Wood Stove in Small Fireplace?

[HullzKove]

Hi all,

I've learned a lot from these here forums and articles and it's time for my first post. We have been planning on installing a woodstove so that it sits in the fireplace with the stovepipe venting straight up into the (lined) chimney. The main problem with this is that the fireplace is pretty small.

We've been looking at the Englander NC 30 as a solid, affordable option that will for sure meet our heating needs but we'll need to take out some bricks, particularly from the smoke shelf but also maybe from the front and raising up the lintel. With this we'd still have a hell of a time fitting everything together and we'd forego the option of having a flue damper which wouldn't be ideal.

Another option would be to have the stove sit further into the living room, seal off the chimney, and have the pipe run up and bend into the chimney through the wall. It would almost be an equal pain in the a** to cut a hole into the chimney and the two 90 degree angles also aren't really ideal. But I guess we'd have our damper.

The third option would be to just get a stove that fits better. Most medium to large stoves that have their flue right at the back of the stove fit just fine. We were looking at a lopi 1750 today and it was great but at $1850 it's not an option. We're having a hard time finding something for under $1000 that stacks up to the Englander in heat output, efficiency, and price.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[begreen]

What are the fireplace dimensions, front and back? How large an area is being heated?

 

[HullzKove]

What are the fireplace dimensions, front and back? How large an area is being heated?

Hi, fireplace is 36" wide, 32" tall. On the hearth floor it's 27" deep but the smoke shelf slopes out as you go up and there is a 5" deep lintel. So at 20" high there's 16" between the back wall and the hearth opening. At 31" there's 6-7" between the back wall and the steel lintel. I hope that makes some sense. We are heating a 1500' sq house, 2 stories, with pretty poor insulation. Thanks!!

 

[begreen]

Great. It sounds like you have a bit of wiggle room and multiple possible options. Take a look at the Pacific Energy True North TN20. It is 2 cu ft, around $1000 and has the flue at the rear. The Heatilator WS18 has similar specs and sells for a bit more. Also look at the Drolet line for 3.0 cu ft stoves around $1000. There are the Austral/Baltic/ and Myriad which are the same stove with different bases, trim and shielding. For about $2K there is the Ideal steel which is 30.5" tall before the long flue collar. It is ~3.2 cu ft..

Is there a wood mantel on this fireplace? If so that needs to be considered due to combustible clearances.

 

[HullzKove]

Great thanks for the suggestions! Let me know if you think of any other stoves on the shorter/longer side but that still have a decent size firebox. ideally 2.5-3.5 cu ft. Have a good one

 

[DBoon]

You've probably already factored all of this into your budget and thinking, but if you can spend a little more and get a stove that fits right into your existing fireplace and that vents straight up, that is pretty much the best install you can have (my opinion), and you will save considerable time and money on modifications.

Also, I chose a Lopi Answer (too small for your needs) specifically because it would fit, vented straight up, and it was double-jacketed, so the addition of the blower to the stove made it really good at getting the heat from the stove into the room. Not sure which stoves you've looked at may have this feature, but if one does, I would pick that over another, all other things being equal.

 

[HullzKove]

You've probably already factored all of this into your budget and thinking, but if you can spend a little more and get a stove that fits right into your existing fireplace and that vents straight up, that is pretty much the best install you can have (my opinion), and you will save considerable time and money on modifications.

Hi DBoon, it seems that no matter what we would have to knock out quite a few bricks to get a moderately sized stove in the fireplace. It would be really great to have our stovepipe going straight up but one of my concerns with going that route is not having a cleanout. The mantle is also super close so clearance will definitely be an issue. And then there's not having a damper. So yeah, I think we might be better off going up into the chimney through the wall. What do you think? Thanks so much for your input!

 

[edyit]

you've mentioned needing a damper a few times. most people don't need a damper on an epa stove since most of the control is done on the primary air. unless you have a really tall chimney that drafts overly well you might not need the flue damper.

 

[HullzKove]

you've mentioned needing a damper a few times. most people don't need a damper on an epa stove since most of the control is done on the primary air. unless you have a really tall chimney that drafts overly well you might not need the flue damper.

Aha. thanks

 

[DBoon]

one of my concerns with going that route is not having a cleanout.

I don't have a cleanout either - when the stovepipe is cleaned, it is just swept from the top down into the firebox. I move the baffle bricks at the top during the cleaning so that the creosote (the little there is) falls into the firebox, and is then just burned up or shoveled out.

I understand the dimensional issues after re-reading your post. I don't know enough about the chimney construction to know whether it is possible to knock bricks out but if it was, I would probably do that before either extending the hearth or going with a bigger stove. But I don't value 24/7 heating ability the way some on this site do (and the way you may) and I also wouldn't want to do rip apart the inlaid wood floors in front of my current hearth. Every person/install is different.

Other than the depth, your fireplace opening is high enough and wide enough to support a full stove. Again, I would recommend something double-jacketed or otherwise optimized for getting heat out of the fireplace "alcove" into the room, likely using a blower. The Lopi Answer that I have is perfect for what I ask it to do and for where it is located.