Advice for best wood stove set-up for small brick fireplace

[caellis]

Hello!

I’m writing with hopes for some advice on what wood stoves that might be a good fit to replace my existing insert. Or, maybe the existing insert (I’ve been told it’s a Buck 21?) is my best choice? I’ll attach a pic. The dimensions of the fireplace are: 23” across, 26” high, and 18” deep. I’ll give the hearth dimension, too, since it’s not very big: 49” across, 41” high (to where the overhang of the mantle begins).

My family always heated our home with a wood stove and, now that I’m a home owner for the first time, I am excited to do the same! I’m most familiar with, and feel most interested in, a free-standing stove. I don’t really enjoy that the Buck I currently have doesn’t heat well without use of the blower— I prefer to not be reliant on electricity and I don’t enjoy the noisiness of it (maybe the blower is old and needs to be repaired, but it’s so so loud!). However, I am a little limited on space, so I don’t know if a free-standing stove would be possible, with the necessary clearances? I was having hard time finding the regulation on clearances from a stove to a brick fireplace, for instance. I’d be open to expanding the pad in front of the stove, but it does sit low and flush to the floor, and I think only a rear-venting stove would be possible? And I read some posts on here saying that having a bend in the pipe can impact the draft… anyways! If you've read this far, thank you. Figuring out what will work for my space has been a little more complex than I anticipated, seems like there are many factor to consider, so I appreciate y'all's insights!

 

[begreen]

The Buck 21 is a well-made medium-sized heater. It could be that the blower needs cleaning. Dust and animal hair can build up on the blades and cause an imbalanced blower.
It looks like a rear venting heater installation would be possible with the high lintel. It would stand out on the hearth more which may require a hearth extension. How tall is the chimney on the Buck?

 

[caellis]

The Buck 21 is a well-made medium-sized heater. It could be that the blower needs cleaning. Dust and animal hair can build up on the blades and cause an imbalanced blower.
It looks like a rear venting heater installation would be possible with the high lintel. It would stand out on the hearth more which may require a hearth extension. How tall is the chimney on the Buck?

Good to know! I definitely would like to continue using the Buck while I research my options and fixing the blower would make that more pleasant, I’ll have to look into how to open it up/do that.

I don’t have an exact measurement, but I measured what I can see of the chimney (in my living room, stove to ceiling, plus what’s in my attic), and there’s about 3’ above the roof— so I think it’s about 15’.

 

[begreen]

15 feet is on the short side. It's adequate for a straight up venting, but the 90º turn up the chimney will reduce draft. It could be that the chimney will need a 12-18" extension to draft well for some rear-vented stoves. Some are fussier about this than others.

 

[Woody Stover]

I had a Buck 91 at my MIL's house, and yes, the blower was loud! 😣 I had the same issue with my Dutchwest, a loud stock blower. One thing I considered was trying to fab up another blower system with a quieter fan. If you know a mechanically inclined person, maybe they could come up with something. Another thing I thought of was to get some of that sound-deadening mat they use on car stereo installations, if it could be applied without compromising the motor's cooling.
Otherwise, I like the Buck stoves, as far as that goes. Quality units.
Or if you have the money to spend, you could get another stove with a quieter blower. That isn't a very wide space to work with, though. I have a blower on my SIL's Pacific Energy T5, and it is pretty quiet. The blower on the Lopi Liberty that I heard was also quiet.
What brands do your local stove shops carry?