Opinions and suggestions for use of an existing insert.

[spunty9]

The house we moved into has a Forester fireplace insert with a blower. The chimney has no metal liner, (just the original masonry) and looks to be in acceptable condition. The "creosote" seems to be minimal, and it is more of a shiny black than a flaky/ash texture. It cranks out the heat.....that is for sure. I was just wondering if anyone here has an opinion on these old inserts, and if due to the lack of a metal liner......is there anything special I should be doing, or know? Thanks

 

[pen]

Shiny black is bad when it comes to creosote. Flaky/ashy is actually less volatile.

What are your heating ambitions?

pen

 

[spunty9]

Well, I would like to supplement with it. There is no way it will heat the entire house. Just wondering if I should get rid of it. Problem is.......I have a ton of wood now, and not enough $ to purchase a nice new setup.

 

[pen]

I'd suggest getting a chimney sweep in there to give the chimney a good cleaning and inspection as well as an inspection of the hearth and surrounding area and stove of course, to ensure it's safety.

Is there a stove collar on the back of the insert that a chimney liner could attach to? If the rest of the setup is safe, and you are only looking to supplement, adding a liner (especially an insulated one) and a fireplace block off plate would increase your safety level.

If this forester has a 6 inch stove collar on it, you'd be golden since that is what the majority of modern stoves use. If that's the case, you could put the liner in now, have the setup inspected by the sweep, and then be ready to simply do a swap to a more efficient unit down the road once you have the cash saved up.

pen