random (Englander 12-FP 25 1/4" W x 26" H x 14" D) just to 'fit' it and that would be about 1.5" too wide at it's height.
anyone with experience or ideas that can point me in a direction, it'd be much appreciated. thanks!
