Hello evrybody! New guy here from TN. I have a pre-fab fireplace, Heatilator Model HD36B, & I am wanting to replace it with a wood burning insert or a wood stove. I am thinking it is too small to use an insert & I will probably have to use a wood burning free-standing stove. I don't have much room for the stove to sit out into the room so I am thinking of doing an alcove. The chimney is a wood framed chimney with double-wall pipe running up through the center. My house is 1500 sq. ft rancher (1 level), & I want to be able to heat with the wood stove. I am enclosing some pics & hopefully I can get some advice on ways that I should try to use the stove. The hearth is about an inch or so thick of artificial stone & it extends from the front of the fireplace out 20". From the hearth to the bottom of wood mantle is 59". Can I use my existing double-wall pipe with a wood stove? After removing my pre-fab, what are some ways to make wood framed chimney non-combustible? I am wanting to retain my wood mantle & I realize I may have to raise it to acquire adequate clearnces for stove. Any help is appreciated. Pics below. Thanks, Kevin Randolph
New guy here with ?????"s
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bluedogz
Minister of Fire
Someone's gonna ask...
Is this intended to be a primary heat source? If not, how much?
Do you have access to fuel?
What fuel sources are you considering? Pellets/cordwood/gas?
How efficient do you want it to be?
Have you considered a budget?
The crowd will be here shortly with more...
Is this intended to be a primary heat source? If not, how much?
Do you have access to fuel?
What fuel sources are you considering? Pellets/cordwood/gas?
How efficient do you want it to be?
Have you considered a budget?
The crowd will be here shortly with more...
bluedogz said:
I have an electric heat pump to fall back on but I would prefer to mainly heat with the wood stove.
I have lots of hardwoods that I have access to.
Fuel sources are hardwood logs.
Not sure about efficiency, but I know I don't like hearing my electric heat pump kick on.
Have not considered a budget, am still exploring costs.
Thanks & hopefully my answers can help me figure out the best plan of action for installing a wood stove.
If you're not too set on keeping that cultured stonework, you might think about the Heat n Glo Northstar.
It might use the same venting as your Heatilator box, & that could save you a grand just in material costs.
You may hafta widen the chase to accept the Northstar, but that bad boy just might keep your heat pump
from EVER coming on...
It might use the same venting as your Heatilator box, & that could save you a grand just in material costs.
You may hafta widen the chase to accept the Northstar, but that bad boy just might keep your heat pump
from EVER coming on...
jimbom
Combustion Analyzer
We did what you are proposing. We took out the interior smoke pipe and left the 15" diameter metal chimney pipe in place. Into that void we installed a stainless steel prefab UL 103HT chimney.
We completely removed the zero clearance insert.
We bought a rear vent wood stove that only requires a spark/ember protection hearth. The avatar picture is our installation. If your mantel is too close for the stove you purchase, consider a simple mantel heat shield.
We completely removed the zero clearance insert.
We bought a rear vent wood stove that only requires a spark/ember protection hearth. The avatar picture is our installation. If your mantel is too close for the stove you purchase, consider a simple mantel heat shield.
An insert with a liner would be the least expensive change. Check on the Century 2500 and Enviro inserts for starters.
corey21
Minister of Fire
This may be a bit early to mention but i strongly recommend that you start on your wood supply. Start cutting splitting stacking when ever you get time. It will pay in the long run if your going to heat with wood.
bogydave
Minister of Fire
corey21 said:
+1
If you are going to burn wood, get it Cut/Split/Stacked (CSS) ASAP (Now).
It will need at least a year to season (Oak 2 yrs).
Dry wood is key to successful wood burning.
Welcome to the forum
Thats identical to what I have and we beat this one down a couple of months ago. That heatilator has what they call an S300 8" air insulated chimney rated at 1700 degrees. In my book plenty adequate for a change especially if lined. Buuuut absolutely no one will buy off on lining that pipe and calling it good to go for an insert or stove appilcation. I called liner people, chimney sweeps, and the Heatilator. Everyone is just covering their ars because there has been no testing of that chimney lined. Personally I can't see why an insulated liner wouldn't give that chimney more protection than a class A. Armed with this info you can proceed as you want. I know what I'm going to do. Use that darn chimney as is.
Thanks for the replies so far. We had quite a few tornados here in SE TN in April 2011. I have a big homemade hydraulic splitter. We cut & split wood til I was sick of doin it. We helped a lot of people out & removed wood from their houses & driveways & everytime we did, folks would tell us to take anything we wanted. If they had fireplaces or stoves, we'd cut, split & stack a good portion for em. I'm a believer that doin good stuff for folks will come back to ya. Been burning wood since I was a kid & I'm 44 now. We have always made it a practice to stay at least a year ahead on our wood supply.
Ok, question, if I take the pre-fab out, can I just put backer board on the inside over the wood studs in the very back wall of the chimney, put stone over backer board & it be non-combustible. I have been told I can do this but I am skeptical. I have been told to use 1/4" steel plate as well. What do you guys think, very ignorant when it comes to makin it non-combustible to a safety standard. Thanks again, Kevin
Ok, question, if I take the pre-fab out, can I just put backer board on the inside over the wood studs in the very back wall of the chimney, put stone over backer board & it be non-combustible. I have been told I can do this but I am skeptical. I have been told to use 1/4" steel plate as well. What do you guys think, very ignorant when it comes to makin it non-combustible to a safety standard. Thanks again, Kevin
I am in no way an authority on this but I'm replying because I'm in exactly the same situation with the same fireplace. What you do next depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you intend to line or use the existing chimney then I would leave the fireplace in or at least the back half of it. What better protection could you possibly have than that fireplace. Assuming it was installed correctly you should have lots of airspace on the sides and back, at least mine does, then there is the ceramic walls over top of the metal inclosure. If you are going to tear it all out then you will go with the chimney mfgs recommendations to install their product.
We pulled out an old prefab fireplace and replaced it with a zero clearance fire place, Quadra-Fire 7100. Quite happy with it. The demo wasn't much fun, but we did it ourselves to save $. The old chimney was damaged, so we pulled it down and replaced it with a new SL300 air cooled chimney, which was recommended for the 7100.
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