Looking for recommendations

[Mike S]

Greetings. I have learned a lot from this forum. I am looking to purchase and have installed a wood burning fireplace insert to supplement my oil burner. I live in New England and have a 1200sqft ranch home. My masonry chimney is on exterior wall and is currently lined with clay tile. I would like to upgrade my entire wood burning system.

What stainless liner is recommended? Can you line the fireplace flue and not the oil boiler flue?

What small flush wood burning insert to folks recommend? I am concerned about combustible clearance. My firebox is 35 inches wide, 24 inches deep, and 28 inches high. I have 17 inches if stone in front of firebox opening. Stone floor to barn beam mantel is 37 inches.

Thank you in advance,
Mike

 

[jetsam]

Greetings. I have learned a lot from this forum. I am looking to purchase and have installed a wood burning fireplace insert to supplement my oil burner. I live in New England and have a 1200sqft ranch home. My masonry chimney is on exterior wall and is currently lined with clay tile. I would like to upgrade my entire wood burning system.

What stainless liner is recommended? Can you line the fireplace flue and not the oil boiler flue?

What small flush wood burning insert to folks recommend? I am concerned about combustible clearance. My firebox is 35 inches wide, 24 inches deep, and 28 inches high. I have 17 inches if stone in front of firebox opening. Stone floor to barn beam mantel is 37 inches.

Thank you in advance,
Mike

You should line both separately. They cannot share the same flue, but two liners can share a chimney. The wood liner should be insulated. Plan on it being about 7.25-8" in diameter (you will most likely need a 6" flue, and the insulation adds an inch or so). A lot of people end up needing to break out their clay liners to fit a stainless one.

Clearances are specified in the owner's manual for each stove. Pick a few you like and see how much work it will be to meet them for each one. They vary quite a bit.

 

[begreen]

The best stainless liner is a heavy-duty one, but if space is tight there are some alternatives. Plan on putting in an insulated block-off plate to maximize output from the insert and it looks like you could insulate behind the insert too. This will help reduce the heat that the cold masonry will pull from the insert. Your fireplace has lots of room, so pick out a few you like. How deep is the hearth? Is it raised or flush with the floor?

My preference is an insert that heats ok even without the blower running. This is helpful during power outages. I also prefer an insert that allows N/S loading of wood. Logs can't roll against the glass when loaded N/S so one can load the firebox fuller. A couple stoves that meet these criteria are the Pacific Energy Super LE insert and the Blaze King Princess insert.

 

[Ashful]

A few pictures of your current rig would be worth a few thousand words...