Upgrade B Vent to Direct Vent?

[gr8dane]

Sorry for the newbie question, but I haven't been able to find an answer to this question anywhere.

I live in a towhhome where we have an old gas fireplace that presumably uses a B Vent (no wood burning allowed and pipes run inside the wall). I would like to upgrade the fireplace to a more contemporary unit and really like the looks of the Montigo LV series, but these are all DV units. From the documentation, I see that they will take a vertical DV. The question then becomes: Is it possible to upgrade my existing B Vent pipes to DV pipes? I'm obviously looking at having this professionally done, but I'm trying to find out if it's even possible, and if so, how big a deal it is? The fireplace is on the first floor of a 2 story home. There is also an exterior wall perpendicular to the fireplace as well as a crawl space below the entire living room (in case that presents different options).

Sorry if this is a naive question - I just really like the looks of the Montigo fireplaces and it seems B Vent fireplaces have a rather limited selection.

Thanks,

\ Henrik
Newport Beach, CA

 

[webbie]

It is a matter of getting the new pipe in - and the old one out. This can often be done to a large degree from the top and the bottom.....once you rip the old one out. Also, you might have the option - with the DV - of going up a few feet and then out the side...not going all way up. This would work fine and should cost less.

 

[jtp10181]

Cheapest way is to tear out the old B Vent and then run the direct vent out the sidewall. You will also get better performance out of the direct vent unit this way.