Need help selecting wood stove for a novice

[aswhale]

Hello all,

I am writing to help with selecting a new wood stove. I currently have a 1970s hearthmate wood stove (given to me for free) that I have used for the last 3 years. I want to upgrade to something that produces far more heat and is not falling apart (its warped and the dampner is bent). The hearthmate can keep my entire house warn until 20 or so degrees before the furnace has to help. My fireplace is currently to small to fit any insert without cutting the arch away. so this will lead me to a stove and a rear exhaust ideally.

When I install my furnace, I installed a large return vent to my furnace in the fireplace room to suck all the heat out of the room. There is a inline fan on a 8in duck to suck the hot air from the room and push to the furnace fan. This does a really good job at moving heat from one end of the house to another.

I'm at a Airbnb that has a jotul f500 v2 and I really love the look. I been looking up the jotul f500 v3 and hearthstone Manchester since they for 20in logs and have rear exhaust. I am hesitant to buy either one as the cat worries me. I have a box that can burn anything and does not care about moisture. My wood is uncovered until 2 months prior to burning, so the moisture is relatively high.

I could use help on selecting a stove that will not be too large or small and can be roughly handled since I have 3 years of experience burning.

-1900 square ft ranch
-moderate insolation
-fireplace on one side of house, not centered.
-hot air is sucked to the furnace from fireplace room
-room is open to the house with 9ft opening.
-wood is seasoned 2 years
-mix of wood, maple, oak, ash, and hickory
-budget of 4000
-want to be sole heat source for entire winter
-14ft flue and is insolated
-current stove is bolted to the face of the fireplace and is not a insert

Also, don't bash the painted brick. The house was bought from a smoker and was the only way to seal the smell and tar.

 

[begreen]

What are the dimensions of the fireplace opening and including depth at top and bottom?

 

[aswhale]

34.5in wide, 24.375in heigh, 23in deep. It's also 13in high until the arch starts.

 

[begreen]

It sounds like a medium to large stove might fit, but check dimensions carefully. Due to the short chimney flue, I recommend sticking with an easy breathing insert in the 2.5-3.0 cu ft range from Regency, Pacific Energy, Osburn (or Drolet).

Arch? That may impact what fits. Measure twice.

Note that ranches can be hard to evenly heat with the rooms at the far end of the hallway losing out, if this is the layout. Using a furnace fan to even out the heat might work, but frequently the duct system is so lossy that it is not too successful. The best chance for sucess is usually when all of the ducting in the heated envelope of the house and fully insulated. Then there is still the electricity for a blower running constantly. Sometimes there are simpler ways to move the heat. It's good that the wood is seasoned 2 yrs. It may take 4 full cords to heat the place.