Country Striker C160 vs. Regency I1200S for supplemental heat

[Mercury]

First I want to say hello, this is my first post. This website and forum are a great source of information. I've been lurking and reading for a few months now. Just bought a house and I'm looking to buy a stove or insert. The house I grew up in has woodstove for supplementary heat and I loved it. My parents have a Vermont Castings Resolute of about 1986 vintage. Great stove, really easy to use.

Anyway I have a masonry fireplace in my living room with gas logs now. Fortunately the chimney is interior (my parents is exterior - much improved by a reline), and situated in the center of the house. It has two flues, one of the gas furnace and one for the fireplace. I'd like to pull the gas logs and gas line out and replace them with either a stove or insert. I'm leaning towards insert because the room is long and narrow and a stove would sit in the center of the room. I've narrowed my search down to two inserts that will sit in the rather shallow fireplace: either the Country Striker C160 or the Regency I1200S. I looked at the stove reviews and did some searches in the forum and there aren't many reviews. That doesn't surprise me as these are both small inserts.

Some pics of my fireplace are below. A little work will need to be done to the damper area as it is only about 4.5'' wide. I would put a stainless steel liner in the chimney. I don't know if it is line or the measurements as I haven't been up on the roof yet. Roof is pretty steep and I need some roof hooks to get up there safely. Not looking to buy this winter, more likely next spring. It is still fun to shop though.

The room is 10'x with a 10'x10' dining room opening off one end and and stairs to the 2nd floor on the other end. I'm not including a floor plan because this is only supplemental heat. The fireplace is on the 20' wall so if I got a small stove like a Jotul F100 the stove would sit almost in the middle of the room.

In sum, I'm wondering if anyone sees one of these inserts as having a huge advantage over the other. I don't know anyone who has owned either brand. Thanks in advance for the advice.

Fireplace measurements
Depth 15"'
Front width 30''
Rear width 23''
Height 24''

 

[begreen]

Welcome. That's a beautiful fireplace. Nice wood work. I think you could install a Jotul C450 in there if you want to get a decent sized stove. It has an adjustable sleeve on the surround that can accommodate the shallow box. The hearth would need to be extended a few more tiles, but it wouldn't project into the room too much. A mantle shield may also be required, but it would look really nice in this setting and would go with the character of the house.

PS: if the thermostat for the central heating is to the left, I'd consider moving it out of the room.

 

[Mercury]

Thanks for the tip on the Jotul C450. I'll check into that. Thanks for the complement on the mantle as well. I'm lucky no one ever painted the original wood trim in the house.

 

[begreen]

I'll say! The woodwork looks wonderful. Good that you and previous residents have appreciated it.