Hello,
The fireplace in my home contains a “heat-a-lator” which is made of metal. It consists of a metal shell which lines the entire interior of the fireplace. There is a low vent on each side of the fireplace opening and one large vent above. It supposedly heats more room air by circulating it by convection through the lower two vents, behind the metal-lined fire and back out into the room through the large vent at top.
Unfortunately, when trying to repair the lever which opens and closes the flue, I realized that the entire shell is rusted nearly through and whatever the flue door was attached to had oxidized into a fine powder. This all started because this lever broke off of the sliding door. To make a long story short, I have removed the badly rusted flue so there is now no way to close this opening. I am concerned about the condition of the liner, as I am now aware that there are many rust holes in the liner along the bottom, and I don’t see why the same conductive forces would not circulate combustive gases into the room. Oh, and I don’t want to burn down the house I’ve nearly completed refinishing. The chimney and fireplace are constructed of brick. The stack is in good condition and lined with those rectangular red clay units.
I am interested in hearing any options you all may think of. We don’t have fires frequently, so I am disinclined from the idea of installing a new heat-circulating unit. It never really seemed very effective. Could I just remove the liner and install a new flue? Naturally I discovered all this after having tiled the face with limestone and installed custom cut aluminum vent covers. Note to self. I would appreciate any suggestions…
-Jeff
Replies
this is just me thinking out loud here ...
but when it comes to me possibly burning down my house or killing my family with toxic fumes as they sleep ...
I crack open my wallet and pay someone that actually knows what they're doing come and take a look-see.
Now that's just me ....
where ya at? My fireplace guy's name is Bob ... he travels.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
I have been in the fireplace business for 30 years and have removed many Heatalators, usually due to rust.Your choices are removing the interior face or go in from the back if possible.Some units come out easy and some need to be cut out in pieces.You have to be real careful when taking apart the interior sections of a masonry fireplace due to the extreme weight over head.You can replace with another metal unit , which I rarely do or have a new firebox constructed with a new throat section.Hope this helps.
>>We don't have fires frequently, so I am disinclined from the idea of installing a new heat-circulating unit.
Save the money and buy a good cemetary plot instead. You'll be using it a lot sooner than you think.
CO poisoning is said to be a very easy way to go. You just fall asleep.
Of course, if you don't actually die the long term physical probelms (primarily heart problems and brain function problems) can make your life a living hell ....
But heck, just think of the money you've saved!
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Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
I think he was just saying he would have it be a conventional fireplace without a heat-a-lator; not planning to use the fireplace until it is properly fixed.
Vegetarian: Indian word for "lousy hunter"
Third option is to cap the flue and never use it agian. Of course if you sell the place you will have to diclose that problem.
BTW welcome to Breaktime.
Dave
Hi Jeff,
I bought a house two years ago with two of these heat-a-lator fireplaces without even knowing what they were.Until Lisa L. and others here gave me a heads up I didn't know what I was even looking at.I then hired a great chimney sweep/mason and he educated me even further.It turns out my upstairs fireplace was fine but the one in the basement was shot like yours.He said the metal fireboxes just don't last in the humidity of the basement.When I tried to operate the damper at first it came down and nearly took my head off.
Anyway he said that the solution was to cut out the firebox with a torch,fold it in and remove it,and then build a new firebox/smokeshelf with regular firebrick and install a new damper.He said most of the cost is in the demolition of the old metal firebox because it's such a messy PITA.He told me if I removed the metal shell he would give me a good price on re-building the firebrick box.The flue liner isn't involved.
I haven't messed with the basement fireplace,other than putting on chimney caps on all the flues, because I have so many other things I want to do first.This Christmas Eve we finally had a fire in the upstairs fireplace and man was it nice.The vents after a while were kicking some heat too.Not a lot of velocity,but when you compare it to the temperature of the air coming out of a supply register it's several degrees hotter.I just haven't come to a conclusion yet about the net heat gain of a fireplace.The Internet HVAC geeks say there's none but I don't want to believe it.
I wish I was far enough along to have your limestone face.Mine is knotty pine and it chaps my @ss every time I walk into the room.
Barry
And make sure you have a chimney cap up top.After the mason pointed it out I looked at a ton of half million dollar homes in the area with ornate,corbled chimneys with no caps.They might not look as nice but getting rain and snow freezing and thawing in between your flue liner courses is asking for trouble.
Barry,
Thanks for the great advice. I'll probably look into finding someone experienced to build a new firebox along the lines of what you described... Good luck with your projects!
-Jeff
Find a mason with experience in fireplaces.
experience needed because not just any brick can be used to line a fireplace, and because there are lots of details about throat size relative to openning that he needs to know, or the new will not draw well, so it is best to get an experienced and insured one - that or follow Bob's advice
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
What Jeff J. Buck said. But also:
1) There is an FHB advertiser who specialises in clay chimney pots. They also make a prefab, fireclay Rumford style fire place liner. They ship in pieces and your mason installs. If you're not familiar with Rumford, check it out before discarding this suggestion.
2) Another option is a gas fireplace insert. Vermont Castings and others make some good ones.
3) And, I repeat, wjat Jeff J. Buck said.
Just did one of these this past October. Thank god I had my brandee new PC articulating reciprocating saw.........and about $60.00 worth of blades!
I cut out the heatilator, and built a new masonry fireplace in its place. I did NOT rebuild it as a heatilator, the homeowner just plugged up the inlet/outlets. Never heard much good about them anyway.
The Rumford fireplace design is a great idea, although it can be a lot of work to retrofit into a heatilator space. Rumfords are typically square, so if you have to work within the confines of what's existing, you'll end up with a smaller fireplace, unless you want to take down your wall and really open up a can of worms. Then you're limited by your existing flue tile size.
Here are some Rumfords I've built.
http://www.rumford.com/bishop.html
Rod
Rod,
The pictures of your work are beautiful.
I've been through your town many times,it's nice also.
Barry
Thanks IBEW Barry,BTW, what's a guy from Ohio doing in a small town in CT, several times no less!This is a nice town, I moved my kids out of a bigger town, (when my oldest son started talking like a thug @ 12), and found a nice little spot here. Been many a day, after work, that is really nice to come home. Small town atmosphere around here, although we did just get our first Wendy's this year. Right across the street for Micky D's. Guess you really can't stop progress. Rod
Hi Rod,
My father was in the Submarine Service and my mom's family had settled in New London.When my sister grew up she moved to Quaker Hill and married a guy from Montville,and they had friends near you.I'm sure the area has changed a lot from the last time I was through,yet, you can always tell there are roots from another time.There are few places where you can go to a restaurant that's been in business since the 1700's.
Barry