How well would a Hearthstone Tribute with a rear heat shield AND blower work, if the stove were placed inside a masonry fireplace with a couple inches of the stove sticking out? I have mantle clearance issues that exclude the inserts I looked into, as well as the idea of placing a freestanding in front of the fireplace. Getting rid of the mantle is not an option, and any and all ideas I have come up with that would allow me to place a freestanding in front of the fireplace would not look acceptable. I have a basically brand-new Tribute I got a great deal on that I would like to use inside my fireplace. How much heat would I get using the Tribute without a blower? How well would the stove heat if I used it with a rear heat shield and blower?
I say do it. Your heat shield / blower assy will harness much of the heat from the backplate of the stove and deliver it to the room in the form of heated air. You will have essentially created the outer shroud / blower arrangement used in inserts to perform the same function, which is to minimize heat loss to the masonry.
Thanks, Tom. How much additional space in the back will the heat shield/blower consume? The stove was going to have to stick out of the fireplace a couple of inches without a heat shield/blower; how much more will it need to stick out with it? Has anyone out there used the setup I described above? Another question: If I get my chimney fully lined, can I hook the flexible pipe directly to the Tribute, or do I need some sort of a connector?
The rear heat shield increases the depth of the stove by 4”, and the blower adds another inch, so the package will move your stove forward 5” from the fireplace backwall.
Whichever company’s flex liner you choose will offer a flue collar connector. It is a standard part of Forever Flex’s insert liner kit.
Hmmm… With that much more sticking out, I’m not sure what I want to do will work. I might as well move my Homestead to the front of the house and install it part in/part out of the fireplace; of course, I’ll need to fabricate a heat deflecter to place above it. Frankly, I’d rather have the Tribute in the back of the house (which is a smaller heating zone) and the Homestead in the front. The other option is to just scrap the idea of messing with my fireplace (other than to add glass doors) and sell the Tribute.
i have the shield and blower on my tribute and you can definatley feel the difference when its on.. really blows heat into the room. i get good heat without the blower on. it just takes longer for it to migrate into the center of the room and to the other rooms
When I added my rear heatshield it did not effect clearances. The rear clearance was still measured from the stove body. So adding a blower or heatshield just filled up some of the space already figured in for the rear of the appliance.
Did you plan to jamb the stove right up against the rear of the fireplace?
Yes—I was planning to have the top edge of the stove against the back wall. This would still leave me with some space between the wall and soapstone for air circulation. Am I misreading the manual? Am I required to leave additional space?
The clearances in the manual are to combustible surfaces: there is no clearance required to the non-combustible backwall of your fireplace, although I never like to have the stove actually touching.
Another consideration: I know it’s best practice to fully line a chimney when hooking up a stove. Still, I can’t stomach the investment of $1,800 or so the have the liner installed when we will not be using the stove as a primary heat source. (Translated: We’re not going to get a return on that investment anytime soon.) I can install a partial liner myself and extend it to the terra-cotta liner for a few hundred bucks. I’ve read all the talk about improved draft using a full liner, as well as a reduction in the volume of creosote. Well, I just don’t think getting a good draft established is going to be a problem with my fireplace; it draws VERY well compared to other open fireplaces I’ve been around. As for formation of creosote, it seems to me less creosote will form, given the efficiency of the stove as compared to an open fireplace. I can’t imagine needing to have the chimney cleaned more than once a burning season, even if we run the stove everyday. Am I wrong about this? Further, how much trouble is it to remove a partial liner to help facilitate cleaning, then reinstall the same setup? Do screws, etc. get “gummed up” enough to make it unreasonable to remove a partial liner.
The liner kits are about 500 bucks. What is so special about your chimney to bring the cost from a few hundred for a partial reline to 1800$ for a full? It’s not the materials cost. All labor? There are threads on this site showing how easy it can be to install a liner yourself. The difficult part is getting through the fireplace damper to your stove and the block off plate, both of which you already propose doing yourself.
The only way to sweep your chimney each year would be to remove the entire mess, clean, and reinstall. That would lead to less frequent cleanings and ultimately an unsafe condition.
OK, so I’m still contemplating what I should do. I’m leaning toward putting the Tribute in the fireplace, due to safety and aesthetics. Even if I were able to move the stove forward five inches to allow for inclusion of a rear heat shield and blower—I can’t, because the flue collar would then be directly under the lintel—I would still have clearance problems with my mantel. My latest question is this: Is it worth it to stick the Tribute in the fireplace with only a couple inches sticking out? Will I get enough heat to justify the expense? If I put in a full liner, how efficient will the setup be compared to an open fireplace? By the way, I do have a small fan I can stick in the fireplace cavity with the stove to help blow heat. Thanks for your guidance!
thechimneysweep (or anyone who can anwer the following): From what point of the stove is the additional 5 inches for the heat shield/blower measured? Also, how far up the back of the stove does the heat shield/blower extend? I guess what I’m wondering is if the front to back measurement at the top of the stove is 16” without the heat shield/blower, what is the front to back measurement at the top of the stove with the heat shield/blower? What about the front to back measurement at the lowest point on the stove before the legs? If the heat shield/blower tapers at the top, I may be able to stick my Tribute in the fireplace after all.
