switch from insert to stove

[dave_376]

I've been thinking about a new stove/insert for a while now. I am heating my 2700 sq ft house with an older Avalon 1196 insert which has a 2.5cu ft firebox. Most of the time I keep my house comfortably warm but I would like to do it all the time including the cold snaps when its in the single digits. My fireplace has a small opening which limits my choices of inserts. I might be able to squeeze an Avalon Olympic in it with luck. Bigger inserts like the Summit wont fit. This has brought me to thinking, I know dangerous, right. Can I do some demolition on my fireplace and add a freestanding stove in front of it.


If I remove the hearth and tile or brick the floor I should be able to put a big stove in about the same footprint as what I currently use. I think the new tile/brick floor would end close to where the hearth pad in the front of the picture, maybe a few more inches but close. The current hearth is 18" and the pad is 24".

I am considering a BK king as an option but I want to know what I can expect for burn times in a big home. Tell me what you would do if this was your house.

 

[weatherguy]

If you get a rear vent stove you may not have to do anything depending on the size of your hearth. I'm thinking of doing the same thing and going to a Progress Hybrid, I wouldn't have to do a thing other than get a connector. What size if your hearth and fireplace opening.

 

[dave_376]

I measured the opening 28" wide x 24" high. I'm not opposed to leaving the opening except I think I will have trouble finding a stove big enough to heat a 2700 sq ft colonial. I haven't found one that will sit on the hearth and be large enough.

 

[rwhite]

The only way to get a stove to heat better than an insert is to get it out of the fireplace. Doesn't look like you have the hearth space to do it as it is.

 

[weatherguy]

You could always extend the hearth to accommodate a bigger stove but I'm not sure your fireplace is high enough for a rear vent. The Progress Hybrid would probably be enough stove to heat your house, there may be others but that's the only one I've come across as yet. If that doesn't work it might be a good summer project to redo that area for a big free stander, a few guys here have done it and have done a really nice job.

 

[dave_376]

Weatherguy, How does the princess work out in New England? Do you get really long burns, have you noticed any less wood consumption? Also how large is your house?

 

[Charles1981]

a vc defiant would be about an appropriately sized free standing stove that i believe can be rear vented. my encore is rear vented and works well for 1900sq ft.