I picked up an old rusty Whitfield Advantage WP2 pellet stove insert for $150 with the intent of restoring it and then replacing our inefficient carbon spewing gas fireplace insert. A month of evenings spent wire brushing, sand blasting, painting and gasket replacing later and I'm ready to install it.
I made the mistake of assuming that I'd have no trouble swapping one insert for the other. Unfortunately, the pellet stove insert has additional clearance requirements for the mantle. Basically I need a mantle that is about 4-5" higher than the one I have now and I need additional brick showing. The mantel and brick surrounding the gas fireplace appears to have been installed at the same time as the gas fireplace by the previous owners. We don't have the money to drop into a bunch of custom carpentry, but we also don't want to devalue the home by hacking up the mantle. My question is, how do I proceed?
Fireplace as it is now Roughly what it would need to be like for the pellet stove.
I made the mistake of assuming that I'd have no trouble swapping one insert for the other. Unfortunately, the pellet stove insert has additional clearance requirements for the mantle. Basically I need a mantle that is about 4-5" higher than the one I have now and I need additional brick showing. The mantel and brick surrounding the gas fireplace appears to have been installed at the same time as the gas fireplace by the previous owners. We don't have the money to drop into a bunch of custom carpentry, but we also don't want to devalue the home by hacking up the mantle. My question is, how do I proceed?
Fireplace as it is now Roughly what it would need to be like for the pellet stove.
