My next door neighbor has a Fisher stove. The Rolls Royce of stoves in the 80s. But when she damps it down it shuts off all the air and the wood smolders... and smokes. When the EPA regulated woodstoves, Fisher went out of business. As did 90% of stove manufacturers. Now there are some great old Vermont Castings stoves still out there as many of my neighbors have had them since the 70s. But most of the old steel stoves are better off scrapped. Parts are a major problem with the defunct brands today and then some amateur jury rigs a repair and the house burns down.

I was on the phone this morning with Jotul wood tech on another issue, and we got into the ZC issue with stoves. Come to find out that Jotul has a blanket listing for ANY of there appliances to be installed in a ZC. The problem he said, that hardly any were ever installed properly. He stated that to get a 8 inch flue up to UL1777 listing is almost impossible with the insulation. He also said that rarley are the ZC chimneys tall enough, and that the clearacne that has to be maintained results in a long horizontal run that rarley has enough slope. Intresting stuff, from a previous thread here, i was under the impression that no stove was listed for ZC, FWIW, the manual doesnt state that it is, its kind of a secert because of the miss use of the listing. So for the readers out there, Jotul is one manufacture that allows it, but read the data again as to why they dont recommend it. You would have to call your dealer to verify That they have a blanket listing for there appliance, and would be willing to provide the documentation for the inspector. #1 it has to be insulated and lined, that means you have to fit a 7.5 inch tube down a 8" hole. That can be a challenge #2 you have to maintain clearacne to the firebox like it was a combustable wall #3 you MUST have 1/4" of rise per foot on the horizontal run. Intresting.

To your question first: you might consider the size of the fireplace opening (36" x 24") relative to the width of the wall (48"). When it's all said and done, you'll only have about 6" of trim on each side, which may not be a pleasing proportion. Unless you're going to be enjoying the fireplace from quite far away (more than 12' or so, I'd guess), you may not need the "Superhearth" sized opening. I don't think it's a bad look to have the fireplace extend into the room, especially if you can put furniture, bookshelves, etc. on each side to take up some of the space. But you can easily see for yourself: use cardboard boxes to "build" the fireplace, and use tape to mark the fireplace opening onto the front. (I find that planning in 3 dimensioins is always easier for me than in 2 -- I do this before buying new furniture, even.) As to the other issues people raise, it's absolutely true that the Napolean, BIS, etc. will provide a cleaner, hotter fire because they're built more like wood stoves with a closed glass front (you look at the fire through the glass). There's better safety and less emmissions into the room. If you plan on using your fireplace even in part for heating -- so you'll build a roaring fire that burns for hours and hours -- then you should look more closely at these issues. The Majestic will eventually fail if you try to use it like a wood stove. If, however, the fireplace is mostly for ambience, and you imagine building a normal fire in the evening for a few hours, these issues are less important. I for one prefer an open fire, even though I know I'm losing heat up the chimney and getting some amount of soot into the room....

Not sure if this is what you want or if it will work with your fireplace, but here's a link. I've never used this company, but it seems to have a huge selection. Website also has free-standing & attachable fireplace mesh screens (many are custom-made) on other pages..... Here is a link that might be useful: Hansen Wholesale