Knightfire,
there are many of us here on Hearth.com that encountered the same thing. Whatever you do, make sure you pull a permit and have it inspected and approved for safety.
BTW - you have a beautiful stone facade on your heatilator. Save the stones when you chisel that hunk of junk out.
Mine was exactly like yours. It had a propane gas log set in it. The big problem is - inorder to fit the firebox - there were only 2 inserts that would work and they were dinky small. You have some high ceilings in that room - You do want heat from this new stove right?
The other issue is - I will bet your heatilator flue is not a class A HT flue rated for woodstove temps. So in addition to a small insert, you'd have to run an insulated liner.
For us - the price of doing that was equal to simply pulling the heatilator and installing a zero clearance woodstove and Class A HT flue. Same price. We bought the Kozyheat Z42 (same exact dimensions as the heatilator 42). It's manufactured to be an easy swap. Installed the stove and new flue was around $ 5000. I probably over paid some.
I saved money by doing the removal of the heatilator myself and then the finish work after the install. The new flue fit into the same chase and was installed in mere minutes.
I am really pleased with the Kozyheat z42 - it puts out great heat. The firebox takes up to 22 inch logs, it's easy to operate, clean EPA stove - you don't even see smoke coming out of the chimney. We burn 24/7 and go thru maybe 4 cords a season and in our house of 3000+ sf, we completely heat with the z42.
I would strongly recommend a zero clearance wood stove or as others have recommended - extend the hearth and put in a free standing stove. We wanted to keep the same look - so having a zero clearance wood stove was the best of both worlds. That looks like a beautiful great room. You just need something that looks the same - that you can burn wood in and get a ton of heat out of.
I would NOT recommend a small insert in a heatilator. For that size room - seems a waste. My heatilator had fake firebrick panels. They say you could burn wood in it, but I wouldn't be able to sleep at night thinking about a woodstove insert cranking in it.
Many different companys now make zero clearance woodstoves for replacement of heatilators. RSF, Buck, Kozyheat. It is an easy solution.
Good luck and keep us posted.
there are many of us here on Hearth.com that encountered the same thing. Whatever you do, make sure you pull a permit and have it inspected and approved for safety.
BTW - you have a beautiful stone facade on your heatilator. Save the stones when you chisel that hunk of junk out.
Mine was exactly like yours. It had a propane gas log set in it. The big problem is - inorder to fit the firebox - there were only 2 inserts that would work and they were dinky small. You have some high ceilings in that room - You do want heat from this new stove right?
The other issue is - I will bet your heatilator flue is not a class A HT flue rated for woodstove temps. So in addition to a small insert, you'd have to run an insulated liner.
For us - the price of doing that was equal to simply pulling the heatilator and installing a zero clearance woodstove and Class A HT flue. Same price. We bought the Kozyheat Z42 (same exact dimensions as the heatilator 42). It's manufactured to be an easy swap. Installed the stove and new flue was around $ 5000. I probably over paid some.
I saved money by doing the removal of the heatilator myself and then the finish work after the install. The new flue fit into the same chase and was installed in mere minutes.
I am really pleased with the Kozyheat z42 - it puts out great heat. The firebox takes up to 22 inch logs, it's easy to operate, clean EPA stove - you don't even see smoke coming out of the chimney. We burn 24/7 and go thru maybe 4 cords a season and in our house of 3000+ sf, we completely heat with the z42.
I would strongly recommend a zero clearance wood stove or as others have recommended - extend the hearth and put in a free standing stove. We wanted to keep the same look - so having a zero clearance wood stove was the best of both worlds. That looks like a beautiful great room. You just need something that looks the same - that you can burn wood in and get a ton of heat out of.
I would NOT recommend a small insert in a heatilator. For that size room - seems a waste. My heatilator had fake firebrick panels. They say you could burn wood in it, but I wouldn't be able to sleep at night thinking about a woodstove insert cranking in it.
Many different companys now make zero clearance woodstoves for replacement of heatilators. RSF, Buck, Kozyheat. It is an easy solution.
Good luck and keep us posted.