Can't decide. Hearth stove - Insert - insert with no surround

[USA-498]

New guy here. Great site.

Need to pick peoples brains with regards to upgrading my fireplace.

Not sure if an insert or a free standing stove would be better. Trying to knock something off my oil bill

Fireplace measures 40" wide 32" tall and 20" deep.

Any suggestions would be great.

 

[Grisu]

Welcome to the forum!

Looks like an ideal setup for a hearth stove with the tile flooring in the front. There are some benefits for a stove compared with an insert:

- More radiant heat
- No blower noise and no need for power during a power outage.
- What is behind that fireplace? If it is the outside, with a stove you will lose less heat out the back than with an insert.
- A stove may also come cheaper than a comparable insert as it will not need blower or surround.
- If the stove sticks a bit out you may be able to cook on it when the power is out.

On the other hand, some people prefer the look of an insert and it will take up less space. Some insert models would be hard to install there as a stove but you also have plenty of stoves that don't have an equivalent insert so it really depends what particular model you like most.
If you want to go for a rear-vented stove the obvious choices would be Jotul, Woodstock, Hearthstone and some Lopis. A top-vented one would need to fit into the fireplace so max height would be about 31". If you have some computer skills you could copy some pictures of the manufacturers' websites, crop them down to the stoves and paste them into your fireplace to get an idea how it would look like.

People here can point you towards the best stoves/inserts for you application but some more info would be good. How big is your home? Where is the fireplace located? How good is the insulation? Is the stove meant as a supplement or do you want to rely solely on wood heat? Do you already have several cords of firewood cut, split and stacked to have it seasoned for next winter? What is your budget? How wide and tall is the chimney? What is its condition?

P.S. That wood mantel may also be a problem depending on which route you will go.

 

[USA-498]

Thanks for all that info so quickly ! I have attached a picture of the chimney and its approx. 30' tall. I am sort of hedging to an insert, possibly the PE neo 2.5 insert. I don't think I want too much sticking out of the fireplace.

 

[weatherguy]

There's some stoves that are inserts and free standers, take a look at some of the Buck stoves. Not knowing the size of your house and how much heat you need it's hard to recommend specific stoves.
With that size opening there's a lot of free standers you can put there, most of the Jotul's, Woodstocks, maybe a Hearthstone.
Depends also if your flue can handle a 6 inch liner or 8 inch, if you're not heating a ton of space a 6 inch will be fine.

 

[begreen]

New guy here. Great site.

Need to pick peoples brains with regards to upgrading my fireplace.

Not sure if an insert or a free standing stove would be better. Trying to knock something off my oil bill

Fireplace measures 40" wide 32" tall and 20" deep.

Any suggestions would be great.

What is the goal? Will you be heating 24/7 with the stove or is this more for weekends and supplemental heat when it gets cold?

 

[Grisu]

Thanks for all that info so quickly ! I have attached a picture of the chimney and its approx. 30' tall. I am sort of hedging to an insert, possibly the PE neo 2.5 insert. I don't think I want too much sticking out of the fireplace.

For an exterior chimney we highly recommend an insulated liner. With 30 ft you will not have problems with insufficient draft; in fact you may even need to be a bit careful to not get too much draft. Is the chimney wide enough to accommodate a 6-inch liner? Since the back of the fireplace borders the outside you should consider putting some insulation behind the insert to keep more heat in the house. Here is an example: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/got-the-itch-again-jotul-c450-kennebec.120801/ I also highly recommend a block-off plate to keep the heat from going up the flue: https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/make-a-damper-sealing-block-off-plate/

For your insert choice: PE stoves are certainly well-liked here. I have one myself and have no complaints. The unique baffle design is very solid and allows for some of the longest burn times for a non-catalytic stove. With a 2.5 cu ft firebox it should heat a 1500 to 1600 sqft home with good insulation. That said, the Neo 2.5 is just coming out so there will not be any prior experience with it. It is also a flush insert requiring the use of a blower most of the time.