Hello Everyone

Hello Everybody,

My names David, I live in Georgia a good bit southwest of Atlanta. My wife and I moved here a couple of years ago from Ohio. We burned wood up there in our the first place we lived together after we got married and really enjoyed doing so.

After moving south we thought we were done with the cool weather, but it still gets a little chilly for three months or so down here during the standard winter (not this past one). Anyway, I hate paying for the terrible heat pump we have and I still love to cut wood and store it like I'm actually going to use it. The wife and I are looking to transform our awful prefab fireplace with an insert (I'd love freestaning but with two little ones the wife wants it tucked away).

Anyway, just wanted to say hello and hope you all can enjoy my transformation over the next few months to a year with me and help me out with any quesitons along the way.

David

Welcome aboard! Looking forward to the transformation!

The house we moved into last year had a freestanding unit placed in a large fireplace, and my wife was also very concerned about it the first few weeks we used it, because we had a 24 month old kid wobbling around the place. I grew up surrounded by working fireplaces, so I was a little less concerned, but still cautious. However, it amazed us both, how quickly the boy recognized the danger of getting too close to the stove, even at that young age. He knows he's to stay away from it at all times, and does just that.

Not saying your concern isn't valid, or that you should repeat what I did. No one wants to see a child put in harms way. This is just our experience with one stove and one kid for one year.

In any case, welcome to the forum!

Welcome aboard burnagain. You have come to the right place for help when it comes to wood burning. Lot of great guys and gals more than willing to share there experience and thoughts. We love to see pics of hearth projects. FYI sometimes a little slower in the summer months around here more guys hanging around in the cooler months. (but I'm sure there's always enough to answer most any question you may have.)

Welcome burnagain you came to the right place. We put an insert in our fireplace for the same reasons. It has really worked out great. We also installed a hearthgate around the unit to prevent any accidents. Our fireplace is in the room we spend the most time in so the risk of falling or tripping is pretty high. We heat 24/7 with wood in the winter and it has worked out awesome. Anyway welcome to the forum. We look forward to your transformation.

Thanks for all the warm guys. I have beena littler busy lately but will try my best to snap some pictures and get model and chimney info up. Look for it sometime tomorrow. Working on gathering pallets for a low cost woodshed currently, more info on that to come as well. Have a good evenong y'all.

David

Did anyone say pics? Oh yeah, Jags did. As all have said the more info the better. Some prefabs and some wood stoves go together. Some don't.

Hey Guys,

Attached are a couple of pictures. Some more info; the flue is currently 8" so I'm hoping it can be lined with an insulated 6". The model number of my fireplace is a DESA B36. I will have to find a manual online for it as I'm not the original owner of the house.

Sorry about some of the words left out of my last reply, trying to use my phone for internet never works the first time.

Looking forward to any feedback.

David

Welcome, Burnagain, the oldsters will correct me if I am wrong, but I am sure a new stainless liner would be best; I also doubt you will need much insulation, just some around the top of the chimney. You are in a perfect geographical area for an insert, properly installed you should get the maximum BTU's for the buck.

welcome david....new guy buys lunch right? no? but when I was new you guys said.....

That would be awesome. I will climb up top and check it out soon to see what I have. I'd still have to put six inside for most stoves though right?

David

Drive on down and I'll happily buy

David

Welcome to the forum.

If that ZC fireplace uses class A chimney pipe, then why not consider a ZC EPA fireplace. It's a more complicated install, but it will look great and still not take up any floor space. Many can be plumbed into your home hvac system as well. Lots of good brands out there. Typically a little more expensive than an insert too. Some brands to consider.

Heat n Glo
Fireplace Xtraordinair
Kozy Heat
Valcourt or Enerzone (supposed to be pretty reasonably priced)

Welcome to the forum David. I guess this thread was started while I was still on the trip so I missed it.

In Georgia you will still need some heat, just not as much as in Ohio. That means you can still enjoy the wood heat but not have to cut as much. I would not worry about the little ones. Shoot, I grew up with 2 brothers and a sister. All we had was wood heat and I don't ever recall anyone getting burned on the stove. My mother also used a wood cook stove. That was always a favorite when we came in from the cold and had wet gloves and socks and whatever. Put them in the oven and even the warming oven and things dried nicely.

Welcome Dave, pics and lunch already mentioned, how about beer?

Since you pointed this out I've been doing some reseach and really like a couple of the units, the wife has found some that even match what kind of looks she wants for the house. Do you know anyone that has used this setup, especially one that runs to the furnace ducts?

I personally don't know anybody that has one of these set ups, but if you do some searching here you'll find plenty of reviews here. The Fireplace Xtraordinair(FPX) and Quadrafire 7100/Heat N Glo Northstar are pretty popular units. These don't have the ability to duct into your hvac, but can be set up to duct hot air to remote parts of your house. The Enerzone/Osburn/Valcourt and BIS stoves can be plumbed into your hvac.. To use 8in chimney, you're gonna be looking at a bigger stove like the Quad 7100, Heat N Glo Northstar, or FPX or BIS Tradition. The Osburn takes 6in chimney. How much space are you trying to heat?

Well my house is 1900 sqft, but the downstairs is very open except for the master bedroom. The upstairs (2 bedrooms and a bathroom) has it's own heat pump and air handler (seperate from main floor) so I'm not going to worry about routing up to there since the unit will only be turned on when the kids go to bed.

My thinking is that if I heat the downstairs (probably about 1000sqft) with the ZC fireplace or insert during the day and load it at night so I have coals in the morning, the unit upstairs won't have to run too hard since heat will travel upwards through the stairwell.

I have the same fireplace that you have (B36) and was wandering what you wound up going with? I've been trying to do some research and I was told that the Regency i1200 was the only size that would fit in the fireplace.