If you are considering a wood burning fireplace insert here are several things to consider that will help ensure your satisfaction with it. Remember that a 
wood fueled fireplace or insert should have a door nearby where the firewood can be brought in. Having a covered porch just outside that door is even better, as it provides a protected spot to store enough wood for a day or so.
A wood fireplace or fireplace insert should be placed near the center of family activity where it can be monitored and tended.
Although this next point is often overlooked when planning for a wood burning fireplace, placement of the chimney relative to other features of the structure is important. A fireplace and its chimney are two parts of a system. They do different jobs, but they have to work together.
The best location for your wood fired fireplace heating system is near the center of a dwelling.Explaining why this is can get into some complicated principles of physics. For simplicity, here are three reasons why this is important.
First is that the house surrounding the chimney keeps the chimney warmer, and a warm chimney will draw better than if the chimney is located outside the heated envelope of the home.
The second reason is that more of the heat that the chimney radiates will stay inside the home where you want it to be – you recover more useable heat for more efficient use of your firewood.
The third reason is that a chimney near the center of a house will more likely rise above the tallest peak of the roof. It is important that a wood burning fireplace chimney be the tallest feature of a house so that competing sources of air pressure such as exhaust fans and vents are less likely to overcome the fireplace draft and cause smoke-back. Plan the installation of your wood-burning fireplace with your architect. He will be able to incorporate it into the total design while taking the required air inlet, cooling ducts and remotely located blower into consideration
