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.
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.
