Small Fireplace Opening

[mightytitan9]

I've read this forum for a long time, but my first time posting. Forgive me if the terminology isn't 100% correct. The wife and I purchased a new (to us) home with a masonry fireplace. It had the old glass doors on it that mounts to the front.

At our old home (1700 sq ft ranch) we had a very large firebox opening and installed the Osburn 2400 Insert. For the most part, I was very pleased with the operation of this insert as I could load it down at night before bed, it would last until I woke up in the morning, load it down again and it'd still be producing heat and have coals when I came home from work 9 hours later.

Our fireplace will be the main source of heat in our new home (2000 sq ft ranch), although, not the only source. We do have a gas furnace that will likely be used to keep the bedrooms at a reasonable temperature as they are down a hallway. Primarily we would like to use heat from our fireplace.

My concerns come from the size of our new firebox opening. Most of the large inserts that I have no question could keep going for 10 hours at a time seem to be too tall to fit (Osburn 3500 primarily). The opening is 22.5" tall, 36" wide, 23" deep (with an 18" hearth) and tapers down to 25" wide in the back. From looking at the opening, their is a "lip" that comes down about 1 1/2 bricks before where the built in damper is. The bottom of that lip has a piece of metal that runs from side to side holding those bricks in place. Would it make sense to put another metal piece in one row of bricks up from its current location, so that I could remove one whole row of bricks, creating a 25.5" opening which would change the options for inserts.

Is this possible? Would it be worth it? Any other ideas or inserts that would fit rather than altering the opening? My main concern is burn time and heat output when considering inserts.

 

[begreen]

I'm wondering how large of an insert is needed to heat this area? Seems like a 2-2.3 cu ft insert may suffice. The bedrooms will only get a small percentage of the heat relative to the open space. How large of an area is the open part of the house where the insert will be located? How well insulated is the house?

 

[mightytitan9]

I'm wondering how large of an insert is needed to heat this area? Seems like a 2-2.3 cu ft insert may suffice. The bedrooms will only get a small percentage of the heat relative to the open space. How large of an area is the open part of the house where the insert will be located? How well insulated is the house?

The room the insert would be in is 33x25 with vaulted ceilings 12ft at the peak. The house is fairly well insulated. A smaller insert is definitely an option. I just know in our previous house we had one that was rated for 1200sq ft and it barely heated the 400 sq ft room it was in and would only hold a 5 hour burn time so I err on the side of being too big than too small. I think the initial (prior to upgrading to the Osburn 2400) was closer to a 1.5cu ft though.

 

[begreen]

A PE super insert would fit there. It will do an 8-10 hr burn with hot coals in the morning. Looks like the Regency i2450 would also just fit.

 

[mightytitan9]

A PE super insert would fit there. It will do an 8-10 hr burn with hot coals in the morning. Looks like the Regency i2450 would also just fit.

I like the Regency i2450 alot, unfortunately we have no local dealers and I'm having trouble even locating online retailers. The PE Super is definitely a candidate

 

[begreen]

The Kuma Alpine LE is also worth checking out. It qualifies for the 26% tax credit.

 

[mightytitan9]

The Kuma Alpine LE is also worth checking out. It qualifies for the 26% tax credit.

I'd never heard of these until I started researching the tax credit, it definitely looks like a candidate

 

[kennyp2339]

I'd never heard of these until I started researching the tax credit, it definitely looks like a candidate

Kuma is USA made and their products are pretty bullet proof, lots of happy customers over the last few seasons.

 

[begreen]

I'd never heard of these until I started researching the tax credit, it definitely looks like a candidate

It's a smaller stove business with good customer support and quality.

 

[clancey]

Nice looking insert...clancey

Alpine LE-1Fireplace Insert, Wood Stove Insert by Kuma Stoves

The Alpine LE-1 insert is the perfect choice for for small fireplaces, and will improve both the heat efficiency and the look of the room. Get yours now at Kuma Stoves.

www.kumastoves.com

 

[mightytitan9]

Well, right now I'm planning on inserting a new lintel on the row of brick above the current lintel. Then removing that row of brick to create a taller opening and as of right now I think I'm going with the Montlake 300 as long as availability isn't too bad.

 

[mightytitan9]

The row of bricks have been removed, resulting in an opening that is now 25.5 inches tall. Unfortunately I am getting conflicting results on what height I need exactly the Osburn 3500 (between 24 7/8 to 26 1/4) so I went the safe route and ordered an Ironstrike Montlake 300 (23.5 inches tall) and it's currently backordered 6-8 weeks, so i'm hoping by Christmas. On the plus side, the Montlake does qualify for the tax credit and with some (likely) needed chimney repair (at least a liner), that will help neutralize some cost. Montlake is going to run right around $4000 compared to closer to $3000 for the Osburn

 

[begreen]

Was the lintel angle iron raised as well?

 

[mightytitan9]

Yes it was. I was originally planning on installing the new one prior to removing the old one, but the old one went a small amount above where the new one needed to start. I carefully cut the old one out, removed that row of bricks and put the new one in. I was only able to overlap the edge about 4.5 inches, where it recommeneded 6 inches from my research, but I think 4.5 will be plenty of overlap honestly.

Overall, very pleased with the ease of the project and excited that I will be able to get a larger insert in it now

 

[mightytitan9]

10 months later and the Montlake 300 has arrived!

I'll post pictures when it gets installed

 

[mightytitan9]

I finally got it installed about 2 weeks ago. It got down in the 20s this week, so I started it and ran a few small fires on it. I think it will produce very good results.