Woodburing Insert Installation -- Follow along

[rhyano]

Im new here, and have spent the better part of the last 6weeks reading and researching as much as I can about wood burning inserts and their installation. I gained a ton of knowledge and I still have a lot more to learn. I wanted to do this thread to help any new people out who were in the same position I was in a few weeks ago when I was just starting to look into getting an insert for my fire place.

Here we go!

Why an wood burning insert? I had an older (1983) masonary fire place with a heat exchanger on top of the fire box and glass doors. I have used this fireplace like this for the past few years as much as I could to help offset the cost of natural gas that I had been using to heat my home. The house is a 1200 sqft 2 story house and the fireplace kept it at about 70 even on the coldest of days. But to get that kind of heat I had to burn LOTS of wood (Hickory, Oak, and Locust). On a typical winter I go through a minimum of 4 chords of wood.

I love cutting splitting and stacking firewood, but I felt like I was wasting so much of it with my in-efficient fireplace. I needed to find an alternative solution to still heat with wood but use a much more efficient way of burning it.

Here is what I settled on for my new woodburning setup. I am on a very tight budget so I had to keep cost in mind as I was planning this project.
Drolet Escape 1400i wood burning insert.
Selkirk 6" dia. 25' stainless steel flex liner.
Insulation wrap for the flex-liner -- 1/2"
Blockoff plate that was custom made from stainless steel from our fab shop at work.


Im installing it this weekend and the pics below show the process that I am going through to get this done.

Im always looking to gain new knowledge on things so please feel free to offer any comments, insight, or any other advise. Like I said im trying to learn as much as I can and I hope that this thread serves to help others out as well.

 

[rhyano]

Here is my home. It is small but it is cozy and its our home.

1200 sq.ft. 2 story. It was built by my dad in 1983 and now I have the honor of owning it.
The fireplace is in the living room on the first floor where my family (wife and 3 kids) spend most of our time.

Here is the fireplace opening also with the doors removed.

The last picture shows the heat exchanger tubes that pulled heat out into the room via a blower contained in the hearth.

 

[rhyano]

Earlier in the week I cut out the heat exchanger pipes (what a mess!) now I know why installers charge the amount they do.

 

[rhyano]

Here is the blockoff plate that I drew up on the cad system and had the fabrication shop cut out this plate for me.
It fit nice and snug and should work well.

I had it made out of 20 gauge stainless steel.

I am planning on using some left over insulation wrap to seal off where the chimney liner passes through as well as insulate the top side of the plate.

 

[rhyano]

This morning I got the flex liner wrapped with the 1/2" of insulation.

The attached pictures show how I hooked up the appliance adapter coupler. I used 8-32 stainless steel machine screws with fender washers on the inside. I figured that the fender washers will help securely hold the flex liner to the coupler.

I then wrapped the flex pipe with insulation.

Once it was wrapped with insulation I put the wire mesh around the outside of the insulation and secured it with a band clamp and tightened it up snug.

 

[rhyano]

Well that is how far I got today.

I did move the insert inside and got it setup on the hearth... ready to slide into place. I did remove all the fire bricks before moving it inside the house. I did mark them so that they can be re-installed in the correct locations.

Tomorrow morning my helper will be here at 9:30 to get the liner up on the 2nd story roof and then to help me get it slid down into place.

It will then be upto me to connect the new chimney to the insert, and then finish the top plate off.

Hopefully all will go smoothly and Smoke is up by mid-afternoon.

 

[semipro]

Thanks for relating your experience. I just finished a similar install and really appreciate what you're going through especially the part where you're cutting out the heat exchanger tubes. I'm happy with mine. I wish you success with yours.

 

[bren582]

Looks like things are coming along nicely Rhyano. No doubt I couldn't have done my own install without scanning this forum and asking questions along the way. So much seasoned experience on the forum.. This Reminds me of my DIY install experience. I'm a bit of a block off plate nut case and yours is one on the nicest ones I've seen. Keep the process coming.. It's great to see others go through it even for those of us who already have a unit installed..

 

[rhyano]

Thank you guys very much.

I must admit that cutting those heat exchanger tubes was much more difficult than I had imangined.. and MUCH more messy.

The weather man is calling for high 20s tomorrow night, and I am hoping to be enjoying a nice beverage next to my toasty warm fire.

 

[rhyano]

Well yesterday was the big install day, and everything got wrapped up at about 2pm.

The installation went pretty smooth. The only thing that got my heart going was that the liner was a bit of a tight fit through the opening in the heat exchanger tubes that I had cut... I really should have cut another inch or so out of them. The liner fit up pretty good at the insert and I secured it with 3 stainless steel screws and added some hi temp chimney sealer at the joint to eliminate any air leaks at the chimney.

I lit the first break in fire with some scrap 2x4 that I split up. I brought it upto 250 degrees then let it cool. I did another fire just like this, then the third fire I took upto 450 degrees stove top temperature which I achieved until the blower kicked on. The temperature did drop a bit but I just maintained the fire and called it good.

Here are some pictures of the connection at the insert top (note I did add an extra wrap of insulation around this connection so you cant see the screws or connector anymore) I also took a picture of the first fire.

 

[rhyano]

Okay its finished. Here is the insert installed and at full operating temperature this morning.
I loaded it about 3/4 full with mixed hard wood and a few pieces of pine and at the stove top with the fan blower on I have been at just over 400 degrees for about 90 minutes now. House has came up 5 degrees in that time and the family is enjoying the nice warm living room.

