Hello,
This is my first time to post here and brand new to burning wood for heat. After reading through many posts, I'm very excited to get started.
Here's a bit of context:
We have a chimney that has--as far as I can tell--never been used to burn wood. It's an unlined masonry chimney that extends 21 feet up the side of our house. It's quite spacious with dimensions of (very roughly) 18" x 30". The previous owner had installed a propane fireplace insert that vented up through the chimney. I've since removed this insert. The inside of the firebox is sheet metal on three side with what I take to be a steel smoke shelf (not sure if this is the correct term!) which slopes upward and provides a gap of roughly 7". Much of this steel, however, has suffered from water damage with sections that are rusty and cracked. The culprit, as far as I can tell, is the chimney cap. Otherwise, the masonry itself seems to be in very good condition.
Our house is moderately sized (2800 Sq ft.) and has a rather rambling floor plan (it's 100 years old and has been added on to twice). Our goal is to heat as much of the house as possible.
So here's our situation:
We were recently given an early model Blaze King KFF-403 (King Model). The date of manufacture is 1983. After muscling this monstrosity onto our front porch it quickly became apparent that it would require modification to safely be installed. In the first place, it has a very non-standard exhaust vent with dimensions of 20" x 3 1/2." I've scoured the internet for an adapter boot that would fit this opening but to no avail. I called Blaze King to inquire if they made an adapter for unit. No dice. I then spoke with a very nice gentleman at Rockford Chimney Supply who did a bit of research for me and determined that I'd likely have to have a boot fabricated. He also suggested that I'd have to go with 8" liner given the area (70") of the existing vent.
My questions:
(1) First and foremost: Would it be safe to have a boot fabricated and welded to the top of the insert, with a chimney liner running from insert to the very top of chimney?
(2) If yes, would a 6" chimney liner provide sufficient draft given the how tall the chimney is or would I need to go with a larger liner?
(3) If no, we'll likely sell it. What's a good asking price for an insert like this?
(4) A somewhat unrelated novice question: Is it okay if the flexible chimney liner touches the existing smoke shelf. I don't believe any combustible materials are present (rusty metal only). This space is a little tight.
Thanks in advance!
Mark Ortwein
This is my first time to post here and brand new to burning wood for heat. After reading through many posts, I'm very excited to get started.
Here's a bit of context:
We have a chimney that has--as far as I can tell--never been used to burn wood. It's an unlined masonry chimney that extends 21 feet up the side of our house. It's quite spacious with dimensions of (very roughly) 18" x 30". The previous owner had installed a propane fireplace insert that vented up through the chimney. I've since removed this insert. The inside of the firebox is sheet metal on three side with what I take to be a steel smoke shelf (not sure if this is the correct term!) which slopes upward and provides a gap of roughly 7". Much of this steel, however, has suffered from water damage with sections that are rusty and cracked. The culprit, as far as I can tell, is the chimney cap. Otherwise, the masonry itself seems to be in very good condition.
Our house is moderately sized (2800 Sq ft.) and has a rather rambling floor plan (it's 100 years old and has been added on to twice). Our goal is to heat as much of the house as possible.
So here's our situation:
We were recently given an early model Blaze King KFF-403 (King Model). The date of manufacture is 1983. After muscling this monstrosity onto our front porch it quickly became apparent that it would require modification to safely be installed. In the first place, it has a very non-standard exhaust vent with dimensions of 20" x 3 1/2." I've scoured the internet for an adapter boot that would fit this opening but to no avail. I called Blaze King to inquire if they made an adapter for unit. No dice. I then spoke with a very nice gentleman at Rockford Chimney Supply who did a bit of research for me and determined that I'd likely have to have a boot fabricated. He also suggested that I'd have to go with 8" liner given the area (70") of the existing vent.
My questions:
(1) First and foremost: Would it be safe to have a boot fabricated and welded to the top of the insert, with a chimney liner running from insert to the very top of chimney?
(2) If yes, would a 6" chimney liner provide sufficient draft given the how tall the chimney is or would I need to go with a larger liner?
(3) If no, we'll likely sell it. What's a good asking price for an insert like this?
(4) A somewhat unrelated novice question: Is it okay if the flexible chimney liner touches the existing smoke shelf. I don't believe any combustible materials are present (rusty metal only). This space is a little tight.
Thanks in advance!
Mark Ortwein
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