Hey everyone I have a question for the experts on here. My wife and I recently bought a 1900's single level farm house that had been added onto in the early 80's. When the previous owners added on they installed a wood burning zero clearance fireplace upstairs and a large earth stove downstairs. These sit practically on top of each other but have separate chimneys. The zero clearance burner is absolutely worthless. It is supposed to burn with the glass doors shut by pulling outside air through a pair of vents and then just cycle the inside air around the fire box. The p/o did not opt to install the blower in the fireplace to really circulate the air and I cannot find anybody that still carries them. Not to mention the burn time is very poor. So my options at this point is to continue to use the downstairs earth stove, which is very inefficient and a pain to haul wood to or maybe replace the zero clearance. The current zero clearance is "stoned in place". So cannot be removed completely. I can however disassemble it leaving a rough opening around 28" wide and 30" tall. The current stove pipe is 8". My main question is can I dissassemble the current zero clearance, and replace with a wood burning insert with a 6" stainless liner run up through my old 8" pipe?
Hello everyone newbie with a question here.
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No one answered yet, so I will try.
I'm no expert but you should be able to disassemble the existing insert and find a ZC that will fit. If you have room in front of it, you are better off by putting a free standing stove partially in the opening. You'll get some varied opinions on that but IMHO, free standing kicks out more usable heat. If the 8" pipe is in good condition, you could try that with an adapter. The 6" will probably not fit inside.
It would be useful to see photos of the ZC. You may find that once you start removing it, you'll have more room.
I'm no expert but you should be able to disassemble the existing insert and find a ZC that will fit. If you have room in front of it, you are better off by putting a free standing stove partially in the opening. You'll get some varied opinions on that but IMHO, free standing kicks out more usable heat. If the 8" pipe is in good condition, you could try that with an adapter. The 6" will probably not fit inside.
It would be useful to see photos of the ZC. You may find that once you start removing it, you'll have more room.
Thanks Doug. I'm not sure a free standing will work. I have a "seating area" in front of the fireplace. It's raised approximately 18" and is only about 18" deep. So my thoughts were if a regular fireplace insert (one made for a masonry fireplace) will work inside the steel surround that makes up the exterior of the current zc fireplace that may be my best bet. I don't care if it sticks out a ways I personally think they look nice. You don't think a 6" flexible stainless steel liner would fit inside an 8" rigid chimney? Also when using a flexible single wall liner like that will it need to be wrapped with that insulation to help it draft or will it be warm enough being inside the 8"?
Welcome. We've seen a lot of ZC replacements this year, including those with a stone veneer. If the ZC is standard sized it may be removed from the rear if there is a chased bumpout on the house. Another option is as DougA mentioned, extend the hearth and put a rear-vented freestanding stove in front.
Do you know the make and model of the ZC? There's usually a tag on the inside door frame that has this info. Can you post a picture of the current ZC?
Also, is the Earth Stove capable of heating the house effectively? If yes that means there is good heat convection to upstairs. It could be replace with a more efficient and modern unit. The wood transport issue would still need to be solved.
Do you know the make and model of the ZC? There's usually a tag on the inside door frame that has this info. Can you post a picture of the current ZC?
Also, is the Earth Stove capable of heating the house effectively? If yes that means there is good heat convection to upstairs. It could be replace with a more efficient and modern unit. The wood transport issue would still need to be solved.
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