ZC fireplace to alcove free standing wood stove... hopefully

[leathn]

Been lurking, been thinking, ready to bite the bullet and I'm going to try to include all the information I can. With nothing ripped out yet, there is a fair amount of some assumptions.

The wife and I call this "the black hole". Black fireplace? Check. Black tile granite on the floor? Check. Black tile granite on the surround? Check. Black tile granite on the counter top in the kitchen? Not anymore!

Currently, the Majestic Sovereign 36" Woodburning Fireplace is installed. It's "nice". It's "cute". I would love for it and its surround to be replaced by something that can actually help heat the house (Two heat pumps that can get overwhelemed when it hits the mid 20s in the winter). So, not a whole house heater, just something to help the first floor that is very open (except for the bathroom) which about 1000 sq ft.

But to the limitations. The fireplace is zero clearance and the chimney is a bump out so three sides of it are outer walls. The sane person would suggest going with a ZC High Efficiency fireplace or hearth heater but the price for the heat provided, and not to mention the blower that would have to run...meh. Not that my mind is set but if what I'm hoping to accomplish is a lost cause, I'd rather listen to you all than a insert salesperson looking for a bigger commission.

I want to install a free standing wood stove where this fireplace is now located but again, limitations.

Depth: The Sovereign 36 requires 22.5" (haven't pulled it out yet so it's an assumption) and the hearth is 24". Overall depth to work with being 46.5 inches for: the stove, clearance, floor protection and shielding.The wife doesn't want the hearth to extend any further into the room but I figure I might be able to sweet talk at most another 4 inches out of her if it was make or break.

Width: The Sovereign 36 requires 41" and this is something I would love to expand, but it being a bump out chimney... not much wiggle room there. Measuring the outside of the bump out it's 51 inches so the actual rough open might be more than 41 inches but it's impossible to say at this point.

Height: The Sovereign 36 requires 44" and this is were there is some flexibility, to a point. I have no issues expanding up another 12" but of course... this is also exactly where the TV is mounted. Because life.

I am aware that it's an alcove installation. That I will need a HT chimney and a double walled stove pipe.
I'm trying to figure out what I can "get away with" in regards to the most heat but also "not burning down everything I know and love". So fully on board with all the heat shielding and venting (if that will reduce clearances) to make this happen. Unless it costs a million dollars at which point I'm out.

As an aside, the wife believes this to be a horrible idea and that I am "putting a hole in the house" which I'm just looking for others to commiserate with. I mean, there's already a hole in the house, I just want to make it more efficient! And she can make the surround as pretty as she wants!

TL; DR

Depth: 46.5" (The 16 inch clearance for the wood stove's door must be included in this measurement).
Height: 44" but can expand up to 56"
Width: 41" impossible to expand, may be wider, will know after demolition

Near as I can tell from the research I've done my options are:

Lopi Answer
Lopi 1750
Hearthstone Shelburne

But if I am missing another heating option I am open to anything. As well as providing more information.

 

[p301]

I am just about done doing exactly what you did. I ended up installing a lopi endeavor that thing has some very tight clearances my zc chase was much wider than yours I ended up having 51" on the inside. If you are 51 on the outside you need to subtract 7" for the 2x4's and 1" for the sheathing and probably another 1.5" for the siding leaving you 41.5" that is pretty damn narrow. remember you dont have to use Sheetrock on the inside you can use durock instead and you can save an inch as the 2x4 would be your nearest combustible. Lopi makes it pretty tricky to make a protected surface but i think hearthstone lets you use any nfpa method whatever you do get it blessed by the building inspector first!!

 

[leathn]

It's nice to know one isn't alone in their craziness.

Lopi is pretty clear in the documentation about their aclove installations. "Non-combustible alcoves must have walls and a ceiling that are 3 1/2" (89mm) thick of a non-combustible material (brick, stone, or concrete)." Plus the air gap. I swore I saw something that someone said that any nfpa non-combustible guide was applicable but the more I think about the less likely that seems true now.

But thank you for the input, the hearthstone Shelburne is definitely what I'd prefer to go with giving what I'm allowed to play with. The clearance however will be very tight if everything is as it would be.

I just checked out your post and man, I dream of having that much space to utilize. Just another 10 inches would be amazing (said every man every where). But yeah, even the Lopi Answer would be close with the 3 1/2" non-combustible material on both sides.

 

[p301]

Yea i hear you it sucks that lopi only shows one method of reducing clearance. I know some have said that there is a note iin the front of the manual that allows you to use other methods, but i am too nervous and wanted to follow the manual exactly in case i ever had a problem although i feel like the problem would be the chimney not the clearances of the stove, everything behind my lopi only registers a little over 100 on the IR gun. With your tight installations i think your better off with the hearthstone because you have so many other options of reducing the clearance especially without adding a ton of weight to that cantilevered part of the house. Actually the first thing i did was open up the floor of that fireplace from outside and make sure that it was cantilevered and not a box just bolted on the side of the house. It was also expensive i think i spent about 8k putting mine in the stove was like 2600 the pipe was another 2300 i think about 600 on the hearth 700 on the copper 800 for the install probably 1k screwing around in the inside of the alcove insulation and stuff and another 600 for stone that i am putting around the outside so its definitely not cheap and at best i hope to cut the 900 gallons of oil i use a year in maybe half if i am lucky so if i save 1100 bucks a year it will take a long time to pay this thing off, but i wanted to know i had a secondary heat source i didn't need power for . I do alot of snowplowing that is a few hours away from my house in the winter and wanted my wife to be able to keep the place warm with no power. I don't think there is any way she could have pull started the generator and hooked it up so that left me with a wood stove or a backup generator and i always wanted a wood stove!

 

[brazilbl]

Was in a similar situation. ZC fireplace in my home only 20 inches to work with. After many bids it came down to either a Regency I1200 or a Regency I2100 hearth heater. I opted for the I2100 as I thought it would heat my living space a bit better.

Thank God it does a wonderful job of heating the living space and I have not had to run our electric heat pump dollar pit at all so far. Had it less than a month and it feels wonderful not to fear winter and the higher bills. Wife was skeptical, but I believe the heater has proven it's worth.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I had a brick chimney surround to work with, but am happy with how mine came out.. I just updated my link in my gig line, if you want to look for ideas..