Older Fireplace insert help!

[judsonmillar]

My name is Judson and my wife and I recently purchased my parents farm where I grew up We have a 180+ year old large farm house with mutiple additions. The house has an oil furnace and a fireplace in the large country kitchen. I have a vision of putting in a fireplace insert or a free standing stove. With that in mind there is a fireplce insert in the paper for $200. It is an older model but has never been installed!

Questions:
1) The top of the insert has a rectangular opening that is 14"X3.5" rather than a circular opening. Is there a conversion kit I can buy for this?

2) In my initial conversations with the stove/cimney guys, they tell me we currently have a terrcatta lined flu that is in good shape and that I need to install a stainless steel liner - is this true? If so what is a ball park figure to have this done? Our house is 2 stories plus a attic.

Thanks for all your input!

Jud

 

[Corey]

That sounds like a -very- old fireplace insert...one that was designed to simply slide into the fireplace and then be sealed around the opening. I doubt you'd find an adapter for that specific opening to any standard size of flue. A metal shop might be able to custom make one out of stainless steel, but that just adds to the cost.

A lined chimney would be ideal as it would be much safer, easier to clean, more efficient, better draft, etc. Cost is also up, though.

IMHO, you would probably be much happier with a newer stove than trying to cobble pieces and parts together to make that old one work. It most likely doesn't have secondary air combustion which means it's less efficient than a modern stove, will smoke pretty heavily, require frequent flue cleanings, put out less heat per load of wood, etc. A small increase in the initial stove price would likely save you piles of wood and a lot of frustration in the long run.

 

[firebird400]

i got an old stove from my unlce for free same thing there is an adapator plate availble it cost me 90.00 last year they are on ebay sometimes i got mine from chimnet depot i think with my liner

 

[begreen]

Greetings Judson. Welcome aboard. If the chimney folk are insisting on a liner, they may be correct. If the flue is large, then it may need a liner better sized to the stove. There are some adapters for the flue on some stoves. What is the brand and model of this woodstove?