Freestanding stove in existing fireplace

[willemgovaerts]

We would like to install a Yotul F400 into our existing fireplace. One of the dealers we went to told us that placing the stove entirely inside our fireplace would be very bad for efficiency and pose a risk of overheating. On the efficiency side we are not to worried as the stove is mostly meant as additional heating in the evening with a cozy effect. Also, the fireplace is in the middle of our house so any masonry that is heated will release it's heat back to other rooms.

With regards to overheating we are a bit more worried though. The floorplan over our current fireplace looks like this

And since the Yotul F400 excluding ashlip is 65 cm wide and 48 cm deep it gets rather close to the walls at the back (about 10cm). Since the platform the stove will stand on is higher than the rest of the floor, it's not really possible to move it more to the front. Modifying this platform would require difficult stonemasonry and we don't really want to modify this traditional element of our house.

One way we did think to combat this problem is installing a blower behind the stove as mentioned in some other posts on this forum but not sure how much this would help given that the Yotul F400 is not built for this.

Do you agree that the stove would run a risk of overheating and how would you combat this?

Picture of our fireplace to help you visualize it:

 

[begreen]

Putting a strongly radiant stove in a fireplace is not the most efficient way to use it, but it's not going to overheat the stove. There are a few Jotul installations here like this.
What is the mantel built out of? Is this wood based or a non-combustible material like cement?

 

[willemgovaerts]

Good to know, I will do a bit more digging here then. The mantel is some kind of natural stone (previous owners were stone masons) and the inside is bricks.

 

[begreen]

@bigealta has a picture or two of his F400 in a fireplace somewhere here.

 

[begreen]

Here's a shot:

Post in thread 'Wood Stove Sizing'

Sep 25, 2024

Circling back. A cap isn't necessary for a center chimney that is fully lined and with the cleanout in the basement (I contacted the company). BUT we did get a cap installed just to be sure. It is stainless and very similar to what Todd pictured earlier. A basic cap. Nothing fancy. It still would have met manufacture's requirements had we not capped the bottom, so I'm not sure what was meant by that (manufacturer of liner? of stove?). We went with the F45. I just learned today that this model has been discontinued? Huh. Well it's ours now. We haven't done break-in fires yet, but will...

• bigealta

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[willemgovaerts]

Thx, I'll look for other dealers that want to help is with this installation then.

 

[begreen]

The more the stove is out on the hearth and in the room, the better it will heat. Also, it's a good idea for the installers to put in a block-off plate up in the damper area so that most of the heat produced stays in the room. Otherwise, most of the heat will covect up the chimney and not warm the room.

 

[bigealta]

 

[bigealta]

Part in and part out is the way to go. Mine probably is 8" out (not counting the ashlip) from the face of the fireplace. Here a fire resistant mat stapled to the floor meets code for ember protection. My fireplace is also in the middle of the house and that's a big plus for numerous reasons. This f400 heats with this set up my Cape house in NJ.

Also you don't need a fan behind the stove. A small 8", 10" or 12" fan on the floor pointing at the bottom of one side will push plenty of hot air out from around the sides and back of the stove.

 

[begreen]

Part in and part out is the way to go. Mine probably is 8" out (not counting the ashlip) from the face of the fireplace. Here a fire resistant mat stapled to the floor meets code for ember protection. My fireplace is also in the middle of the house and that's a big plus for numerous reasons. This f400 heats with this set up my Cape house in NJ.

Also you don't need a fan behind the stove. A small 8", 10" or 12" fan on the floor pointing at the bottom of one side will push plenty of hot air out from around the sides and back of the stove.

Block-off plate installed?

 

[bigealta]

Block-off plate installed?

I don't have one because the interior brickwork is odd and i'd rather not drill into it to fab supports. That said there is insulation around the stove pipe so no air and not much heat is getting up the flue from outside the pipe.

With an interior chimney the brickwork helps heating the rooms both downstairs, and upstairs (where there is no heat other than a strip of electric baseboard which we never turn on.

If i had a different set up i would get a block off plate installed.

 

[EbS-P]

F400 all the way in. Interior chimney full insulated liner with block off plate. I like it a lot. It does need a fan if you really want to push it to the max heat output.

That said. If I were to heat full time I would go with a bigger longer burning insert. But we don’t get that cold here.

 

[Todd]

When I had a similar setup I placed a small (muffin?)fan under the stove blowing into the fireplace that pushed all that stagnant heat up and out above the stove.