newbie- advice needed

[tfe]

Hi all, I'm new to this board and new to researching wood burning stoves.

I have a fireplace that is in dire need of a wood burning stove. LOL I know that is what I want, now I need SUGGESTIONS, ADVICE... whatever! Money is of some concern. The space is in my family room with doors that open into the rest of the first floor. I have a basement and a second floor. There is a bedroom above the room. I do have access to wood from a friend that suggested I come to this board

Here are some pics of the space. Oh, the measurements.... height is approx. 28", depth approx. 27", width approx. 42.5" at widest and tapers back to approx. 31" The "blower" has never worked, I'm looking forward to getting rid of the dust magnet that it is.

 

[James02]

Your friend is wise....Is he a member?...Anyhow, you might want to think about a wood burning insert, you'll save room....I will add, get your wood now, though there isn't much in the way of seasoning at this point....

 

[tfe]

Ok.. there is a difference then.. wood burning stove and wood burning insert. I think what I want is the wood burning insert. So, advice on where to find, makers, etc. I know nothing!! LOL

 

[begreen]

Welcome tfe. You have a good friend. Give us a little background on the setup. The more details we have the more we can help. Is the goal to just heat the family room or more? How much burning do you think you will be doing? Nights and weekends or 24/7? You can put a full sized insert in there, but do you need it? How large are the openings to the rest of the house? (A sketch of the 1st floor plan may be easier.) How large is the house, not including the basement? And last, climate zone will affect recommendation. Where are you located?

 

[James02]

What is your location? That might help you determine what you need...There is a site that some of the folks that will surely chime in on, I dont remember the site....Also check your local stove shop, if you have any questions believe me people are real friendly and knowledgeable here....

 

[KaptJaq]

That looks like an Arvin Industries heat exchanger with the deluxe door set. There is a Fasco fan in the blower box that is still manufactured today. The one in my parents house would seize up over the summer. A little 3&1 oil & a push and it was good for the season.

Based of the dimensions you have there are a number of inserts that can fit that fireplace without major modifications to the brick hearth. If you give us some basic information we can probably help you with suggestions, etc...Where do you live (Florida? Alaska?), how big is the house? floor plan? insulated & tight? drafty? Are you planning to burn 24/7? Occasional evening & weekend fires? etc...

KaptJaq

Edit: begreen beat me to it... and BBAR was seconds behind me...

 

[BrowningBAR]

Welcome tfe. You have a good friend. Give us a little background on the setup. The more details we have the more we can help. Is the goal to just heat the family room or more? How much burning do you think you will be doing? Nights and weekends or 24/7? You can put a decent sized insert in there, but do you need it? How large are the openings to the rest of the house? (A sketch of the 1st floor plan may be easier.) How large is the house, not including the basement?

To add to this:

How big is the house?
Is it an open layout?
Is the fireplace on the main floor or basement?
Where are you located?

 

[tfe]

Thanks you all!

Ok, lots more info needed. You all are fast! I'll have to get back to you tomorrow with all of that.

I live in Southern Maryland. So not a lenghty winter, but it does get pretty darned cold from December through early March. Not planning on burning 24/7, most definitely on the weekends, and potentially some during the week. Fireplace is on the main floor. there are openings to the kitchen which opens to the dining room to the living room and on around to the foyer to the fireplace room again. The foyer is where the stairs go up to the first floor. Open hall way to the bedrooms up there. Basement door is always closed off, laundry, playroom, storage down there.

The main floor and basement are on one HVAC unit and the upstairs is on a separate unit/thermostat.

I want something that will put out heat instead of sending up the chimney, but I wont' be totally relying on it for heat, unless the power goes out....

I'll get back to you all about dimensions.

 

[tfe]

Decently insulated, not drafty since windows and doors got replaced after tornado 10 years ago.

I'd rather have some suggestions to in to the local store before hand.

 

[Swedishchef]

Welcome to the forum!

Perhaps an Osburn 2000 or 2200, Pacific Energy Super insert, Vermont Castings Montpellier?? The sky is the limit..what is the budget? I presume you will need a liner, etc.

