help..want a fireplace or stove..where do i begin

[newenglandboy]

my mother left me her home which was made in the 1950s..many at this time considered fireplaces old fashioned and my parents decided against having a fireplace installed. for these long winters..i want a fireplace. I was looking at old franklin stoves and found one around 1,000.00$ and appears to be in good condition..our living froom is small and do not want this stove jetting out into the living room..what is the wall clearance?..many of the homes in the neighborhood have fireplaces and the homes are identical too mine..prefab?..stove?..i do want to burn wood..want the flame exposed behind screen etc..no really wanting a glass covering..please advise..i also do not want to spend a fortune..i think the price of installation will be high in Connecticut..please advise..a electric fake fire just does not provide anything really ..except a little heat..want to start this now..love the iron Edwardian mantles in the UK..but would cost a fortune to ship..i also would like a bedroom size fireplace as seen in so many cottages.. or is big better or size does not count..please..where do I begin.

 

[webby3650]

Those old stoves will need to be 36" from the wall. Special provisions can be made to reduce this number. The glass isn't an obstacle for viewing the fire on the new stoves. If there is no glass, there also is no efficiency.

 

[blacktail]

For less than the price of the old Franklin, you can get a new EPA certified stove.

 

[Grisu]

Welcome to the forum!

Please confirm that I got the following points correctly:
1) There is no pre-existing hearth and (masonry) chimney.
2) You mainly want a fire for ambiance, not really a heater.
3) Small footprint (i. e. close clearances) are important.
4) You have a tight budget. How much were you thinking?

Have you thought about a direct-vent gas-unit either stove or fireplace? That may fit your requirements the closest. Other option would be to put a small woodstove including chimney in but I am not sure if you are willing to spend that much money.

 

[Rickb]

Just my opinion but no way would I have a open fire in my house with out it being behind glass. Screens don't really help that much and I like my home to much to watch it burn to the ground. Not to mention the efficiency.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

excerpt from my book; bear in mind its a rough copy not finished yet

First things first
Deciding on going to wood heat is somewhat involved, things that need to be thought about first and foremost include understanding that wood burning is indeed a lifestyle. The stove in the winter will need to be fed, ash removed, the chimney swept. the wood you intend to use for heat must be cut and set to season far in advance of the striking of the first match of the season. Another decision is whether the stove will be used as "supplemental" or primary heat. Do you intend to heat a portion of the dwelling or the whole house? Sizing is important when making this decision
.
the room the stove will occupy is important as well when deciding if whole house or partial coverage is the question. remember a wood stove is a "space heater" its ability to heat is limited by its being anchored to a single spot where all of the heat will radiate from. air moving devices greatly help the movement of this heat but can be limited by the house layout and other factors. moving heat around a single room is not a problem , getting it around a house can be tricky sometimes so consideration should be taken when selecting a site to mount the stove to better allow heat to transit the area more readily. finding a spot where the stove would best be suited is half the battle, when selecting potential sites within the dwelling you must also make sure that a suitable chimney can be installed to vent the stove in this location. this can be tricky sometimes especially in a multi story dwelling, you might decide "this is the spot" then look upstairs and find the flue would have to transit through your bed or come up under a wall or similar, especially with an interior chimney.
suitable space should be allowed for the "hearth" the platform or base the stove will be mounted upon. this can be of varied size depending on stove type and size selected but will generally be somewhat larger than the size of the stove itself as protected clearances require space between the outer walls of the stove to a combustible surface including floors if they are made of or contain a combustible material.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

another excerpt;

Shopping for a stove
shopping for a stove can be confusing, there are many types of stoves available on the market in this section we will break down stoves by size, type, and cost.
the stove market is a wide one , with everything from expensive exotic beautiful units to less expensive though quite solid budget stoves. stoves generally fall under certain categories and are built of varying materials. units can range from steel stoves to soapstone stoves , cast iron, cat or non-cat, inserts, furnaces, or freestanding. some are quite small some are rather large. each has its advantages and its shortcomings so selecting the proper stove for your wants as well as you're application is a very involved and important decision. this chapter will attempt to explain the variances in stove types and variances in performance based on the material they are constructed of.
"Size matters"
"a woodstove is a space heater and the space I want to heat is my house"
"Brother Bart"
Stoves vary in size, more importantly in "firebox" size. the reason for such variance is the larger the stove the more space it should be able to heat and the longer it should be able to hold a fire. A large woodstove is made with the intent of holding a fire for, and to offer a larger amount of heat for a longer period of time. smaller stoves obviously are intended for smaller spaces and shorter burn times. it's usually an accepted theory that a stove which is intended to hold an "overnight fire" should possess a 2 cubic foot or larger firebox. the mindset is that stoves smaller than 2 cubic ft. of capacity simply will not hold enough fuel to last for an 8 hour period and still actively heat. Many smaller units though will still hold fires for a respectable period though and in houses which are well suited for trapping heat may reduce the need for the "traditional" overnight burn. many folks run stoves with smaller fireboxes which hold the fire for most of the night and the house is still relatively comfortable the next morning. these smaller stoves also have the added advantages of taking up less space and may also not overpower a small space. essentially the stove needs to be sized for the square footage it will be heating and just as importantly for the amount of heat retention a house possesses.
Larger units usually 3 cubic foot or more are meant for larger houses or houses which simply are poorly insulated. these "big guns" will simply hold more wood and throw heat for a longer period than smaller stoves just due to a larger capacity firebox. they also can be run in a manner which can consume a larger load in a relatively similar timeframe which make for a higher heat release per hour than a smaller stove may achieve.
So sizing is important and while the general consensus is that it's better to go bigger and damp it down, this thought does not generally ring true with modern appliances like it did with the older tech stoves. damping these modern units actually tends to make them run hotter in many cases, especially with non-cat style units. the only real way to "back down" the output of a stove that's too big for a space is to "short load" the unit,(essentially build small fires more frequently) which reduces the overall output of the unit.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. The size and style of the stove will depend on a lot of factors like: How large is the room? Is the floor plan open or are the rooms closed off by doorways? Is it a one or two story home?

Our living room is on the small size, yet we have a full sized stove in it. It sits in a room corner so that it doesn't effect traffic flow through the room. It sounds like you may have not spent a winter in the house for a long time. Review the heating bills. If they are high you probably are going to want a stove that has a great fire view, but also can heat when the weather gets cold.

Stove choosing can be hard because you need to consider function and form. Some can be run with a screen in them when you want it to act like a fireplace. The Jotul F400 Castine is an example. Can you post some pictures of the room and where the stove might possibly go? Also note, a modern stove is going to want seasoned wood. If the intent is to heat with wood, then getting dry wood even if it costs a premium this year will be a necessity.