Gas to wood burning insert

[auyankee]

I have a gas fireplace in my natural gas heated home and am wanting to convert the fireplace to a wood burning insert. One because I enjoy wood burning fireplaces more and two as an emergency backup heat source (our power went out for a couple of days last month). The firebox is fairly large (24x30x30), but I have no preconceived notions that I can shove a wood burning insert in, run a liner up the chimney and start burning wood. In this situation, is it general practice to rebuild the entire firebox and chimney. Before I go talk to a professional, I'd like to know what all I'm getting into here. Thanks for any input!

 

[DAKSY]

I have a gas fireplace in my natural gas heated home and am wanting to convert the fireplace to a wood burning insert. One because I enjoy wood burning fireplaces more and two as an emergency backup heat source (our power went out for a couple of days last month). The firebox is fairly large (24x30x30), but I have no preconceived notions that I can shove a wood burning insert in, run a liner up the chimney and start burning wood. In this situation, is it general practice to rebuild the entire firebox and chimney. Before I go talk to a professional, I'd like to know what all I'm getting into here. Thanks for any input!

If you have a gas-burning fireplace, & it's factory-built to be one, there's not much you can do, short of a complete tear-out & new wood-burning install...
You're gonna hafta take at least 2-3 hours in removal & then another 6-8 to install the W-B unit.
Then add in the materials...It could end up being a BIG number of $$$
Is your current gas unit an older model? Why weren't you able to use it during the power outage?
Your cheapest route, IMHO, may be to install a wood STOVE in another area of the house & have the best of both worlds...

 

[auyankee]

Thanks for the quick reply! From what I can tell, it isn't a factory unit. It looks like it was built in, but I will verify this when I get home from work. The fireplace in the room is stone and mortar with the firebox being lined with steel. The fireplace opening cover (not sure what it called) is fastened to the stone. The gas is piped in from the side into a distributer of some kind that has silica sand on top of it with the logs sitting over them. If it helps, I can upload some pictures later. To answer your question, I used to gas fireplace before, but 95% of the heat seemed to be going out the chimney.

 

[DAKSY]

Thanks for the quick reply! From what I can tell, it isn't a factory unit. It looks like it was built in, but I will verify this when I get home from work. The fireplace in the room is stone and mortar with the firebox being lined with steel. The fireplace opening cover (not sure what it called) is fastened to the stone. The gas is piped in from the side into a distributer of some kind that has silica sand on top of it with the logs sitting over them. If it helps, I can upload some pictures later. To answer your question, I used to gas fireplace before, but 95% of the heat seemed to be going out the chimney.

OK..From your description, my guess is that you have a gas log set-up behind a fireplace door.
Its efficiency is probably -10% on a scale of 1 - 100...
It's considered a decorative appliance by the hearth industry
You should have no problem changing to a wood burning insert.
You'll hafta shut-off the gas in the basement, & disconnect the line to the gas log set, & remove the line & the logs/burner...
Cap off or plug the gas line for safety...
You'll hafta repair the hole where the gas line was run into your firebox, unless it was run thru the ash clean-out.
Your wood burning insert should be a routine install, but you'll have to check your chimney for structural soundness & whether or not you can get a 6" liner thru the damper area...
There are a NUMBER of quality WBI manufacturers out there, as this forum will attest to...
From the dimensions in your first post, most WBIs will fit your firebox...
Basically, you'll need something to give you the heat you want/need & something your SO will like to look at!
GOOD LUCK!

 

[brink]

I just installed a wood burning insert in place of a gas insert.It seems like you may have a metal "heatolater" firebox like I have. May be best for you to take a few pics and upload so we can see what you are dealing with.

 

[auyankee]

Hey guys -- attached you'll find some shots of our fireplace and the dimensions I'm working with...my estimate before was a little off. What shape do you think I'm in? Thanks for the help!