Anyone burn an insert without the surround?

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herdbull

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Dec 31, 2010
132
Wisconsin
Just wondering if anyone has played around with this? Aside from it being a little "prettier" with the surround is there any other useful purpose? I have the plain, flat black surround.

I loaded up as usual the other night only to awaken 2 hours later to the hottest most laziest flame I've ever seen. This little 1101 was way too hot for my liking. Upwards of 725 with the IR gun. Don't know why, don't know how, but it was. I do know I didn't like it.

This led me to let the stove cool down the next morning and pull the surround off to do an inspection. Thinks look all fine. I do not have a block off plate on this stove as I installed it prior to gaining that knowledge. It is sealed tight at the top of the chimney.

So I'm staring at this thing and wondering why to put the surround back on? It's only me in the house and I have no pets. It goes on/off in about 2 minutes including removing the switch from the right panel. Leave the right front panel on and it takes all of 10 seconds to remove. Would a guy get more heat without it? With temps in the 30's I'm able to run without the blower during the day and let the stove heat radiantly. I also have a huge walkaround chimney stack in the house. This thing heats up after a few solid days of running and also helps retain some heat.
 
Stuff the area where your pipe goes up the flue with roxul that will keep heat from going up the flue...
You will notice more heat without the surround...
I insulated all around mine (the outer shell) makes my stove a lot warmer longer
 
I have an old buck stove and leave the sides off with a block off plate. After speaking to the techs at the buck dealer they suggested this set up to keep the fan motor cooler.
 
Hi, there are a few threads here with pics about this. I have never used my panels, only because I don't enjoy the flat black metal look. Rather I paint the firebox brick a little dark behind the stove and seal the chimney off with roxul. No blower at all.

We heated a 1400 sq ft cape and now a 2000sq ft saltbox colonial quite well like this. Also with the help of fans. This winter I put a box fan on one side of our living room which causes the hot air around the stove to dump out into the room. It's pretty
warm!

The new place has a real large fireplace with an arched top I just couldn't hide with panels.
 
I keep the surround on because I (and more importantly my wife) think it looks better. Plus I don't have a block-off plate so it helps seal off the fireplace from the room. If it's only you in the house, leave it off for a while and see if you get more heat.
 
Whenever we loose power the surround comes off. With the fan running the insert is very efficient at moving heat into the room. Once the power is out we get more heat out of it without the surround. If it is going to be an extended outage we remove the bottom grill and fan unit. With those off the heat induced convection has less resistance and is more efficient. On our unit the surround lifts off with out tools. The bottom grill & fan assembly take a couple of screws to remove.

KaptJaq
 
When I put my liner in last month I left the surround off and doubt it will ever go back on. I had just plain black metal with a gold trim that was a pain in the arse to put on and take off. I like the way it looks better and like some I painted the inside of the fireplace black. I did install Roxul and a block off plate and am convinced that I get much more heat with it off ass the whole back 2/3 of the stove is now in the 'living area' of the house as opposed to being close off.

Anyway, I like it better for heat and looks.
 

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Another Buck stove here w/o surround. It likely depends on the stove design as to whether it can be done in an aesthetically pleasing manner (SWMBO actually likes it better w/o). Stoves like the Bucks are designed to be used stand alone or without legs as an insert. Because they don't have the the unfinished look of many inserts (behind the normal shroud area) they just look like a hearth mounted stove...pushed all the way into the fp.

My first choice b4 getting the Buck was the BK Princess. It just wouldn't have looked as good w/o a surround.

Note: Support post has been painted since this picture was taken.
 

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Thats an interesting install. Did you cut out the wall of the fireplace to do that?
 
WoodpileOCD said:
Thats an interesting install. Did you cut out the wall of the fireplace to do that?

Thanks. No, it was constructed as a corner fireplace and was here when we bought the house in '87. Used to have gold doors that wrapped around the corner, hiding the post. It also used to have a 4" thick wooden hearth that wrapped around the fp - complete with several deep burn marks. Not the smartest decision on someone's part. That wood was used to make the mantel above the stove. I added the cantilevered row of bricks and tiles.
 
I do, I prefer the look for some fireplaces like mine that don't have a raised hearth, or that would end up with an odd look with the surround... my fireplace is wide and tall and the surround would have barely reached the top while completely covering the brick on the sides, which might have looked weird. I have a thread here where I add pics of stoves without the surround whenever I run across them.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/50201/P0/

I like how many of them look almost like hearth installed freestanding stoves when done like this. I like this one, but it's not mine:

Answer.jpg
 
I would have it no other way. Esp during a power outage. It was out a few weks ago and we never would have known. We heated dinner and stayed just as warm as ever. Those were my main priorities when I decided on installing one up here in the living area of the house.
 

