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I have an old heatilator wood burning fireplace. It originally had a brick surround. At some point the former owner install a wood surround over the brick. I would now like to have a gas insert installed. Can I do so with the wood surround? It is attractive, and if would prefer to not remove it. Thanks for any advice!

Excuse me DGB; the question was about what to go with. The wood insert, assuming you wish to deal with the ash, enjoy the fruits of your labor (handling wood) and have the wood is the cheapest BTU here to supplement the oil boiler. Of course tightening up the envelope and shutting down the draft going up the open chimney should be addressed. I donÂt understand the hot water coil though, why ad a coil and give up the duct loss when you already have baseboard convection?

The air is supposed to be drawn by fans up through the bottom grates, and out through those top vents? You can hear and see the fans running, but not feel the air? Which way are the fans facing? Is it possible that someone did some maintenance and installed the fans backward? Do the pipes crisscross behind there, or does each simply run up on its respective side? A problem with your description is that you said there are "blowers at the bottom and vents at the top." That suggests that the air is being drawn in through the top vents and 'blown' out the bottom. Have you been able to see behind there yet? If it's a closed system, as it seems to be, there shouldn't be any problems. However, since it could easily be 35- 50 years old, anything could have happened Are the tubes those solid 3"-4" dryer vents, or wider like solid furnace venting? Is it possible that they are galvanized metal instead of aluminum and they have rusted back inside? Heat from fires can catalyze the breakdown of galvanized metals. The size of the fans will, of course, make a big difference with what you feel, but if the fans are accessible, I'd remove them and run a wire up through there to check for blockages. Mice shouldn't have been able to get in there, but who knows. A good plumber should have one of those vid cameras on a snake, but of course that will cost. Maybe you could fashion your own.