I am new here but I have been reading the forum for a couple of months. We are finishing up our framing at this time but I looked at my profile and it says I live in Afganastan and I live in the Alabama. Is there anyway to change this.

Hi, marchell, and welcome! I, too, am in Alabama; we're just starting our owner-build - we hope to pour the footer on Friday. I have been told that prefab fireplaces aren't big enough to accommodate an insert. What we're looking at, and we also intend on using our fireplace as our main heat source, is the Heatilator Constitution, which combines the firebox and insert into one. It's the most efficient unit we've found. Actually, we were told about two more units (I think) that were similar in efficiency and cost a little less, but we really like the looks of the Constitution. Hope this helps!

marchell, you can change your personal profile information. Click on your name in the posting, then look to the bottom to Memeber's page. There you can change your information.

Sorry, no advice for you on the fireplace.

Thanks so much for the post on the prefab and the profile changes.

I'm not clear just what you are asking...

While a masonry fireplace is a thing of beauty, once you've placed an 'insert' in there, you won't be able to tell that you spent about 5 times as much for true masonry versus a steel box with triple wall chimney and a nice masonry facing.

The place to start, I think, is your local fp shop, or interview some local masons.

If you plan on using the fireplace insert as a heater, make sure you spend the money and get a very good unit. I have a Fireplace Xtrordinair wood burner as well as a gas unit too - both are rated as heaters and can generate a lot of BTU's which is what you will need to heat your house. And they work. The fire looks great and since the doors to the insert closes, you don't loose heat out the flue as you would with a masonrt fireplace.

We use the fireplaces as our backup heat since the primary is geothermal and when the electric goes out so do the heat pumps.

I recommend that you have fans installed with the fireplace units and wall thermostats too - the fan/tstat combo runs about 200 dollars per unit. Connect the fans to a backup generator so that you always have the ability to push the warm air generated by the fireplace into and around the room it is in.

Since you are planning to use the fireplace as primary heat, I would think you will also need some kind of air circulation system in the house to make sure that all rooms get the heat generated by the fireplaces. When I am on backup heat, I plan on using portable fans to move the hot air around the house.

One last thing - the really good wood burner inserts have very special venting requirements. Make sure you look at the spec sheets for the firplaces before you frame the house and chase to carry the flue. My FPX 44 has a large flue which brings fresh air in pushes exhaust out. It laso has two 6 inch air intake vents for combustion PLUS an additional vent to bring fresh air in that is heated and pushed into the room. I could not believe the venting on this beast - but we love it.

You might want to start by looking around on the internet at what's available instead of just heading out to fireplace shops. We went to two "fireplace shops" in the B'ham area - one just told us they didn't have anything to meet our needs,and the other told us they didn't know that there was anyone who could! Neither directed us to the store 10 minutes away that carried what we need - we found it by looking for dealers on the manufacturer's website.

I suggest starting at the Fireplace forum and searching/posting on that. Make sure that you have a well qualified installer and do check their work to make sure it meets fire code and thgat they put the unit in according to the spec.

With these types of appliances - the absolute best price should not be the focus, safety has to be #1. Buy a unit that has a solid reputation, is built to last a long time, and make sure that you get a top notch install.

I also recommend that you put multiple CO sensors around the house and read/follow the manual.

Having lived in Alabama all my life...and hearing all the jokes...I'd have to say the Afghanistan error was kind of funny. : )

Amanda, did you end up getting it at a Pelham store? I hear it's great but haven't been. We did wood burning gas inserts (blank brain on manufacturer). DH was tired of firewood after 20+ years but I wanted the option. We live just outside of Bham but do not use the FP for heating. A neighbor has a freestanding stove they use for heating.

Yes, the store in Pelham was great. We spent a lot of time talking to both the guy who ran the place and the installer. We're just beginning our build, so we haven't purchased the unit yet. We have found out that The Fire Place in Tuscaloosa, which is closer to us, can also install that unit for us. We haven't been there, though, because it's a by-appointment-only kind of showroom, and I don't particularly like that. They seem really knowledgeable on the phone though.