Seeking a large stove with decent overhead clearance

[SquamLK]

First time poster looking for wood stove advice. We’re based in New Hampshire and looking to put a large wood stove into our large fireplace. We are looking for something that can deliver primary heat for a 2,500’ well-insulated space. The Hearthstone Manchester has been our preferred stove choice, but the fireplace has a wood mantle that sits 52” above the raised hearth — and the Manchester requires 55” of clearance. It’s a beautiful wood mantle which we’d rather not take down. The Hearthstone Shelburne is a decent backup, and comes well under the mantel clearance, but I’m worried it won’t heat sufficiently overnight. Any suggestions for box box stoves that have low overhead clearances? The Hearthstones don’t have short leg options, so maybe a large stove that offers that would do the trick? Any ideas appreciated!

 

[begreen]

The Manchester may be the better solution. Will there be room enough for the side door to open for sideloading? It sounds like a mantel heat shield on the underside of the mantel could take care of the clearance issue.

Be sure to have an insulated block-off plate installed in the damper area to keep the heat in the house.

Have you looked at or considered other stoves?

 

[SquamLK]

The Manchester may be the better solution. Will there be room enough for the side door to open for sideloading? It sounds like a mantel heat shield on the underside of the mantel could take care of the clearance issue.

Be sure to have an insulated block-off plate installed in the damper area to keep the heat in the house.

Have you looked at or considered other stoves?

Thanks for the quick response. I agree the Manchester seems like the better stove for the space. The fireplace is a full 4' across, so there is enough room for sideloading if we don't install the stove too far back. Would you recommend keeping that sideloading option? We've only had a smaller front loading stove in the past, so I've not used the side function before.

I'm open to a heat shield, but don't want to mess up the look of the beautiful wood mantel. I saw this image on another thread, which looks decent but doesn't seem to be to code. Doesn't the shield need a 1" air gap?

We looked at the Jotul 55 V2 Carrabassett but my wife like the Manchester a lot more. Any other stoves we should consider?