LOOKING FOR A WOOD STOVE OR FIRPLACE INSERT

[AZ Firebird]

Hello Everyone - I just joined today, looking forward to learning more about wood stoves and how to use them the right way. First things first - I have to find one and I seem to have VERY limited options. I have an existing fireplace without a damper that I want to make functional; the fireplace is located in a long, narrow living room. During the search to find out options, I ran across the Biomass Tax Credit, so I thought I would try to take advantage of that at the same time. The problem that I am running into is that the area that would be heated is roughly 900 sq. ft. and I can't seem to find much to fit the current fireplace opening (a must), that meets the Biomass Tax Credit efficiency ratings, and is right-sized for my area. I assume that I should be trying to stay as close to 30,000 BTU as possible. The winner so far seems to be the Vermont Castings Intrepid FlexBurn (which are not sold in my area) and I can't find any fireplace inserts at all. My fireplace dimensions are below for reference. Does anyone have any suggestions of a good quality wood stove or insert that would work? Thanks in advance!

Height: 30 3/4"
Width: 27 1/2"
Depth at bottom: 23 1/2"
Depth at top: 23 1/2"
Height in back of fireplace: 26 1/2"
Width in back of fireplace: 24 1/2"

 

[AZ Firebird]

Update. I measured the area this morning. It is actually 591 sq. ft.

 

[EbS-P]

Do you have a picture of the fireplace? Not having a damper seems unusual. How does the living room connect to the rest of the house?

 

[AZ Firebird]

Hello EbS-P, Here is a picture of the fireplace.

 

[jalmondale]

I think the Hearthstone Castleton will fit in that space, and it's EPA certified. I haven't ever used one, but ran across it when I was looking for a stove for a similarly-sized opening (pretty sure I had those exact same doors on my fireplace =P). I ended up building out the hearth and putting my stove in front of the fireplace instead - better radiant heat transfer throughout the room and it let me get a side-loading model. I'm surprised you haven't been able to find any inserts - I didn't want to go that route, but it seemed like every chimney guy I talked to wanted to convince me to put an insert in.

 

[AZ Firebird]

Hello Jalmondale, I am just concerned that the Castleton is way too big for my space. The retailers I have been dealing with stressed the importance of building a raging fire and a stove rated for up to 1,700 sq. ft. would seem to overwhelm the space at 600 sq. ft. I am trying to decide between the Morso 7110 B, Morso 1410 B, Morso 2B Standard 2020, Jotul F 602 V2, Vermont Castings Intrepid FlexBurn, and Vermont Castings Aspen C3 (not sure if this product will become available again). Any thoughts you or anyone in the group would be greatly appreciated!

 

[EbS-P]

How is this room connected to the rest of the house. have you confirmed you have full masonry fireplace and not a zero clearance fireplace?

 

[jalmondale]

Hello Jalmondale, I am just concerned that the Castleton is way too big for my space. The retailers I have been dealing with stressed the importance of building a raging fire and a stove rated for up to 1,700 sq. ft. would seem to overwhelm the space at 600 sq. ft. I am trying to decide between the Morso 7110 B, Morso 1410 B, Morso 2B Standard 2020, Jotul F 602 V2, Vermont Castings Intrepid FlexBurn, and Vermont Castings Aspen C3 (not sure if this product will become available again). Any thoughts you or anyone in the group would be greatly appreciated!

I'd definitely defer to your dealer on what makes sense for your space - I was going off your 30,000 BTU estimate. For what it's worth, my stove is rated for 1,600 sq ft and I have it in a room that's 300 sq ft - I just keep the doors to the rest of the house open and have a box fan running in the next room over, plus a desk fan in the incoming doorway that I can turn on when the room starts to warm up. I think the soapstone really helps with that by acting as a thermal flywheel - the room with the stove varies by about 7 degrees from being cooler in the morning to hottest just after I start a late afternoon fire. If your whole house is only 600 sq ft, though, that might be more of a problem.

 

[AZ Firebird]

Hello EbS-P, Sorry, I missed your post. My house is U shaped and the fireplace is roughly at what you would envision as the bottom of the "U". I would not expect that the head would impact the 2 wings much.

 

[AZ Firebird]

Hello Jalmondale, Wow, I guess I should after reading your post!

 

[AZ Firebird]

Update - I just talked to someone different at the dealership and they recommended the I1150 Regency inserts and said it would work better for the space due to the single direction of the radiant heat and the blower on the insert. The 3 models he suggested were the Alterra, Classic, and the Hampton. Any thoughts to see if this is good or bad advice? Thanks!

 

[kennyp2339]

Please consider ash and coals being in the firebox when sizing, also anything below 1.8cu ft wont heat through the night, rule of thumb... go as big as the space can fit, build smaller fires and dont turn the blower on as much.

 

[AZ Firebird]

Okay, new twist. I just discovered that the inserts he steered me towards aren't the correct one that will qualify for the Biomass Credit according to the EPA database. The only one which does is the Regency Cascades I1150 Hybrid Catalytic.

 

[beermann]

I have a regency i1100s and been using it for about 4 or 5 years, it fits into tight spaces. If I could do it again and be in your shoes I would get a unit that sits out into the living room a little more as I really like the radiant heat and fan combo.