Stove suggestions

[Jeffbriggs]

I'm looking for suggestions on stoves for my application. I want to put it in front of my existing fireplace. Fireplace opening is 25" high and 33" wide and the hearth sticks out 18" from opening. At a stove retailer they told me I could put a freestanding stove on my hearth and lay a hearth mat in front of it on floor. They had a jotul Oslo that they suggested but said a Castine would work too if I'm only supplementing. The house is 1800 ft with the living room for stove about 25 ft by 12 ft. Are there any other freestanding stoves that could work in this application?

 

[Woody Stover]

You have to check the stove manual installation instructions for what floor protection is needed. Some only require "ember protection," others need r-value hearth. How are you thinking of venting the stove? 25" is a pretty low lintel for a rear-vent stove, so you might have to top-vent, then go into the chimney higher up with a 90* elbow. The easiest way right now would be to install an insert into the fireplace.

 

[EbS-P]

I would ask how they were planning on venting the Jøtuls. Given the rectangular shape of the room if the were top venting with 90s the stove would be roughly 28” in front of the fireplace front add to that 17” more to that for hearth pad and it’s sticking out pretty far. I wouldn’t want the Castine installed with two 90 elbows unless I had 30’ of flue. The consensus is they are finicky about their draft. Is their a reason you are looking at just free standing stoves.

Evan

 

[HomeinPA]

I'm looking for suggestions on stoves for my application. I want to put it in front of my existing fireplace. Fireplace opening is 25" high and 33" wide and the hearth sticks out 18" from opening. At a stove retailer they told me I could put a freestanding stove on my hearth and lay a hearth mat in front of it on floor. They had a jotul Oslo that they suggested but said a Castine would work too if I'm only supplementing. The house is 1800 ft with the living room for stove about 25 ft by 12 ft. Are there any other freestanding stoves that could work in this application?View attachment 238819 View attachment 238820

What's wrong with a fireplace insert instead of freestanding?? They're designed to fit inside the firebox.

 

[Jeffbriggs]

The salesman said with a short leg kit and configured in a rear vent to a T connected to chimney liner. They showed me a hearth mat that wasn't the rug style to put in front of it for clearances but I didn't ask the r value of it. I looked the manual up and it says r 2.0. I would prefer a free standing for heat not needing blowers, a full cast iron stove, and I prefer the looks of it. I got to feel what the oslo feels like heating the store but I have no experience with inserts. From what I read here the inserts you can feel the heat for 4 to 8 feet in front of it but no further. From what I read the free standing stove just feels different and is preferred. I see lots of people here putting free standing in front of hearth instead of insert. Now if an insert is my only option I will go that route of course. Taking another measurement into the factor that does seem to pose a problem. My mantle is 44.5" up from my hearth. The jotul's require 25" clearance above

 

[HomeinPA]

Regency make a Hearth Heater that is designed to sit on the raised hearth. I also have customers that have inserts that they heat their house with. It depends on the stove, installation and operator.

The pictures on here show a huge variation in appearance of the size of the room. If it's as narrow as it appears in the one I don't think I'd like the stove sticking off the front of the hearth extension but if it's as wide as it appears in the other you could probably put a baby grand piano in front of the stove and still have room to pull a car in there.

You can always install a heat shield on the underside of the mantel.

 

[begreen]

Inserts have different designs. Some are more radiant than others and some convect naturally than others. In general a flush insert will be at the low end of the scale for these attributes and an insert that projects out onto the hearth will do better. There are many choices but not all may fit. This will depend on the dimensions of the fireplace.

 

[Jeffbriggs]

I see how the two pictures make the room different! I just took measurements and it's 12' by 25' a big rectangle. Do inserts like the hearth heater heat well through radiation only as well as convection? Like best of both worlds? Also would a insert that sticks out 8-10 inches radiate heat well at all? Thanks for the input guys

 

[begreen]

Inserts that stick out 6-8" can often heat very nicely. If the fireplace can fit a good sized insert like the Enviro Boston 1700 or PE Summit then heating this space and connecting areas will be easy.

 

[HomeinPA]

I see how the two pictures make the room different! I just took measurements and it's 12' by 25' a big rectangle. Do inserts like the hearth heater heat well through radiation only as well as convection? Like best of both worlds? Also would a insert that sticks out 8-10 inches radiate heat well at all? Thanks for the input guys

The Hearth Heater design provides both. The entire stove sits outside the firebox and there is a blower installed under the door. It appears that you would need some protection in front of the stove on the hardwood floor

 

[DuaeGuttae]

12’ from the wall to the opening of the fireplace? That’s pretty narrow for putting a freestander in front.

We installed a non-flush Lopi Revere in our previous home. We wanted to make the fireplace more efficient and get an insert that was as much like a freestander as we could. That was our solution. It put out plenty of radiant heat. Our basement room was a big rectangle, too, and just the radiant heat was enough unless it was really cold. We pushed that little insert, though, and often used the blower and some small fans to create a convection loop to heat the whole 2500 sq ft house. (That was really too much to ask of it during very cold times, and we had no problem also using the natural gas furnace when we needed, too.)


I’ll let others chime in for stove suggestions, but in answer to your insert question, yes, non-flush inserts do radiate as well.

