I bought a house that has a vaulted two story entry and living room that opens up into a dinning room - approx 900 sq ft. Needless to say, this is a bear to heat hence I burn a lot of natural gas from November thru March.
To make things worse, the previous owner had the builder install a small prefab fireplace in there as seen below. It is a Majestic BR42 and the fire box measures 42"W x 19"T x 16" D. It feeds into Majestics SK8" flue pipe.
My question is this - I have been considering buying and installing a very large zero clearance fireplace/woodstove i.e. FPX 44 Elite, etc. but am shocked at the cost - approx $4,500 - $5,300 pending accessories, plus new flue pipe, etc. and installation. Close to $6,000 or more intalled.
Another alternative would be to rip out the prefab and then line the opening with non combustibles and put in new flue to support a large free standing wood stove I could source on Craigslist. I could do the demo and install of the non combustibles myself and have an installer deal with the new flue pipe, etc.
Has anyone done Option 2? Advice? Pro's - Con's?
Here is a pic of my living room:
To make things worse, the previous owner had the builder install a small prefab fireplace in there as seen below. It is a Majestic BR42 and the fire box measures 42"W x 19"T x 16" D. It feeds into Majestics SK8" flue pipe.
My question is this - I have been considering buying and installing a very large zero clearance fireplace/woodstove i.e. FPX 44 Elite, etc. but am shocked at the cost - approx $4,500 - $5,300 pending accessories, plus new flue pipe, etc. and installation. Close to $6,000 or more intalled.
Another alternative would be to rip out the prefab and then line the opening with non combustibles and put in new flue to support a large free standing wood stove I could source on Craigslist. I could do the demo and install of the non combustibles myself and have an installer deal with the new flue pipe, etc.
Has anyone done Option 2? Advice? Pro's - Con's?
Here is a pic of my living room: