Sierra 2000 insert with wood trim and mantel all around

[psmartink9]

I have been reading the forum for several days now and found some really good information. But I have a few questions. The house we have appears to have a Sierra 2000 that has been mounted like a fireplace insert. There is a beautiful oak mantel and wood work around it. I was wondering if anyone had care suggestions in regards to prevent heat damage to the wood and so forth? My uncle is the one that redid the mantel and reconfigured the hearth about 10 years ago. I also know that there hadn't been a fire in the house in at least 18 years, should there be any concerns with that? We have had a few fires this year mainly out of necessity due to temps and loss of power. Primarily I have done "flash" fires using it more like a traditional fireplace, but I have figured out how to do about a 4 hour load on the stove with top surface temps only reaching to about 480 or so. I use fans to help move the air throughout our Ranch style house.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The pic is of the setup...

 

[webbie]

Sure looks like it's not safe or up to specs......

I can't see the floor, but you need 18" or so in front of the front doors - of non-combustible flooring.

The sides and top (wood) seem to be way too close. Heat shields could be made - usually from any kind of sheet metal or even cement board (brass might look good). They have to be mounted on spacers 1" or so off the wood. In your case, it would see that you'd be smart to have those shields be a couple inches wider than the wood trim edge on the sides (maybe 5-6") and have a different one on the top which protected both the trim and the mantel which come further out.

Do a google image search on "mantel heat shields" to get some idea of what others have done. Here are some small ones which fit on the insert.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/any-pics-of-mantle-heat-shield.7964/

The chimney and installation also have to be checked...unless you 100% know what's behind all that.