I've spent several hours today reading assiduously through all the relevant posts I could find on the forum, but I thought I would appeal to the collective wisdom and experience of the "community" for advice in order to reach a decision.
I'm in the market for a wood burning insert for the existing fireplace in the living room of our 3-story, 1912 (Mock) Tudor home located in Southeastern Michigan. I realize this may be a bit heretical, but I'm not actually looking to use the stove to provide regular or primary heating of the home; we rely on our furnace for almost our heating needs and tend to burn fires in the fireplace somewhat irregularly. My interest in an insert, then, is primarily to provide a little extra warmth and ambience when we're relaxing on winter evenings in the living room and not have the sense we’re just heating the outside air and burning wood for naught. The only other use would be in the case of a power outage, which we unfortunately have once every few years and at such times would be nice if the stove would allow us to hole out in the house.
Here are some details of the situation:
The fireplace is on a western-facing exterior wall in a living room measuring 13’ x 18'.
The dimensions of fireplace opening are 36” wide x 29” high x 19” deep.
The width at back is 26”
The existing tile hearth 21.5” deep
The inner measurements of the mantel surround are 52” w x 37” h (i.e., exposed brick on each side and above fireplace opening is 8”).
In terms of aesthetics, we would like something not too obtrusive and which would fit with the style of the home and room. In addition, we are leaning to something flush mounted or with a minimal projection, however, I have read here that fan noise can be an issue on some models (e.g., Osburm Matrix). Do all such models require a fan? Again, given that I'm not really seeking to heat the house, perhaps there's a reasonably efficient model that wouldn't require an electrical connection and fan…?
I’m attaching a picture of the existing fireplace. Please let me know your thoughts…and thanks in advance.
I'm in the market for a wood burning insert for the existing fireplace in the living room of our 3-story, 1912 (Mock) Tudor home located in Southeastern Michigan. I realize this may be a bit heretical, but I'm not actually looking to use the stove to provide regular or primary heating of the home; we rely on our furnace for almost our heating needs and tend to burn fires in the fireplace somewhat irregularly. My interest in an insert, then, is primarily to provide a little extra warmth and ambience when we're relaxing on winter evenings in the living room and not have the sense we’re just heating the outside air and burning wood for naught. The only other use would be in the case of a power outage, which we unfortunately have once every few years and at such times would be nice if the stove would allow us to hole out in the house.
Here are some details of the situation:
The fireplace is on a western-facing exterior wall in a living room measuring 13’ x 18'.
The dimensions of fireplace opening are 36” wide x 29” high x 19” deep.
The width at back is 26”
The existing tile hearth 21.5” deep
The inner measurements of the mantel surround are 52” w x 37” h (i.e., exposed brick on each side and above fireplace opening is 8”).
In terms of aesthetics, we would like something not too obtrusive and which would fit with the style of the home and room. In addition, we are leaning to something flush mounted or with a minimal projection, however, I have read here that fan noise can be an issue on some models (e.g., Osburm Matrix). Do all such models require a fan? Again, given that I'm not really seeking to heat the house, perhaps there's a reasonably efficient model that wouldn't require an electrical connection and fan…?
I’m attaching a picture of the existing fireplace. Please let me know your thoughts…and thanks in advance.
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