We just moved to a home--two story, 2,048 sq ft, plus finished basement--outside Boulder, CO that has two wood-burners--old-style "Buck" sheet steel--that we'll replace with new, efficient, non-catalytic units.
The basement has a freestanding stove on a brick hearth. Easy choice there: a Hearthstone, either Homestead or Heritage--that soapstone really appeals to me.
The main floor isn't so easy. We have a site-built stone fireplace from which I'm removing the old insert. We could install a new insert, but because the firebox and most of the body sits behind the stone face, it will require running the blower (or a top-notch convection setup) to get the heat into the room. Part of why I burn wood is to avoid such things as a humming electric motor with its noise, cost, and moving parts.
Thought we'd found the answer in a "hearth-mount" setup, a stove sitting forward of the fireplace, but we run into problems of tight quarters, especially on height. Ideally, we want a unit whose body is not sealed into the fireplace or one with superb convection. In tools or whatever, I buy the best I can afford, within reason. So we started looking only at Vermont Castings and Jotul, then found Hearthstone. I'm sure there are others, but I want to stick with tried and true.
Here are the existing stone fireplace dimensions we're working with. Opening width: 31". Height (the troublesome one) is 22.5" to the steel plate. 20" clearance from top plate to underside of 8" (protruding) wood mantle. 23" depth from face to rear of fireplace (a steel plate). Hearth extends 16" forward from fireplace face. And 14" below hearth there's a 2' deep x 5' wide stone tile area. Chimney is 25' steel pipe, and we'll run a 6" stainless flex-liner directly to whatever we install. I've attached a photo of the fireplace & hearth.
Does anyone know of a good unit for this situation? I figure we want a firebox of at least 2 cu. ft., probably 2.5 or so. We have a mostly open floor-plan. Also, I believe I'll go with an outside air supply.
I imagine this topic has been explored before, so please feel free to direct me to such threads.
Thanks,
CB Bassity, Boulder, CO
The basement has a freestanding stove on a brick hearth. Easy choice there: a Hearthstone, either Homestead or Heritage--that soapstone really appeals to me.
The main floor isn't so easy. We have a site-built stone fireplace from which I'm removing the old insert. We could install a new insert, but because the firebox and most of the body sits behind the stone face, it will require running the blower (or a top-notch convection setup) to get the heat into the room. Part of why I burn wood is to avoid such things as a humming electric motor with its noise, cost, and moving parts.
Thought we'd found the answer in a "hearth-mount" setup, a stove sitting forward of the fireplace, but we run into problems of tight quarters, especially on height. Ideally, we want a unit whose body is not sealed into the fireplace or one with superb convection. In tools or whatever, I buy the best I can afford, within reason. So we started looking only at Vermont Castings and Jotul, then found Hearthstone. I'm sure there are others, but I want to stick with tried and true.
Here are the existing stone fireplace dimensions we're working with. Opening width: 31". Height (the troublesome one) is 22.5" to the steel plate. 20" clearance from top plate to underside of 8" (protruding) wood mantle. 23" depth from face to rear of fireplace (a steel plate). Hearth extends 16" forward from fireplace face. And 14" below hearth there's a 2' deep x 5' wide stone tile area. Chimney is 25' steel pipe, and we'll run a 6" stainless flex-liner directly to whatever we install. I've attached a photo of the fireplace & hearth.
Does anyone know of a good unit for this situation? I figure we want a firebox of at least 2 cu. ft., probably 2.5 or so. We have a mostly open floor-plan. Also, I believe I'll go with an outside air supply.
I imagine this topic has been explored before, so please feel free to direct me to such threads.
Thanks,
CB Bassity, Boulder, CO
