CanâÂÂt agree entirely with Mr Berlin. Codes, standards, listings, and changes to any of the a foregoing- itâÂÂs a really big and interesting conversation with nuances that are sure not going to be covered in this space. âÂÂLegalâ is a term used kind of loosely buy almost everybody and is determined in a court when itâÂÂs argued anyway. May I suggest focusing differentlyâ¦. The sweep is reasonable in not wanting to have anything to do with that fireplace stove installation. Even if not precisely illegal, itâÂÂs still a terrible installation and now universally recognized as such. New codes, standards and listings are all going to say put a liner all the way to the top when thereâÂÂs stove in the fireplace. (If your use of the word âÂÂinsertâ does not mean âÂÂstove in fireplaceâ weâÂÂre talking about two different things.) And this: IâÂÂm assuming this is a masonry fireplace. If itâÂÂs not, the conversation changes entirely because generally speaking you canâÂÂt put a liner inside a factory built chimney, and maybe not an insert in factory built fireplace. That is another very large subject with caveats galore, but something you look at carefully. So said, Regency does make a unit that can go into a factory built fireplace, and DuraVent does make a liner product that is listed for use in factory built chimneys (albeit difficult to get so far- itâÂÂs new) And to give some perspective, $4000 for both stove and liner installed is actually a decent price. WeâÂÂd be maybe $500 higher than that (depends on what stove of course, options etc.) and most of our competitors charge more than we do. You may decide not to go with the sweepâÂÂs recommendations, but it sounds from here that your sweep was not a crook, just a conscientious guy. FWIW, and I donâÂÂt want to sound offensive, we(as a chimney sweep company) wouldn't service that unit either because of the potential liability of that installation. Whatever you decide, do keep in mind that a fire in the living room is inherently dangerous to begin with and you want to be as sure as you can itâÂÂs going to stay where it belongs!

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?

Going on my 2nd year with the Quadrafire 7100. Although the weather has been mild so far this year, I've already learned some things in regards to heating with the 7100 the previous year that I know will benefit me this year. First, as some have already pointed out, the fan kicking on randomly appears to be a feature in most of the units. So... when I sense that the unit is hot enough, I just kick on the manual fan switch and let it run. Although we have 3 floors including our basement, the upper floors have about 3100 sqft. The first floor has 9 ft ceilings and the foyer is open space (2 story). The system does a great job of raising the temperature a good 6 to 7 degrees in a few hours if you run it with the fan. Letting the fan come on randomly (which it seems to do) it takes much longer. Before installing the 7100, primary heat on the main floor was propane with a heat pump upstairs. Unless the temp dips into the teens, the quad heats both upper floors - a savings on propane and electric. The quad is in a great room. When the fan is running and the heat has been distributed well, you can walk around some on the end opposite of the quad and pass through, what I call, little hot pockets. It would be interesting to somehow be able to follow the air flow (like with a colored spray). I have noticed that if a little bit of smoke escapes when I open the doors, just a few moments later, I can smell the smoke the most at the top of the stairs and that's on the other side of the house. So it rises quickly. Oh, that reminds me - I've learned to open the doors slowly and let the draft settle the light ashe first before opening all the way. That keeps it a bit more clean. Other tips: - Burning good seasoned hard wood with bigger splits (as others have suggested) is a really good thing. I don't have to damp it down all the way and still have good coals left in the morning up to 8 hours. Like others, I don't know where this "up to 16 hours" burn time came from. Not having to damp it down as much saves on glass cleaning as well. I used to spend a lot of time cleaning the glass. I've cleaned it once this year. If there is not much of a coating on the glass, a good hot fire burns it off anyway. - To get a fire going from coals in the morning, I just crack the door a little (leave the handle in the down position and let the draft pull it closed) and a fire kicks up in less than a minute in most cases. - The timer does a decent job most of the time, but there are times when it seems to hang. That might be due to the air intake lever being a little too far to the right. - I do take up ashes every two to three days. I'm thinking of buying an ashe vac, but don't know if it's worth the cost. - I still feel a little uncomfortable about leaving a fire going when we're not home, but the more I learn about the system, the more comfortable I am. And as long as I have the chimney inspected and cleaned every year, I think we'll be fine. Overall, I'm happy with the 7100. I am thinking of buying a humidifier. Burning does dry the air out quite a bit. Happy heating to all out there.

Ohh i started a thread for you on a good wood burner site. http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/5108/ I do think that its crazy that you modded your stove, you have to look at local conditions first, that stove is on the market because it went through extensive testing, and you just voidied that listing, you have to figure it works as designed, and if its not working then there is somthing wrong with the install. if for somereason your burn your house down, and the insurance company finds out you modded the stove your SOL.