I don't have a wood stove. I chose to put the RMH in close proximity to the chimney. I basically wanted to heat my house with wood in the cheapest, easiest, most efficient way possible. So I built the RMH core next to chimney and made a tall stack bench/mass at counter height vs a sitting bench. This saved floor space in the room. Basically taller skinnier mass vs short and wide. This way it all fit nicely in the room and I didn't have to do anything complicated. I could just use the chimney I already had from the existing fireplace.