I want to thank every one in these forums for every helpful post that they made to help educate others. There is no way I could have done this installation without the sharking of knowledge that I learned from this forum. I just want to thank everyone.

Thanks guys!
Ryan

 

[blakesavage20]

Hi rhyano. From reading your postings I have noticed that I am in a similar situation that you were in when you first started your research. The only problem is I think I know even less then you did. I am wanting to put my own insert into an existing fireplace as well and it just so happens that I was looking at the exact same insert that you purchased. If you don't mind I have a couple of questions for you in hope to have a better chance of getting this project done. First, what is the insulated liner for that you wrapped around the chimney pipe? How did you secure the chimney pipe in your existing chimney? What was your existing chimney lined with? Have you enjoyed the insert, and does it warm the house up like you were hoping for? Finally, if you don't mind me asking approximately what was the total cost of install. I am sorry for all the questions, but I really want to get this done before the winter sets in, and I don't know who to ask some of these questions that won't be trying to sell me something.


Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

 

[Stevebass4]

very nice job

 

[aussiedog3]

Ryan,

Is that a Drolet? How is it going after a week or so? Does the blower move enough air? I have been looking at the Drolet.

 

[Russ in Chicagoland]

Nice work, and so much better looking than what was there before!

 

[joe245]

Question on the Block Off plate. Does it need to go between the Lintel and the Damper ? I'm getting ready to put thee some stove in (lots of good reviews) I was just going to us a top/bottom plate an fit it up in the smoke chamber and seal it of there,or does it have to go at the damper.I know it would be easier to work at the damper but the bottom plate is already made up. Then I was going to insulate from there down to the connector, and yes the rest of the liner will be insulated(I think I can get up there once the damper is cut out )

 

[rhyano]

First, what is the insulated liner for that you wrapped around the chimney pipe?
I used 1/2" Inuslation wrap that is meant for wrapping flexiable chimney liners. I purchased this on ebay and it was of good quality and installed very easily.

How did you secure the chimney pipe in your existing chimney?
Great question. I had this question too when I was researching everything. I first secured the liner to the insert. Then I went back onto the roof and with a helper. I then cut the excess insulation from the remaining flex pipe. I then slid the top plate down over the top plate, and pulled up on the liner as tight as i could and clamped the top plate tightening clamp around the flex pipe. So when I then released the flex pipe it held the top plate down tight on the top of the exsisting chimney. So its basically held on by a clamp at the top of the chimney.

What was your existing chimney lined with?
My existing chimney was originally lined with 12x12 terra cotta.

Have you enjoyed the insert, and does it warm the house up like you were hoping for?
This insert has exceeded my expectations so far. I can now easily heat the room the insert is in ~12'x14' to about 85deg. on just 3 pieces of dried locust. We have not had temperatures lower than about 27degrees so far. But from what I can tell it should heat my house nicely. It typically heats up very quickly to turn on the fan from a cold start in about 20 min when i put some pine kindling in it. Once its going good with dried cord wood, it will burn for a good 3 hours with flames and the air control about 7/8 closed. At this setting it sets in around 550 degrees for an hour, then drops down to about 400 - 450 the remaining burn time... and wont get down to 300 degrees till the 3.5 - 4 hour mark. The thermometer (Rutland) is placed at the front center of the top plate.

Finally, if you don’t mind me asking approximately what was the total cost of install?
My total cost is about ~$1400 completely self installed.

I am extremely impressed with this setup and I wish I had put it in years ago. I typically used about 4-5 chords of wood... and I now hope to heat my house much better on under 3 cords of wood.

 

[rhyano]

aussiedog3

The blower moves plenty of air on the highest setting. In fact I leave it at about 3/4 setting and it is more than adequate.

As I said in my previous post, I would highly recommend this insert. The build quality is very high. Constructed with thick 1/4" plate steel. Very impressive unit.

 

[rhyano]

Joe,

To answer your question about the block off plate.

I put my plate on top of the lintel. It actually sits on top of it. I used just the one blockoff plate. I sealed up the air gap between the insulated liner and the block off plate with some extra insulation, so its completely sealed off.

Ryan

 

[Pagey]

Great thread, and a great looking install! It's nice to see these "start to finish" type threads, as they can really help people visualize the entire install process. And we have several people considering inserts + liners right now! Very timely.

 

[joe245]

Rhyano ,what was the heat rating on the silicone you used around the out side edges of the block off plate? Or did you use any ?

 

[rhyano]

Thank you for the kind words guys.

I did not use any sealant on the block off plate as the plate I put it fit very snug at the top of the original firebox. The only are that I did seal off was around the liner, and that was with some leftover insulation.

 

[joe245]

Nice job. Looks great.

 

[blakesavage20]

Did you put some sort of wire mesh on after putting the insulation on the pipe? If so what was the need for the wire mesh? Also, I am still kind of confused about the insulation, is it there to protect the existing chimney from the extreme heat produced by the insert?

Thanks

 

[rhyano]

Good questions.

I did install the wire mesh around the insulation. The wire mesh helps secure the insulation on the flex pipe, and it also protects the insulation as it is slid down the chimney.

The function of the insulation is two-fold. First it does provide some extra fire protection but the flex liner should take care of that. The most important aspect of insulating the flex pipe is to help keep the flex pipe hot the entire length of the chimney... thus reducing the amount of cresote that can build up. An insulated flex liner also helps provide a more consistent draft because the inside of the flex liner is always hot it will draft better.