Insert being installed today- panic thought

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kellyrie

New Member
Jan 23, 2008
8
Maine
I am having a Quadrafire insert installed today into my existing masonry fireplace. How to they plug it in? Will the cord come out the front?
I know I should've asked prior to this, but I just thought of it!
 
kellyrie said:
I am having a Quadrafire insert installed today into my existing masonry fireplace. How to they plug it in? Will the cord come out the front?
I know I should've asked prior to this, but I just thought of it!

Do you have a plug near the insert? They will need to have one near it.
 
Yeah it is on the wall next to th fire place but it is about 4 or 5 feet a way when you take into consideration the depth of the masonry. But is it going to come out the front? Guess I don't see any other way for it to go - but that must look dumb...
 
kellyrie said:
Yeah it is on the wall next to th fire place but it is about 4 or 5 feet a way when you take into consideration the depth of the masonry. But is it going to come out the front? Guess I don't see any other way for it to go - but that must look dumb...

For now....thats the way they will come with it I am guessing without seeing the set up. The wire usually is quite long too. But...in the future you can always have it wired so its hidden and on its own breaker. You can always have decorative props etc...to somewhat hide the wire.
 
Yes, the cord will have to come out the front. Unless you have an outlet very near the fireplace you'll likely have to use and extension cord to plug it in. You'll want a heavy duty cord not one of those wimpy house types.
 
After this heating season is over I'm definetly putting my quad insert on its on breaker. It doesn't need it, but I would feel better if I did it. I also may attempt hiding the wire by drilling through the concrete base of my fireplace for the purpose of running an outlet up to the stove. That would require a hammer drill at the very least which I would have to borrow. That is probably more trouble then it is worth.

Jim
 
I think this discussion came up before, and it's going to be up to your individual inspector, but our inspector used to let us sub an electrician to put an outlet on the back wall of the fireplace with pellet stoves and gas inserts. In the previous discussion the mere idea was run out of town on a rail, but in ten years I've yet to see a problem.
 
I saw a setup once where the power was run through the ash dump, not sure how they got it there or if it met codes, but another option if you have an ash dump.
 
Shane said:
I think this discussion came up before, and it's going to be up to your individual inspector, but our inspector used to let us sub an electrician to put an outlet on the back wall of the fireplace with pellet stoves and gas inserts. In the previous discussion the mere idea was run out of town on a rail, but in ten years I've yet to see a problem.

We do that also, inspectors never have a problem with it The outlet is still accessible if you take the panel off the insert.
 
Well, What'd they do? Any pictures?
 
Well once they finally arrived around 5pm - for a 1:30 appt- they got it installed with cord going around the masonry to the outlet. They ordered the wrong surround though so it was too small, and the grill did not arrive. So I don't have any pictures yet. They did say when they come back to finish it they can feed the cord down the back of it because there was some sort of trap down the chimney in the basement (sorry I don't remember what they called it.) and then I can plug it in in the basement.

Good news though is it puts off some nice heat! Heats the main floor and the even all of the upstairs! I love it so far!
 
kellyrie said:
They did say when they come back to finish it they can feed the cord down the back of it because there was some sort of trap down the chimney in the basement (sorry I don't remember what they called it.) and then I can plug it in in the basement.

That violates electrical code, FYI.
 
May want to consider a surge protector for your control panel. Cheap and a good peace of mind
 
jtp10181 said:
kellyrie said:
They did say when they come back to finish it they can feed the cord down the back of it because there was some sort of trap down the chimney in the basement (sorry I don't remember what they called it.) and then I can plug it in in the basement.

That violates electrical code, FYI.


That's interesting to know, as the one I seen setup was wired from the ash pit hole, but from what I remembered there was an outlet, just didn't kow how they got the wire there. But is it because of the extension cord, "feed the cord down the back" or the fact that there is now a way for fire to travel?
 
Well as for an extension cord, you cannot use one for permanent use for an appliance. Extension cords are supposed to be used for temporary use. The code violation is that you cannot pass an appliance cord from one floor to another, I imagine it does have something to do with fire passage.
 
The easiest way to get around that is to just call mr. Sparky if you have those in your area. Have them run romex to a new breaker and then cut a piece of sheet metal that covers the ash dump hole (mine is about 8X5 or so) and then cut the outlet rectangle out of it and mount the outlet with a metal cover. Then 2 or 4 concrete screws to hold the plate so it doesnt go shorting out and is secure. It shouldnt cost much to have someone run out and do it for you. I'd do it myself if it was my house, but I'm a do it yourself kinda guy. I'm not sure if that would pass code or not but It passes my common sense test which sometimes code doesnt pass. It sounds like your stove company leaves a lot to be desired. I'm thinking on putting in a pellet stove myself to replace an old wood burner, but dont know now after reading about how a lot of people have problems with the boards.
 
photo


So they came with the rest of the stove parts and finished installing it. It looks pretty good- still gotta solve the cord problem but that will come with time.
Thanks everyone for their thoughts!
 
Looks good Kel.....hope you all like it :)
 
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