insert in chimney

[mikejk]

Hey everyone! New to the forum and to having indoor fires! My wife and I are purchasing a house (built in 1910) that has a freestanding wood stove that is piped into a chimney in our living room. There is nothing else running to this chimney. My question is, is it possible to cut an insert directly into the chimney? The freestanding stove and hearth just take up too much room but I love the idea having a fire to see/smell in the living room. I'm also open to other space saving suggestions.

 

[bholler]

I would have to say no you probably cant cut in an insert. I can be sure with out seeing more but I don't see how that would ever really work. If you are planning on using it for heat that old franklin stove wont help you very much. They were an improvement over an open fireplace but not by much.

 

[mikejk]

There's a better pic of the piping. I don't plan on using it for heat, just aesthetics.

 

[bholler]

By that pic I am sure you cant put an insert in there sorry.

 

[mikejk]

Perhaps something like this tucked tight to the chimney?

 

[8686]

Wow thats a beauty! What is that?

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Yeah, an insert needs to be inserted into a fireplace, but you have many options....

 

[mikejk]

8686, I just googled "small footprint wood burning stove" and that came up.

Ram, by "many options" do you mean smaller stoves? Or different options all together?

 

[BrotherBart]

I had to chuckle when I saw your pic. Obviously new carpet installed before the sale since that old Franklin pops coals out to burn carpet like crazy. I know. It was my first wood stove in 1977.

If for just esthetics, what everybody says and then gets hooked on wood heating, look for an EPA certified free standing stove with the largest glass in the door that you can find.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

There are many free standing stoves out there to choose from... Check out Woodstock fire view and ph....

 

[mikejk]

I had to chuckle when I saw your pic. Obviously new carpet installed before the sale since that old Franklin pops coals out to burn carpet like crazy. I know. It was my first wood stove in 1977.

If for just esthetics, what everybody says and then gets hooked on wood heating, look for an EPA certified free standing stove with the largest glass in the door that you can find.

Yes the carpet would have not been my first choice. I could see getting hooked on the idea of wood heating. I don't, however, see me keeping that when it takes up so much space. I would really like something that takes up about a quarter of the room that the existing does. If I could find something small enough I would at least be able to remove some of the brick from the floor and wall and regain some space.

 

[begreen]

You could tear out the existing hearth and build a new one to spec for the new stove in front of the chimney. This would require sealing up the old thimble and putting in a new one.

 

[CenterTree]

Yeah , you definitely need a smaller stove on there. An insert is not gonna work in anyway.

You certainly can eliminate the left HALF of that hearth if you find a smaller stove. You will gain the space you want.

There are a lot of NICE looking stoves that have a BIG glass for pleasant viewing.

Make sure you will have enough ember protection on the front (door) side of the new stove though.

Have you considered a GAS stove with "realistic" logs? Eliminates the wood...still gives you the aesthetics you want.

 

[mikejk]

I have considered gas, although there is something about the smell and sounds (if you can hear it through a stove) of a wood fire that I like. Would gas take up less room?

 

[mikejk]

Is there any value to that existing stove? Or is it pretty much junk?

 

[pen]

Is there any value to that existing stove? Or is it pretty much junk?

Junk.

Ever put any thought into a gas unit there? They make many that look like wood stoves.

Reason I ask is it sounds like you really don't want to depend on wood heat very much?

 

[mikejk]

Yeah like I said in the post before, but something I don't like is having to pay for the gas. I don't know how much of an impact it would have but with my job I have access to a lot of free wood.

 

[pen]

Yeah like I said in the post before, but something I don't like is having to pay for the gas. I don't know how much of an impact it would have but with my job I have access to a lot of free wood.

Reason I asked was because if you need that big a foot print for a stove that will really carry the load of what you need/want to heat, then going to something smaller is just going to be a disappointment.

A stove really needs to be sized to your home and heating ambitions, not so much the floor plan. If you install too small a stove that fits nicely, but really doesn't offer much heat, I tend to believe it would sit and not get fired much and still be in the way.

 

[mikejk]

Good point, would I be able to still use the same vent? And do gas stoves even need some kind of hearth? Looking at pics online it doesn't seem like a requirement.

 

[pen]

Good point, would I be able to still use the same vent? And do gas stoves even need some kind of hearth? Looking at pics online it doesn't seem like a requirement.

You can't go by the pictures in many cases, sadly. We've seen some doozies on here over the years come from manufacturers websites. Many times a pic of a nice room is taken and then the stove is photoshopped in. BB has a pic of a wood stove where the stove pipe dead ends into a wood paneled wall, lots of other examples.

In all, you'll have to look at the manuals to see what the clearances of a particular unit would be, whether gas, wood, or pellet (which is yet another option for you to consider!)

pen

 

[mikejk]

So I finally closed on this house and was able to do some more investigation. I checked to see if I could disassemble the stove pipe and it basically fell right out of the chimney. It just dumped right in with no piping going up and out. There is an access door in the basement at the bottom of the chimney which I assume is for cleaning? There is no liner or anything up the chimney, is this safe to use? And as far as the pipe coming out of the stove it was all 8 inch and where it penetrated the chimney it reduced down to 6 inch and the reducer was just sort of mortared in, is that the correct way?

 

[mikejk]

This is the stove I was thinking of getting for now, it's affordable, I like the way it looks, and it has way less of a footprint. They sell it at home depot, it's an englander, it has a built in blower.

 

[begreen]

That's a good small stove. It will burn for about 3-4 hrs on a load. If the goal is more for ambiance and chill chasing on evenings and weekends it should do the job.

 

[mellow]

As a summer project if you have the funds I would rip that chimney down, take out that wall to open up the rooms, then install a free standing stove in that corner.

 

[begreen]

Make sure that wall isn't load bearing first. It appears to be.