Upgrade Time Seeking Input

[Stovequest]

I'd like to get some input on other users thoughts of which way I should go on upgrading. The house layout is below.

The house currently has two wood burners. The fireplace is rarely used because it isn't very efficient. 2nd is an 1980's Blaze King KTJ 302 work great just uses a lot of wood and the wife doesn't like how much you have to manage the fire. There is a 2" blower setup for the blaze king that pulls cold air from the master bedroom to the stove.

The wood stove chimney(1st floor) is 6" stainless steel with cement around it. The plan is to slip a 5" insulated 304 liner down it. It is vertical 17" with 9 ft at about at 8-10° slope.

The fire place chimney is 12x12 clay tile straight vertical - plan would be just put an modern insulated system down it.

The upstairs does have 10' ft ceilings in place that will cause hot air to pool but since the only cold air return is upstairs I feel the hot air should be able to be moved around decently using the AC fan blower.

The goal is to supplement heating but in the case of total power out and water boiler/baseboard system is non-functional we can still maintain a decent comfort of living. Also, the we'd like a usable cooktop of some type as well similar to the Woodstock Ideal Steel Hybrid Progressive. My only compliant with the woodstock is it doesn't seem to have a blower option.

Are blower systems that can be added to stove that come with a blower? The heat output with the blower running the Blaze king is a night and day difference.
Are modern fire place inserts that greatly improved or would it just be better to open up the fireplace to place a stove on the floor?

Just looking for general thoughts what stoves to consider for our goals.

 

[Stovequest]

Bump was hoping for other user thoughts of which stove vs insert options are on the market.

 

[TheDootler]

I think it's difficult to figure out what you're asking. I think getting a Catalyst-style blaze king is probably worth the trouble if you don't like having to fuss with your wood. Couldn't tell you which to get, and I'm not sure how the BTU sizes for catalyst line up with house size compared to a normal wood stove's BTU. (For example a ~$3k Blaze King cat-stove has 50k BTU, but I hear works great for 8+ hours of no fuss, and produces consistent heat output. A ~$3k secondary air stove is rated 150k BTU but will only do that for a couple hours and level off over time.)

You might see if your catalyst is bad or something, because AFAIK you shouldn't have to fuss to much with Cat-stoves.

You can get add on blowers or various radiation devices. Some people like the stove-fans that are powered by the heat of the stove; though you can't go cheap on those or it won't push any air. The $30-50 ones you see on amazon and ebay are garbage.

Because the post is somewhat confusing, I can't offer anything else. I would suppose that's why there are a lack of responses.

 

[xman23]

The stove you have, uses to much wood. Any other issues? Maybe someone with that stove who has replaced it can comment. I didn't understand the comment on changing a 6" liner to 5". Most stoves require 6". But I'm guessing if it's not insulated it runs cooler and can build up creosote quicker. And needs a hotter stove to keep it clean.

In terms of heating, with a different stove, is there much gained, probably not a lot. Particularly if it's just for power outage and occasionally use. The house's natural air movement will be the same. If it's cold at the far end it will still be cold at the far end. Better windows and insulation helps with that.

I'm not cooking on my stove. If it comes down to that I'll fire up the grill on the deck.