Any stove is hot, so all stoves are dangerous. If you want to make it safer look at the hearthgate made by kidco. http://www.kidcoinc.com/main.taf?erube_fh=kidco&kidco.submit.gateDetails=1&kidco.modelNumber=G70&kidco.bc=gc
I would recoment you look at Hearthstone stoves, www.hearthstonestoves.com they make a beautifull stove.

If you are building I would recommend you look at a masonry heater. They are much more flexible than wood stoves and don't have as much dangerous surface area. Do you like brick oven pizza?

I am building a new timber frame/open concept home and will installing one of these next to the kitchen , open to the dining room ,,

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1519712}}

Sorry I am new at this I guess I wasnt clear, I only want ti for heat not cooking.

Go to a local stove shop!

You'll get everybody telling you that the unit THEY have is the best. "Mine's better!" "NO! MINE is!" Get it?

When you talk to a stove professional he/she will explain to you what's best FOR YOU. I've had different brands of stoves and they ALL are good.

Maybe a BIS (Built in stove) is what you really want. Looks like a fireplace but is really an airtight stove. They will definitely heat the area you want. And they can be installed during construction. But again, talk to a professional. Explain what your needs are and your concerns with children. And if you have to travel to talk to more than one I strongly urge you to do so. We have a stove shop in our area but I bought my latest stove from a shop in a neighboring state! Not only was the shop more helpful but I saved the sales tax because he also installed it.

I would second a masonry heater or Russian fireplace as they are also known.

Here is a link that might be useful: Russian fireplace

in your travels, be sure to check out direct vent gas stoves- i know they are not wood for the caveman, but, they heat up immediately and you can even put them on a thermostat- the heat is more steady-
if you are buying your wood, gas can be cheaper-
also, size your stove to the room it will be in, not the area you want to heat- heat does not travel horizontally, only vertically- even with a fan it will only travel horizontally about 3-5'- this goes for wood or gas-
do not oversize or you will be burning your wood stove on low all the time and your chances of creosote buildup are much greater- you need to clean a wood stove pipe more frequently, depending on use but a gas stove does not require chimney cleaning-
a wood stove typically needs to be terminated 2' above your roof line (6/12 pitch or greater) but a gas stove can be vented out the side of your wall or 12-18" outside of your roof (6/12 pitch or less)-
good luck
k

Call me a caveman if you want but there's NOTHING like a wood fire! And since gas is tied to either a utility or a need for a propane truck that can't get out in a snowstorm, I like wood! And even at $135 a cord it's still cheaper than gas.
Gas is fine for Yuppies that want the "look" of a wood stove but can't be bothered with the actual work that goes along with it. How come nobody wants a woodstove that burns like a gas stove?
And those power vents work so well during a power failure.
I've been burning trees for many years and the smell of woodsmoke on a snowy Vermont evening while walking my dog is comforting.
Gas is probably fine if you live in a little subdivision with everybody living on top of each other and the HOA doesn't allow icky wood piles. But nothing is as comforting as a real wood fire.

gingy, go find a local stove dealer and have a look at what they've got. Personally I'd look at pellet stoves but go shop and you decide.

Thanks guys, what should I expect to pay for a built in stove?

Hi Gingy, We had a Hearthstone Phoenix installed last week. It is on the first floor of a 2 story home. We already love it, and contrary to what Kristine-7 said, heat does travel horizontally as well as vertically. The heat does travel better upstairs than through the first floor due to particular details of our layout. But our thermostat, which is not in a place where the heat is travelling to quite as vigorously, and is down a hallway and around 2 corners from the stove, registers over 70 on days the stove is going. It is warmer than that upstairs in all the rooms where we leave the doors open. Our house is over 1500 sq. ft., maybe 1700 or more depending how you measure (some measure outside the house, some inside, etc.) The Phoenix is certainly adequate to heat our whole house. One thing I have noticed, the basement is colder now without the furnace running. Might need to do something about that in the dead of winter.

We looked at the Heritage model a lot, decided the Phoenix was built better. We were also taken with the masonry types, but the installation was daunting. If you are building a new house then that would probably be a lot easier for you. We found a place in Canada that had nice ones in several colors, Faber King ceramic tile stoves. We were leaning towards that, but it is hard to find a good installer except those who work for fireplace stores, and they only install the ones they sell, the ones we talked to.

We are thinking about getting a fancy thermostat that can make the furnace fan run when the gas furnace isn't on, but so far the whole house heats pretty well with no special effort. Our stove cost about $2K and the installation with all the pipes and so on was the same amount, so it was pretty pricey to this cheap soul. But we wanted a professional installation on something involving hot fire! Of course it costs more to send the pipe through 2 stories and an attic, but we wanted the stove centrally located in the house, so didn't go for the one room off by itself that has no upper story.

As for safety around small kids, we built a raised hearth, the top of which is 28 inches off the ground. With the 16 inches back that the stove needs to be from the front of the hearth, that would make it hard for a small kid to reach. We don't have kids, we raised it so that we don't strain our backs so much and the fire is easier to see, but it is also a safety features when friend's toddlers come over. Good luck. Our only problem so far is getting a burn time as long as advertised.

Marcia

Have actually seen some gas/LP fireplaces that look almost as good as a real fire & it depends on your age as to if you really are cut out to work with wood anyway. [Wood is heavy,dirty, has bugs and will always have ash associated with it no matter which brand you choose!]

If you are past 55 and your next 30 are in front of you I would tell you to get a Gas/LP fireplace. The fire is instantanious. LP/NG in a tank has a 10 year life. Have put one of these units in for my 80 yr old father's house & he loves it !! A flick of the switch & he has the look of a fire, with blowers to create some heat in an unheated room. Most models have a glass screen for safety & are UL approved. Go to a fireplace store in your area & check out the options.
Now if you are younger, fit & have access to wood I ould recommend checking out a Biofire (ceramic Tile fireplace heater) or a Willach soaptone heater or a Masonry heater. You can do a Gooogle search & come up with the links for any of these.
Most masonry heaters are EPA exempt but it is best to check with your county building/permit office to see what kinds of wood burning appliances have to be built to MATCH the code in your area. A lot of codes have upgraded recently to match International Code & EPA specifications!
It is best to find out this information BEFORE you build it or buy it for your home. Your insurer or the county may not allow it in your home & you need to know this info before purchase.
Good Luck.