Advice on wood stove + placement

[slak]

Hi Everyone,
I found this forum just recently and it seems like a fantastic place to solicit suggestions, so here it goes.

We recently had a fire in our home with a decent amount of damage due to a faulty chimney liner from our wood stove. Fortunately everyone got out fine, and the additional silver lining is that we're doing a complete rebuild of that part of our house. Our home is a 2,500 sq ft contemporary with 2.5 levels. Picture #1, on the left, is a view from the living room, which is on one side of the house. The kitchen is on the lower floor on the right, dining room on the left (hidden by the upper staircase). The spot for the wood stove is on the first floor, behind the half-wall on the right side of the picture.


The next two pictures are from the second floor looking down onto the stove site (picture #2, which also shows the charred chimney just to the side of the stove site) and the living room (picture #3). As an aside, there is a gas fireplace in the living room, seen on the left in Picture #3. Picture #4 is the location of the wood stove. The width (as measured from the base of the wood on the right to the cinder blocks on the left) is 35 in. The depth, from the back to the front bricks is 36 in. You can also see a bit of our old wood stove on the right side of Picture #4. Picture #5 is a view of the same spot from the kitchen.

We have been using our wood stove since we bought the house a few years ago and love it. The location of our stove such that we can't really sit around it, so it's more functional rather than decorative, though it's in a very visible spot when we're in the kitchen or dining room. The heating from the stove is definitely good for the living room and the master bedroom (the open door on the right side of the second floor in Picture #1, right above the stove spot), which sometimes gets too hot at night if we're not careful about controlling the fire. The heating is solid but not as good for the kitchen and dining area, which are on the same floor as the stove. I guess all that's not surprising, since there's no ceiling right about the stove so most of the heat rises straight up.

Here, then, are my questions:
1) What suggestions would people have for how to redo the spot for the stove, both in terms of safety and aesthetics? There are bricks there now, but those will be removed. We have to stick with the current dimensions, but otherwise basically have a clean slate to work with.

2) Suggestions for a wood stove that would fit into that spot? We're experienced using our stove, but don't know much about wood stoves in general.
a) Price: Around $2,000 is good, though open to higher if there's a good reason.
b) Style: We have a contemporary, so were looking for something to match. I've seen pictures of the Pacific Energy Neo and Regency Classic/Pro-Series, and that's the general style that we would probably like. Open to other contemporary styles as well.
c) Type: Would prefer the simplicity of non-catalytic, but again, open to to catalytic if there's a good reason

3) Would appreciate comments on whether to add a fan. Given our layout, would it help disperse the heat better to the first floor, rather than everything rising up? How about the noise, seeing that it's right below the master bedroom. We're not super sensitive sleepers, but a constant humming could get annoying.

Any other suggestions or comments would be great as well.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mech e]

You are going to have your wood stove choices limited by rear and side clearance requirements. That is the first thing I would look at when shopping for a new stove.

 

[begreen]

That's a very narrow spot for a stove. It is an alcove. A proper NFPA 211 wall shielding will be a necessity as will a stove the permits clearance reduction. The Jotul F118CB came to mind if you can locate one and even that narrow stove is a squeaker fit. Likewise for the little Morso 2B Classic. Had they taken the cinderblock wall up another couple courses, that would have helped by creating a non-combustible wall on that side. Rebuilding both half-walls out of non-combustibles would also help. Otherwise, the choice will be very limited and will need inspector approval.