Hi there,
So glad I found this forum!
We have a house built in the early 1980s.
As you can see from the pics, we have a double sides fireplace. The firebox is encapsulated with a sheet steel surround with air space on all four sides. There is an air feed that goes through the floor into the basement ( 4" pipe), then is piped from the outside. In addition, air is also pulled in from the living space through the grates at the bottom which feed into little holes in a ridge on the bottom of each side of the actual fire.
I assumed that the air feed would only pull from the pipe (fresh air), and not pull air from the living space.
From the main hearth view there's an electric fan in the cavity on the right side that does...something. I assume it is to circulate air within the chamber that surrounds the firebox. However, before I took some of the facia off to clean the fan (I originally though it would be forced air instead of just a circulator). What's interesting is there's that tube and a square box beneath it that seems to be directly related to the circulator fan. I can see from the basement that the 4" pipe looks like it feeds there, but that doesn't look like a 4" pipe just below the fan?
I was hoping that the fan actually sucked air in from the living space and pushed air out and the firebox was entirely isolated - that doesn't seem be the case. However, it does this a little bit, but overall it kind of seems like a waste of electricity. Also, if it is pulling air from outside, why pull it from inside, too? Doesn't this defeat the purpose of not sending room into into the flue?
Anyway, anyone know what this brand/model is? I can't find any labels/etc. anywhere on it. And, finally, any recommendations on a replacement?
Thanks in advance!
So glad I found this forum!
We have a house built in the early 1980s.
As you can see from the pics, we have a double sides fireplace. The firebox is encapsulated with a sheet steel surround with air space on all four sides. There is an air feed that goes through the floor into the basement ( 4" pipe), then is piped from the outside. In addition, air is also pulled in from the living space through the grates at the bottom which feed into little holes in a ridge on the bottom of each side of the actual fire.
I assumed that the air feed would only pull from the pipe (fresh air), and not pull air from the living space.
From the main hearth view there's an electric fan in the cavity on the right side that does...something. I assume it is to circulate air within the chamber that surrounds the firebox. However, before I took some of the facia off to clean the fan (I originally though it would be forced air instead of just a circulator). What's interesting is there's that tube and a square box beneath it that seems to be directly related to the circulator fan. I can see from the basement that the 4" pipe looks like it feeds there, but that doesn't look like a 4" pipe just below the fan?
I was hoping that the fan actually sucked air in from the living space and pushed air out and the firebox was entirely isolated - that doesn't seem be the case. However, it does this a little bit, but overall it kind of seems like a waste of electricity. Also, if it is pulling air from outside, why pull it from inside, too? Doesn't this defeat the purpose of not sending room into into the flue?
Anyway, anyone know what this brand/model is? I can't find any labels/etc. anywhere on it. And, finally, any recommendations on a replacement?
Thanks in advance!
