"john" wrote

Sorry guys, Another question I forgot to mention. My dad tells me a
Wood Stove is more efficent and heats up the house better then a built in
Fireplace. But he may be saying this to persuade me from getting a
Fireplace because it would be alot of masonary work for my place.

He's right although the older style fireplaces that were 'internal to the
house' (so the back wall is in another room and the chimney may be going
through an upper/attic bedroom even with a small fireplace in it), well
those are a bit better.

A fireplace does add house value, but a good wood stove can as well though
it may not add as much. It will be area dependant. You might find a quick
call to a realtor just to ask what the price difference is in your area
between them? If you live well north in snow country, go wood first then
later when you can afford it, consider adding a fireplace for the house
value.

How much actual heat you get from the fireplace will depend on design, and
if you have a forced air blower and proper inserts. We plan to get a lower
insert which is a semi-reflective metal backplate that goes against the back
wall and 'reflects' more of the heat inwards. They sell them with lots of
neat looking designs.

For 'wood stove' take a look at the newer pellet stoves. They have some
really good ones out there which are virtually care-free (and some that need
cleaning daily). Make sure first though that pellets are easy to get where
you are. Though growing in popularity, not all areas have them as other
than a specialty item at a high price. If the pellets are way too costly
where you are (like getting firewood here at 7-11 is about 9$ for a single
armload!), a true wood burner may be a better option. Those come in many
types but most I have seen need the 'logs' cut very small so you may need to
get a log-splitter so as to get just regular fireplace stuff at a cheaper
price and cut it down. Log-splitters can run over 1,500$ but perfectly
functional units for your needs are also out there under 200$.