Planning on putting a wood stove into an existing masonry fireplace. Started by thinking about an insert and later a hearth stove but after reading posts from this forum I am now thinking maybe I can squeeze in a top-vented stove. That way choices are more and it will be easier on budget.
First about the house. The fireplace is in a big living room that is 25x20 with cathedral ceiling (no second floor, 3 exterior walls). The area adjacent to it (through a door) is 30x14. The two parts account for one zone of the oil baseboard heating system. And I hope the stove can take care of them (1020 ft^2, roughly 10660 ft^3, ~43000BTU according to the calculator). If the stove can help with the other part of the first floor (700 ft^2, further from the fireplace) or the second floor that will be great but I am not counting on it (not open floor plan, many walls that may discourage circulation). The lower half of the chimney is inside and the upper half (from the top of the living room roof to the top of the main unit roof) is exposed.
Now about whether I can squeeze a stove into the fire place. It has a quite big opening (48"x30" in front, 28"x30" in back). But the minimum depth is 16" and the heartch extends 18" from the front of the opening. I try to visualize using the listed dimensions of Englander 13-NC and 30-NC, which I'm leaning to buy (see pics). I found that while 13-NC can be completely inside, 30-NC sticks out about 10", thus leaving only 8" from the border of the hearth. I am keeping an 1.5" clearance at the back (the back is slanted and 1.5" is the minimal clearance, it's 5" at the bottom"). My questions are: 1. Is 8" to hearth border (30-NC case) too short to be safe? If so, what is the minimum (nothing in the vicinity of the stove, could floor be affected?) 2. Is the 1.5" clearance on the back ok? 3. My understanding is that the position of the vent (in the depth direction) is not a big issue as flexible liner will be used to link the vent to the flue (passing the damper). If that's the case, I guess I can move 13-NC out of the fireplace a bit so that I can have more radiant heat? 4. The capacity of the stove, will 13-NC be powerful enough? I am a bit concerned that 30-NC may overheat this part of the house if I can't get a good circulation.
I am a newbie to wood heating (was in bay area) so I will really appreciate your help. This forum has been a great source of information.
First about the house. The fireplace is in a big living room that is 25x20 with cathedral ceiling (no second floor, 3 exterior walls). The area adjacent to it (through a door) is 30x14. The two parts account for one zone of the oil baseboard heating system. And I hope the stove can take care of them (1020 ft^2, roughly 10660 ft^3, ~43000BTU according to the calculator). If the stove can help with the other part of the first floor (700 ft^2, further from the fireplace) or the second floor that will be great but I am not counting on it (not open floor plan, many walls that may discourage circulation). The lower half of the chimney is inside and the upper half (from the top of the living room roof to the top of the main unit roof) is exposed.
Now about whether I can squeeze a stove into the fire place. It has a quite big opening (48"x30" in front, 28"x30" in back). But the minimum depth is 16" and the heartch extends 18" from the front of the opening. I try to visualize using the listed dimensions of Englander 13-NC and 30-NC, which I'm leaning to buy (see pics). I found that while 13-NC can be completely inside, 30-NC sticks out about 10", thus leaving only 8" from the border of the hearth. I am keeping an 1.5" clearance at the back (the back is slanted and 1.5" is the minimal clearance, it's 5" at the bottom"). My questions are: 1. Is 8" to hearth border (30-NC case) too short to be safe? If so, what is the minimum (nothing in the vicinity of the stove, could floor be affected?) 2. Is the 1.5" clearance on the back ok? 3. My understanding is that the position of the vent (in the depth direction) is not a big issue as flexible liner will be used to link the vent to the flue (passing the damper). If that's the case, I guess I can move 13-NC out of the fireplace a bit so that I can have more radiant heat? 4. The capacity of the stove, will 13-NC be powerful enough? I am a bit concerned that 30-NC may overheat this part of the house if I can't get a good circulation.
I am a newbie to wood heating (was in bay area) so I will really appreciate your help. This forum has been a great source of information.
and again - presuming you're in the Ashford / Willington / Stafford vicinity, Mainline Heating on Rt 89 @ exit 72 off I-84 is a great local stove shop, if you haven't found them yet.