What are your heating goals? Supplemental during an occasional cold snap? 24/7 for months at a time? Is there a way for heat to move from the living room to the rest of the house? Answers to those questions might help others make suggestions.

 

[Mike.O]

Hampton H300 with a short leg kit should fit. Looked at them for the exact application you mentioned.

Rear vent to a T. straight shot vertical liner up the chimney. Stick the stove as far out as you want/can by adjusting the snout length on the T.

I also wanted to avoid an insert.... my fireplace has slightly larger dimensions, but now I have a monster PE Summit stuffed in my fireplace ... works great and very happy with no insert.

 

[EbS-P]

The short leg kits takes off 2 1/4” inches of height. I would like to know how they will get it under 25” as the manual showed regular leg centerline flue exit at 25” (minus two add three is 26” to the top of the rear flue) so my math says wouldn’t fit. Then I don’t think the front legs will rest on the the 18” hearth either without the stove tucked under the lintel wich it can’t. That said I have hooked up a total of zero stoves ( I was going to DIY mine but glad I didn’t). You could start breaking out bricks or cut the legs down more but those seem like extreme steps for a new install. Really seems to me like an insert is the best choice from an installation perspective not to mention you would loose no floor space to a hearth pad. I only chose free standing bracue I wanted white and I could not find any white inserts. My parents have a pellet stove and it radiates some when cranked up but nothing like a free standing stove.

Thinking outside the box, would you consider installing somewhere else in the room? Say like between the windows, or in a corner. Just a thought. I like to keep as many options open as long as I can.

How is your wood supply. I thought I could just buy a cord that was read to burn and it’s not. Sorting wood, spitting it small, taking down all my dead limbs/ trees and stacking in the garage to dry next to a dehumidifier has taken some of the romance out of it. It was nice to have last night though. With the heat pump running flat out but not on resistive strips and the stove going flat out kelpt the house at 67 last night.

Evan

 

[blacktail]

From what I read here the inserts you can feel the heat for 4 to 8 feet in front of it but no further.

Lots of us are heating our whole house with an insert.

 

[Beer Belly]

Not trying to change your mind. We have an Insert that heats our 1,700 sq. ft. house nicely.....the blower made the difference though, and can be noisy, but after a while, you don't even notice it.

 

[Jeffbriggs]

Y'all definitely have changed my opinion and I appreciate it. I came here as I know the sales reps in the stores don't always know what they're talking about and it shows here, that is why I came here for advise. I appreciate it. I will be going with an insert because personally we don't have all that many power outages and often when we do temps are 30-50 out. I believe in those conditions even a flush mount without its surround would keep our living room tolerable and we can hunker down there. But that is a worst case scenario that I have yet to see. My wood supply is growing. I have been researching and trying to decide the direction I want to go for months now. I have about 1.5 cords of pine I'm finishing splitting and stacking now to season out for next season. I know it's not a lot but its what I have to so far I will be looking at the wood suppliers near me when they have their spring specials on oak and work on scrounging some of my own over the summer to let that get seasoning for the future

 

[blacktail]

My fireplace with insert is in a back corner of my house. It's the worst spot to heat my house from but it still works and my blower is usually on at about 1/3 speed. My neighbors recently replaced an old insert with a new Lopi. Their fireplace is right in the center of their house. They've never had a blower and have no problem heating their house.

 

[Beer Belly]

I will be looking at the wood suppliers near me when they have their spring specials on oak and work on scrounging some of my own over the summer to let that get seasoning for the future

Remember, 20% or lower on the face of a fresh split before the supplier drops a stick

 

[armanidog]

When I started burning a few years ago, I asked my coworkers and friends to let me know if anyone wanted to get rid of their firewood pile. I was lucky and got two piles from widows who didn't want to keep burning wood after their husbands passed away. Ended up with 4 face cords of dry wood.

 

[Jeffbriggs]

(broken link removed to https://richmond.craigslist.org/for/d/glen-allen-wood-stove-buck-bay-91/6802031113.html)

Well I got everyone's attention what do y'all think of this insert? It's in my neighborhood and sounds like the guy wants rid of it. Would you say worth looking at?

 

[armanidog]

(broken link removed to https://richmond.craigslist.org/for/d/glen-allen-wood-stove-buck-bay-91/6802031113.html)

Well I got everyone's attention what do y'all think of this insert? It's in my neighborhood and sounds like the guy wants rid of it. Would you say worth looking at?

Even if you can't use it you could sell it for more than that this summer or fall. $2500 for a new one.

 

[Jeffbriggs]

Seller says it only comes with a 5' direct connect flue so it sounds like an old install.

 

[armanidog]

Seller says it only comes with a 5' direct connect flue so it sounds like an old install.

It sounds like a "do it yourself" install, unless it is heavily damaged inside it should work. Check on the catalyst availability and price.

 

[Jeffbriggs]

Parts are available and catalyst us $275. I asked about it. What do you mean u less heavily damaged it should work? As in the liner not to the top of the chimney could have damaged the stove?

 

[armanidog]

Parts are available and catalyst us $275. I asked about it. What do you mean u less heavily damaged it should work? As in the liner not to the top of the chimney could have damaged the stove?

I meant stuff like the firebox being cracked, a lot of rust (a sign of water damage), or the inside wiring being completely bonkered.

Look at this thread from 2015 about the same stove-
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/opinions-on-this-buck-stove-91.149523/