Block off plate?

[Sons924]

Company that installed my Montpelier didn't put in a block off plate. I have a fire going now and can feel behind the surround that the air is cold. So this probably means a ton of my heat is still going right up the damper.
Is anyone familiar with this kit from woodland direct?
http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Wood-Stove-and-Accessories/Wood-Stove-Accessories/Damper-Sealing-Kit

Or is it simple enough to make?

 

[Swedishchef]

You can build one a lot cheaper than that. $100 taxes in from that website seems steep. If you know a place that makes ducts/sheet metal stuff just get them to make a sheet the dimension of your opening. Cut a hole to pass the liner and you can put roxul on top.

Some people simply stuff Roxul in the opening (it is semi rigid) depending on the size. It is fireproof.

 

[Oregon aloha]

Not hard at all if you are handy.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/making_a_block_off_plate/

 

[Sons924]

You can build one a lot cheaper than that. $100 taxes in from that website seems steep. If you know a place that makes ducts/sheet metal stuff just get them to make a sheet the dimension of your opening. Cut a hole to pass the liner and you can put roxul on top.

Some people simply stuff Roxul in the opening (it is semi rigid) depending on the size. It is fireproof.

I was thinking to just stuff the roxul in the damper for now, but won't the insulation fiber make there way into the room?

 

[begreen]

No, if you pack the Roxul up there it should stay there.

 

[weatherguy]

You can a piece of sheet metal at Lowes or HD for under $10, that's where I got mine, Lowes has the Roxul, I haven't seen it at the HD I go to but they may carry it too. total cost should be $50 and you'll have a whole lot of roxul leftover.

 

[BrotherBart]

If that insert is hot you should not feel cold air behind the surround. Block off plate or not. Find out if that liner is sealed off at the top of the chimney. Yeah a block off plate holds the heat in the living space but there is something else happening here.

 

[Nick Mystic]

That kit you posted is only 9" x 24", so it would only cover your damper door opening, assuming your opening isn't bigger than 24". Most people like to seal off their entire fireplace opening in the top of the firebox of the fireplace. As others have stated, it's not too hard to fabricate a custom block off plate from sheet metal if you are somewhat handy with tools. When I did mine I made a template first out of some cardboard and used that to rough out the sheet metal version. It took a bit of tweaking, but in the end it came out with a very tight fit. To get a good tight fit around my SS flexible liner I first cut an 8" hole in the block off plate to give me a bit of wiggle room in positioning my liner to fit my stove placement just right. Here is what things looked like at that stage:



To seal this opening after I dropped my liner down through the hole I used a 12" square chimney cap plate and this gave a nice snug fit around the flex liner. I connected the cap plate to my block off plate with four sheet metal screws:



To finish off a tight seal I filled any gaps with stove cement. What you can't see in these photos is that I also laid some insulation on top of the stop off plate before I ran the flex liner down through the hole. So far it has worked great.

 

[Sons924]

If that insert is hot you should not feel cold air behind the surround. Block off plate or not. Find out if that liner is sealed off at the top of the chimney. Yeah a block off plate holds the heat in the living space but there is something else happening here.

You are 100 percent right. They left a 1" gap at the top to prevent smells from comming into the house. They told me this after the install was done. I think it's time to take the cap off and seal that up.

 

[Dave A.]

Note to those who rely on the pros to do the installation right: don't!