need some help, 1994 ish prefab fireplace ID and insulation advice.

[Raptor_demon]

Hello all,

new poster here, was pleased to see such a great forum!

we have a house built in about 1994 ish by Pulte homes. the wood fireplace that is in the house has no markings or ID's that I can find so I have no idea who made it.

we have been having issues with freezing cold air drafts coming out of the unit for years and was convinced it was the damper until we removed the siding and was able to see behind it.

turns out, in the "dog house" for the chimney there is zero insulation.

so I have 3 questions:
1) any ideas of the make of my fireplace
2) any tips on if we can insulate around the fireplace, the drafts just freeze our livingroom
3) we would like to paint the brass handles on the doors, any tips?

thanks and best regards

Raptor

Front of fireplace



What we discovered once the siding was removed. (the 2x4's are going to be replaced)




Left side



Up:

Outside air:

Right side

 

[webbie]

There are usually markings of some sort - a label inside the firebox along the front, etc.

Chances are that it's Superior (brand) although they could have had other contracts at various times. Most of them are similar - these mass builders use the cheapest things they can get their hands on. I sold a similar fireplace at that time and we paid $103 for the firebox!

These things really leak cold air - almost no matter what you do. However, it will help to insulated the chase up to a certain point - a few feet above the unit, and then also install a false ceiling in there with insulation or at least sealed. Still, most of the pipe designs for this type of fireplace dump outside cold air right on top of the fireplace, making for one big refrigerator no matter what you do.

The pipe should also have some labels on it to ID the brand....

 

[Raptor_demon]

There are usually markings of some sort - a label inside the firebox along the front, etc.

Chances are that it's Superior (brand) although they could have had other contracts at various times. Most of them are similar - these mass builders use the cheapest things they can get their hands on. I sold a similar fireplace at that time and we paid $103 for the firebox!

These things really leak cold air - almost no matter what you do. However, it will help to insulated the chase up to a certain point - a few feet above the unit, and then also install a false ceiling in there with insulation or at least sealed. Still, most of the pipe designs for this type of fireplace dump outside cold air right on top of the fireplace, making for one big refrigerator no matter what you do.

The pipe should also have some labels on it to ID the brand....

Thanks Webbie,

i will take a look once we open her up a bit more to take a look.

i think the insulation will help because just having the siding removed has made the room even colder.

do you feel there would be any benefit from changing the insert?

thanks
Raptor

 

[webbie]

Oh, yes, changing it to a unit which had a sealed chimney would help greatly!

This would be in two ways - first, the unit itself could be up to 70% efficient when you use wood. The existing unit is probably 10% or less. Secondly, the setup could be insulated better and you would not have that cold air dumping down the pipe.

It wouldn't be cheap, though.....some basic examples
http://www.securitychimneys.com/pages/fireplace/high_BisNova.asp?country=us

 

[Raptor_demon]

thanks for the advice, i priced out some new inserts and i think they are outside of our budget at this time

i found a sticker that says model number 82360 by Temtex with the UL logo at the top.

is this the insert model?

thanks
Raptor

 

[webbie]

Temtex was probably Temco, a brand made in TN which eventually went out of Biz and was purchased by Vermont Castings?Majestic for a song. Some searches for Temco are likely to bring up models which are close:
(broken link removed)

 

[Raptor_demon]

Temtex was probably Temco, a brand made in TN which eventually went out of Biz and was purchased by Vermont Castings?Majestic for a song. Some searches for Temco are likely to bring up models which are close:
(broken link removed)

Looks like its 8236D not 82360 which would make it the chimney pipe: 8" diameter 36" section double wall chimney.

ill keep searhcing.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Tear it out. I can tell you it's the best thing we ever did. Cost almost didn't/doesn't matter, because in actual $$$ the stove has already paid for itself, and in comfort/peace of mind, the value is immeasurable.. The more of the work you do yourself, the quicker the payback.

see linky down there in the sig line.

 

[webbie]

Looks like its 8236D not 82360 which would make it the chimney pipe: 8" diameter 36" section double wall chimney.

ill keep searhcing.

Searching is not going to help you in terms of fixing the cold problem you mentioned. Fixing or mitigating that type of a problem is extremely costly and often ineffective.....

I understand the limited budget - but this is somewhat pennywise and pound foolish. You'd better off ripping it out and then sealing it up temporarily - leaving things so it would be easy to install an insulated unit with insulated chimney at some later date.