Slammer advice needed. I'm in a rental and need to supplement my heat.

[HeatExchange]

I need to supplement my oil/steam heat in my un-insulated rental.
Landlord has the fireplace cleaned each year.

I'm currently running a 70s era fan powered heat exchanger, but I can't get a very long burn.

It is a rental, so I can't go tearing apart the damper or installing a liner.

I've read that slammers are not up to code anymore, but I've also read that people have them from way back in the day and they like them, you just need to burn creosote cleaners once a month. Someone said to burn a few aluminum cans every couple of days.

Any suggestions on which slammer inserts I should to look for? I've read the Buck inserts are good, but they weigh 400lbs.

 

[bholler]

I need to supplement my oil/steam heat in my un-insulated rental.
Landlord has the fireplace cleaned each year.

I'm currently running a 70s era fan powered heat exchanger, but I can't get a very long burn.

It is a rental, so I can't go tearing apart the damper or installing a liner.

I've read that slammers are not up to code anymore, but I've also read that people have them from way back in the day and they like them, you just need to burn creosote cleaners once a month. Someone said to burn a few aluminum cans every couple of days.

Any suggestions on which slammer inserts I should to look for? I've read the Buck inserts are good, but they weigh 400lbs.

None there is absolutely no way to do it safely. Yes some people get away with it but many didn't.

 

[jerrieric]

Just get landlord approval first. I'm an excellent Lord so the shxxt will hit the fan if you're not upfront with them

 

[zrock]

I'm sure if you talked to your landloard you could work to gather


Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[HeatExchange]

It's kind of seeming like what I need is to get better at building a slow burning fire.

My heat exchanger feels like a blast furnace.

 

[bholler]

It's kind of seeming like what I need is to get better at building a slow burning fire.

My heat exchanger feels like a blast furnace.

The problem is even with a heat exchanger in an open fireplace you will be lucky to even break even with heat production. They just suck out so much heated air it is very hard to overcome that.

 

[coaly]

If the flue is straight up, you can use liner made of stainless sections that screw together like connector pipe. They are easy to remove if you leave.
What is the dimension of the flue? (diameter) How much larger than 8 inch round is it? (50.24 square inches)

 

[HeatExchange]

The problem is even with a heat exchanger in an open fireplace you will be lucky to even break even with heat production. They just suck out so much heated air it is very hard to overcome that.

I hear you on that. When I have it going good I can feel the cold draft being sucked into the fire.
I've been playing around with a few things I've read about propping the ash trap a little, but it seems to get covered pretty quick.
I leave the door to the basement open a bit and that seems to cut down on the cold air from outside getting sucked in.

 

[HeatExchange]

If the flue is straight up, you can use liner made of stainless sections that screw together like connector pipe. They are easy to remove if you leave.
What is the dimension of the flue? (diameter) How much larger than 8 inch round is it? (50.24 square inches)

The problem with installing a liner is the damper. I have to take a better look at it.

 

[coaly]

I supply a good working chimney with liner AND stove in my rentals. I believe it's better to show them how to heat cheap and avoid huge electric bills that prevent them from being able to pay rent ! When I tell them I can show them how to heat with 2 tons of coal a year, about $440 they can't believe they were paying that much monthly for electric. I prefer to set them up with a coal stove and masonry chimney so I know it stays clean. Every one of my current tenants was experienced with a wood stove, (not saying they burned them right) but after showing them how to start and run a coal stove, they are all believers now. I started 2 of them for new tenants this year and so far neither have lost a fire even with a few warm days in the 50's ! They are doing better than I expected.