Planning for a freestanding stove.

[WildMontana]

Hey folks, I'm a long time lurker of the forum and hoping the experts on this forum can steer me in the right direction. I'm in the center of Montana and no stranger to harsh winters.

I bought this house a year ago. Specs on it are 2100 sq ft two stories with tall ceilings and some very large drafty windows built in 78 with 2x4 walls. I was going to get the windows replaced this summer until I was quoted $6000 for 4 windows. I did get two doors and a window replaced which should help. It has an old Arrow insert that really goes through some wood. It is absolutely not to code. See pictures... without the fan on I get almost zero heat from it. My concern is for when the power goes out, which it did today for a few hours.

I try to use wood heat as much a possible. We do have a gas furnace as backup but now days we try to save our pennies. So after much research I'm thinking about getting a BK King, mainly for the big firebox and the set it and forget it. Plus we get in the negatives a few times a year for weeks....oh and did i mention the wind.

But, I have a project with an interior chase wall. I don't know what's behind it and if it's feasible to just remove the wall completely. The pipe goes straight up about 18 or 20 feet. I'm wondering if anyone has done something similar or have an idea what I could run into behind the wall?

Thanks in advance!

 

[begreen]

Is the old Arrow inserted into a Zero Clearance fireplace with a metal chimney? And is the goal to remove the ZC and its chimney, then demolish the wall back to the corner behind it?

If so, yes that's possible, and yes, it will be a nice improvement for heat. One caveat with the King is that it uses 8" chimney which will be pricey. 6" chimney is much more common these days.

 

[WildMontana]

Awesome. Thanks for the help. Yes that it the ultimate goal. I'd like to take the wall out completely. I have no idea what's behind it, but there is 8 inch chimney pipe coming out the top. My assumption is there was a ZC there before the insert. The hearth itself sticks out 16 inches. The old arrow insert takes up about 12 inches of that. Already burned the carpet a couple times on reloads.

 

[begreen]

That should work ok. Most likely the old chimney will not work for the new installation. It is probably an air-cooled chimney that is not rated for wood stoves.

 

[WildMontana]

I've spoken to a couple dealers for BKs. I explained to them I was in the planning phase for this project. One dealer was trying to push a sale for pricing right now. He said prices have typically been increasing late winter early spring. He wanted a $1000 deposit right. Everything I've read on here has started the opposite. Prices go down that time of year and that's the best prices of the year. Do you guys think he was blowing smoke up my you know what? His reasoning was COVID supply shortage etc etc....It just felt like a used car salesman trying to bamboozle me.

 

[begreen]

Sorry, but there is no way we (or he) can predict future stove pricing except to say that they have been going up steadily over the years. That said, the increases are nothing like what happened this year. With lowering steel prices and more reliable supply chains, prices should start dropping.

What is throwing logic to the wind is that stove demand is exceptionally high due to OPEC oil pricing. Many stove manufacturers are several months out trying to keep up with production. It's hard to say when this will end, but in the 70's the OPEC squeeze lasted for many years.

 

[WildMontana]

Thanks for the insight!