I'll confess that we were more oriented towards the "look" than what we were burning. We also didn't expect that our eventual solution would be such a significant part of our heating system.
I can understand where you're coming from Mr. Hilltop. My main craze used to be geared more towards Hi-performance cars, but when I purchased an old farmhouse, old houses have become just as interesting. Sometimes I drive the wife crazy with some of my obsessions of keeping things "period" correct. Unfortunately my existing stove doesn't cut it, but for now it's all I have, as I learn the ropes of this very practical art form. It's definitely not only cut down my oil costs, but the house is much warmer, and the stove fills a nice niche off our foyer. You mentioned you had a kitchen stove. Do you use it for heat, or decoration? My wife and I were at a flea market yrs ago, and one of those kitchen stoves were there. When I showed it to the wife, she barked, "you buy it, you're cooking on it"!
That was the end of that.(wasn't looking to cook on it....but if it could?) 