Wood Stove in Chimney Advice

[greentea]

Hi, We live in a apartment in a old house (1600's) with a great and big fireplace with a vortex chimney which we love and use a lot in the winter as secondary heat but mostly for the attractiveness value. We have to let the fire go cold before we can close the flew (spelling?) so a lot of cold air comes in so......we're hoping to put a wood stove in the fireplace instead. We called our fire station to get a chimney inspection but they don't do them. They told us we're going to have to get a permit from the building inspector but the building inspector doesn't inspect either (!). They suggested we get a Certified Chimney Sweep in to do the inspection and they gave us a list and we put a call in.

In the meantime, we've been looking around at what's available. Vermont Castings seem to have a great reputation but are pricey, we're looking to spend aroung $1K. VC and Dutchwest also seem to have a warranty problem since they got bought out. We've seen a few wood stoves in our price range, the Jotul F100 Nordic QT, the Osborn 1100, Dutchwest DW1000. Our apartment is small, about 1000 sq feet and although 2 rooms are off the room with the fireplace and we can leave the doors open, it's not an open floor plan. We're looking for feedback on what we need to be aware of, look for, ask, etc. and what would be a good buy for us. I imagine we can order any thing we want and aren't restricted to what is being carried by the local stores. We definately want a good view of the fire itself.

Thanks

 

[begreen]

We'll need to have a better picture of the fireplace dimensions before we can recommend a stove. Clearances and flue liner connection are the issues. If you can post a picture that would help us spot other potential concerns too.

 

[greentea]

Here’s a photo. It’s 27” deep, 27” wide at the back and graduates to 53” at the front, 21” high at the back and graduates to 33” in the front.