After looking for several months for a new insert, I was always disappointed with the viewing area of the ones available.
I really liked the JUCA design because it is not necessarily a airtight insert, but really just a heat exchanger. But again, the viewing area is small.
So, I thought I would take on the challenge of building one myself, if it didn't work, I could go buy one!
I ended up changing the big vents that look like "ears" to small ones made from 1/4" plate that I had left over. It uses 1/4" plate on the firebox and 3/16" on the outer shell with about an 1.5" between them with baffles. It uses a 336cfm fan on the right side and I was able to use the original fireplace screen/glass doors and lost zero viewing area. Hurray!
Let me know what you think! There is masking tape on top of the vents to show the air flowing out.
I really liked the JUCA design because it is not necessarily a airtight insert, but really just a heat exchanger. But again, the viewing area is small.
So, I thought I would take on the challenge of building one myself, if it didn't work, I could go buy one!
I ended up changing the big vents that look like "ears" to small ones made from 1/4" plate that I had left over. It uses 1/4" plate on the firebox and 3/16" on the outer shell with about an 1.5" between them with baffles. It uses a 336cfm fan on the right side and I was able to use the original fireplace screen/glass doors and lost zero viewing area. Hurray!
Let me know what you think! There is masking tape on top of the vents to show the air flowing out.