You would not necessarily be required to eliminate the pop out configuration. You could use 1/4 inch copper tubing cut in 3/8 inch lengths (need 4) and put regular crimp type eyelet wire terminals on the ends of the replacement diode wire pigtails. Then you use a machine thread screw and nut to secure the eyelet terminal to the short length of copper tube by running a screw through the tube lengthwise. Then secure the eyelet connection to the tube with a nut. Might need a flat washer under the nut. Pop the tube into the existing diode clips and you are set to go. Of course you must observe correct polarity.

My wife and I are building a custom home this year and our design calls for a double sided gas fireplace that will face into the great room on one side and the foyer on the other side, and our foot print is limited to about 4' wide X 2'6" deep. Since I was hoping for something more realistic looking than the typical direct vent, fixed glass gas fireplace units I started researching the nicer looking vented gas logs (Eiklor Flames). Most of these vented gas logs require installation into a solid fuel burning fireplace or stove. So searching around the web for a factory built, double sided wood burning fireplace I stumbled across the JUCA company http://mb-soft.com/juca/indexf.html#f-9a . Although it is not a zero clearance unit the model of interest is the F-9AX http://mb-soft.com/juca/indexf.html#f-9a3 JUCA says the current production time for this model is about 5 weeks. There is a LOT of information about wood burning fireplaces on the JUCA website. Does any one out there have any experience with a JUCA?

First, you might want to have the chimney cleaned and inspected. Second, I'd make an effort to contact the former owners, ask their advice: how often and how hot did they burn it, was is used after the pine trim was added, any issues you should be aware of before you fire it up... Then, you could build a nice hot fire [I know, not really the time of year for it], and monitor the temps in the areas you wish to change. Of you could just change it out as you please, and plan on never burning anything hotter than a candle in there...

Really, please accept my sincere apologies if you feel offended, but I have to wonder just how is this all too over whelming ? Maybe the answer that you are seeking is not so much a question of the physical management of chores, rather, the answer may be a readjustment to the reality that the duties of house keeping should not be overwhelming for someone who is at home. This depends on if you are directing your question towards those who have to balance both career and family, or those who can devote full time to it. Is a life like yours really that hectic and scattered that you might need a list of everyday mundane chores? Many, many, many women, wives, mothers manage quite well in the face of greater obligations and cares. You did not list career as one of those chores, so I would assume that you do not work. Even with school, your life should not be that complicated. Maybe there needs to be a question of rather or not these things are really problems that need a solution, or a spread sheet. I don't know what your field of study is, but you might find more to write about from a different aspect of home and family, such as distribution of labor in the family where both adults work, or the difficulty of raising a family, cooking, cleaning and doing laundry in the four or five hours between commuting home after work and going to bed. Now, there is a gal who needs the help. Management, calendars, spread sheets aside, what she needs is a stay at home wife! My grandmother raised a passel of kids, peas, pigs and cows on a farm. She managed quite well. My mother raised a family on a shoe string, and I was a stay at home mom and raised my two, kept house, a garden and did quite well. Management was never an operative word. It was just called "keeping house" and "raising kids". You did what you had to do. The difference between myself and this younger generation of women with careers is that keeping the home fires burning WAS my career. That is a whole lot of difference. One thing for your research is the idea that, in todays world, many children have to learn independence and responsibility early in life. The irony of it is the fact that is the way life was back innna' day, in times passed. Then, there came a short time, starting around mid century, when children were being raised by suburban moms in the new suburbs and most of these children had few responsibilities. Today it is going back to the idea that everyone in the family has a role to play in the management of the family life and home. The problem is that mom, who is the embodiment of the spreadsheet/calendar/chores list has left the home and is at work earning a living. We have yet to come to terms with working moms. Our society does yet accomodate them well.