Surround removal

[buc74]

I had a stove installed by local guy the first year I bought this house in 2012 when I new zero about wood stoves and burning of wood. Since then I've been working on a complete gutting of the house when time permitted. It's 4 hour drive one way to the vacation home up north. Now that I'm near the end and had some time I took the surround off to see how the install was done. My worst fear materialized once I got it off. No block off plate or even some insulation stuffed up by the liner. Lost allot of heat over last 8 years of burning. The Buck 74 still would heat this house (1400 sq. ft.) well to the point of opening windows at times. If I can't find a installer to come out and seal it up I'll try to stuff some insulation up by the liner. I'm not very comfortable with pulling the stove out myself, from what I see it's just resting on a few bricks to hold it up. I could end up with a 450# stove in there cock eyed. Worst case for this year I'll leave it as is with surround off. Yes that would be a real waste. A few pics for your entertainment.

 

[bholler]

They also didn't properly clean the fireplace before installing. Atleast the liner is insulated though

 

[BigJ273]

I wouldn’t be overly concerned about not having the block off plate. With a house that small, I think your “loss” is minimal. Just my opinion. I don’t have one, and with the surround and a top plate, I wonder how much difference it would actually make. I’ve heard some people say it makes a big difference, and I’ve heard the opposite as well.

 

[begreen]

I wouldn’t be overly concerned about not having the block off plate. With a house that small, I think your “loss” is minimal. Just my opinion. I don’t have one, and with the surround and a top plate, I wonder how much difference it would actually make. I’ve heard some people say it makes a big difference, and I’ve heard the opposite as well.

It's more noticeable with an exterior wall fireplace. We had one Jotul 550 owner here several years back that was cursing at the insert due to low heat output. He was looking for a larger insert, but very few would fit. After learning that the wood was dry and burning properly we convinced him to try a block-off plate. He did and a week later reported back that it was like having a new stove and that he would be keeping the Jotul. Putting a little insulation behind the insert helped too.