Heatilator Mark 123-3138 problems.

[usmc1371]

I bought an old house with a heatilator Mark 123, I used it last winter as a secondary heat sorce and was not impressed. It seemed to pull tons of cold air through the house and put out very little heat. I have had wood stoves in the past and was thinking the 123 would heat like a stove but boy was I wrong! I was gonna stuff an insert into the heatilator and call it good... then I found this site and didn't burn my house down.
The fire place is Not masonary, all wood framing with the zero clearance box sitting in an alcove, all flush on the intior wall. I would like to remove the heatilator, finish the inside of the alcove and install a free standing wood stove. The alcove is aprox 75" wide and 25" deep. I am looking for ideas or pics of simalliar projects. My house is apx 1800 sq ft and my budjet for the project is about 2,000 bucks. I will do the labor so thats what I have to cover a stove, chimney liner, and what ever it takes to finish out the alcove. Secondary heat is the main goal here I don't need glass door ar anything fancy just a stove with low enough clearances to fit in the alcove area. I will try to post a couple pics when I get it figured out.
Cutting to the chase:
Suggest a stove that is within my budget.
looking for pics of similar installs
Any tips on removing the old heatiloator
Can I put a 6" liner down the existing 9+" chimney? the existing pipe is atleast double wall and is in great shape.
What question should I be asking here?

 

[usmc1371]

Hours of reading on this site and others have me thinking the englander 13 NCH, its affordable. I'm a little confused on the clearances. With double wall pipe from the stove to the ceiling and the optional side heat sheilds how much clearance do I need from the back and sides to a wall? I am planning on hardi board/slate tile wall with 1" spacing off of the framing.

 

[Squisher]

So I looked at a mark 123 today and have to ask/wonder what's up with all the fins in the smoke dome area?

 

[Poindexter]

The heatilator install manuals were online a few yeats ago. the one we removed from our house did not have a legible model number.

All the ones i looked at online, and the one i took out, the firebox supports the chimney. what i am saying is you will probably have to demo it from the top down, removing the firebox last.

We were able to run new 6" double wall through the existing 9" sheet metal funnel on the roof without disturbing any shingles. ive got two funnels up on the roof for now, but no leaks and a thing to clean up next time the roof is shingled.

 

[Squisher]

This one isn't going anywhere it was in a customers home. I cleaned their stove in the basement and had a look up this one. I'm curious as to what the louvers are about? Seems like a place that creosote could get into with no way to clean it out?

 

[begreen]

This one isn't going anywhere it was in a customers home. I cleaned their stove in the basement and had a look up this one. I'm curious as to what the louvers are about? Seems like a place that creosote could get into with no way to clean it out?

Some sort of heat exchanger?

 

[Squisher]

Yes it must have something to do with scavenging heat I think. There were levers on either side of the fireplace opening that appeared to open and close something near/around those louvers and there was a switched fan/blower too.

I'm still curious as to what the thought is behind soot travelling through those louvers and where it would end up? Also for cleaning? The chimney was clean, just a tiny bit of buildup near the damper so it didn't need cleaning but thinking if it did then it seems invariably soot would fly through those louvers?