Howdy, bought a fixer cabin in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Elevation is about 7300'. House is a 1 1/2 story about 1400 sq. ft. About 800 sq. ft downstairs where the insert will be installed in the living room. The house has r19 insulation in the walls and roof (yeah I know it's not much given the climate) and r24 in the floor (I didn't build it!) Average amount of dual glazed windows, two 8 foot sliding glass doors. The living room, dining area/kitchen is an L shape of about 350-400 sq. ft. The current stove is an old Sierra hearth heater which was vented into a prefab fireplace chimney. The stove is the primary heat source for the above areas.
While we were working on the place this fall, we burned about 1/4 cord of old pine the previous owner had left. Well the screen plugged up pretty quickly at the top of the stack (the flue was cleaned in August) then the wind began to blow and we got smoked pretty good.
The obvious problem (majority anyhow) was the large (8-9") flue they installed the stove into. So I had a fireplace company reline the pipe to 6" and install a Vacu stack. I had the company measure the existing prefab fireplace to see what other insert might fit. The company is recommending a Jotul C450. I was considering a Hearthstone Clydesdale but it won't go. I've read great things about the Jotul c450 on this site, so as much as I want to buy American, in this case I'm willing to buy "part American". We built our last two houses ourselves, our last two stoves were a Vermont castings Encore and currently we have a Hearthstone Phoenix. Being "stoves" installation was pretty straightforward. I've never installed an insert.
I'm debating about installing the C450 myself. So here is my list of dumb questions.
What do you think of this insert mounted in this house, do you think it will do the job for most of the year? Won't be there in the dead of winter, current highs, low 40's ....lows in the teens. I'll be burning well seasoned oak and hoping the fire carries overnight.
The height of the space is 22 1/4" the brochure calls for 22", the depth of the space is 17" the brochure calls for up to 16 3/4" but appears to be adjustable downward.
Any problems with these close tolerances?
I would think a blocking plate would not be necessary since the new 6" liner was installed into and existing pipe not a masonry fireplace, is that correct?
I plan to reside the flue chase this spring, does it make sense to insulate the pipe in the chase as I'm doing it?
Is there an insulation that would be safe to use in contact with the old pipe the liner was installed into as there (in theory) would be an air gap between the liner and the old pipe to prevent liner contact to insulation.
Where would combustion air come from? Is the source selectable?
Also I see a screen is available for this insert to allow open burning which is a nice option....if you've used it, how well did it work.
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions, I REALLY appreciate it.
While we were working on the place this fall, we burned about 1/4 cord of old pine the previous owner had left. Well the screen plugged up pretty quickly at the top of the stack (the flue was cleaned in August) then the wind began to blow and we got smoked pretty good.
The obvious problem (majority anyhow) was the large (8-9") flue they installed the stove into. So I had a fireplace company reline the pipe to 6" and install a Vacu stack. I had the company measure the existing prefab fireplace to see what other insert might fit. The company is recommending a Jotul C450. I was considering a Hearthstone Clydesdale but it won't go. I've read great things about the Jotul c450 on this site, so as much as I want to buy American, in this case I'm willing to buy "part American". We built our last two houses ourselves, our last two stoves were a Vermont castings Encore and currently we have a Hearthstone Phoenix. Being "stoves" installation was pretty straightforward. I've never installed an insert.
I'm debating about installing the C450 myself. So here is my list of dumb questions.
What do you think of this insert mounted in this house, do you think it will do the job for most of the year? Won't be there in the dead of winter, current highs, low 40's ....lows in the teens. I'll be burning well seasoned oak and hoping the fire carries overnight.
The height of the space is 22 1/4" the brochure calls for 22", the depth of the space is 17" the brochure calls for up to 16 3/4" but appears to be adjustable downward.
Any problems with these close tolerances?
I would think a blocking plate would not be necessary since the new 6" liner was installed into and existing pipe not a masonry fireplace, is that correct?
I plan to reside the flue chase this spring, does it make sense to insulate the pipe in the chase as I'm doing it?
Is there an insulation that would be safe to use in contact with the old pipe the liner was installed into as there (in theory) would be an air gap between the liner and the old pipe to prevent liner contact to insulation.
Where would combustion air come from? Is the source selectable?
Also I see a screen is available for this insert to allow open burning which is a nice option....if you've used it, how well did it work.
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions, I REALLY appreciate it.
