Are you positively sure that you already have a stainless steel liner? And what do you mean by having a "heatalator" installed with a liner?

Yes,
the S.S. liner goes up thru my attic.
The heatilator is an insert into the hearth that is
supposed to circulate air in the room (it doesn't work
well).
So if I already have the liner, couldn't I install the
woodburning insert and connect to the exist. S.S. liner?
I'm not sure what else would be involved.

You are probably confusing a stainless steel liner with a pre-fab chimney pipe. They are two different things and the latter cannot be used with any kind of an insert or stove installed with it as the chimney. A stainless steel liner would still need to be installed.

A hearth is the area in front of a fireplace.
A firebox is the actual place where the fire is built.
A fireplace insert is a woodstove made to fit inside the fireplace.
I do not know what you are referring to when you are calling something a heatilator. Heatilator is a brand of fireplace, not a type of something. Are you possibly referring to a blower of some sort that was stuck in the firebox?

sorry for the wrong terminology, as its all new to me.
I believe this house was built without a fireplace.
I assumed what I saw in my attic was a double-walled liner.
It's a good 18" in diameter. It looks to me that the hearth
and firebox was built to house the Heatilator. There is no masonary viewable inside the firebox. The interior
of the firebox has steel panels that join together and
funnel up to about a 6" dampner opening.
The hearth has an 8"lg by 1 1/2" grate at the fireplace
opening, which as far as I can tell is just a cavity in the hearth. THe hearth also has a cavity built-in at the back of the fireplace against the outside wall. I don't know why
either are there (circulation?) The Heatilator doesn't have a blower, only a open/close vent at the bottom right.
If I determine the size of the internal diameter of the chimney pipe and its suitable, couldn't that be joined with
the pipe from the new wood burning insert?

It sounds like you have a cheapie pre-fab, zero-clearance fireplace.

You CANNOT vent any wood stove or a woodburning insert into it without a stainless steel liner installed. Add to this, that you can only install an insert that is approved for factory-built fireplaces. The Century is only for masonry fireplaces, hence, you cannot install this under any circumstances in this fireplace.

As I stated, the factory-built fireplaces use a cheap double-wall pipe. It cannot handle the heat that a wood stove would produce and it cannot be connected to it alone without the proper liner. Wood stoves require a triple-wall, or a special double-wall insulated chimney pipe approved for wood stove use.

You cannot do what you are proposing to do. I suggest that you go to your better local wood stove shop and look at some more options, if any, in your price range.

Xanndra,
thanks for your input. I stopped at a fireplace dealer
and he basically said the same thing. I think my best
option now would be a fireplace radiator. Something like this
http://www.northlineexpress.com/detail~PRODUCT_ID~5mf-44100.asp

thanks

Don't waste the money on one of those grate heater gizmos. You can install a wood burning insert in a prefab firebox, but you need to carefully select the insert, it must have a 6" SS liner, and from my experience, should be installed by a pro. I ended up installing a Lopi Revere in my 42" prefab firebox and it works great. That Lopi has the best controls I have ever seen in a wood burner. One word of warning: By the time you invest in quality wood insert, buy the liner, cast iron boot and insulation for the liner, plus installation, you will likely have $2,800 invested. Depending on where you live, plan on 3 years for return on investment, and lots of time each year for firewood duty. I have 3 full cords for this winter, and will start in February working on next winter.

$500 is a lot for this thing. The only chance it has to work (add the btu's that it claims) is for you to use it in conjunction with glass doors that are closed during burning. The closed glass doors will minimize the excess air consumption of the fireplace so that heated air in your house will not go up the chimney and be replaced by cold, outside air. Are you able to raise the glass doors to the required height for this radiator??

Most glass doors cannot be closed during operation of the fireplace, they must be left open.

You are trying to put a band-aid over a gushing, deep wound.

Keeping the glass doors open during burning negates their purpose of restricting excess combustion air (heated room air) from going up the chimney. I have a set of tempered glass doors with a wire mesh curtain for my one-of-a-kind insert and I burn with the glass doors closed. In 4 winters of burning, I have had no problems with the glass cracking. I am also keen on preventing the burning logs from touching the mesh curtain or glass doors.

I guess you haven't read the other threads that addressed this very issue of open or closed glass doors to open fireplaces. And I will also guess that you didn't read the thread where someone's glass doors exploded because she closed them when she shouldn't have.

Don't mix up experiences of open fireplaces with inserts or woodstoves. They are different things.

The issue is the type of glass that is used in the doors. Tempered glass is heat treated for strength and when broken, it shatters into small pieces and not large shards. Tempered glass is used in the side windows of vehicles (and probably most fireplace glass doors). Non-tempered glass is typical window glass and is not heat treated for strength. Both of these types of glasses (especially the non-tempered) are susceptible to localized over-heating (and shattering) if a burning log lays against the glass. High-silica glass is used in the doors of quality inserts and woodstoves. It has the best heat and thermal shock resistance and also allows for UV rays to pass through the glass and provide additional heat to the room.

My glass doors are tempered, and I am careful not to allow a burning log to lay against the steel mesh curtain or the glass doors.

Hello,

I am building a new home and want to incorporate a wood burning wood stove insert into a compatable pre fab firebox. The exterior of the fire place will be a type of manufactured stone. Can this be done. Thanks Tom