Free Standing Wood stove vs Zero Clearance

[3littlejoys]

My husband and I are in the process of building a new construction home, 2300 sq feet, open floor plan and open to second floor above. We would like to heat primarily with wood. We are at the point to decide on what to purchase to burn the wood. We were thinking initially of a free standing wood stove, but are now having second thoughts based on the clearances required and the amount this would stick out into our living space. We are now considering a zero clearance pre-fab fireplace such as Lennox BIS or Kozy Heat Z42. We are unsure if this will heat as well as we hope, but it would solve issues of space. Any thoughts would be helpful. We live in CT. I have read many posts on this site so far and learned a lot. Thank you

 

[mminor]

Welcome.

Attached is a zero clearance list I assembled that shows othher ZC options aside from the two you mention.

Matt

 

[iron]

our heat n glo northstar unit heats our 1600SF upstairs with ease. temps in the 20s/30s. 1979 construction with r11 insulation in the walls, average air sealing. it was our first year of burning with it last year, so our wood wasn't ideal. i cannot imagine how nice it'll be with seasoned wood this year. i suspect 2300SF in a new, sealed home with open floor plan and the fireplace on the ground floor would easily heat it. but, like with all things, YMMV.

 

[Dieselhead]

Just going to always run the fan if you have a ZC, freestanding can heat without the fan running. At least those are my observances from switching between the 2 in the same house.

 

[iron]

we don't need to use the fan at all on the ZC. takes about 1 hr to get up to temp from a cold start. then, the masonry really absorbs heat and heats the whole area.

 

[3littlejoys]

Thank you for all your input, has been very helpful. We are now also looking at the pacific energy fp 25 or 30, osburn stratford, and heat and glo. Iron, it is good to hear the heat and glo has worked well for you. Anything either positive or negative about the others I mentioned? Thanks

 

[iron]

drawback to the heat n glo is the spots on the glass from the air wash. it's guaranteed to happen. they clean off easily enough and burn off if you're running hot. definitely a misdesign.

 

[Mike M.]

Hi - we have the FP30 unit in a similar 1.5 story open design house. Ours is used more for cold nights and weekends, we use natural gas during the day when at work and in mild weather. I am sure we could heat with 100% wood if we wanted. Our FP30 is in the main living room flush mounted with the bump back chase built into our bedroom. We also had concerns about the free standing unit and space. Another thing I like about the ZC is then you have all class A pipe. Our ceiling is 20 feet tall in the stove room so that would have been a lot of black pipe showing. The air wash system works great and the widescreen view of the fire is nice.

 

[Nick Mystic]

A few years ago I switched from an insert to a free standing stove to get more heat, but the biggest benefit - in my opinion - was the beautiful silence of not having a fan run all the time. It is rare to find an insert owner who will tell you that they get plenty of heat without the fan running. I generally spend the last hour of my winter nights sitting in front of the wood stove with some quiet music playing in the background. So much more pleasant than listening to a fan rattle!

 

[Ashful]

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[3littlejoys]

That's good to hear about the FP-30, thanks. I do understand the quietness of a freestanding, that was our first choice but I think our space constraints just won't allow it. Anyone with experience with the Osburn Stratford?

 

[aansorge]

I have both a free-standing and a zc and my opinion is freestanding. The problem with many zc fireplaces is location of the fan intake. The intake is usually under the door and every time you reload, some ashes fall out accumulate on the intake somewhere, and then get sucked into the fan. This reduces fan life and puts ash into the air.

Get a free standing stove that you like to look at and enjoy silence and cleaner air.

 

[Ashful]

I do understand the quietness of a freestanding, that was our first choice but I think our space constraints just won't allow it.

Put an alcove where you were going to build that fireplace? Another alternative is what I have, big-ass fireplaces with a freestanding stove sitting comfortably within. Essentially, an alcove, which used to be a cooking fireplace.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Put an alcove where you were going to build that fireplace? Another alternative is what I have, big-ass fireplaces with a freestanding stove sitting comfortably within. Essentially, an alcove, which used to be a cooking fireplace.

I am all for the alcove install.. in fact we made our alcove to look like.. an old big-ass fireplace...

 

[3littlejoys]

Thanks for all the input.