Some Questions About New Stoves

[Timberwolf530]

I started burning toward the end of last winter off and on, but not constantly. Now that I have had a solid 1.5 mos of constant burning, I have some observations and a few questions. My stove is a Fisher Honey Bear Insert installed into my masonry fireplace with an insulated stainless liner in the chimney. This little stove really cranks out the heat, but it's hungry. I am wanting to get something bigger, and more efficient. What I do like about it is that about 3/4 of it sits on the hearth, so I get radiant heat as well as using the blower. Good if electricity goes out, which it does several times each winter because we have tons of trees in my neighborhood. I guess my stove is what is referred to as a "Hearth Heater". At least, that's what I've come up with in doing Google searches for what I want to replace it with. The selection of hearth heaters is very limited. In fact the only one I've found is a very small one by Regency. What I am looking for is something the size of an Englander 30-NC that can sit on my hearth, and connect to the liner in my chimney. I'm not having much luck. Can I just take the base off the 30-NC, and have a surround fabricated? I don't care about the ash drawer, so I could remove that without a problem, but would there be any other problems or concerns? I don't want to put it in front of the hearth on the floor because it would be too intrusive in my family room. I also want to be able to burn N/S as well as E/W. I want to keep the cost below $1500 total. My fireplace opening is 40"W X 29"H X 24" D. My house is 2,000 sq feet.

Also, will the new laws in 2015 affect my ability to buy these models? I didn't really want to change until after this season, but if it's going to be a problem, I would do it before year end.

 

[Huntindog1]

The NC30 is a nice choice. I think they now come with the short legs and people cut the short legs off as needed to fit partially into the opening of the fireplace.

 

[begreen]

Short legs and install without the surround. It doesn't need it and personally I think looks better without it.

 

[Huntindog1]

 

[Osagebndr]

Nc 30 would be a good choice I'm currently trying to talk a friend into the same setup . They get good reviews here

 

[Woody Stover]

My stoves can rear-vent, so they sit out on the hearth with the back of the stove about even with the fireplace opening. Plenty of radiation to the side of the stove where we generally sit.

 

[blades]

Only difficulty is the 30 is top vent, Some dinking around is in order to have it siting partly out and still connect to flue. The top flue vent is close to a- 3" stub above the top of the stove.

 

[fitter9]

take a look at the lopi freedom. 7 inches stick out on the hearth. it throws quit a bit of heat even with the blower off. its a little pricy, but its a quality built stove. another plus is the large 3 cu ft firebox