The insert doesnt really NEED the surround, does it?

[wood-fan-atic]

I cant think of ANY reason that my insert NEEDS the surround that comes with it. It is the same as the Drolet and Enerzone inserts, and my wife hates that it came with the gold trim. I want to take it off and paint it black, and it got me thinking.....how come they MAKE you buy one when you purchase the stove. Mine came with it, but I know that Drolet and Enerzone make you purchase it seperately. I had a pretty large fireplace opening, that was open on both sides, and used to have a large VC Dutchwest cat in there - and it certainly didnt have a 'surround'. It seems to be there just for aesthetics? Any thoughts??

 

[Wingman]

I didn't put mine on. I think it looks better with it off. And with my block off plate, why trap the heat behind the insert and below the block off?

 

[kgrant]

I'm not running a surround. I see no reason why you would NEED to. I didn't have to buy one either.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

I think I'm going to take mine off.....at least to paint it. And maybe permanently, we'll see how it goes.

 

[Fsappo]

You may not need it as far as common sense and function. You may want to check your owners manual to see if it voids any codes or warrantys

 

[pgmr]

In the past, when inserts were just shoved into the fireplace with no connection to the chimney above, the surround was used to limit the amount of air bypassing the stove and ruining the draft and causing smoke spillout.

Now days, some inserts are kind of ugly in the area behind where the surround panel is designed to sit. So it's mostly just cosmetic as long as there is a connection to the chimney or a full liner installed.

We have a corner fireplace and wanted to leave both sides open, so we opted for a stove that could be used as either an insert or free standing, since it wouldn't have the same "insert ugliness" noted above. It is a fully shelled unit (firebox surrounded on 5 sides by outer shell of steel), so there is not a lot of heat "gained" by leaving the surround off, but there is some. In an interior fireplace like ours, heat "lost" into the masonry isn't really all "lost". Much of it is re-radiated into the living space, though I'm sure some is conducted into the attic and crawl space.

 

[Lanningjw]

I took off the surround panels on my BK Princess insert. I thought it would help to get some of that blocked heat behind the panel out into area we are trying to heat. I did not notice any big difference with the panels off. I did get a complaint from the interior design department head, so the panels are back on the insert.

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[maverick06]

My understanding is that the surround was required to meet the fire code requirements. The firestove i have (FPX 33) had a large surround. When i asked if it was truely required, the dealer said he thought it was in order to need to meet fire code, Since I was having a stove fascade put on the fireplace, i just had the stone put ontop of the surround. I figured it was better than just ignoring the requirement.