Preferred fireplace install

[mattym]

We moved to a new house with a masonry fireplace. After the last 10 years of blower noise from the Hearthstone Clydesdale in the last house, we want a free standing stove here. The fireplace opening is only 29" tall by 40" wide. The damper frame is 12" above the lintel. The chimney is about 30' tall, interior for 2 floors, than about 10' above the roof, lined with 8.5" I.D. square clay tiles. I'd really like to sweep from below. Buying a bucket truck is not in the budget.
We're looking at stoves like Keystone, Alderlea T4, and Castine. We will probably need some hearth floor mods and shielding for the trim and mantel, once we decide on a stove. Sorry for the long story, but are we better off with a rear vent stove on the hearth, and a tee with a clean out in the fireplace, or slide a top vent stove halfway into the fireplace, and sweep through the stove? I like saving room and floor space by going partially inside with a convective type stove, and they have closer clearances.
About a 1.5 cu ft stove is about the size we want. We're kinda relieved to not be entirely reliant on wood heat in this house, just want to help out the living room area. It will get an insulated liner and block off plate. It won't be installed this winter, just want to narrow it down to work on the hearth and mantel now.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[quotejso]

Go bigger and set in room. You looked at Jotul or Woodstock they have many rear vent.

 

[tcassavaugh]

I hear you on the blower issue...if you get one that is noisy, it can drive you nuts. i like the idea of the "T" and block of plate for the fireplace and the idea of a stove outside the fireplace box. you might have to fab that though. i haven't done any research into that. i noticed that you are thinking of a stove pretty much just for the living room area. A Jotul F3CB is a good little stove that takes up to 18 inch wood and easily regulated with slide controls. another feature i like about it is the ash drawrer which, for me, makes it easier to clean and empty ash without having to wait for it to burn out all the way. pipe can be mounted from the top or from the rear. i have one and use it to heat my 1200 sq foot main floor of the ranch style house i have. I've vented mine from the top, through the roof. another small stove from Jotul is the F602 its small but acts like a big stove putting out lots of heat. drawback is that the box is not very big so you have to feed it often. market is full of good choices for your needs. just research and ask lots of questions to the forum. someone will come to the rescue.

 

[Clydeburner]

I had a hearth mounted stove for years with the block off plate and tee configuration, worked great at over heating the downstairs to get any heat upstairs lol. I had tried fans all around the house to help move the heat, it jus never seemed to spread around. Just updated to the Clydesdale and so far am very pleased with its operation. Originally I was set on another hearth mounted stove, but once i got talking with my local dealer he quickly turned my attention to the insert and after some intense research and posts through here I went with it. I liked something with a blower option which has made the heat much more comfortable throughout the whole house. As Clydesdaleburner as stated the insert in definitely more of a house heater instead of a room heater.

If I had gone with the hearth mount I would have had it set out with block off plate, rear flue with a key damper and a tee for control and ease of maintenance. I would want one with a blower option, and I would go with the biggest I could fit. You can always burn smaller fires in a bigger stove during the shoulder seasons and in the event of power outage you would be able heat more area and for a longer time, you will be loading that small firebox quite often to have any sustainable heat out of the unit.