When we built our house in MI I wasn't yet a serious burner, so we got the standard inefficient prefab fireplace, a Majestic WMC42. It's reasonably well-built as prefabs go, UL127 listed, and has the same 8" ID, HT2100-rated class A triple-wall air-cooled chimney that VC uses for their Sequoia EPA fireplace. For years I've been planning some sort of upgrade to reasonable heat; this past season another member showed an Oslo install into pretty much exactly the same setup, which was the leading candidate at the time. The recent discussion of Woodstock discounts and tax credits got me looking at the Fireview, and so I thought I'd see what folks thought about it in my case.
I've attached a photo of the current setup, the fireplace is 42" x 35.5". The major factors limiting my choices are:
1. Lintel height of 27"
2. Hearth depth of 19" (I think; I did not write that down for some reason and I'm not there now)
3. Hearth is 2.5" of concrete on wood, so R value of only 0.2-0.25 or so
4. Faux-stone surround is on a wood backer.
I've had some discussions with Woodstock based on this photo and info, the upshot is that they think it will fit given my dimensions, that I might need to double up the bottom heat shield (although I think my hearth matches their suggested 0.5" of cement board), and that the combustible surround probably isn't an issue because it will not be 90 degrees to any major surfaces, and could be heat shielded if necessary. The mantle would need a heat shield for just about any stove. They actually suggested that a direct-connect to the existing 8" chimney would probably be OK, although a full 6" liner is certainly possible. One nice thing is that I can use the existing blower in the fireplace to reclaim some of the heat radiated back past the rear heat shield, and the air will blow right over the top of the stove. Another is that the side-loading and the 10" raised hearth mean I don't need additional protection in front.
Anybody (especially Fireview owners) see any major red flags I missed? There's one measurement I can't precisely extract from the documentation, and maybe a Fireview owner can check this for me: if the stove is mounted with the rear as flush to the fireplace face (sans doors, of course) as the various protusions allow, how far is it from the face to the front legs? The manual lists outside leg dimensions at 18", and overall stove depth at 20". If my 19" hearth-depth number from memory is correct, then the distribution of those extra 2" is pretty important.
Size-wise I'd prefer a somewhat larger stove, but the constraints above don't let me get much larger (the Oslo is somewhat bigger). The house is 2000 sqft, with the front half (where the fireplace is located) with a double-height vaulted ceiling, but it has full Tyvek wrap and decent insulation - R19 walls and R50 roof. Pretty much any stove in that location won't heat the rear bedrooms too well, but two ceiling fans above should distribute heat well across the remaining ~1500 sqft.
I've attached a photo of the current setup, the fireplace is 42" x 35.5". The major factors limiting my choices are:
1. Lintel height of 27"
2. Hearth depth of 19" (I think; I did not write that down for some reason and I'm not there now)
3. Hearth is 2.5" of concrete on wood, so R value of only 0.2-0.25 or so
4. Faux-stone surround is on a wood backer.
I've had some discussions with Woodstock based on this photo and info, the upshot is that they think it will fit given my dimensions, that I might need to double up the bottom heat shield (although I think my hearth matches their suggested 0.5" of cement board), and that the combustible surround probably isn't an issue because it will not be 90 degrees to any major surfaces, and could be heat shielded if necessary. The mantle would need a heat shield for just about any stove. They actually suggested that a direct-connect to the existing 8" chimney would probably be OK, although a full 6" liner is certainly possible. One nice thing is that I can use the existing blower in the fireplace to reclaim some of the heat radiated back past the rear heat shield, and the air will blow right over the top of the stove. Another is that the side-loading and the 10" raised hearth mean I don't need additional protection in front.
Anybody (especially Fireview owners) see any major red flags I missed? There's one measurement I can't precisely extract from the documentation, and maybe a Fireview owner can check this for me: if the stove is mounted with the rear as flush to the fireplace face (sans doors, of course) as the various protusions allow, how far is it from the face to the front legs? The manual lists outside leg dimensions at 18", and overall stove depth at 20". If my 19" hearth-depth number from memory is correct, then the distribution of those extra 2" is pretty important.
Size-wise I'd prefer a somewhat larger stove, but the constraints above don't let me get much larger (the Oslo is somewhat bigger). The house is 2000 sqft, with the front half (where the fireplace is located) with a double-height vaulted ceiling, but it has full Tyvek wrap and decent insulation - R19 walls and R50 roof. Pretty much any stove in that location won't heat the rear bedrooms too well, but two ceiling fans above should distribute heat well across the remaining ~1500 sqft.
