pellet inserts

my wife and I are wanting to to get a pellet insert for a 2000sq foot raised ranch we have a small fire place upstairs and we know we will not be able to heat down stairs we are new at this and have lots of questions on btu size for our house for heating purposes with out getting blowing out of the living room from so much heat like I said our fire place is extremley small it is a zero clearnce any suggestions please????????????

You need to take some measurements and hit some dealers in the area. FYI most pellet inserts are approved to be installed into a gutted ZC wood fireplace. This increases your size quite a bit. You can fit some of the bigger pellet inserts into even a 36" ZC wood box.

Take apart as much of the existing stove as you can. You will be surprised how much extra metal you can take out of them.
Buy yourself a couple of inches here or there...you will be surprised how much room you really have.
Could mean the difference between a 37 lbs hopper or a 57 lbs hopper (at least on the Harmen Accentra).

thanx for the info