Advice Needed w/Impossible Chimney Issues

[Jim Chimney]

We purchased a house a couple of years ago with a beautiful brick fireplace but it turns out it's going to be quite challenging to get it to work again (especially since I live in California and am subject to very unfriendly regulations when it comes to wood burning). The chimney is very short (maybe 10' total) and flue is cracked and needs to be repaired. The air pressure in and around the house also unfortunately draws air in pretty strongly down the chimney... I don't want to give up on having a wood fire so have been going insane trying to figure this out. I've settled on two options and wanted to see what advice I could get here:

Repair Fireplace - replace/repair the flue and potentially get doors and a chimney fan installed (I'm worried about the noise from the fan)

Wood Burning Insert - Looking at putting in a Stuv 16 but concerned with not being able to get an outside air intake and that I may still have problems with the short chimney.

Photos attached below - any and all advice is welcome!

 

[begreen]

A cube-shaped stove that will work on a short chimney may work out. I'm wondering if the Osburn Inspire would fit. What is the lintel height on the main side? Running an insulated liner should work without major chimney work. If necessary it can be extended.

Inspire | Wood stoves | Osburn

www.osburn-mfg.com

 

[Jim Chimney]

A cube-shaped stove that will work on a short chimney may work out. I'm wondering if the Osburn Inspire would fit. What is the lintel height on the main side? Running an insulated liner should work without major chimney work. If necessary it can be extended.

Inspire | Wood stoves | Osburn

www.osburn-mfg.com

That's a nice looking one - measurements are [31.5" H x 34" L (at the narrow end) x 26.5" W] so may be too tall. I'll have to go through the list again and pay closer attention to the min chimney height...

 

[begreen]

The Osburn Inspire is about 25" tall with the minimalistic base.