Freestanding wood stove versus zero clearance flush mounted wood stove. .

[gaspasser]

Have owned freestanding woodstoves (Hearthstone and Vermont Casting) and zero clearance flush mounted fireplace in previous homes. In a house without anything now but was interested in adding a new freestanding stove. Dealer brought up the concept of a zero clearance flush mounted wood stove "not fireplace" install. I am unsure of what the major differences in performance, output, efficiency etc. are between the two options.
Parameters:
1) Have a pre-existing outside foundation for a future chimney in place. Thus, could build external chase that would contain 2 flues (one from cellar and one from first floor) and a radon exhaust pipe from cellar to roof). Two story cape with walkout basement.
2) Could recess the first floor inside wall out into the chase (allowing for room for radon exhaust pipe and flue from the basement) to hold either a flush mount zero clearance or partially recessed (with regard to required clearances) freestanding wood burner.
The zero clearance flush mount would save space in the room but I am concerned about performance, efficiency, output, reliability, choices as I have no experience with these. Seems to me heat output /efficiency would suffer. The free standing is a known entity that I am familiar with but would take up space and make furniture placement challenging with required clearances due to a relatively small living room. Would need to use heat shields on stove and walls. House is 2000 sq feet so 40,000 btu would be plenty for 1st and second floors (main heat is propane hot water). The flue in the basment would be for future stove placed for ambiance, not neccesarily for heat.
I'm really am leaning to freestanding but if all the advantages of a freestanding stove were available in a flush mount, I'd consider one as the space saving would be ideal. If you'd advocate for a flush mount, may I ask for some recommended brands from forum members? Thanks for your help. Much appreciated.

Best, Pete

 

[begreen]

A freestanding stove will have some distinct advantages over many ZC fireplaces, but it somewhat depends on the house. If the floorplan is somewhat open with large openings between areas then a freestanding stove will probably heat the space well, without power or a blower. We have a small living room. The T6 (a large stove) is in one corner. No wall shielding is needed for this close clearance stove. There are several others on the market that also have close clearances. A small ZC fireplace would take up about the same amount of space. The other advantage is efficiency. 100% of the heat radiated by the stove body and pipe go into the room envelope. With a built-in ZC there is some sacrifice. Another advantage is options. There are many more stove choices than there are ZC fireplace options. This provides more choice not only in looks, but burn technology.

That said, if a large fireview and distributed, ducted heat are desirable then a ZC fireplace may be just the ticket. There are some modern units that are starting to use the same firebox design as their freestanding stoves so the line gets blurrier here. Another option for either stove or ZC is to do an alcove bumpout so that the fireplace or heater is flush with the wall.

 

[Grisu]

I can see two advantages of a ZC fireplace versus a woodstove:
Many models can have ducts added to deliver heat to other parts of the house. That can be taken into account when designing the heating system(s) of a new construction.
Most people prefer the look of a fireplace over that of a stove. Thus, your home may get a higher bid when selling.

A stove certainly scores better in regards to radiant heat, ease of service, optional cooking on top, and somewhat price (depends on the models).

If you want to take a look at some models before deciding here are some options: KozyHeat Z42, Pacific Energy FP30, HeatnGlo Northstar, Quadrafire 7100
There are many more; just make sure to look for one that says "EPA-approved". Their efficiency is similar to a stove with the caveat that you will need to run a blower most of the time to get the heat out.

 

[mminor]

Hi Gas Passer.

BeGreen and Grisu summarized it perfectly. In my case, I would much rather have a 'free standing' stove in my particular home, but my room is way too small to accommodate the stove sitting out from the wall. So like BeGreen noted, I will be doing a 'bump-out' install with an EPA ZC fireplace unit where the fireplace essentially sits outside the house frame walls as seen in the two top-right examples in the first attachment below. This way I wont lose any precious SQF from my interior room. Lastly, my fiancé thinks - generally speaking - a zero-clearance fireplace will look better (versus a free standing stove) to prospective buyers if we ever try to sell our house.

Also, I'm attaching a list I compiled of zero-clearance fireplaces along with their specs (2nd picture below) if you should choose to go this route.

I hope this helps. Please let us know what you ultimately decide.

Matt

 

[begreen]

There are lots of good units on the market. What's your first choice? Is ducting heat off the ZC desired? Let us know, understanding that you may end up getting the one that she likes best.