Country Stove GC3 Firestar

[klatta]

I just purchased a used country Stove GC3 firestar gas insert fireplace.
I have the original manual, but it does not give a clear picture of how to connect the flue to the unit.
I understand that I need a 4" b vent, but I am not sure how intake air happens.

I would also like some pictures of the rear of the unit. Just for comparison purposes.

Thanks Much

 

[fireboy]

The unit that you have does not have the capability of being hooked up to oustide air. B-vent stoves use a little bit of room air for combustion as their source for air.

IMHO I would not worry about the tiny bit of air that the stove uses. B-vent has been around for 100 years and while Direct vent certainy has market appeal it makes little difference in the real world. There is no better heater than the GC3.

Fire Boy

 

[klatta]

Thank you very much for the clarification.

One of the reasons we went with a newer unit was to try and reduce the heat loss up through the chimney.
Before we just had gas logs. Big heat loss.

Is this unit going to be comparible to a direct vent when it comes to heat loss?

Thanks Again

Keith

 

[fireboy]

There is no comparison to an open fireplace. I dont remember the exact numbers but if I remember right a b-vent uses ~60cfm when operating where as an open fireplace is somewhere in the 200-900 cfm range. I will grant that the B-vent does continue to lose some when it is off as well but if I had to guess, it is somewhere south of 20 cfm. Keeping in mind that the loss is due to the pilot keeping the b-vent liner warm. Contrary to popular belief the pilot does generate usefull heat so not all of the "loss" is loss.

The other common misperception is that direct vent inserts are higher efficiency. This is not true due to the technical problem of everdrafting in direct vents. Rarely is the problem compensated by restriction so they effectively are much lower efficiency than what a B-vent is. Although the brochures tell a different story.

Fire boy