Inserts without the surrounds? pics or advice?

This is the pic of my insert

Here's a picture of what I've done with the black pipe. It just sits there. Don't even have it snapped together. I just cut it with tin snips (it's just sheet metal) and put it in. It's a perfect fit because it doesn't move or anything once it's in place. I do have a blockoff plate with over 1" of ceramic insulation (like used in kilns) on top of it. I edited this to include: The reason I went with the black pipe is because I tried to spray paint the stainless liner but the silver kept shinning through even after 5 coats.

Heres another pic for you. Firebox painted flat black, as well as the chimney liner.

sorry hit send x 2

Awesome guys, thank you! We should move some of these to the picture thread at some point so ppl can get a good idea by seeing a LOT of them at once. I really like the look of these! That was what I decided to do too. No pics yet, because SOMEONE keeps forgetting to bring the camera home and the cell phone camera won't work in low light.

DrDoct, I did the same thing with the black pipe over the liner to mask it. I think I got the idea from you. I used that insulated liner so it is a thick, 7"plus aluminium on the outside, I did not even attempt to paint it. The local Ace had a 1' tall pc of black pipe with an open edge that fit exactly in the space I had. The back is open but you can't see it - it looks just like yours. Your Gold lopi door sure beats my flat black Republic though - oh well!

And my fireplace setup looks almost identical to yours RIJEEP! Just a different color tile. (and my stove sticks out more)

Bokehman, nice setup especially the wonderful singing cute kids!! What are they singing? (I know besos are kisses!)

Bodrhan, did you have to chop out the top of the fireplace to hook the stove up? Interesting that you are getting more heat now.

That was done when I had to take the damper out about 10 years ago, I made the hole a little too big.I was using a Century piece of junk insert from Sears. As far as the heat difference I can tell you its like being in a different house. With the surround on and burning seasoned birch and fan on high speed I was lucky to get 20c in the house,which would drop to 14c in the mornings when the fire was out. Now I'm burning what they call 'grey timber' wood from where a forest fire went thru. Its all spruce and quite dry. The heat without the fan going is plenty for me, between 22 and 24c with a moderate fire going. The pic will show you where my insert is in relation to my house.Opposite where the pic was taken there are three bedrooms and one bathroom and the kitchen and dining room are to the left of the pic...its a bungalow approx 1100 square feet in total.

It's just some silly rhyme they learnt at school about kissing their mum, dad, granny, etc.

With my setup I did intend to close it in but after I ran the stove a few times I realized how much heat there was to be had. The external sheet metal skin around the insert that channels the air gets to around 400ºF and the liner puts out loads too so I made a vent (6" x 6") in the chimney chase just below ceiling level and now there is a convection current up around the flue pipe and back in the room. Air re-entering the room through the vent is around 200ºF. It's not a fire path either because it is all within the same room.

Someone recently asked for a pic of my stove so I took this very terrible summer pic of new(ish) stove and extremely old dog, to add to the forum here. It's a cell phone pic so it's pretty bad but you get the idea.
Little wood chairs will obviously not be near stove while it's burning. Dog might be. Yes, we left the ash in the stove. It adds ambiance. Ha.

I hid the liner with a little section of stove pipe like drdoct did, above. It hardly shows when you are standing up but I got way down to take this picture on a level with the stove. I am quite pleased with the look of the stove. I'll take more pictures with a better camera "someday." This one had to be overexposed a bit to show the stove in the fireplace so the stove looks dusty, it's not, it's quite spiffy.

If anyone wants the "large" size 12" surround it's still in the box, I'll make you a good deal on it! It would have barely covered the opening on top, but almost completely covered the bricks side to side, so I don't think it would have looked that good. I like this look better.

