Ahh.... Now this is a subject I can warm up to! (Sorry... couldn't help myself)
Seriously tho, Lopi is an excellent brand of stove. We've had two. One in our mountain home in SoCal and we just last year got one for our house in Kentucky after being here 8 years and freezing every winter. They're not cheap; however, any real good quality wood stove is going to cost from 3 to 5 thousand, including stovepipe and installation.
The one thing you absolutely do not want to do is get a stove from Home Depot or Lowes. They're made in China and within 3 or 4 years they tend to start having problems.
Lopi stoves are built to last a lifetime and are made in Atash's corner of the world. Other brands in a similar price range are also going to be well built. Keep in mind that you're investing in something that's going to be keeping you warm for the rest of your life with almost no maintanence and no moving parts to wear out. Spend the money up front, you'll be glad you did.
Good call on the pellet stove BTW. My sister has been through two of them in 6 years and the second one is giving her fits as it keeps breaking down. She bought good ones, but they have moving parts that wear out or break. Wood burners are simple and aside from having to replace the door gasket once every few years if it gets ratty, there's not a lot to worry about.
The one problem we are having here is finding a chimney sweep. Most people here either do it themselves or just plain don't bother. A chimney fire is NOT the way to clean your chimey, but don't tell anybody around here that. Our roof is way too steep or I'd try doing it myself. So maybe check around for chimney sweeping services before you buy so you'll know if that's covered or if you've gotta do it yourself.
Since you asked... here comes some more solicited advice.
Since your house is 1240 sq ft, get a stove that's rated at 1500 to 1600 sq ft. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise either. Stoves are rated at optimal conditions, that is, perfect insulation and windows, the best seasoned hardwood fuel, etc. If you get a stove that's rated as just even with your square footage and it drops below zero or maybe your firewood's not quite seasoned enough or any other variable, you're not going to get the heat you need from it.
Here in western Kentucky, wood is plentiful and cheap if not free. We've got enough wood in the yard for two years and it didn't cost us a dime, aside from some gas for my saw and a whole lot of sweat equity. Since we got our stove I've lost over 20 pounds doing all the cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking!! So besides the best heat in the world there's the exercise involved. Even if you buy wood from somebody, you still stack and carry and load the stove, so you will get some excercise regardless.
Another benefit is the cheerfullness of a fire. Most stoves have glass panels in the door so you can see the fire. It makes a big differrence in my outlook during the winter.
Here are a couple of links. This one is general info.
http://www.woodheat.org/index.htmThis one's a forum of wood burning enthusiasts. Fair warning, some of these guys are worse than computer geeks when it comes to stoves. But there's a lot of info to be found, just don't let 'em scare ya with all their gadgets and what not.
http://hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/ 
