Masonry fireplace install/stove advice

So if I don’t get a stove this fall it will be my second year without and I may go crazier. I miss it so bad. Guess I’m just looking for some recommendations on stoves and any install tip yall may have.

It’s not an ideal location(far end of house, exterior chimney, stuffed into fireplace, kitchen so I can’t kick back and enjoy watching) unfortunately it’s the only place I can put a stove. It’s a large fireplace so I can pretty much put most stoves in there. Dimensions are 56” wide, tapers to 45” and it’s 48” high. Mantel is right at that 48” mark but could be moved up a bit to meet CTC.

I’m mostly looking at used stoves due to price so obviously that limits my choices. I’d be open to some suggestions of new though up to about 2800 bucks. Rear exit stoves would be ideal obviously but could probably make certain top exit work too. The stove would have to be tucked in flush with the front of the fireplace as we have a dining table that we do use in there.

I looked at a hearthstone Mansfield but it was pretty beat so I passed. I’ve come up with a quadrafire Cumberland gap that would fit well. It’s currently set up top exit but looking at manual I believe it can be switched. Anyone burning that stove?

Basically just looking for any info from the group. Either on stoves or tips for setting it into the fireplace. Who has a fireplace setup like this? Obviously not as good as freestanding but how does it do? Blower or just use fans to move heat around? Had 16 courses of the chimney rebuilt and a new crown poured last fall. Have SS liner and insulation ready to go. Pic of proposed wood stove landing space.

 

$2800 buys you just about any stove they make...free shipping too. (Maybe an insert stove?)
MFP - The Online Stove and Fireplace Store

 

Thanks. I’ve seen that site. I have no experience with drolet. From what I hear and read it’s a quality stove however we’re looking for something a bit more decorative. Soapstone or enameled or something similar. I’m also trying to put the largest stove in there that will fit as we’re in a 2,400 sqft drafty old place and this isn’t centrally located.

 

I'm sure you are aware, but a large stove is gonna roast you right outta that room...

 

Drolet makes some stoves that have a duct kit option...would that help move heat around for you? Not sure how that would hook up being in a FP.
Drolet Austral III, Legend III & Myriad III, Osburn 3300, Century FW3200, and ENERZONE Solution 3.3.e is the list I found...

 

Jotul F55. Rear exit 3cubic feet.

a used F500 is better looking but probably too small for 2400sq ft

 

I think the f55 or the f500 would indeed cook him out of that room... unless the room is quite large. I had the version 2 f500 at my old house and it radiated serious heat! It was in the living room that was 20x20 and the room got HOT.

As far as stoves go, look on facebook market, I see stukff quite often in the New York area and Eastern PA. Sounds like you have everything you need but the stove... make it happen! If you're buying used you might have to compromise a bit, but you will be happy you did once all is said and done, I think.

 

May have line on a floor model f500 v3. Local dealer has one for 3500 and I’d still get the tax credit. Going to look tomorrow.

 

Although reading a lot f things about his that stove is hard to control and it having very faulty combusters. And if the combustors are faulty and Jotul gets sick of replacing them they look to be around 600, ouch ! I know that you only hear of the bad stories and there are probably many others who have no issues. Man, I didn’t think this would be so difficult! Anyone burning this guy?

 

Joful,
stoveliker, any insight?

 

I don't have much knowledge of Jotul stoves.

I do think that most replacement cats are not OEM, so if those tend to go bad too, it's likely stove design in itself or the user (mis-)behavior it invited that makes it so.

Many cats are used in multiple different brands and models. So it's worth looking at the others that fit the same cat to see if issues are reported there too. If not it's not the cat but may be the stove.

Don't know enough...

 

Well one thing about this stove is that there is no bypass so the cat is always exposed, start ups and reloads. I’ve never had a cat stove but I do have a basic understanding of how they work and that doesn’t seem like the best design. Lots of exposure to ash in those situations.

 

Ash will clog a cat (and thus kill draft in the stove) but won't kill a cat. As long as you can vacuum it out (don't brush or use compressed air beyond what a "duster spray can" provides) it should work again.

Tall flues will sick more ash into a cat too.

 

So I pulled the trigger on the f500 v3. Went to take a look and they ended up taking a few hundred more off. Stove store is in a pretty ritzy area and they just don’t sell wood burners anymore, it’s all gas. Selling off the rest of the floor model wood stoves they had.

Here’s to hoping I made a decent choice. The things I read about the combustor seem to say that they had some issues with the early combustors collapsing and they’ve since went with a different brand. The dealer still sells Jotul gas stoves so they said they will advocate if any issues arise, we’ll see, hopefully it’s not needed but they do have a good reputation.

 

The room is 16x25 so not really huge but it’s the kitchen so we are not sitting in it all night or anything. On the far end is the door that opens to the dining and living room so hopefully I can get the heat into there.

 

I’m going to rear vent the stove into a tee but in order to set the stove where I want it and get the tee and liner to line up straight it looks like I will have to use some elbows. Not sure what angles I’ll need yet. Is that ok? I haven’t measured exactly yet but it’s a tall chimney(23-25 I’d say) so hopefully draft will be ok.

 

So you will have to elbow up to get to the pipe that will go back into the FP/tee?

 

Going up it’ll be tee, length of stove pipe, elbows into the SS liner. Then block off the whole fireplace throat. Once I get the stove and the pieces I need it’ll all make sense I’m sure.

 

Here’s my fireplace install. SS 6” liner, T at bottom for clean out. We use a plastic trash bag, poking a hole near its top for the cleaning rod to pass through. One of us hold the bag, wrapped around the pipe, and the other maneuvers the rod and brush.
They removed the damper in order to fit the liner, and I’ve just had insulation stuffed in there all these years. The flagstone in the front is 120 degrees right now (stove top is 400). The black brick right above the stove is 114, and the brick below the thimble is 85 degrees.

The thimble above is connected to the liner because there was a cook stove here.


The hearth is an eyesore to me. The original lintel must have cracked and they used cement and cruddy bricks to repair. The flagstone is very 1970’s.

 

Thanks for sharing! My setup is nearly identical, right down to the stuffed insulation where the damper used to be. All in all, I'm very happy with how things are going, though I still wish I could have fit a BK or WS stove (combustibles are too close).