Converting a heatilator to wood stove?

[Bayleybrown]

I have been told I have two heatilators, however they don't have metal pipes. Could I leave them in place and vent a wood stove up the flue without removing anything? I was thinking about setting the wood stove into the fireplace so maybe only the front half is exposed, would this be ok? The chimney appears to be Terra Cotta, not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Also are there any advantages or disadvantage to using flexible stainless steel liner? Does it need to be insulated?

Few Pics

Upstairs

Inside Upstairs, cream colored bricks on the bottom

Downstairs

Inside Downstairs

Outside View

Chimney

Inside Chimney

Thanks
Will

 

[Dune]

I don't know what your heat load is in NC, I live in New England, but from what I understand, heatilators actualy work. Have you tried using them for heat?

 

[Bayleybrown]

I don't know what your heat load is in NC, I live in New England, but from what I understand, heatilators actualy work. Have you tried using them for heat?

Never used them, this will be our first winter in the house and they don't appear to have functioning blowers or even blowers. The guy at the hearth store said they would only be 10% efficient at most. If they produce heat comparable to a wood stove I think it would be worth just buying a blower and using the heatilator. These are 70's heatilators btw. Our main goal is to provide heat through the night to offset the cost of running a heat pump.

 

[Todd]

Mine works just fine without fans but burns a ton of wood. If for occasional use I'd try them first and see how they do but if you turn into a serious 24/7 burner your better off relining the chimney and installing a more efficient insert.

 

[Dix]

Do the 2 fireplaces share a common chimney?

Welcome to the forums, Will !!

 

[begreen]

Greetings Will. From the pics it looks like you are in pretty good shape. The flue with the top-down view looks like it's barely been used. Insulated liner is the way to go, especially with an exterior chimney. Rigid liner is tougher if it'll fit and there is a straight shot down. But lots of folks use flex.

 

[jtp10181]

Its a heatform style unit, Heatilator is a brand

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Heatilator/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Heatform/

You have a fine setup to do a stove or insert with an insulated liner.

 

[Dune]

I don't know what your heat load is in NC, I live in New England, but from what I understand, heatilators actualy work. Have you tried using them for heat?

Never used them, this will be our first winter in the house and they don't appear to have functioning blowers or even blowers. The guy at the hearth store said they would only be 10% efficient at most. If they produce heat comparable to a wood stove I think it would be worth just buying a blower and using the heatilator. These are 70's heatilators btw. Our main goal is to provide heat through the night to offset the cost of running a heat pump.

Yeah, heatilators don't need fans, they work by convection. It takes a while, but hot air starts flowing out the top after a bit.
I am not saying it is the way to go, at all, but it may be all you need, way down there to the southard.

 

[zzr7ky]

Hi -

I did what you are describing. I put a Stove on the hearth area in front of the Heatalator. Flue goes straight back 30" or so to a 'T' then straight up. I cut the steel inner and outer of the angled top of the Heatalator so the pie would line up in the center of the chimney flue tiles. A torch is best. I used a saws all type saw and a 4 1/2" cut off wheel. It took 45 minutes. Measuring and making the template took over an hour. The reason I cut the back? The damper area is hard to work in, and I wanted to use a rigid liner. Rigid was the same money and a lot heavier gauge stainless. it is easy to install also.

I also added 4' of brick chimney to the top of a chinkey just like yours, and added a 3' section oc class A chimeny to the top of that for a total of 17'. The Class A comes off so cleaning from the roof is a breeze.

Good luck!
Mike

 

[gpcollen1]

I have my stove in my heatform fireplace...had to cut the heck out of the steel box to get the chimney in but oh well...