Electrical for insert in old Firebox

My installer asked me if I would like to have the power cord hidden by snaking electrical cord through clean out. I said sure. I used a 16/3 outdoor rated cord. Just make sure you snake it away from stove itself.

minnow19 said:

Thanks, but they are not talking about putting the cord through the old ash clean out they are saying that they would bring an electrical box into the old firebox. Just doesn't seem safe

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For what it's worth, the heat near the floor of the firebox is not that hot with an insert. As long as you snake the cord so it doesn't come in contact with the stove, you will be fine. My stove was installed by a licensed sweep and inspected by my towns inspector. Everything passed code. I think installing an electical box inside the firebox is overkill IMO.

minnow19 said:

stejus said:

minnow19 said:

Thanks, but they are not talking about putting the cord through the old ash clean out they are saying that they would bring an electrical box into the old firebox. Just doesn't seem safe

Click to expand...

For what it's worth, the heat near the floor of the firebox is not that hot with an insert. As long as you snake the cord so it doesn't come in contact with the stove, you will be fine. My stove was installed by a licensed sweep and inspected by my towns inspector. Everything passed code. I think installing an electrical box inside the firebox is overkill IMO.

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So you used an extention cord??

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Yes, the orange cord in the picture is a 16/3 gauge outdoor rated extension cord. It is plugged into a GFI circuit in the basement. The electrical draw from the insert blower is not much more than a small fan.

Having an extension cord go permanently between floors like that violates most electrical codes. At least around here, would not doubt if it was national codes. To be done right you should have an electrician install a proper box in there. We don't even do this for wood inserts. First of all, most of ours have rheostats built into the cord so it has to be exposed. Secondly we are afraid of things melting. We get boxes installed for a lot of the gas inserts because people don't want to see the cord exposed. One job got done last year by snaking the cord into the basement through the ash door and plugging it in. An inspector found that and didn't like it. We usually leave it to the pros. We install fireplaces, we let the electricians worry about the electrical.