Well I just got back from some fireplace stores and they agreed.
Any kind of woodstove/epa unit in a 16 x 17 foot room (1470 total house) would blast me out of the room unless perhaps I turned off my furnace and was trying to heat almost all the house.

So - now I'm trying to find a quality "40 percenter" i.e. a wood burner with the heated air pipes/heat exchanger with glass doors that aren't truly air tight but close.
I'm tight on space and the smallest Lennox is 38" - any suggestions for 36"/smaller? All I've found so far is Heat N Glo (90% of Omaha is HeatNGlo) but the Fireplace forum doesn't like them.
Mary

Hi Mary,
I've been reading a number of the posts in this forum as I'm considering a wood burning appliance of some kind, and although I'm not a expert of any type I've read a lot of stuff about wood burning these past few weeks, I've also been reading your posts with interest as well.

I recall you saying that the fireplace was going to take up a lot of the room, and that quite rightly you're concerned the heat output will be too much. I also believe you'd rather have had a corner unit? Well, you can fit a normal insert in the corner if you frame it in there. The framing is just to finish it and make it look pretty, so it can be any shape you like. However, I'm facing the same issues you are with excessive heat output from the modern units. I want to build a fairly small highly insulated house, thus most inserts put out far too much heat to maintain this space in normal weather. However, since it's a low energy environmentally aware design and I would like to use the fireplace for heat, I'm not going to consider anything but a modern clean burning unit. So far I've found two ways to solve this problem...

1. Buy a stove instead. They come in smaller sizes with far lower heat outputs, but they still burn cleanly. They're also better proportioned to smaller spaces. Another bonus is that they're cheaper to buy and install.

2. Buy a ducted wood insert/fireplace. These are pretty much the same clean burning high efficiency fireplaces you're looking at, they have a glass front to view the fire and to emit radiant heat, and they have a heat exchanger that blows heated air in to the room. However, these units allow you to turn off the heated air and direct it by ductwork in to another room, or better yet the furnace's cold air return so it can be blown out all over the house and substitute some of the heat generated by the furnace. You'll still get radiant heat, but it shouldn't be excessive or overheat the room you install it in. However, this will cost more than a normal fireplace.

Personally I would recommend the first option as it's cheaper and probably better suited to someone who wants atmosphere and some heat. Since you're installing geothermal I doubt the savings by hooking the fireplace up to the furnace would be significant; unless you're getting the wood very cheap or live in an area with very expensive electric. Using the fireplace a lot may also swing the savings in your favour. The possibilities for saving money entirely depend on your lifestyle.

Of course, a cold air return in the same room as your stove/fireplace will direct a reasonable amount throughout the house when the heating is on. Large doors that open up the downstairs would also help the heat flow around the house and make use of it. The only thing I wouldn't do is buy an oldfashioned non-EPA unit. It's not just about heating better, they emit a fraction of the pollution and are safer as the flue stays cleaner and they exhaust less heat through it. They also use less wood, leave less ash to clean up and burn with far more attractive brighter flames. You really can see that secondary burn as the fumes re-ignite.

I don't want a stove. Not the same feel, and are bad for resale.

Ducted wood/fireplace -
you say
Buy a ducted wood insert/fireplace. These are pretty much the same clean burning high efficiency fireplaces you're looking at, they have a glass front to view the fire and to emit radiant heat, and they have a heat exchanger that blows heated air in to the room. However, these units allow you to turn off the heated air and direct it by
Are you talking EPA certified fireplace? Or not?
It sounds good to take all the heat it puts out and put it somewhere else but it also sounds like something that would take some serious upfront planning with the HVA guy - you don't just start jamming other heat sources into your heating system lightly. So I don't really have the time or money for that.
So I'm pretty much stuck here. A 16 x 17 room is very small - maybe even too small for a fireplace. But I'm 48 and have never lived anywhere with a fireplace. Never. And I would never go on a cruise or a do a lot of things that pollute that most people don't even think about. But I'm going to have one.

You know building a house is a roller coaster but nothing has gotten me as upset as this fireplace issue
I'm looking for a small non-EPA wood fireplace that at least has some efficiency and quality and can't find one. Lennox's 38 is probably too big. So I'm just sitting here on the verge of tears (and I don't cry often).
Why is this so freaking hard? Months ago when starting research I got to the same point. Throw up my hand and say well I guess I'm just not worthy of ever having a fireplace. For some reason I will never live with a fireplace. Took a break. Now I have to decide next week. And I'm at the same point. Can't have an environmentally friendly fireplace unless I build some HUGE HOUSE to heat. I can't believe this - I just can't. Apparantly its Heat-N-Glo Energy Master or nothing. Man have I wasted a lot of time.

Look at the Lennox Brentwood EPA and smaller than FP38. Also, Look at Security Chimnneys HE36 and 43.

Re Brentwood - EPA's put out too much heat for such a small room, though yes it is smaller than the FP 38 I can't put in an EPA.
Security - they term their EPA's or EPA like as High Efficiency and that is their BIS line.
They call their heat circulatator's Mid Efficient. They have a HE 43 - but that is 7 inches bigger than a 36". They don't have a 36 on their website.

Take a look at this:

http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/pacvisin.htm

Pellet stoves exceed the EPA approved wood stoves for emissions and since it controlled, it won't blast you out of your room/house - no matter how small or big.