Looking for a little advice - Insert vs small stove in firebox

[fatcaaat]

Hi there. I've posted up quite a bit of information in the past about my Quad 5100i. This post is not to discuss removing my 5100i..I have 100% satisfied with its performance and would never change it out.

However, I have another room with another large fireplace and that room is our family room. The heat kicks on quite a bit to keep that room warm and I figure it's time to do something about it.

My floor plan is a large great room with cathedral ceilings where my 5100i is placed in an existing masonry chimney. To the left is a dining room and kitchen and to the right is the large living room. Upstairs, 2 bedrooms on each side of the house.

Problem to solve. The right side of the house, particularly the family room, and the bedroom immediately above it, while not cold, always triggers the house heat (heat pump/electric) to come on. I want to resolve this by placing another wood burner in the family room into an existing masonry fireplace. This fireplace is the same size as the one with my 5100i in it (about 40" wide, 28 tall, and 30 deep)

I have a few requirements.
1. It has to be quiet. the 5100i is not quiet but doesn't matter too much since its in this great room. If i put a stove in the family room, it has to be quiet becase that's where the TV, stereo, and general family life takes place.
2. It cannot overheat me. The room itself is approximately 700 sqft
3. It cannot extend more han 10" beyond flush point of the wall. My hearth is built in (not changing it) and elevated off the floor. My quad 5100i comes out about 10" and leaves another 10" of hearth. It's about a foot off the floor. (if I went insert, I'd probably go flush anyway)
4. Generally looking for something inexpensive. I'm going to have to line the chimney, so that will run me about $700 or so. I'll do the install myself. The chimney run will be approximately 27 feet top to stove.

Inserts like the jotul 550 or voyager are interesting, but might be too much heat, too expensive, and require the fan to come on too loud. A small wood stove that I stick in the firebox would be cheaper, quieter, and uglier.

Anyway, open to some suggestions on an approach here. I'd like the stove to be under $1k and the whole project to come in under 2k using all new parts.

 

[begreen]

If you want good looking and say the heck with the budget.
(broken link removed to http://www.pacificenergy.net/products/wood/cast-iron-inserts/alderlea-t5-insert/)

else, get an Englander 13NCi and run it with the blower off when in the room.

 

[fatcaaat]

Here is a picture of the area we are dealing with. The record album set there so you can see the size and proximity to the wall.

 

[mikey]

I have a small jotul f 100 in my fireplace it works with natural convection no fan, in my opinion a wood stove is better than an insert. You need to make sure the stove pipe is insulated and there is a block off plate at the lintel. Good luck.

 

[fatcaaat]

I have a small jotul f 100 in my fireplace it works with natural convection no fan, in my opinion a wood stove is better than an insert. You need to make sure the stove pipe is insulated and there is a block off plate at the lintel. Good luck.

Thanks. When I installed the 5100i, I used a single, thick walled stainless steel liner top to bottom that was also insulated top to bottom. That insulation extended all the way to the connection on the insert. I'll assuming I'll be doing the same thing on this install. I also fabricated up my own flue block plate from 16G steel and sealed it around all sides with high temp caulk and tight at the pipe area. Working great there.

The jotul 602 was on my list to look at but fearful it might actually be too small to be worth it.

Keep suggestions coming please.