Hello and welcome. Great group of guys on here. Nothing like a wood fire in the fireplace on a cold day to enjoy your hard work.
I would like to do an insert but we don't plan to be in the house for to long. Maybe 3-4 more years. My next house will definitely have an insert or stove. We have a heat pump (electric )furnace.
The heat pump can be very efficient but when the temperatures get low the duct heaters kick on. No way would I want to pay for those running. If you can get enough heat from wood to keep that from happening you will be way ahead. Yes, I know from experience.
We just replaced the cheap builder grade windows this summer ( had a window broken out by a rock.) All ready can tell a difference in the house. Plan to start air sealing the exterior walls. And when I have a little extra time and cash I want to add about 10" of cellulose insulation to what is all ready in the attic.
I am running a 2 stage ground source heat pump, geothermal, on a house with R38 walls and R60 ceilings but the duct heaters still cut in during extreme weather and I bet you and I have almost identical weather to contend with.
Bought a stove on craigslist for $100 and spent $100 on fittings and went up through a double wall chimney . Saved $150 the first month and that was 4 winters ago. A fireplace is not going to give much heat , a free standing wood stove is the way to go, just make sure your installation is correct.
With heating my new house during construction my geothermal heat pump system monthly bill was basically about $100 per month last winter including the $20 facilities charge. I only heated to about 57ºF so it would definitely have cost more to be comfortable actually living there but it was just fine for hanging drywall and running in the rough plumbing. My insulation and air infiltration are excellent on that new construction so it would only get worse if that were not the case. Even with my high efficiency insulation I would sometimes arrive to start work and find the duct heaters turned on. So far this year I have zero heating costs because my insulation is that good when temperatures reach as much as 50ºF as the high during the day and I get some minimal solar boost. Last year and this year the insulation and air infiltration are basically identical so I still have those $100 bills to look forward to when it actually gets cold. My energy consumption so far has been so low that my bill is basically the $20 that I always have to pay as "facility charges" which means they expect to be paid for the meter and transformer even if I use zero energy. When I say excellent insulation, the walls are two separate walls with a moisture barrier between them and totaling R-38 of batts in the 2x6 outer wall and the 2x4 inner wall with a half inch dead air space between them. The ceiling is blown in R-60 cellulose and even the attic access has R-60 foam sheets attached to the back of the access panel. Nothing but the hose bibs penetrates the R-23 outer wall insulation. All wiring and plumbing is within the R-15 2x4 inner wall or is not in an external wall at all. When I designed the building I wanted to be able to heat it with nothing more than a few harsh words and I think I am almost there.
Welcome Silentgarth I started near about's where you're at, Poulan(check), open hearth with glass doors(check) but instead of the "vinyl jungle" I ended up on a nice piece of wooded property. It's an insatiable urge to burn wood, the warm ambiance & glow of a fire is hard to beat come a cold winters night. When you get to the crazy point of wanting to 100% heat your home with wood we're hear to "help" just keep enjoying what you're getting yourself into