Here's RIJEEP's setup from a different angle. (just ran across it on a different thread)

Here's our Regency I3100 with and without the surround. I had the same thoughts about leaving it off, but decided eventually to put the surround on. In our case there was very little visible of the opening without the surround. I was also able to re-use the brass trim from the old gas insert which gives it a nice finished look with the gold door. As for heat output - it is immense from the I3100, don't think I'll need to remove the surround to get any more heat :0

I did not like the look of the metal surround with my insert because of hearth and mantle setup my fireplace has. In addition, the Country Flame does a good job of filling up the 40" opening so there was not much room left to cover up.

My solution was to use some scrap marble pieces that I found and cut them to fit. I like the look and better yet my wife was happy with it.

KB007, interesting to see both of your pics. I agree that in your case the surround hilights the stove, kind of like a mat on a picture frame, and goes nicely with your shiny black hearth!

And Chargerman, that marble looks awesome against the brick!

Looks like the "sans surround" thing is often chosen with fireplaces similar to mine, that have a traditional mantel surround.

Thanks - looking at the pics side by side the surround sorta makes the whole insert look wider and not so tall - optical illusion kind of thing. The hearth is a piece of granite counter that I had made, was thinking abou tiles for quite a while then woke up one day with an inspiration (wish I could remember what I was drinking the night before)

Chargerman: that marble does look nice - is it basically 3 pieces the top cut with the notches? How did you attach to the brick?

What I find is the ones where the opening is significantly larger than the stove/insert look great with a very retro 1800s kind of feel. Where the insert mostly fills the opening it looks a little "unfinished" in my mind's eye and I like it with a surround of some sort (def like that marble, I could easily see replacing my metal surround with some nice marble/granite in the future)

I got the marble from a bank that was remodeled. The top piece is 45" across and 2" thick. One side already had the "notch" so I duplicated it on the other side. It is very heavy and simply rests on top of the stove. It does not move at all without serious effort. I originally intended to pin the side 1 1/4" pieces to the top but after cutting small notches in the side pieces to go around the stove top flange and "wedging" them in under the top piece during the test fitting I discovered they will not move unless the top is taken off first. So to answer the question they are not attached to the brick at all. One winter of 24/7 burning and they are still in the same spot they started in.

And they add thermal mass! Oooh, what if they were made of soapstone!

Yet another example I just ran across, and it's another Lopi! This one is from a thread by bimmerFAITH! (I note now, it's not actually hooked up though, just sitting in there)



Just found another one on hearth...


belongs to Stegus, who posted it here: http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/80548/P44/


Belongs to hearth member bokehman http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/30833/


Belongs to pr0vidence who posted it here: http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/30833/

This is my Jotul, being flush, i didnt notice a different in heat with our without the surround. It sure is pretty with it on though.

I ran mine for a while with the surround and then for a week with it off. I noticed a small difference in heat output. However I noticed that the brick/tile above the insert stays a lot cooler without the surround. My wife really wanted the surround back on because we only have about 3" between the stove and the fireplace so it looks funny. I put it back on but moved it forward about 1" so it is not flush with the tile. Now the brick stays cooler which makes me happy since I don't know how the wall is framed behind that brick and I know I am getting more heat.

I don't have a surround, but I don't exactly have an insert either. I also have a large fireplace and I decided to install a freestanding stove in my fireplace as an insert.

got here from another thread on surrounds so I thought I would bump it with a picture of mine sans surround. I like the look much better and I believe I get more heat.

Couple of shots. Overall, I think I like mine much better without a surround.





I didn't like the archway painted black as much as I thought I would - so I painted it in fleckstone to match the rest of the rock...

Hey there, I would put in a block off plate, regardless of having a surround or not. To me, that would be the number one step to prevent heat loss. It amazes me that dealers are willing to install appliances without a block off plate. I guess anything to save a buck. Even if the manual doesn't specifically state the need, heat is still being lost by just being stored in your chimney. As far as the surround, you could buy a piece of sheet metal and paint it with stove black in order to hide the brick and fill in the gap at the top. Although I'm a big fan of freestanding stoves due to their ability to heat during power outages. Sounds like lots of folks here have no need for their surrounds, so if it doesn't look bad maybe go with it!
Take care