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See my avatar. Jotul C550 w/out surround.
May not look quite as "neat" as using the surround panels.
Does it project more heat than with the panels ?...I can't be sure, but I do get a ton of heat into the room.
 
Aw heck, might as well post a pic of the new setup.

Thanks to everyone else who has shared!
 

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Good thread and thanks to all for the pictures. Looks like there's nothing sacrosanct about the surround. If you have a block-off plate and aren't hung up on the look, enjoy heating nekked.
 
My summit has a shroud around it wouldn't look as pretty as these stoves without one
 
True, there are also cases where the surround really dresses things up. I don't look so hot in a bathing suit anymore either.
 
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Interesting thread and I would like to throw in my 2 cents.

My blower knob switch went bad a week ago (started a thread about it). So I had to remove the right panel in order to access switch and it's been off waiting for new switch to arrive. I've also thought about leaving panels off and going "naked".

My major question - what do I do with fan control? It mounts onto one of the panels, without panel, no where to mount.
 
I was having my whole fireplaec redone... In short, I have the surround on... BUT it has man-made sone on top of it (and going all the way to the cieling) so its burried and invisible. The installer reccomended the instalation that way. its been a few years now, working great.

Not sure how hard it would be to remove the insert if i had to though, probably pretty miserable.
 
thanks guys. Surround is currently off and I'll leave it that way and see what happens. I went looking for roxul today. I found some 2000F rated insulation at the local Menards. Only problem is that it comes in a big bag. Enough to do a small wall and I only need about 2 sq. ft. It's $40 and I don't have a use for the left overs. I may call around and see if I can track down some scraps or something.

I think it's going to be a bugger to get it installed. The damper is pretty far up. A couple feet, and there's no way to get past the insert to instal. I'm thinking a short broom handle and push it up in there? Shouldn't hurt anything? Looks like winter will finally be here in the midwest starting thursday. And it still won't be that cold.
 
Indiana,
forgot about the question on what to do with the fan control. I left that panel next to the stove with the control still in it but I'm thinking of making something out of sheet metal that would utilize the lower slot that the side panel fits into. It's right above the intake on the right side. I'm thinking just something small to mount the switch to and then mount that to the slot. Spray paint it flat black and be done.

I also pulled the insert out of the firebox as much as I could to maximize the heat gain. For me it's all about function. Might as well try and cram every extra BTU out of the stove if I'm going to run it.
 
I have my surround connected to my stove, but I set the stove forward so there is a 2" gap between the surround and the bricks. Looking at it, you can't tell it's not flush. Sort of the best of both worlds in my opinion.
 
So it's been a few days and I have an observation/update. Temps have been very seasonal here in WI the last week or so but my house has never been this warm this easily. Honestly this is probably the best thing I have done with my insert other than buying it.

Being my second winter as I also feel I have the stove figured out and where it likes to burn. But the difference appears to be quite huge in a very poorly insulated log home. With temps in the teens yesterday I almost couldn't burn it low enough to not heat me right out of this place. This is without the blower fan running. I don't see a need for the fan unless things get really ugly here later this winter and I need more "forced" heat.

If you can live with somewhat of an ugly firebox I highly recommend trying this if you are burning an insert. I still have yet to track down any roxul and it may wait until after the burning season. Heck, it's the middle of January and this feels like the shoulder season now in my home.

Thanks everyone for the tips, tricks and advice.
 
Very slightly OT, but I could use some advice about insulation that was installed behind my surround.

My i1200 (with blower) is in a shallow fireplace and the installers put a block in the flue with a lined pipe and some insulation below the block.

The surround is very thin metal and its side panels have airflow holes running up the height of the tin very close to the stove.

The installers took a U-shaped bat of insulation and somewhat loosely draped it so that the the U is upside down: the two legs face down and are behind the side panels of the surround and it runs across the top of the stove, just behind the top panel of the insert: |_| but inverted.

Question #1: why? #2, should I remove it altogether to get better heat transfer into the room? #3, is there any better placement I should try? Right now I have pulled the two dangling legs up and put the whole thing on top of the stove behind the top trim panel, leaving the airflow holes unobstructed, but I haven't fired the stove since. It will get a good test tonight (low teens forecast), but with all the variables I'm not sure I'll be able to tell if I've helped get more heat in the room or not.

Any suggestions from the experts here gratefully accepted.

-dan
 
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