If you could make any modification to an older stove, could you make a slammer as safe as an open fireplace?
When you talk about a "slammer" I take it you are referring to an insert being placed inside a fireplace with no flex liner attached that goes all the way up to the top of the chimney. Instead, there is either just a short piece of pipe attached to the insert only past the smoke chamber or nothing at all attached to the insert and it just dumps smoke into the firebox of the fireplace and the smoke goes up the masonry chimney. Assuming this is what you are talking about, I would say it depends a lot on the size of the clay tile flue. One big problem with slammer installs is that there is no easy way to clean the chimney since the insert needs to be pulled out each time you do a sweep or else the creosote and ash ends up falling down the chimney where it ends up accumulating in the smoke chamber, the top of the insert, and inside the fireplace firebox.
If you were going to modify anything to improve the safety of a slammer install I don't think you'd modify the stove, rather you would want to modify the connection between the insert and the clay tile liner. I would think if the flue wasn't too large for the insert you might be able to fabricate something that connects to the insert and then flares out in such a way as to make an airtight connection with the clay liner. If you could do this successfully you would then keep all the creosote contained inside the insert like it is with a modern installation. Of course, this assumes that the insert you were using allowed you to access the top of the baffle or wherever the debris from the sweep ends up falling so you could remove it.
Slammer refers to an insert installation. Most inserts are not designed or tested to be freestanding. Most Buck stoves are an exception. Are you talking about an insert? If so, assuming 36" clearances, what would be the hearth insulation requirement?
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