Hello Hearthers,
Recently moved from sunny south Florida to the frozen north of NH. We bought a great little 1900s home with 1+acres of forest and oil fueled radiator heating. I have been felling trees and seasoning wood and starting looking into inserts to offset the cost of oil. The issue is that the current masonry fireplace is very small, and I wanted the experts opinions on options. To preempt some questions, the fireplace is on our main floor, 700sqft, centrally located. Not enough room for a freestanding stove, even right in front of the fireplace, though I am not opposed to an insert that sicks out a bit. The insert would not be our primary source of heat, but would offset the oil and use the abundant resources we have anyways. Myself and my better half are quite experienced at home remodels, but have not working with fireplaces/chimneys before.
So on to the fireplace (pictures attached).
Front opening is 27in wide and 25in tall (another 1in in the middle of the arch), and 20in deep. There is an aggressive taper and the back is 19in wide and 13in tall, with a long angle forwards. There is what looks to be a metal heatform in place contiguous with a metal damper. There is a second flue inside the chimney to the left of the fireplace for the oil burner in the basement, and it does not join the fireplace flue. There is what appears to be an oval/rectangular chimney liner with top cap that was inspected at the time of purchase and passed.
So obviously I am dealing with a tight space. Looking at inserts, I was leaning towards the Supreme Fusion 18. It would be tight, but I think it would fit, and if I need to shave off 1/2in on either side of brick I believe I can (though I do not know how far the lintel extends on either side). I am not sure if the firebox itself could be opened much, given the second flue on the L. I have no brand preference on inserts and simply found the fusion while looking for small ones. Another option I saw was the Alterra Ci1250, though that one doesn't seem to taper back like the Fusion, which may be an issue, unless I remove the heatform I suppose.
So my questions to you fine folks,
1. Do you think the fusion 18 could fit? Are there other inserts that might work.
2. Is it worth sawzalling/grinding out the heatform that is in place to maybe get some more width (I presume I need to remove the damper either way)
3. Would there be any possibility of extending the current firebox to accommodate a larger insert? I assume this is a bit outside of DIY territory. I mentioned it to the chimney sweep when the place was inspected, and he didn't think it was likely, but said his company did not do masonry work.
4. I presume with an insert there would be no way to keep the ash dump? I imagine they make less ash in the first place, but the basement ash trap is quite large and easy to clean currently.
Thank you in advance! Happy to answer any questions, and also happy for recommendations of contractors who may be interested in the upper valley NH/VT area.
Recently moved from sunny south Florida to the frozen north of NH. We bought a great little 1900s home with 1+acres of forest and oil fueled radiator heating. I have been felling trees and seasoning wood and starting looking into inserts to offset the cost of oil. The issue is that the current masonry fireplace is very small, and I wanted the experts opinions on options. To preempt some questions, the fireplace is on our main floor, 700sqft, centrally located. Not enough room for a freestanding stove, even right in front of the fireplace, though I am not opposed to an insert that sicks out a bit. The insert would not be our primary source of heat, but would offset the oil and use the abundant resources we have anyways. Myself and my better half are quite experienced at home remodels, but have not working with fireplaces/chimneys before.
So on to the fireplace (pictures attached).
Front opening is 27in wide and 25in tall (another 1in in the middle of the arch), and 20in deep. There is an aggressive taper and the back is 19in wide and 13in tall, with a long angle forwards. There is what looks to be a metal heatform in place contiguous with a metal damper. There is a second flue inside the chimney to the left of the fireplace for the oil burner in the basement, and it does not join the fireplace flue. There is what appears to be an oval/rectangular chimney liner with top cap that was inspected at the time of purchase and passed.
So obviously I am dealing with a tight space. Looking at inserts, I was leaning towards the Supreme Fusion 18. It would be tight, but I think it would fit, and if I need to shave off 1/2in on either side of brick I believe I can (though I do not know how far the lintel extends on either side). I am not sure if the firebox itself could be opened much, given the second flue on the L. I have no brand preference on inserts and simply found the fusion while looking for small ones. Another option I saw was the Alterra Ci1250, though that one doesn't seem to taper back like the Fusion, which may be an issue, unless I remove the heatform I suppose.
So my questions to you fine folks,
1. Do you think the fusion 18 could fit? Are there other inserts that might work.
2. Is it worth sawzalling/grinding out the heatform that is in place to maybe get some more width (I presume I need to remove the damper either way)
3. Would there be any possibility of extending the current firebox to accommodate a larger insert? I assume this is a bit outside of DIY territory. I mentioned it to the chimney sweep when the place was inspected, and he didn't think it was likely, but said his company did not do masonry work.
4. I presume with an insert there would be no way to keep the ash dump? I imagine they make less ash in the first place, but the basement ash trap is quite large and easy to clean currently.
Thank you in advance! Happy to answer any questions, and also happy for recommendations of contractors who may be interested in the upper valley NH/VT area.
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