We are about to close on a ‘foreclosure’ house that needs a fireplace. I'm attaching a photo of the room w/hearth. Long story short, the house was built in 1985 with a masonry fireplace. At some point in time, the owner tore out the masonry fireplace (inside the hearth, not outside) and put in a wood stove. When the owner left, they took the stove. So we are stuck with an open hearth.
We want a wood fireplace, and based on what I’ve read in this forum, we want a high efficiency zero clearance unit. The trick here is finding a unit that will slide in the hole without tearing everything down and starting over. The backside of the fireplace ‘hole’ is drywall on the adjacent room. The opening to the hearth is 44†W x 37†H. We live and a small town and the local fireplace installer wants us to choose from Lennox, and has pointed to the Brentwood as his recommendation ($7,600 installed w/flu, air intake, blower, etc). However, at only 35†wide the Brentwood will leave a significant ~4†gap on both sides to fill with surround. I think the KozyHeat Z42 would be a better fit (42†W x 38†H). If we went with the Z42, we need an extra inch in hearth clearance to fit it, which in my mind may mean removing raised hearth (beneath the hearth opening) to get it in, and then rebuild it.
Does anyone have any ideas as to a cost effective way to get an efficiency unit installed in this hole and had it ‘look good’?
Thanks for any help!
We want a wood fireplace, and based on what I’ve read in this forum, we want a high efficiency zero clearance unit. The trick here is finding a unit that will slide in the hole without tearing everything down and starting over. The backside of the fireplace ‘hole’ is drywall on the adjacent room. The opening to the hearth is 44†W x 37†H. We live and a small town and the local fireplace installer wants us to choose from Lennox, and has pointed to the Brentwood as his recommendation ($7,600 installed w/flu, air intake, blower, etc). However, at only 35†wide the Brentwood will leave a significant ~4†gap on both sides to fill with surround. I think the KozyHeat Z42 would be a better fit (42†W x 38†H). If we went with the Z42, we need an extra inch in hearth clearance to fit it, which in my mind may mean removing raised hearth (beneath the hearth opening) to get it in, and then rebuild it.
Does anyone have any ideas as to a cost effective way to get an efficiency unit installed in this hole and had it ‘look good’?
Thanks for any help!