Advice needed for size/style of stove/insert. Thx in advance!

[newbie21]

Hello all. I am completely confused about what kind of stove or insert to get, so I really appreciate any input. We have an 1850 Colonial (two story) with a large central fireplace. The fireplace has a large opening (42" wide by 34" tall) about 20" deep at the top of the opening, 30" deep at the bottom of the opening, and a 20" deep hearth. Also, the chimney works.

We are paying a fortune in gas bills in the winter and want to offset that with some efficient wood-burning. We don't expect to heat the whole house (about 2,000 sq. ft.) with the wood stove all the time, but want to keep warm at night without the furnace working non-stop.

With that size opening, can I just put a free-standing wood stove in there? Or do I have to go with an insert? Which would give a better heat output? Which would be cheaper? What size stove can we get away with?

We just cut down a dozen 100 ft. trees that were choked off by ivy (inherited from previous owners, that's a-whole-nother issue) so availability of wood isn't an issue. Cost is, however. Looking for something that will work, is somewhat attractive/in keeping with Colonial style, and as inexpensive as quality will allow. Any suggestions?

Also: We have 10' ceilings on the first floor, which will probably factor in.

 

[begreen]

The good news is you have a nice starting setup that offers a lot of choices. With the big fireplace and hearth, I'd put in a freestanding stove. The one problem will be cost. Usually a cast iron or soapstone stove looks best in an old colonial. A good-sized stove of that design is expensive and it still needs to be connected to the flue or a liner added. If you're handy and can do the work yourself and are ok with a basic steel box, the low-end cost for stove and liner could be under $2000. But if you want a nicer looking stove and need it installed, I would plan on a budget of about $3500 for the final product.

In order to size the stove it would help to know how well heat will circulate. How large is the room that the stove will be in? Is the first floor an open floorplan or several rooms separated with doors?

In the meantime, how are the insulation and windows? Investing here will be the quickest payback, regardless of heating source.

 

[newbie21]

Thanks for the advice. As for the room, it's about 40' long by 13' wide, but right next to the hearth is a 5' hallway which leads to another 40' by 13' room (which has a ceiling fan that could help circulate air) and the staircase to upstairs. Air circulates pretty well. Our insulation is good, but our windows are huge and ancient. In the winter we put plastic film on them. I've been looking at different websites for freestanding models. Of course they don't have prices, but I like the Jotul Oslo model. Any suggestions for less expensive models that have a glass door to see the fire?

By the way, we have an interior chimney.

 

[begreen]

It sounds like the perfect setup. The Jotul Oslo is a really fine stove. That's a great choice. The other stove I would recommend is the one we just got, the Pacific Energy Alderlea T5 or T6. I would recommend the T6 if you want to make a serious dent in the heating bills, but the T5 is a respectable heater as well.