Considering stoves and location

[begreen]

A Buck 74 should work out fine.

I can appreciate your sweep trying to save you some bucks, but I am not a fan of stubbing a liner. It might work, but then again it might draft poorly. It will also allow the flue gases to cool down more and it a mess to clean properly. (Thus costing more each time to do it right.) A good liner is a one time investment that will pay off over time.

 

[wesessiah]

thanks for the replies.
my damper opening has two metal tabs that partially obstruct the hole, what is the purpose of these? the damper doesn't rest on them, they're right below it. can i just cut them off? the damper opening is 5.5" x 24" will i just have to run the liner off center through the damper opening?

 

[begreen]

Not sure without seeing a picture. If they have no function in your installation then remove them.

 

[wesessiah]

here's a picture. neither are as close to the damper as they look. the lower one is about 1/2" below, and the upper one is about 2" below, and the damper just rests on a shelf.

i imagine the previous owner of the house just left the damper closed or open all the way, unless they just slid the damper back on the shelf some. m guess is they just left it closed with the gas logs, because all the build up was in the fireplace, and spotless above the smoke shelf. not sure how long the gas logs were in the fireplace.

 

[begreen]

The upper part looks like the damper regulator slot. Usually there is a notched cam lever that fits in that slot. You control the damper opening by selecting the notch that the lever sits in. This seems to be missing here. Here's a picture of what it looks like. The upper control in this picture is what's missing. If you are ready to commit, take out the slot with an angle grinder. Wear eye protection.