Greetings, first season with new insert

[Kodiac76]

Hi everyone, just wanted to share my experience and show my first insert. I decided to do this myself and found a lot of info from this site. I am running a Northern Comfort insert (paid $150) in a masonry chimney. SS 6" rigid oval to round pipe up to chimney cap. I installed this myself with a little help from some friends. Had some minor issues, lots of lumps and bruises and a trip to the Dr for possible hernia but it is running!

I first bought the insert on clist. Then I had my sweep out to clean the chimney. I then cutout as much as I could of the damper. I then ran 15' stainless down thru the top. I had to attach 6" oval to get through the damper which was a major pain. It was getting hung up and had to cut a small piece of cast off the damper to pull it down to the collar of the stove. Finally I managed to wrestle the SS pipe onto the collar and tightened it up. Pushed the stove in attached the sheath and fired it up. About two-three weeks until fully up and running.

Stove heats good but smoke back a little. There is a metal baffle below the damper that I thought could be blocking the draft. Not quite sure how to fix this yet but am working on it.

Anyway I have not found much info on this stove so I wanted to share and see what people think. I live in Eastern Pa and have tons of locust trees on my property. Have my wood shed set up and have been burning everyday. Running out of wood fast! But next year I will be more prepared. I have two felled trees I need to split.

Here are some pics from my project

 

[raybonz]

Nice looking insert and shelter! Congrats ans welcome to the forum! Keep getting that wood, split and stack it.. Oak takes 2-3 years to season but you may be OK with ash, cherry, locust and maple if you get it now..

Ray

 

[Kodiac76]

Thanks Ray! I have alot of Locust trees that I typically burn and then what I think is some poplar. The locust in my yard are just falling. They seem to get a rot and just snap during high winds. Fine as long as they don't hit anything. I have some locust that has been cut back in October, do you think that I could possibly burn it this spring as I am getting low on wood. That would give it about 4 months to cure.

 

[begreen]

If the locust was standing dead, then you might be able to burn the top sections. If green 4 months will not be enough time. Grab some construction scraps to get it started.