Anyone know of a maker of small pellet stove inserts.....

Hi Hearth.com folks --

Newb Western Mass poster here.

Im looking to see if anyone knows of a pellet stove manufacturer who makes a insert to fit into a 27" high x 23" wide x 14" deep fireplace opening? To make matters worse, the 23" width opening narrows down to 19" wide in the back.

I know, I know. It's a *tiny* fireplace opening and Im having a heck of a time finding a pellet insert to fit it, but it's the only fireplace I've got inside a 1860 built home.

Would anyone know of any manufacturers that might make something to fit in there? I have called every stove store within 100 miles and have had no luck at all so far. I am trying to include a pict of the fireplace with dimensions. ( hopefully it will upload ok, as I don't see it in the post preview)

Thanks for any pointers, leads, suggestions, etc.


Jill

BTW, great forum! I spent the whole weekend reading through many of the threads, and have learned a ton in the last few days. Thanks to all the great contributors in here for sharing your knowledge. I wish my local dealers had 1/4 of the knowledge that many of the contributors in here have!

Thanks for the reply Elk.....

.....Hmmm, though. The specs on that Newport Bay model from Avalon are:
Min. Fireplace Size --30" Wide X 19 5/8" High X 16 5/8" Deep
(www.avalonstoves.com/specPages/5.html)

My opening is only 23" wide x 27" high x 14 deep. So it looks liks a 'negatory' on that model.

Anything else you can think of that might squeeze in there?

Thanks,
Jill

Am I reading the Avalon specs wrong? Is Avalon stating that the fireplace opening size of 30" Wide X 19 5/8" High X 16 5/8" Deep, is what's needed? Im pouring through the owners manual as I type this.

If this newport bay model does actually fit in there, my only beef with it would be it looks a bit too modern for my 1890 fireplace and room. Kinda like high tech smooth stove meets ornate Victorian interior. If it's possible, I would actually prefer something that looked a bit more 'old timey' and from around the turn of the century, but I suppose I can't be too picky if it fits, huh? ;o)~


thanks again for the suggestion.
Jill

Thanks Shane for the pointer to look at the enviro empress.

Quick question for ya: Am I just reading the specs wrong on this unit too? But the Empress Insert Specs say

Unit behind surround- 28”W x 19 1/2”H (at lower setting)
Unit at back of hopper- 23”W x 19 1/2” H (at lower setting)
Unit depth into firebox - 15”

Again, from my totally 'untrained stove & fireplace terms reading' of the specs, it looks like that FP unit will also not fit properly into my fireplace opening either. My actual opening size is ---> 23” wide x 27” high x 14 deep. Narrowing to only 19" wide at the back.

I can now totally understand why the sales people at 4 different area stove stores have said they don't have a pellet insert that will fit my fireplace. As I'm reading over the specs on the two models both you and Elk mentioned in this thread, it certainly looks like neither will fit.

Any idea what am I missing here when reading the website provided specs and dimensions on these inserts?

Thanks for your time and knowledge. Very, very much appreciated (and needed as you can tell)!
Jill

@ Elk (or anyone else with Avalon stove insert knowledge)


What exactly do the Avalon Newport Bay insert specs mean when they say

Min. Fireplace Size: 30" Wide X 19 5/8" High X 16 5/8" Deep

Click to expand...

?????

That's from the Avalon page --> http://www.avalonstoves.com/specPages/5.html

Im taking that measurement to mean it's the size of the opening needed to handle this insert. What does that spec dimension represent, exactly, if it's not the fireplace opening? Im totally confused by it.

Thanks again, and mucho, for your experience and helpfulness.
Jill

Thanks Elk.

Yeppers. You are correct. The fireplace is a pretty shallow Rumford design, probably built around 1855-1860. It angles in pretty sharply on the sides. It also has a somewhat thin, ornate metal covering over the bricks inside the opening that I could probably remove to squeeze and extra 1/2 inch of I.D. space if I needed to.

Seems to be quite the biaotch to find an insert for, as Im learning rather quickly.

Thanks for the clarification on the Avalon specs. Im sure Ill end up having to calling them if I go for that 'new fangled' style of stove insert.

Jill



Off the cuff rhetorical questions: Should an end consumer ever have to call up and babysit a manufacturer to find out if the current specs on their products, posted on their own website are correct? Wouldn't having the correct specs posted there ultimately make it *much* easier on the manufacturer's dealers/sales people to make sales? Isn't having the correct dimensions on an 'insert' totally critical to the sales process, as opposed to a free standing unit? {shoulder shrug}

moralleper said:

If you are going for the older "authentic" look and are not set on using the old fireplace. You could look at Thelin Pellet stoves, http://www.thelinco.com/ , they look like the old parlor stoves.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion Moral. I had looked at the Thelins before, and I like the look, but I think I would much prefer an insert as it will take up much less room. My house has a bit of a strange old floorplan and the fireplace is right in the center of it.

You can't tell very well from the pict in my OP, but the fireplace there is built at a 45 degree angle in the corner of a smallish room with 2 double width doorways immediately on both sides of the hearth. The fireplace is also located right dead center of the house where 3 other rooms come together. Any stove/heat source that's not an insert and uses the existing chimney, will then be sitting way out into the room and directly into the most frequently traveled paths through the house. So I would much, much prefer an insert over a freestanding stove like the Thelins....

...that said, and given the small size of my fireplace opening, and trouble finding an insert to fit, it's looking more and more like I may have to go with an freestanding unit if I want to use pellet or biomass heat.


Jill

Tossed in a better pict of the fireplace showing doorways on both sides.

After reading through b-mac's thread today about installing his hampton stove insert into a non-UL 1940's fireplace ( https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/3466/ ), I have a few more questions about installing a pellet stove into my 1860's fireplace.

When I add up b-mac's problem that a certified dealer would recommend/preform an illegal install, along with the fact that there are literally 100's of negative feedback reviews for many different stove dealers in the customer survey section, it's beginning to look like Im going to have to babysit and research quite a bit more before I can feel safe hiring anyone to install a pellet stove into a house chock full of 125+ year old lath.

I suppose this question is more for Elk than anyone else, if he'll indulge me a little more %-P . And it's in regards to Mass code issues with a 132 year old house. (Im sure he sees plenty of them in his town.) But anyone who's a dealer/installer with decent knowledge of safety and a bit of good insight is certainly welcome to hop in too.


1. What are some of the general code issues you have seen that I need to be particularly aware of with such an old house?

2. I seem to have a particularly shallow hearth and shallow depth firebox, it only extends 19 inches out from the fire box and is level with the floor. It is brick all the way down to the rafters underneath the hearth. Is that short distance going to be a potential problem area code-wise? ( assuming I *can* eventually find an insert to fit into my opening)

3. If I were to cut into the firebox opening itself somehow, and try to make it bigger to accept a better variety of pellet inserts, do I then have to comply with a whole new slew of current, more strict code issues by slightly altering the original fireplace design?

Any thoughts or insight much appreciated. Im starting to think of all the code issues that will arise in a 125+ year old house so I can ask the dealer/installer plenty of good questions.

Thanks again to all the helpful posters, this forum is an incredible resource for us knuckle-headed fire newbies. :roll:

Jill