Suggestions for old coal fireplace

[DoctorJ]

Hi folks, I'm looking to get some advice on a wood-burning stove for an old coal fireplace in a 1920s house. I'm producing about 60-70% of my annual energy with our 5-kW solar roof (photo attached), but as soon as we turn on the electric heat pump, the net meter starts turning.

We had someone come out to size up the fireplace, and he said we could run a liner up the chimney, but we're going to be limited because of short clearances to the combustible wood mantle. He said we could get away with a Jotul F100 with a mantle shield and a hearth extender. This is a smaller fireplace than the F3 he originally suggested, but apparently the F3 can no longer be used with a mantle shield to reduce the clearance.

Our house is 1300 square feet, 1 story, and definitely not an open floor plan. He said even with the small stove, our biggest issue would be getting heat to the back of the house, and a bigger stove would only heat us out of the living room (we'll still have our heat pump as a backup). In order to fit something bigger, we'd have to rip out the mantle and redo a new hearth. I don't know that I want to rip out the historic mantle that adds charm to the house, but I also don't want to invest in a stove that I won't be happy with.

I guess my questions are:
1. Does anyone have experience with the Jotul F3? Do you think it would be sufficient for our house?
2. Are there other options that might fit our currently fireplace/mantle?
3. If it were you, would you replace the mantle and get a different stove, or pick the stove that will work with the current setup?

Interior fireplace width is 25", width between combustible wood is 35.5", height from floor to bottom of mantle is 45".

Thanks for any ideas.
P.S. I'm already stocking wood for next year.

 

[English BoB]

Welcome to the forum, I cant help on the fire place but the place looks nice.

Bob

 

[Simonkenton]

Pretty house, nice fireplace and mantel. And what a wood pile! You are geared up! Sorry not knowledgable enough about your wood stove question, but knowledgable people will give you the scoop.

Whereabouts are you? I am 30 miles west of Asheville.

 

[begreen]

Did the dealer discuss the possibility of a mantel shield with you? It could be attached to the underside of the mantel of the underside of the fireplace lintel. The F3CB is a good stove but the firebox is small. You will be refilling it about every 3-4 hrs.. To answer the question of overheating the room with a larger stove we will need to see a sketch of the floorplan to see if there are some options to alleviate this problem.

 

[matt1@]

Just thinking out loud here but maybe consider a wood add-on furnace which could tie into the existing ducting. If I had ducts there already and had the mantle and hearth size you are contending with I might consider this option to distribute heat throughout the house evenly and avoid the hearth and mantle changes. Depends on your needs and wants also. Again, just a thought.

 

[DoctorJ]

Hi Simon, I live near the VA hospital in East Asheville. My original post should have asked about the F100 (which is even smaller than the F3). My understanding is that a mantle shield can be used with the F100, but not with the F3, to reduce the clearance requirements.

 

[begreen]

A mantle shield often falls more under NFPA 211 shielding rules. If your inspector approves it should be ok for the F3CB as well.

 

[Simonkenton]

You're over in Swannanoa. Howdy, neighbor!
For someone without a wood stove, that is a hell of a wood pile, you are seriously geared up.