Get back with the dimensions and all the Pros will help you out (I am NOT one of them...)

Welcome once again

Andrew

 

[begreen]

I'm thinking a mid-sized 2 cu ft stove would do you, but we will need to have some sq ftg figures to be sure. There are lots of options. Have you looked at any wood inserts online to see what style and budget appeals to you?

For starters maybe go to sites have pricing and sizes indicated. I would start with www.chimneysweeponline.com and http://www.dynamitebuys.com/store/cart.php?m=product_list&c=42 and look at the mid-sized (around 2 cu ft) inserts. Let us know what appeals to you. There are lots of other possibilities, but this will at least give us a sense of what you are looking for.

 

[tfe]

Not including the basement, I believe I have about 2000 sq.ft.

Thanks for the website suggestions, I'll start checking them out.

 

[CT-Mike]

You would have to check to see if it will fit, but I have a Lopi Freedom insert with a 3+ cu ft firebox and am extremely pleased with it. It has been our primary heat source for the past three winters, with the oil FHA thermostat set to 50 just in case. it made sense to me to go with the largest insert I could fit to have the extra margin if needed for those extremely cold nights.

As a disclaimer, we are finishing the room over the garage, and are having a Lopi Leyden pellet stove installed in the room, which should do a great job of heating the entire upstairs.

 

[begreen]

I think in southern MD, near DC you will be ok with a nice 2-2.5 cu ft insert. It will get you through the chilliest periods. You have the space to go larger up to 3 cu ft if you want to. From the floorplan description it sounds like you may be able to create a circular convection flow with the assistance of a simple box or table fan that would help evenly heat the main floor nicely.

 

[mfglickman]

I have a similar room and we put a freestanding stove in front. Money was a concern and we got a Woodstock Fireview on CL. It needed some work but the folks at Woodstock were really easy to work with and between them and the friendly folks here I was able to rehab the stove so my total expense was around $1000 including the stove and delivery. I had a local chimney sweep clean and line the chimney and install the stove (priceless to have someone ELSE lift the 500 lbs onto the hearth) - I think his bill was around $1300 including the liner, tee, etc.

We decided on freestanding primarily because we didn't want to deal with a blower (in case of power failure), and also because we were shopping used we wanted to keep our options open to what was out there. It looks like you, too, might have the space to put a freestanding side loader on your hearth.

Good luck and take your friend up on the wood, maybe also grab some bio/eco/envi bricks to supplement the first season.

 

[cygnus]

My Osburn 2200 insert does a nice job with a similar size and layout...though, as with most inserts, you need the blower so when it comes to power outages you'll really need a backup power source.

I got a great deal from dynamitebuys 2 years ago for the insert and got the liner from chimneylinerdepot. I did the whole install myself and the total cost with a 35' chimney came to ~$2900.

Good Luck!

 

[etiger2007]

Not planning on burning 24/7, most definitely on the weekends, and potentially some during the week. Yeah right I remember saying the same thing, then you get bit by the wood burning bug and you want more. Listen to what the pros recomemnd (Begreen ect) the best advise I can give you is do not buy a small unit and start seasoning your wood supply, dry wood is key. Im going on my third year and Im just getting my wood seasoned correctly. I bought a small unit for the weekend and a little during the week burn and I already sold that unit and bought a bigger one, learn from my mistake and only buy once. I went with the Osburn 2000 insert, the price is right delivered to my door for $1700 and from what Im seeing im getting very good burn times with it ( first year with it) They also have great customer service from what I have read on here. Welcome to the forum we look forward to your progress.

 

[Wood Duck]

My suggestion is to look at a large unit rather than a smaller one. Not many people have a stove they think is too large, but plenty have one too small. I like the idea of a free standing stove rather than an insert so it will give off heat efficiently without electricity to run the fan. Of course the free stander will look different than an insert, and maybe not look as good (this is a matter of opinion).

I'd plan to visit several stove shops. Each shop will sell a couple of brands and act as though those brands are the only brands that exist. There are lots of brands and although they are all similar in some ways, you'll want to see a bunch of them before you choose.