newbie w/questions

[calihome]

Hi!
New here but I've enjoyed perusing the site.
The hubby and I have a 1926 1000 sq.ft craftsman home and we would like to put a wood burning stove in our fireplace as our main (hopefully only) source of heat. We live in southern California so it really doesn't get too cold, but we do need heat for a few months. A couple of walls have been taken down so there is an open floorplan between the livingroom, diningroom, and kitchen. The fireplace was fixed up in the 1990's but we are not sure what was done as it predates our ownership. We have been looking on craigslist and would prefer to buy a used stove but some suggestions would be great. We are really not sure what we should be looking for. Suggestions on catalytic vs. non- catalytic, efficiency, what we need to know about our fireplace (size etc.), names to look for, etc. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[mcollect]

My wife live in a architect designed, craftsman style home, built in 1994. We are in far western Maryland and the climate is like northern Pa. We have an open floor plan and many floor to ceiling windows; we just installed a Jotul insert. The styling is correct for a craftsman home and it puts out enough heat to make us believe we won't need any other source of heat. They are pricey but should pay for itself in a few years. We also installed a flue liner to get the correct draw. Look Jotul up on the net.

 

[Brian VT]

I'd think about a stainless steel liner in the chimney.
Then I'd probably look at freestanding wood stoves. I think you'll have an easier time finding one used and if you did find a used insert it may not fit your fireplace opening. Just my $.02

 

[calihome]

Thanks for the reply, I'll research the stainless liner. Oh, and I meant a freestanding stove, not an insert.
thanks